Eva Longoria’s 3 Sisters: All About Esmeralda, Elizabeth and Emily

Eva Longoria’s biggest role models are her three sisters: Elizabeth “Liza,” Esmeralda and Emily.

The Longoria siblings are ninth-generation Americans, whose ancestors emigrated from Spain to Mexico in the 1600s. In the profile for The Wall Street Journal, Eva shared that her family lived through the Texas Revolution of 1836, which turned their 4,500 acres of farmland near the Rio Grande into United States soil. When they were not visiting relatives in Mexico, Eva and her sisters came home there.

Living in South Texas, the girls grew up surrounded by educators. Their mother, Ella Longoria, became a special needs teacher when Liza, the oldest sister, was born with intellectual disabilities. “My mother even applied to be a teacher’s assistant and was assigned to my sister’s class. She followed Liza from class to class,” said Eva WSJ.

After Liza, the family grew again with Esmeralda and Emily. The youngest of her siblings, Eva was born on March 15, 1975.

During a 2023 interview with PEOPLE, the Housewives The alum commented that there was never a shortage of female empowerment in the Longoria household. “I come from a family of independent, strong women,” Eva said, adding, “I didn’t have to look far for those role models.”

“My mom raised four girls, one child with special needs, had a full-time job, had dinner on the table every day at six, was at every band practice, cheerleading practice, everything,” she explained. “And so for me, it’s like, ‘Wow.’ I always think, ‘I’m not doing enough in my life!’ ”

Here’s everything you need to know about Eva Longoria’s sisters, Esmeralda, Elizabeth, and Emily.

They grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas

Eva Longoria and her family.

Chris Weeks/WireImage

The Longoria daughters grew up on their family ranch near Corpus Christi, Texas, “in an area where nine members of my family lived on part of our original land,” the actress said. WSJ. They lived in a small house with only one bathroom, but the land around them was rich with vegetable gardens, fruit trees, chickens and cattle.

While talking to The Beverly Hills CourierEva described her upbringing as a “gift”.

“Growing up on a farm … gives you an appreciation for nature, animals, gardening and where food comes from. My dad would never let us eat fast food because we grew so many vegetables. He said there was no reason for him to ever eat out. We would pull carrots out of the ground and eat them,” she recalled.

All their names start with the letter “E”

Eva Longoria and her family in Spain in 2017.

Europa Press/Europa Press/Getty

On her mother’s side of the family, Esmeralda, Elizabeth, Emily and Eva are the second generation of siblings to be given names that all begin with the letter “E.” After marrying a man whose nickname also begins with an “E,” Ella knew she had to carry on the tradition of alliteration with her family.

“My mom’s mom did it. And my mom decided to continue it. My mom’s siblings all start with ‘E’. All my aunts, Elda, Elsa, Edna… There are nine of them. Crazy – said Eva The Beverly Hills Courier.

They did not learn Spanish as children

Eva Longoria with her mother Ella, Eva Mireles and sister Emily attended the 2014 Global Gift Gala.

Juan Naharro Gimenez/Getty

Fans might be surprised to hear that Spanish is actually Eva’s third language — her first being English and French. Only when Eva grew up, she learned the language, she discovered the He’s not skinny, but he’s not fat either podcast.

“I didn’t grow up speaking Spanish. [My parents] they spoke Spanish to each other, but they didn’t teach us Spanish,” she said in the 2023 episode. As for why they didn’t, she explained: “At that time – and still – there was a lot of pressure to assimilate children from the school system and society like , ‘Don’t let them have an accent’ and ‘Don’t let them be other’ and ‘Don’t let them speak another language.’ ”

Their favorite childhood pastime was hunting with their dad

Eva Longoria with dad Enrique Longoria, sister Elizabeth Judina Longoria and mom Ella Eva Mireles in 2014.

Rick Kern/Getty

At the age of 7, Eva knew how to hunt deer, catch fish and shoot a rifle. When his daughters weren’t in school or farming, Enrique Longoria, who worked as a rancher and mechanical engineer, taught Eva and her sisters how to live off the land and be “pioneers.”

“[I’ve been] hunting with dad since I was alone [was] six,” the actress said during a guest appearance on NBC in 2005 Date line. “I can handle a gun. I could skin a deer, I could skin a pig. I can pluck quails—whatever you want, I’ve done it.”

“My first pet was a cow. I mean, it was definitely different,” she added.

Liza was born with intellectual disabilities

Elizabeth and Eva Longoria on the set of NBC’s ‘Nightly News with Brian Williams.’

Darren Abate/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal/Getty

While appearing on Kerry Washington’s YouTube series, The street where you grew upEva opened up about Liza’s mental disability and how it affected their adolescence.

“My childhood was largely shaped by the special needs of my older sister. [The doctors] she told my parents that she would never walk, she would never talk, she would never have feelings … and she would probably die very, very early,” Eva shared. Now in her fifties with a job and a boyfriend, Liza is “amazing”.

Liza was also an inspiration for Eva, who devoted a large part of her career to philanthropy. The actress opened up to PEOPLE about her family’s history with volunteering and why she decided to continue that work as an adult.

“We kind of grew up in it [Liza’s] the world, and that meant a lot of volunteering, and that meant knowing about community programs, and it just meant giving back to people we never knew,” Eva explained. “I always wondered, ‘Who are these people helping our family with this program or that course?’ And my mom would explain that they were philanthropists. So I knew that word very early in life and that’s what I wanted to be. I said, ‘I want to be a philanthropist when I grow up.’ ”

Eva and her sisters did not resemble each other as children

Eva Longoria and her sister as children.

Eva Longoria on Facebook

While Esmeralda, Elizabeth and Emily were born with blonde hair and hazel eyes just like their mother, Eva had black hair and dark eyes. “I wasn’t hot,” joked the businesswoman He’s not skinny, but he’s not fat either podcast.

The Disconnecting from the power supply star said her family affectionately called her “la prieta fea,” which means “the ugly dark one” in Spanish. Although her inner circle considered the nickname a term of endearment, Eva liked it, especially when strangers began to notice the physical differences between her and her sisters.

“I grew up ugly, so I made a conscious decision when I was young to be funny,” she added.

They are Eva’s biggest supporters

Eva Longoria at the Oscars on March 10, 2024.

JC Olivera/Getty

Esmeralda, Liza and Emily live relatively private lives, although that hasn’t stopped them from stepping into the limelight to support their famous younger sister. In July 2017, Esmeralda and Emily accompanied Eva to the Global Gift Gala in Marbella, Spain, the funding of which was partially donated to the Eva Longoria Foundation.

A year later, in April 2018, the trio attended the unveiling of Eve’s Hollywood Walk of Fame. They took photos with the actress’ new star alongside their mom.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education