Charlie Alejandro

Charlie Alejandro was born Shirley Jaudicia Cordero in San José, Costa Rica. Her biological mother abandoned her at age two, after which she was taken in and raised by her godmother's family. Her adoptive mother, Maria Otilia Mainieri-Guerrero, moved to the United States in 1969 and brought then seven-year-old Charlie with her. After years of hearing her name mispronounced as "Charlie" by the predominantly Latino community around her, she changed the spelling of her name to reflect the pronunciation. Charlie had a natural affinity for acting and the stage. Shortly after arriving in the U.S., she was cast as Lucy in *You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown*. Her English skills were still developing, so the nuns taught her to memorize her lines phonetically. She received praise for her performance and was invited to audition for the WBGH local children's show *Zoom*. Her mother refused to take her to the audition, but she attended with her brother-in-law, without her mother's knowledge. When she received a callback, her mother refused to sign consent forms and discouraged her from pursuing acting as a career. Growing up in a low-income, dysfunctional household, Charlie left home at 17 after the birth of her first son, Derek. She and her first husband had four sons: Derek, Eric, J. Alexander, and Christopher. Charlie earned her GED after the birth of her first son, obtained her medical assisting certificate after the birth of her second, and became a Metropolitan Police officer in Boston, Massachusetts, after the birth of her third. While with the Metropolitan Police Department, she became the first female in Massachusetts at the time and one of only a few women on a tactical unit (SOU). She served as an entry team member, trainer, search and rescue officer, and intelligence officer on the SOU until the department was merged with the State Police, Capitol Police, and Registry Police in 1992 as part of cost-cutting measures under then-Governor Wells. After the merger, she became an alternate on the STOP team and was assigned to the State Police's Weed and Seed program in Chelsea, Massachusetts, a city under state receivership and under investigation for police corruption. Charlie divorced her first husband in 1994 and married Mel Alejandro in 1996. Her second husband brought four children into the relationship—two boys and two girls—and they were later joined by a foster son, making a total of nine children. She took early retirement from the state police to raise their blended family. During this time, she worked as a community organizer for the City of Lowell, Massachusetts, a criminal justice instructor, security adviser, and motivational speaker. She was cast in lead roles in several independent films, though the projects were never completed due to funding issues. She also did voice-over work and instructional videos in both English and Spanish. In 2008, after a period of extended bed rest following major foot surgery, she started a blog based on journal entries about her and her family's experiences. Later that year, while working as a criminal justice instructor, her son Chris attended an audition where she was told they were seeking people with police experience for the film *Edge of Darkness* starring Mel Gibson. She was selected to play a recurring police extra and precision driver. Additional background roles followed, leading to her first small speaking role as a bank manager in *Conned*, which won several awards at film festivals. Around this time, she realized her passion for acting remained, and with encouragement from her husband, she decided to pursue it full time. She continued with several small speaking roles, including a bit part as a game show contestant in the award-winning indie film *Scooter McGruder*. In 2009, Charlie launched the internet radio talk show *Diamond in the Rough* on Blog Talk Radio, which gained a loyal following. In May 2011, she was awarded the Mrs. Woman Massachusetts Petite America title and in August 2011, she won the national title in her age division in Waterbury, Connecticut. In October 2011, she was cast as medical examiner Dr. Hutchinson in a recurring role on the web series *Red Circles*. Charlie Alejandro won the Mrs. Woman Petite World 2012 title in Waterbury, Connecticut, on August 4, 2012. She also won the Ms. Classic U.S. of America 2012 pageant in Windsor Forks, Connecticut, on August 18, 2012, where she won the talent and modeling components and was runner-up in photogenic. Ms. Alejandro is the executive director of the Massachusetts State Police Museum and a partner and co-owner of Beantown Statie Production Company, an independent film production company based in Lowell, Massachusetts. She has also been working with Angelwood Pictures since 2013. Ms. Alejandro has written numerous scripts and acted in a wide range of roles. She co-wrote *Code 13: Unreadable*, a New Media SAG project, with Seth Chitwood, and the project is currently in pre-production. Ms. Alejandro has received various awards for her acting, writing, and community involvement.