# Kay Lenz

Kay Ann Lenz (born March 4, 1953) is an American actress. She is the recipient of a Daytime Emmy Award and a Primetime Emmy Award, as well as nominations for a Golden Globe Award and a Saturn Award.
Lenz is best known for her title role in the film Breezy (1973), for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer – Female. She is also known for her roles in the film House (1985), as well as the television series Midnight Caller (1988–1989) and Reasonable Doubts (1991–1993). For her role in the episode "After It Happened" of Midnight Caller, she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series. She started her career with the stage name Kay Ann Kemper, switching to Kay Lenz after her third role, a brief appearance in American Graffiti (filmed in 1972).

## Early years

Lenz was born in Los Angeles, California, to Ted Lenz, an actor and producer, and Kay Miller Lenz, who worked as a radio engineer and professional model. Her television debut was as a baby, held by a guest on a program that her father produced.

## Career

Lenz began working as a child actress, beginning with appearances in three episodes of This Is the Life when she was 14. She went on to appear in such television shows as The Andy Griffith Show (in the episode "Opie's Group" (1967) under the stage name Kay Ann Kemper) as well as in stage productions. She made a brief appearance billed as Kay Ann Kemper in American Graffiti (1973) as Jane, a girl at a dance. She achieved recognition for her title-role performance as the free spirit who captivates William Holden in Breezy (1973), directed by Clint Eastwood.
Lenz made guest appearances in The Streets of San Francisco, Gunsmoke, MacGyver, McCloud, Cannon, and Petrocelli, and played a lead role in the film White Line Fever (1975) before being cast in 1976 in the miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man, for which she was nominated for an Emmy Award. She reprised her role for the sequel, Rich Man, Poor Man Book II (1977). Since the 1980s, she has played guest roles in numerous television series. She appeared in Albert Brooks' short film for a Season 1 episode of Saturday Night Live.
In 1984, she appeared in Rod Stewart's music video for the song "Infatuation". She won a Primetime Emmy Award in 1989 for Midnight Caller. She was also nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards for her role as flinty lawyer Maggie Zombro in the police/legal drama Reasonable Doubts.

## Personal life

Lenz was the first wife of singer-actor David Cassidy. Of their April 3, 1977, marriage, Lenz says:
   I wasn’t used to that state-of-stardom lifestyle... When we eloped it was on the national news. All of a sudden I was getting mail from women telling me that they had three of his children.
The couple divorced on December 28, 1983.
In November 2018, Lenz and her partner, Dr. Mark Brown, MD, lost their home in the Woolsey Fire in Malibu, California.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1973 | American Graffiti | Jane | as Kay Ann Kemper |
| 1973 | Breezy | Edith Alice Breezerman | Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer - Female |
| 1973 | Lisa, Bright and Dark | Lisa Schilling | |
| 1975 | White Line Fever | Jerri Kane Hummer | |
| 1976 | Moving Violation | Cam Johnson | |
| 1976 | The Great Scout & Cathouse Thursday | Thursday | |
| 1978 | Mean Dog Blues | Linda Ramsey | |
| 1979 | The Passage | Leah Bergson | |
| 1981 | Swan Lake | Odille | Voice role |
| 1982 | Fast-Walking | "Little" Moke | |
| 1983 | Prisoners of the Lost Universe | Carrie Madison | |
| 1983 | Trial by Terror | Karen Armstrong | |
| 1985 | House | Sandy Sinclair | Nominated — Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress |
| 1987 | Death Wish 4: The Crackdown | Karen Sheldon | |
| 1987 | Stripped to Kill | Detective Cody Sheenan | |
| 1988 | Fear | Sharon Haden | |
| 1989 | Headhunter | Katherine Hall | |
| 1989 | Physical Evidence | Deborah Quinn | |
| 1990 | Streets | Sargent | |
| 1991 | Shakespeare's Plan 12 from Outer Space | Sebastian | |
| 1992 | Falling From Grace | P.J. Parks | |
| 1994 | Trapped in Space | Gillings | |
| 1995 | Gunfighter's Moon | Linda Yarnell | |
| 1995 | Shame II: The Secret | Ginny | Nominated — CableACE Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Movie or Miniseries |
| 1997 | A Gun, a Car, a Blonde | Peep/Madge | |
| 1998 | The Adventures of Ragtime | Detective Hill | |
| 2003 | Southside | Claire Coleman | |
| 2013 | The Secret Lives of Dorks | Mrs. Susie Gibson | |
| 2017 | The Downside of Bliss | Mary | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1967 | The Andy Griffith Show | Phoebe (but mistakenly credited as Joy) | Episode: "Opie's Group" (as Kay Ann Kemper) |
| 1967 | The Monroes | Maudie Buchner | Episode: "Teaching The Tigers to Purr" (as Kay Ann Kemper) |
| 1972 | Ironside | Stephanie Tucker | Episode: "Cold Hard Cash" |
| 1972 | The Weekend Nun | Audree | ABC Movie of the Week |
| 1973 | Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law | Lucy | Episode: "A Girl Named Tham" |
| 1973 | A Summer Without Boys | Ruth Hailey | ABC Movie of the Week |
| 1973 | The Streets of San Francisco | Sarah Holt | Episode: "Harem" |
| 1974 | Love Story | Sara | Episode: "Time for Love" |
| 1974 | Gunsmoke | Lettie | Episode: "The Foundling" |
| 1974 | The ABC Afternoon Playbreak | Dorie | Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Special for episode: "Heart in Hiding" |
| 1974 | Unwed Father | Vicky Simmons | ABC Movie of the Week |
| 1974 | Nakia | Barbara | Episode: "The Hostage" |
| 1974 | Kodiak | | Episode: "Death Chase " |
| 1974 | McCloud | Eve Randall | Episode: "Barefoot Girls of Bleeker Street" |
| 1974 | Medical Center | Kitty Palumbo | Episode: "The Conspirators" |
| 1974 | The Underground Man | Sue Crandell | TV movie |
| 1974 | The F.B.I. Story: The FBI Versus Alvin Karpis, Public Enemy Number One | Shirley | TV movie |
| 1974 | Cannon | Sally | Episode: "The Avenger" |
| 1974 | The One | Shirley | TV movie |
| 1975 | Journey from Darkness | Sherry Williams | TV movie |
| 1975 | Petrocelli | Janet / Mary Wade | Episode: "Face of Evil" |
| 1976 | Rich Man, Poor Man | Kate Jordache | Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie |
| 1976 | The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson | Self | 1 episode |
| 1976 | Jigsaw John | Miriam Buckley | Episode: "Eclipse" |
| 1977 | Rich Man, Poor Man Book II | Kate Jordache | Miniseries |
| 1978 | How The West Was Won | Doreen | 3 episodes |
| 1978 | The Initiation of Sarah | Sarah Goodwin | TV movie |
| 1979 | Good Morning America | Self | Episode dated 24 July 1979 |
| 1979 | The Seeding of Sarah Burns | Sarah Burns | TV movie |
| 1979 | Sanctuary Of Fear | Carol Bain | TV pilot for unmade series, starring Barnard Hughes |
| 1980 | Escape | Barbara Chilcoate | TV movie |
| 1980 | The Hustler of Muscle Beach | Jenny O’Rourke | TV movie |
| 1982 | Insight | L.J. | Episode: "Matchpoint" |
| 1984 | Whiz Kids | Helen Langton | Episode: "Amen to Amen-Re" |
| 1984 | Hill Street Blues | Whitney Barnes | Episode: "The Other Side of Oneness" |
| 1984–1988 | Simon & Simon | Kris Caulfield/Lolita | 4 episodes |
| 1984–1987 | Hotel | Gail Matthews/Mary Morowsky | 2 episodes |
| 1984 | Magnum P.I. | Sally DeForest | Episode: "Let the Punishment Fit the Crime" |
| 1984 | The Fall Guy | Kim Donnelly | Episodes: "Losers Weepers" (Pts 1 and 2) |
| 1984 | Cagney & Lacey | Linda Mack | Episode: "Victimless Crime" |
| 1984 | Matt Houston | Cassie Stanley | Episode: "Stolen" |
| 1985 | Murder She Wrote | Nurse Jennie Wells | Episode: "Armed Response" |
| 1985 | Finder of Lost Loves | Ellen Ross | Episode: "Last Wish" |
| 1985 | Riptide | Brenda Malloy | Episode: "Still Goin' Steady" |
| 1985 | MacGyver | Kelly Neilson | Episode: "Last Stand" |
| 1986 | Heart of the City | Kathy Priester | 2 episodes |
| 1986 | Hunter | Alicia Fiori | Episode: "Scrap Metal" |
| 1987 | Mr. Belvedere | Sharon Rogers | Season 3 Episode #18: "Kevin's Older Woman" |
| 1987 | Charles in Charge | Joan Robinson | Episode: "The Undergraduate" |
| 1987 | Houston Knights | Elizabeth | Episode: "Home Is Where the Heart Is" |
| 1987 | Starman | Dr. Katherine Bradford | Episode: "The Probe" |
| 1987 | Moonlighting | Melissa | Episode: "Come Back Little Shiksa" |
| 1988 | Midnight Caller | Tina Cassidy | 3 episodes Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series (1989) Nominated —Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series (1990) |
| 1989 | Hardball | Connie Villanova | Episode: "Till Death Do Us Part" |
| 1989 | ABC Afterschool Special | Bonnie Green | Episode: "Private Affairs" |
| 1989 | Murder by Night | Karen Hicks | TV movie |
| 1991 | Reasonable Doubts | Maggie Zombro | Recurring role (season 1); main role (season 2); 32 episodes Viewers for Quality Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Quality Drama Series (1993) Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (1993) |
| 1992–1993 | Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa | Cowlamity Kate Cudster | Voice role |
| 1993 | An Evening at the Improv | Self-Host | Episode #12.8 |
| 1994 | The Tick | American Maid | Voice role; 25 episodes |
| 1995 | Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman | Constance Hunter | Episode: "Whine Whine Whine" |
| 1996 | Touched by an Angel | Rocky McCann | Episode: "The Journalist" |
| 1997 | Journey of the Heart | Marvelle | Television film |
| 1999 | Mysteries and Scandals | self | Episode about William Holden |
| 2000 | ER | Karen Palmieri | Episode: "Homecoming" |
| 2000 | The Magnificent Seven | Ella Gaines | Episode: "Obsession" |
| 2000–2001 | Cover Me | Lisa Ramone | 2 episodes |
| 2001 | Once and Again | Stephanie Arlen | 2 episodes |
| 2002 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Linda Cavanaugh | Episode: "Guilt" |
| 2003 | The Agency | Police Interrogator | Episode: "Coventry" |
| 2003 | JAG | Judge Smith | Episode: "A Merry Little Christmas" |
| 2007 | House, M.D. | Mrs Bradberry | Episode: "Alone" |
| 2008 | NCIS | Connie Quinn Wheeler | Episode: "Silent Night" |
| 2009 | Cold Case | Hillary Rhodes | Episode: "November 22" |
| 2010 | The Closer | Mrs Tatem | Episode: "In Custody" |
| 2011 | Southland | Naomi Chester | Episode: "Fixing a Hole" |
| 2013 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Laura Sidle | Episode: "Forget Me Not" |
| 2014 | Bones | Harriet White | Episode: "Big in the Philippines" |
| 2015 | Adventure Time | Bird Woman/Gunther | Voice role; 1 episode |