Tara Crespo

Tara was born in New York City to parents of Irish, Russian and Ecuadorian descent. Being a native New Yorker, she thought her hometown was the center of the universe. When it came time to go to college, Tara decided to follow in the famous footsteps of actor Denzel Washington and chose to attend Fordham University in the city. She had auditioned for and got a singing scholarship and was thrilled to explore her alto voice and pay for school, at the same time. The two singers she most admires are Etta James and "La Princessa de la Salsa", La India. After graduating with a bachelor's degree in English Literature from Fordham University, Tara began her acting career. She spent a few months building her resume, and then realized it was time to broaden her horizons and move to Los Angeles. Crespo started working in film, commercials and television. Tara was thrilled to book a role with Cuba Gooding Jr. in A Murder of Crows (1998), as the young lady in awe of his character at a book signing. Soon after, she got her first starring role in La Cucaracha (1998) as "Lourdes Aguirre", opposite Eric Roberts and Joaquim de Almeida, as the innocent girl, in a small Mexican town, who the two men fall in love with. Tara then left acting to have a family. Her sons, Aidan and Roman, are her heart and soul. Once her sons were a little older, Tara was blessed with a phone call from producer/manager Denise Barrett, giving her the opportunity to be in a film project Denise was working on. Crespo welcomed the chance to come back to acting, and the two women then worked together to bring Tara back to the industry. Barrett suggested her new discovery learn how to do stunts and start training in martial arts. Tara had the good fortune to be invited into Bob Yerkes' stunt training, where she learned high falls, acrobatics, the ratchet and how to fly with an air ramp. She is honored to learn from a legend in the stunt community. The golden opportunities in training continued. Tara started working with Third Degree black belt in Hapkido and Combative Concepts founder, Tony Villalobos. Under his guidance and teaching, Crespo has learned kick boxing, weapons disarm, joint locks, grappling and fight choreography. Crespo booked a cameo role in The Bronx Bull (2016), in a scene with Joe Mantegna, William Forsyth and Tom Sizemore. Tara plays the flirtatious woman who breaks up their fight with a kiss. Her second role as "Saundra White" in "Clean Ops" gave Tara the chance to showcase her new skills as a martial artist in a vicious fight to the death with Gloria Govan. Despite their characters being enemies, Tara absolutely loved working with Gloria. Crespo and the VH1 Basketball Wives (2010) star were thrilled at how much fun they were having beating each other up. Up next, Tara is set to play in the upcoming Digger Mesch romp, "Agent 88". Tara resides in Los Angeles with her two sons.