Eva Longoria was born Eva Jacqueline Longoria in Corpus Christi, Texas. Eva is an American Golden Globe-nominated and Screen Actors Guild Award-winning film and television actress. She rose to fame by playing Isabella Braña Williams on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless. She now plays Gabrielle Solis in the ABC television series Desperate Housewives. Longoria landed her first television role in 2000, guest-starring in an episode of Beverly Hills, 90210. Another guest appearance in General Hospital the same year brought her big break on the popular American soap opera The Young and the Restless..