McEwan was born in
Santa Monica, California on April 23, 1934. She studied acting at the
Los Angeles City College for one year, then transferred to the
University of California at Los Angeles, where she met and married her husband, Nicaraguan gastroenterologist Guillermo McEwan. They moved to
Mexico City, where he continued his medical studies and began his career. After returning to California via
Temple, Texas, where she received a bachelor's degree from the
University of Mary Hardin–Baylor, McEwan obtained a master's degree in Spanish from
University of California, Irvine and worked as an interpreter in criminal court. ==Career==