Shirley Rumierk

Shirley Rumierk (/ruːˈmɪərk/) is an American actress known for her role as Vanessa Suarez in Rise and as Autumn Cox in Manifest.

Early life

Shirley Rumierk was born and brought up in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, New York City. She attended Trinity School on the Upper West Side, and despite being a first-generation Latina, from a low-income family, Rumierk secured a place at Harvard University, moving to Cambridge, Massachusetts to study economics. However, after realising `economics’ was not her thing, she switched to Hispanic Studies, later graduating in 1995. During her time at Harvard, Rumierk travelled to Cuba to study Cuban and Caribbean literature, history and architecture, sponsored by the University of Buffalo. Also at that time she decided to pursue an acting career, moved back to New York and took an acting conservatory program. Rumierk joined the Oliver Scholars, a non-profit organization serving high-achieving Black and Latino students, graduating in 1995 Rumierk, now an Alumni Council Member, hosted the Fifth Annual Oliver Scholars Gala at Guastavino’s, 59th Street, New York City in 2018.

Acting career

Rumierk was first introduced to acting when at ten years old she was a participant of the 52nd Street Project, a program that introduces children in Manhattan, to the world of theater by voluntary professionals. Rumierk’s screen appearances were numerous but brief until she landed a recurring role in East Willy B in 2011. She landed a main character role as Livvy in the 2016 film 11:55 , however, Her big break came in 2018 as Vanessa Suarez in ten episodes of the NBC television series Rise , followed by a recurring role of Autumn Cox in NBC's Manifest in 2019.