Education
New York University; University of Michigan.
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Rick Lenz
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Educated at the University of Michigan and New York University, Lenz directed the Jackson, Michigan Civic Theater for two years before going to New York to seek work as an actor. In 1965, at the age of 25, he made his Broadway debut in Mating Dance, starring Van Johnson. The show closed on opening night, but it was Lenz’s big break.
Stage producer David Merrick was in the audience and soon afterward cast him in the Broadway hit, Cactus Flower as understudy to the juvenile lead, Igor Sullivan.
Lenz later took over the role and played it for a year. Film producer Mike Frankovich and Walter Matthau saw him in the part and cast him as Igor in the movie version of Cactus Flower (1969).
In the 1970s, Rick Lenz appeared in several Hollywood movies, including Scandalous John, Where Does lieutenant Hurt?, The Shootist, Melvin and Howard and How Do I Love Thee?
Lenz wrote The Epic of Buster Friend, which was produced off-Broadway in 1973 at the Theatre De Lys (now the Lucille Lortel Theatre) in New York City, and was later directed for Public Broadcasting Service by Michael Kahn. In 1981, he co-wrote the pilot of the American Broadcasting Company television series Aloha Paradise, as well writing several of the episodes.
Lenz published his memoir North of Hollywood on February 15, 2012.
Lenz resides in Los Angeles with his spouse, Linda. He has three children.
