Media & Arts
Selena Gomez
Grand Prairie-born Selena Gomez moved from North Texas child acting to global careers in television, film, music, producing and beauty entrepreneurship while retaining a visible connection to her Texas upbringing.
- Roster rank
- #214
- Category
- Media & Arts
- Subject type
- Person
- Profile source
- Published Texas Icons profile
Texas story
Life and career
Selena Marie Gomez was born in Grand Prairie in 1992 and began acting as a child, including work on Barney & Friends. Disney Channel's Wizards of Waverly Place made her a teen star before she developed parallel recording and film careers.
Gomez later built a solo music catalog, produced television, starred in Only Murders in the Building and founded Rare Beauty. She has also served as a UNICEF ambassador since 2009. Her Texas story is strongest in the Grand Prairie childhood and early performance years rather than in a claim that her later career remained state-based.
Defining work
What to know
- Wizards of Waverly Place
- Rare
- Revelación
- Only Murders in the Building
- Rare Beauty
Timeline
Key milestones
- 1992Born in Grand Prairie, Texas.
- 2000sBegins child acting and later becomes a Disney Channel lead.
- 2009Becomes a UNICEF ambassador.
- 2013Releases debut solo album Stars Dance.
- 2021Only Murders in the Building premieres.
Texas connections
Places in the story
Grand Prairie
Birthplace and childhood home in North Texas.
Regional setting for her earliest performance years.
Legacy
Why the story lasts
Gomez successfully crossed from child television into sustained adult careers in music, acting, producing and consumer business.
Grand Prairie anchors the profile in Texas without flattening a career that became international early.
Sources
Research trail
Last reviewed 2026-08-27
Cross-linked profiles