Heidi Noelle Lenhart always knew she would be a singer or a performer. "I was a total ham as a kid," admits the Los Angeles-raised Lenhart, who plays aspiring singer/songwriter Suzanne Carson in the series Fame L.A. But Lenhart decided against an acting career in her senior year of high school. "I knew it would be a tough life," she says. She instead took a college psychology course and began the only other thing she wanted to do - working as a kids counselor. On a lark, she crashed the auditions for the NBC teen series "California Dreams" and surprised herself by landing a lead role.
After one season on "California Dreams," she spent 6 months in Paris studying acting with an American coach and deciding whether to continue acting. "I looked in the mirror and decided to go for it" she says. She returned at age 19, got a new agent, and began doing episodic television and independant films, "to gain as much experience as I could."
In addition to the series "California Dreams", in which she was alsi a lead vocalist, she has appeared on television in "The Burning Zone" (UPN), "Night Stand" (UPN), "Maybe This Time" (ABC/Disney) and the CBS television movie, "Deadly Games." Her feature film credits include BORN BAD, RED MEAT, and THE SISTERHOOD.
Reading the Fame L.A. casting breakdown for the character Suzanne Carson "gave me a rush, because this was what I was looking for - acting and singing in the same role." Despite being a self-characterized "never-give-upper," the three-month audition process was grueling. In the final audition in front of executive producers and the studio president, she was given less than a minute to memorize two pages of lines. She nailed it. "I worked really hard for this role. This is a break for me."
Bio obtained from a Fame L.A. press kit.
Date of birth: August 22, 1973
Daughter of Cheryl Saban, a former Playboy playmate.
Step-daughter of Haim Saban, of Saban Entertainment.
Movies
Au Pair 3: Adventure in Paradise (TV) .... Jenny Morgan Caldwell
Crocodile 2: Death Swamp (2001)
Au Pair II (2001) (TV) .... Jenny Morgan
Final Ascent (2000) (TV) .... Beth
Au Pair (1999) (TV) .... Jenny Morgan
Addams Family Reunion (1998) .... Melinda Adams
Born Bad (1997) .... Laura
Red Meat (1997) .... Mia
Deadly Sins (1995) .... Marie
"Honeybee Hutch" (1994) TV Series .... Haley
Menendez: A Killing in Beverly Hills (1994) (TV) .... Gail
Blindfold: Acts of Obsession (1994) (TV) .... Young Girl
Shadow of Obsession (1994) (TV) .... Patty Abruzzi
A Quiet Little Neighborhood, a Perfect Little Murder (1990) (TV) .... The Neighbor
Girl Who Came Between Them, The (1990) (TV) .... Betty
TV Series
"California Dreams" (1992) TV Series .... Jenny Garrison
"Fame L.A." (1997) TV Series .... Suzanne Carson
"Eagle Riders" (1996) TV Series (voice) .... Kelly Jenar
"Why Why? Family, The" (1996) TV Series
TV Guest Appearances
"Beverly Hills, 90210" (1990) .... Ellen
"Pretender, The" (1996) .... Shea
"Little Men" (1998) .... Isabelle McGregor
"Zoe, Duncan, Jack & Jane" (1999) .... subway girl
"Pacific Blue" (1996) .... Sheila Brighton
"Silk Stalkings" (1991) .... Sarah
"Night Stand" (1995) .... Chantal Poussay
"Burning Zone, The" (1996) .... Arla McKee
"Maybe This Time" (1995) .... Monique
"Night Stand" (1995) .... Fifi LeBustier
