Biography of Darlene Ortiz: all about Ice-T’s former girlfriend

Darlene Ortiz is an American actress, model, composer, author, and radio host who rose to fame as rap’s first cover girl after being featured on the music album Rhyme pays off and Current. But she is particularly recognized as the ex-partner of an American rapper, songwriter, actor and producer ice t (aka Tracy Lauren Marrow).

Talking about her relationship with Ice-T, she was with him for almost 17 years, but the two never got married. The two end their relationship in 2001 and with her boyfriend of 17 years, Darlene even shares a son named Tracy Marrow Jr. So, what is her relationship status at the moment?

Today, in this article, we will talk about every personal and professional detail of Ice-T’s ex-girlfriend Darlene Ortiz, from her early life to her relationship with a rapper and her life after the breakup. Take a good look.

Darlene Ortiz’s Birthday: She Had a Troubled Childhood

As of 2022, Darlene is 55 years old. She was born as the youngest child of her mother Rose and father Pete On February 27, 1967, in Mexico, North America. She spent her childhood in the most tumultuous atmosphere as both her parents were alcoholics.

Growing up, she was not given an affectionate family environment. With this, she grew up hating her own mother. Ortiz even tried to set fire to her mother’s bed to escape her shadow, she said,

She (her mother) was not even allowed to be there. That’s because after that it was like I had to live with this woman. She received my child support and she wouldn’t let me go. I had to stay with her because I was underage.

Due to her mother’s poor treatment, all her older siblings left home at a very young age. According to her, she was the last to live at home for a longer period of time. She once said,

All my sisters had run away when I was very young. The last one, the one I was very close to, ran away when she was 14. She’s been on her own ever since, and I was the one who stayed home the longest.

Although she had a hard time living with her mother, her paternal family later raised her with love and all the support she needed in the meantime.

Besides, a Pisces woman is of African American and Hispanic descent and holds American nationality.

Darlene Ortiz was raised by her grandmother: she was close to her father

As we said before, she never had a good relationship with her mother. So whatever love and support she received in her early life, it all came from her father and his family.

My dad’s family are the people who really really raised me, and they were always so loving and kind.

More specifically, her father’s mother, Connie Ortiz raised her.

On the occasion of Mother’s Day on May 9, 2021, she dedicated the post to her beloved grandmother, writing:

Without this wonderful woman, my grandmother Connie Ortiz (may she rest her caring hands and heart) and her firstborn, my papa Pete, God knows where I would have ended up. Happy Mother’s Day In Heaven and to all those loving mothers and grandmothers who have passed away. She took care of her granddaughter.

She further noted,

Man, I miss this woman. Cherish your loved ones and no matter how old they get, spend as much quality time with them as possible. I am so happy that I have so many wonderful memories with her. She just loved her Anaheim Angels and we had such a great time at the games. I can’t thank her and my daddy enough.

Now, by 2022, her grandmother will no longer be in the world. Likewise, Darlene greatly admired her father for everything he did for her, despite being an alcoholic.

Darlene Ortiz started out as a model: her career detail

As a professional, she started her career as a model for her ex-boyfriend’s hip-hop music album Rhyme pays off and Current. Her daring performance as a cover girl for a music album cemented her status as a hip-hop star and is known as rap’s first cover girl. She then went on to star in several other music videos with it.

Since 2022 she has also tried other professions. Ortiz is a radio personality. Darlene co-hosts the radio show The 5150 Show Foxxhole broadcaster Sirius XM alongside Corey Holcomb. Furthermore, according to her social media account, she is also an ex-instructor of the group, songwriter, fitness instructor and PT trainer.

She is also an author

Darlene evolved as an author in the year 2015 when her book Down definition: my life with Ice T & the birth of hip-hop was published on August 31, 2015. She co-authored this book with Emmy Award-winning producer and author Heidi Cuda.

Her co-authored book Definition of down has talked about how hip hop started in the 80’s era and the book also shared a story about Rap beef in the early days of rap, especially about LL Cool J rivalry. Likewise, her co-written book also shared intimate glimpses of everyday life. The book is now available on Amazon for $9.99.

Darlene Ortiz was a partner of her boyfriend Ice-T for 17 years; They were never married

Darlene remained in a live-in relationship with her ex-boyfriend ice t for almost 17 years. The couple first met at the Radiotron club in Los Angeles in 1984. Meanwhile, the movie Hack’ was filmed at the club and her former partner was there to play the role of Rap Talker and Darlene was there at the same time.

It was then that the two strangers got in touch and soon after they started dating each other. After being in a relationship, Ortiz even helped Ice-T launch his music career and assisted her now ex-boyfriend in the crucial phase of his career. But as time passed, the spark in their relationship started to fade and in the year 2001, the couple finally ended their togetherness after 17 years.

Does Darlene regret divorcing Ice-T? What was the reason?

In the run-up to 2022, it will be 21 years since Darlene said goodbye to the American rapper and actor. It seems at this point that she is living her life to the fullest. Talking about whether she regretted saying goodbye to Ice-T, it doesn’t seem like it.

In 2015, when her book came out, she talked about her relationship with her ex-partner. She said,

I am very disappointed with how it ended and how we chose to end it. I am very disappointed, but how can I be angry with him at the same time? All these exciting things happened because of him. I met him and supported him, and he is still the father of my son. It can never really get ugly.

From this statement, we can see that Darlene is not stuck with regrets, and that they have both moved on after so many years.

Is Darlene Ortiz married now?

No, Darlene isn’t married to anyone and looking at her social media account doesn’t seem like she’s dating a guy. On the contrary, it seems that Ortiz is enjoying her single life and her career to the fullest.

On the other hand, her ex-boyfriend of 17 years is now married to an American actress and TV personality Coco Austin. Ice-T married his now-wife Austin just a year after breaking up with Darlene.

Darlene Ortiz shares a son with her former partner, Ice-T

From her relationship, she gave birth to a son named Tracy Marrow Jr. on the 23rd from November 1991. As of 2022, Tracy, Darlene’s only son, is 31 years old. He followed in his father’s footsteps and joined his band Death toll in 2017. Nowadays, he has already made a name for himself as a rapper, actor and record producer.

Likewise, Ortiz’s son is the lyricist and the producer of the songs from the band’s 6th album called bloodlust. He is also known for his remarkable work in the 2020 album Carnivore.

Is Tracy his parents’ only child?

Tracy is the only son of his mother Darlene, but not his father. Besides him, his father has two other daughters named LaTesha Marrow and Chanel Nicole Marrow.

Ortiz is an animal lover

If you go through her Instagram, you can definitely tell how much she admires animals. Darlene continues to post about animal prevention on her social media account. On September 2, 2022, she shared a post from Smokey Bear that read “Only you can prevent forest fires”.

Apart from that, she has grown up with a dog in her family all her life which makes her more inclined towards animals, especially dogs. On National Dog Day on August 26, she shared her photos with her dog, Darlene writes:

YES it’s National Dog Day and here are just a few snippets of some (I don’t have pictures of all of them and there have been many) who have given me their unconditional love throughout my life, thank goodness for dogs 🙏🏽

Darlene has a verified Instagram account: her other social media handles

She is very active on Instagram under the username darleneog_ortiz in which she continues to share her personal and professional life. For extra, she also shares some quotes about her thoughts, mood and even her zodiac sign. Furthermore, she is also on Facebook, which bears her own name.

In addition, Darlene is on Twitter under the username @DarleneOGOrtiz with an intro “Fitness instructor, PT trainer, radio cohost, songwriter, a down ass BGirl for life, author (definition of down) and proud minimalist”. Her Twitter account also states that she currently lives in Los Angeles, California. She also posted her cameo link on her Twitter.

What is Darlene Ortiz’s net worth?

She has been a working woman since she was very young, at the age of 17. In addition, Darlene has multiple professions. As a result, her estimated net worth is $1 million according to various media sources. On the other hand, her former partner has a fortune of $65 million as of 2022.