Cristela Alonzo (born January 6, 1979) is an American comedian, actress, writer and producer, who created and starred in the ABC sitcom Cristela. She is the first Latina woman to create, produce, write, and star in her own US primetime comedy.
Alonzo was born in San Juan, Texas, the youngest of four children of mother Natalia Gonzalez, who worked double shifts at a Mexican restaurant for about 20 years, and father Adalberto Alonzo, who is Mexican. When Alonzo's mother was pregnant with Alonzo, Alonzo's mother left her abusive husband and raised the children alone. Alonzo has said that she never met her father, who died in 2009. Alonzo grew up in San Juan, Texas.
She has three siblings, older sister Julisa Maria Alonzo and older brothers Eloy Eduardo Alonzo and Ruben G Alonzo. Alonzo's mother came from the small village of El Zancarron in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. Throughout her childhood, on her mother's weekly day off, Alonzo spent time with her paternal grandmother in Reynosa, Mexico, just across the border.