Career
She starred in Wishmaster, portraying Alexandra Amberson, a young woman who accidentally awakens the Djinn, a powerful spirit more commonly known as a genie. As a child actress, Lauren"s acting debut was in the role of Melissa Turner on the one-season 1978 television series Who"s Watching the Kids, in which she co-starred with Scott Baio, followed by stints on the short-lived sitcoms Out of the Blue and Angie, the following year. Lauren"s television guest appearances included such series as Mork & Mindy, Fantasy Island, The Facts of Life, Family Ties, and Little House on the Prairie.
Lauren co-starred with Elliott Gould and a young Rick Schroder in Disney"s The Last Flight of Noah"s Arkansas
(The latter two paired her with Shawnee Smith)
Among television fans, Lauren may be best known from the 1990s for her role as Ginger Szabo on Homefront, a series set in post-World World War II Ohio. Lauren has also enjoyed recurring roles on Home Improvement and Wanda at Large (as Wanda"s sister in-law).
She appeared in the first five episodes of Martial Law with Sammo Hung. She also appeared in two episodes of Walker, Texas Ranger ("99th Ranger" and "A Father"s Image") and appeared in an episode of MacGyver ("Nightmares").
She appears in Mad City (1997) with Dustin Hoffman and John Travolta, among several other theatrical releases.
Wishmaster (1997) is the only feature film in which Lauren has played a starring role. More recently, she appeared on Two and a Half Men as Shannon in the episode "Aunt Myra Doesn"t Pee a Lot" (2007). In 2014, she appeared on Criminal Minds as Liz Foley.
Personal life
Lauren was born Tammy Lauren Vasquez in San Diego, California.
Her mother is Suzanne Bledsoe, a talent manager. Her stepfather was director Charles Jarrott.
Lauren is married to actor Guri Weinberg, son of the Israeli wrestling coach Moshe Weinberg.