Laura Elena Harring (née Herring Martínez, formerly Gräfin von Bismarck-Schönhausen; born March 3, 1964) is an American actress and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss USA 1985 and later began acting in television and film.

Her other films include The Forbidden Dance (1990), John Q (2002), Willard (2003), The Punisher (2004), The King (2005), Love in the Time of Cholera (2007), Ghost Son (2007), The Caller (2008), Drool (2009), Sex Ed (2014), and Inside (2016).

Harring lived the first ten years of her life in Guasave Sinaloa Mexico, before her family relocated to San Antonio, Texas.

Harring studied theatre at London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, having trained in the Italian commedia dell'arte, as well as Latin dances, including the Argentine tango.

[6] She played Raúl Juliá's character's wife, having been cast by NBC producers after they saw her on the Miss USA broadcast and contacted her with the role.

[19] In response to her performance and the choice of her for the role, film critic Roger Ebert wrote, "Not many actresses would be bold enough to name themselves after Rita Hayworth, but Harring does, because she can.

[27] In 2005, Harring starred in the independent film The King, and later had roles in Nancy Drew, Love in the Time of Cholera, The Caller,[21] and Drool, in which she plays an abused wife fleeing her husband.

[28] In 2006, Harring joined the cast of FX's crime drama, The Shield, as defense attorney Rebecca Doyle,[29] appearing in nine episodes of season five.

In the role, she is hired by lead character Vic Mackey to protect his team of corrupt police officers against an Internal Affairs investigation.