Born in New York City, New York, USA, Maldonado started to work as costumer for film and television projects in the 1980s and worked on projects such as the television science fiction film Something Is Out There (1988), the horror sequel A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988), the fantasy comedy Scrooged (1988), and television series such as Growing Pains, Head of the Class, Freddy's Nightmares, Saved by the Bell, and Coach.