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Selena Gomez Biography

Selena Gomez was born to Ricardo Gomez and Mandy Teefy on July 22, 1992 in New York City. Soon after, her family moved to Grand Prairie, Texas where Selena spent most of her childhood. Her namesake comes from none other than the famous Mexican-American singer, Selena Quintanilla-Perez. Selena’s father is from Mexico, and her mother, a former stage actress, is of Italian descent. Selena claims that she became interested in acting while watching her mother perform. Selena is an only child; her parents split up when she was a mere five-years-old.

Film and Television Career
Selena Gomez’s acting debut came when she was only 7-years-old. She landed a role on the famous children’s program, Barney & Friends.

In 2003, Selena’ experience earned her a cameo appearance in Spy Kids 3 and Brain Zapped. She also had roles in Walker, Texas Ranger and Trial By Fire. Disney soon caught wind of this blossoming beauty with the outstanding talent, and in 2004, she landed roles in The Suite Life of Zack and Cody and Hannah Montana. She was also given roles in two Disney spin-off shows which, unfortunately, were not picked up until 2007 when Selena landed the starring role of Alex Russo in the Disney Original Series, The Wizards of Waverly Place.

During 2008, Selena Gomez starred in Another Cinderella Story, and also recorded a voice-over for the animated film, Horton Hears a Who. She has starred in Princess Protection Program (2009) with real-life best friend, Demi Lovato. Filming for the movie rendition of The Wizards of Waverly Place began in February 2009 and is set to be released in August of the same year.

Interested in philanthropy, Selena is currently an ambassador for a charity group on Do Something.org, an organization that helps dogs in Puerto Rico. She is also a spokesperson for State Farm Insurance and has appeared in several of the company’s television commercials.

Selena Gomez works off camera as much as she does on camera. She was chosen as the youngest ambassador for UNICEF, a faith-based charity for children around the world. She traveled to Ghana in order to create international awareness regarding the desolate living conditions of children in that country. Selena has been the spokesperson for the ‘Trick-or-Treat’ for UNICEF campaign and raised close to a million dollars for the organization. This lady is also part of the ‘Disney’s Friends for Change’ which films public service announcements and records music to promote friendly behavior in schools and conscientiousness for the environment.

In 2008, Selena launched her own production company called ‘July Moon Productions’ and is working on movies and TV shows. She launched her very first fashion line called ‘Dream Out Loud’ in 2009.

Awards
During her short career, Selena Gomez has already been nominated for several awards. She took home the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Award for Favorite TV Actress for her role on the Wizards of Waverly Place. She won the Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Movie, Miniseries or Special for Another Cinderella Story, and earned nominations for Best Performance in a TV Series for The Wizards of Waverly Place, and Best Performance in a Voice-Over Role for Horton Hears a Who.

Selena has starred in films such as 'Princess Protection Program' (2009), ‘Ramona and Beezus’ (2010), whose storyline is based on the blockbuster book by Judy Blume and ‘Monte Carlo’ (2011).

At the beginning of 2011 Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber made their relationship public. They have posed on the red carpet together as well as been photgraphed on vacation as well.