Tia Texada is an American actress and model. She is best known for her role as Sgt. Maritza Cruz on the NBC series Third Watch, and her recurring role as an undercover agent Ribera on The Unit for CBS. Other roles include, In Plain Sight, Saving Grace, Chuck for NBC, HBO's Mind of the Married Man, Everybody Hates Chris, The Amazing Spider-Man, Batman Beyond, Static Shock, Firebreather, and Handy Manny. She was the voice of Maybelline New York for 15 years, the number-one selling cosmetic brand in the world, appearing prominently in the brand's "Maybe she's born with it... maybe it's Maybelline" campaign, which was named Brand of the Year and Launch of the Year for Lash Sensational. She was the first female live announcer for the ESPY Awards, where she worked alongside Justin Timberlake, Jamie Foxx, LeBron James, and Samuel L. Jackson for seven years. She was the voice of the winning Golden Trailer award for RoboCop. She was the voice for launching Super Bowl 50 for The NFL Today on CBS, Flesh and Bone for Starz, Lindt Gold Bunny, Zales, Unstoppable Collection, JC Penney World Cup Soccer IS for Girls, World Series of Poker Lady Luck for ESPN, and the Skittles 'Taste the Rainbow' ad campaign.

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Texada's appearances include guest-starring roles in episodes of In Plain Sight, Chuck ("Chuck Versus the Coup d'Etat"), Saving Grace, Everybody Hates Chris, The Unit, and Criminal Minds. She played Sgt. Maritza Cruz in the NBC Drama Third Watch in the last three of its six seasons.

She also has appeared in movies such as From Dusk till Dawn (1996), Paulie (1998), Nurse Betty (2000), Bait (2000), Thirteen Conversations About One Thing (2001), Glitter (2001), Phone Booth (2003), and Spartan (2004).

Texada also has a singing career, and her songs have been featured on shows such as Dawson's Creek. She also played at the Lilith Fair tour in 1998.

She played the voice of Isabel Vasquez in the television film Firebreather. Texada has lent her voice to the animated series The Wild Thornberrys, and Static Shock, as well as television commercials. She additionally voiced Elena Validus in Ben 10: Ultimate Alien.

Texada has also done layouts for magazines and has been featured in the men's magazines FHM and Maxim.^[1]