Born in Mexico City, Mexico on December 12, 1956, Ana Alicia became the third of four children to Carlos Celestino Ortiz and Alicia Torres Ortiz. She grew up in El Paso, Texas from age 6 after the passing of her father. There, she lived with her grandmother, widowed mother, her uncle Louie and three siblings in a house her father had purchased for her grandmother. Ana Alicia received a full scholarship to attend the prestigious Wellesley College in Massachusetts. Upon arrival, Ana Alicia auditioned and won the lead role for Jules Feiffer's "C…