# Kay Lenz
**Kay Lenz** (born Kay Ann Lenz in 1953, in Los Angeles, California) is an American actress who began performing as a child, won a Golden Globe nomination for her title role in *Breezy* (1973), and later built a career in television drama, winning a Primetime Emmy Award for *Midnight Caller* in 1989.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001464/bio/) • [2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/kay-lenz)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1953, Los Angeles, California; birth name Kay Ann Lenz[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001464/bio/) |
| Early start | First appeared on television at eight weeks old, on a show produced by her father, Ted Lenz[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001464/bio/) |
| Breakthrough | Title role in *Breezy* (1973), directed by Clint Eastwood; Golden Globe nomination as Most Promising Newcomer[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001464/bio/) |
| Emmy record | 5 Primetime Emmy nominations and 1 win: Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series, 1989, for *Midnight Caller*[2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/kay-lenz) |
| Signature TV roles | Kate Jordache in *Rich Man, Poor Man* (1976), Maggie Zombro in *Reasonable Doubts* (1991–1993), American Maid in *The Tick* (1994–1997)[3](https://www.tvsa.co.za/actors/viewactor.aspx?actorid=9760) |
| Marriage | Married singer-actor David Cassidy on April 3, 1977; divorced December 28, 1983; no children[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001464/bio/) |
| Recent work | *More Beautiful for Having Been Broken* (2019), *Sallywood* (2024)[4](https://www.fandango.com/people/kay-lenz-390110) |
## Childhood and early career
Lenz grew up in a Los Angeles show business family. Her father, Ted Lenz, was a producer and commentator, and her mother, Kay Miller Lenz, was a model and radio engineer. At eight weeks old she appeared on her first television program, produced by her father, as a baby being held up and sung to, and she continued to appear in his shows and commercials throughout her childhood.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001464/bio/) A press biography for the film *House* adds a detail from the other side of the family's work: while her father produced the *Al Jarvis Hollywood on Television* show, guest singer Dottie O'Brien held the infant Lenz on camera while singing a lullaby.[5](https://s1.thcdn.com/design-assets/documents/arrowfilms/House.pdf)
As a teenager she acted on stage at the [Pasadena Playhouse](https://www.edgepedia.org/pasadena-playhouse), making her stage debut at age 13 in a production of *Dark of the Moon*, and moved into television in 1967 using the stage name Kay Ann Kemper, with episodes of the religious series *This Is the Life*. She went on to appear on *The Monroes* and *The Andy Griffith Show* before returning to theater work.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001464/bio/) Acting was not her only teenage pursuit: she rode on the local rodeo circuit, and at 17 she chose between a rodeo career and an acting career, choosing acting.[5](https://s1.thcdn.com/design-assets/documents/arrowfilms/House.pdf)
## Film work in the 1970s
**American Graffiti and Breezy.** Lenz made her feature film debut in [George Lucas](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-lucas)'s *American Graffiti* (1973), playing Jane and credited onscreen as Kay Ann Kemper; the [American Film Institute](https://www.edgepedia.org/american-film-institute)'s catalog records her among the actors making their feature film debuts in the picture.[6](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/54306) Later that year [Clint Eastwood](https://www.edgepedia.org/clint-eastwood) cast her in the title role of *Breezy*, opposite William Holden, as a free-spirited young woman who has an affair with a much older businessman. She earned a Golden Globe nomination as Most Promising Newcomer for the role.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001464/bio/)
She followed with a run of 1970s films including *White Line Fever* (1975), *The Great Scout & Cathouse Thursday* (1976), *Moving Violation* (1976), *Mean Dog Blues* (1978), and *The Passage* (1979).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001464/bio/) In television movies of the same period she repeatedly played the title character, in *Lisa, Bright and Dark* (1973), *The Initiation of Sarah* (1978), and *The Seeding of Sarah Burns* (1979).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001464/bio/)
## Television career and awards
Lenz's television work brought her the awards for which she is best known. The Television Academy's database lists five Primetime Emmy nominations and one win: a 1976 nomination for Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actress for *Rich Man, Poor Man* on ABC, the 1989 win as Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for playing Tina Cassidy in *Midnight Caller* on NBC, a further *Midnight Caller* nomination in 1990, and two nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 1992 and 1993 for playing defense attorney Maggie Zombro in *Reasonable Doubts*.[2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/kay-lenz) She also won a Daytime Emmy Award for her performance in a 1974 episode of *The ABC Afternoon Playbreak*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001464/bio/)
Her series roles extended across genre television. She voiced American Maid in the animated series *[The Tick](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-tick-1994-tv-series)* from 1994 to 1997, appearing in 18 episodes, and made guest appearances in shows including *Hill Street Blues*, *Magnum, P.I.*, *Cagney & Lacey*, *Moonlighting*, *ER*, *JAG*, *Cold Case*, *NCIS*, and *Bones*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001464/bio/) • [3](https://www.tvsa.co.za/actors/viewactor.aspx?actorid=9760)
## Later film work
From the 1980s onward Lenz worked steadily as a character actress. Her film roles included an adulterous wife in the prison drama *Fast-Walking* (1982), Sandy Sinclair, the ex-wife of [William Katt](https://www.edgepedia.org/william-katt)'s character, in the haunted-house thriller *House* (1985), the girlfriend of [Charles Bronson](https://www.edgepedia.org/charles-bronson)'s vigilante in *Death Wish 4: The Crackdown* (1987), a woman terrorized by escaped convicts in *Fear* (1988), a mobster's wife in *Physical Evidence* (1989), [John Mellencamp](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-mellencamp)'s lover in *Falling from Grace* (1992), and the ex-wife of Lance Henriksen's gunfighter in *Gunfighter's Moon* (1995).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001464/bio/) A Polish filmography profile adds that in the 1980s she turned down roles offered by Woody Allen, Adrian Lyne, and Tim Burton.[7](https://www.filmweb.pl/person/Kay%2BLenz-56675/biography)
Her later screen credits include reuniting with William Katt as harried parents in the high school comedy *The Secret Lives of Dorks* (2013) and a co-starring role in the drama *More Beautiful for Having Been Broken* (2019); the Fandango filmography lists *Sallywood* (2024) as her most recent film.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001464/bio/) • [4](https://www.fandango.com/people/kay-lenz-390110) In 2026 she was announced as part of the cast of Honey Lauren's drama *Mistake*, screening at New Filmmakers Los Angeles.[8](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001464/news/)
## Personal life
Lenz married the singer and actor [David Cassidy](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-cassidy), whom she had met on a blind date, on April 3, 1977, about three months after they met; the marriage ended in divorce on December 28, 1983, and the couple had no children.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001464/bio/) An Associated Press birthday listing dated 2025 described her as a 72-year-old actor, indicating she was living at that date.[9](https://apnews.com/article/7392f1e2012affe18c4f21a2c6cf25ee)
## References
1. [Kay Lenz – Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001464/bio/)
2. [Kay Lenz – Emmy Awards and Nominations, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/kay-lenz)
3. [Kay Lenz, TVSA](https://www.tvsa.co.za/actors/viewactor.aspx?actorid=9760)
4. [Kay Lenz List of All Movies & Filmography, Fandango](https://www.fandango.com/people/kay-lenz-390110)
5. [House press kit, Arrow Films](https://s1.thcdn.com/design-assets/documents/arrowfilms/House.pdf)
6. [American Graffiti (1973), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/54306)
7. [Kay Lenz – Biography, Filmweb](https://www.filmweb.pl/person/Kay%2BLenz-56675/biography)
8. [Kay Lenz – News, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001464/news/)
9. [Celebrity birthdays for the week of March 2-8, Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/7392f1e2012affe18c4f21a2c6cf25ee)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames Le to L*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license