Perez was born on September 6, 1964, in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City, to Lydia Pérez and Ismael Serrano, a merchant marine seaman.[3][4][5] Her mother Lydia (née Fontañez y Reyes) was born October 13, 1939, in Humacao, Puerto Rico. Her father was from Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. Her mother was married to a man 20 years her senior, Arturo Pérez. Her mother already had five children when she became pregnant with Rosie after having an affair with Serrano. Perez was born at the now-closed Greenpoint Hospital in the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn.[6]
One of 10 children born to her mother, Perez and her siblings grew up in Bushwick while their mother was intermittently jailed. Her mother gave birth to her youngest child while incarcerated. She was for a time raised by an aunt and then, like her siblings, went through group homes and foster care. She and her siblings were often split up. She was transferred to a group foster home and lived in foster care in New York and Peekskill until the age of eight. She was legally considered a ward of the State of New York until age 12. Her mother and aunt frequently visited, and her father made an unsuccessful custody bid at one point.[1][7]
When she was in third grade, Perez learned that she had a speech impediment.[8] She had a strict Catholic upbringing, which she has credited to the influence of the nuns during her childhood.[6][9] She eventually moved in with her paternal aunt, Ana Dominga Otero Serrano-Roque.[10]
At 19 years old,[12] Perez started her career in the early 1980s as a dancer on Soul Train. As a student at Los Angeles City College,[citation needed] with plans to major in biochemistry,[13] she said she relieved stress by going to nightclubs for ladies' night. A talent scout from Soul Train asked Perez to appear on the show. She was not a professional dancer, but loved it so much she dropped out of school.[6] In 1988, when she was 23 years old, Perez was noticed at the dance club Funky Reggae[14] by Spike Lee, who hired her for her first major acting role in Do the Right Thing.[15]
Perez appeared on an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in October 2009 about pedophiles' rights. Executive producer Neal Baer said the writers had Perez in mind when they wrote the role of a young sexual abuse victim's mother.[21] She injured her neck while filming the episode and underwent surgery to heal a herniated disc.[22] One year after the accident, she appeared at the White House in a wheelchair, wearing a neck brace for a meeting with President Obama.[23] In May 2011, Perez filed a lawsuit against the producers of the show, saying the injury she incurred was the result of being "recklessly pulled, grabbed, yanked, wrenched and manhandled" during filming.[24]
In June 2013, she served as the grand marshal for the international Boxing Hall of Fame parade in Canastota, New York.[25] In February 2014, Perez published an autobiography titled Handbook for an Unpredictable Life: How I Survived Sister Renata and My Crazy Mother, and Still Came Out Smiling... She is also the reader of the audio CD of this book. Perez said that she did not initially set out to write an autobiography, but rather a book that analyzes the causes and effects of child abuse.[6] She said it was not until about 6 months after the book was published and she heard responses from others that she found the experience cathartic.[6]
On September 3 of the same year, ABC announced Perez would join The View as a new co-host alongside moderator Whoopi Goldberg, newcomer Nicolle Wallace, and returning co-host Rosie O'Donnell.[26] The new season began on September 15, 2014.[27][28] Perez said she was initially hesitant about the job because "I didn't want to be on a show where people were just screaming at each other disrespectfully."[6] She decided to join the cast when she learned that Bill Wolff, whom she knew from The Rachel Maddow Show, was going to be the new executive producer.[6][29][30] In 2015, she returned to Broadway to star in Fish in the Dark, a play written by Larry David.[1][31] On July 8, 2015, Perez announced she would be leaving The View.[32]
US President Barack Obama appointed her to The Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA). She was sworn in on February 2, 2010.
On January 6, 2000, she was arrested for disorderly conduct in Manhattan following a rally to protest against the U.S. Navy air weapons training, as well as other forms of payload on the government training range owned at Vieques, an island off the coast of Puerto Rico.
Perez serves as the chair of the artistic board for Urban Arts Partnership,[40] a New York City arts education nonprofit that uses arts integrated education programs to close the achievement gap.
Personal life
Perez has suffered from high anxiety, PTSD, and depression but with therapy it has been greatly reduced.[1][6][41]
Bourke, Alison P.; Shapiro, Evan; Perez, Rosie; Sherman, Roger M.; Garbus, Liz; Kennedy, Rory; Smits, Jimmy; Taverna, Kathryn; Hurwitz, Tom; Valdez, Carlos (2007). ¡Yo Soy Boricua, Pa'que Tu Lo Sepas!: I'm Boricua, Just So You Know!. Santa Monica, Calif.: Genius Entertainment. ISBN978-1-59444-303-9. OCLC123120491.
Perez, Rosie (2014). Handbook for an Unpredictable Life: How I Survived Sister Renata and My Crazy Mother, and Still Came Out Smiling (with Great Hair). New York: Crown Archetype. ISBN978-0-307-95239-4. OCLC858159344.
