Reedy, wistful brunette lead of the 1970s turned versatile character actress of TV in the 80s and 90s. Lenz began as a child actress in local California TV and had played roles on "Ironside", "The Andy Griffith Show" and "The Tammy Grimes Show" before being cast in George Lucas's "American Graffiti" (1973). She enjoyed one of her best-remembered parts that same year when she played a precocious drifter who becomes involved with an older man in Clint Eastwood's third directorial effort, the sensitive if minor "Breezy". Films including "White Line Fever" (1975) and "Moving Violation" (1976), however, did not reinforce her status as a prominent new ingenue, and she began alternating leads with supporting roles later in the decade. Whether playing tough in "Stripped to Kill" (1987) or sexy in the poor country-western drama "Falling from Grace" (1992), Lenz rose above her often middling material, but she was less well-served by "Mean Dog Blues" (1978), and her credits include mostly obscure items like "Fear" (1988) and "Streets" (1990).

Lenz has, however, flourished on TV. She won an Emmy for her work on an ABC Afternoon Playbreak "Heart in Hiding" (1974) and another one 15 years later as an AIDS victim who becomes romantically involved with the nighttime radio host protagonist of "Midnight Caller". Lenz has been prominent in miniseries including the landmark "Rich Man, Poor Man" (1976) and its sequel, and kept busy in lead roles in TV-movies ranging from the horrors of "The Initiation of Sarah" (1978) to the lurid thrills of "Hitler's Daughter" (1990). She was especially good in the supporting role of the gradually humanized dragon lady attorney Maggie Zombro on the NBC drama series "Reasonable Doubts" (1991-93).

  "JAG"
- A Merry Little Christmas (2003) TV Episode .... Judge Smith
Southside (2003/I) .... Claire Coleman
... aka Cock & Bull Story (USA)
"The Agency"
- Coventry (2003) TV Episode .... Police Interrogator
"Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"
... aka Law & Order: SVU (USA: promotional abbreviation)
... aka Special Victims Unit (New Zealand: English title)
- Guilt (2002) TV Episode .... Linda Cavanaugh
"Once and Again"
- Busted (2001) TV Episode .... Stephanie Arlyn
- Armageddon (2001) TV Episode .... Stephanie Arlen
"ER"
- Homecoming (2000) TV Episode .... Karen Palmieri
"The Magnificent Seven"
- Obsession (2000) TV Episode .... Ella Gaines
"Cover Me: Based on the True Life of an FBI Family" (2000) TV Series .... Detective Lisa Ramone
... aka Cover Me (USA: short title)

The Adventures of Ragtime (1998) .... Detective Hill
A Gun, a Car, a Blonde (1997) .... Peep/Madge
Journey of the Heart (1997) (TV) .... Marvelle
"Touched by an Angel"
- The Journalist (1996) TV Episode .... Rocky McCann
"The Tick" (voice) .... American Maid (1994-1997)
- Ants in Pants! (1995) TV Episode (voice) .... American Maid
- Alone Together (1995) TV Episode (voice) .... American Maid
Shame II: The Secret (1995) (TV)
"Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman"
... aka Lois & Clark
... aka The New Adventures of Superman
- Whine, Whine, Whine (1995) TV Episode .... Constance Hunter
Gunfighter's Moon (1995) .... Linda Yarnell
Against Their Will: Women in Prison (1994) (TV) .... Lisa
... aka Against Their Will
... aka Caged Seduction: The Shocking True Story (UK: video title)
Trapped in Space (1994) .... Gillings
"Reasonable Doubts" .... Maggie Zombro (1992-1993)
- Changes of Plans (1992) TV Episode .... Maggie Zombro
- Home to Roost (1992) TV Episode .... Maggie Zombro
- Maggie Finds Her Soul (1992) TV Episode .... Maggie Zombro
- Home Is Where the Heart Is (1992) TV Episode .... Maggie Zombro
- Love Is Strange (1992) TV Episode .... Maggie Zombro
(3 more)
Falling from Grace (1992) .... P.J. Parks
Shakespeare's Plan 12 from Outer Space (1991) .... Viola
Hitler's Daughter (1990) (TV) .... Leona Crawford Gordon
Streets (1990) .... Sargent
"Midnight Caller"
- Nighthawk's Got the Blues (1990) TV Episode (uncredited) .... Tina Cassidy
- Someone to Love (1989) TV Episode .... Tina Cassidy
- After It Happened (1988) TV Episode .... Tina Cassidy
- Conversations with an Assassin (1988) TV Episode .... Tina Cassidy

Private Affairs (1989) (TV) .... Bonnie Green
"Hardball"
- Till Death Do Us Part (1989) TV Episode
Murder by Night (1989) (TV)
Physical Evidence (1989) .... Deborah Quinn
Headhunter (1989) .... Katherine Hall
"Simon & Simon"
- Simon & Simon Jr. (1988) TV Episode .... Melissa
- Second-Story Simons (1987) TV Episode .... Susan Killian
- Almost Foolproof (1985) TV Episode .... Lolita
- Bloodlines (1984) TV Episode .... Kris Caulfield
Fear (1988) .... Sharon Haden
... aka Honor Betrayed
"Houston Knights"
- Home Is Where the Heart Is (1987) TV Episode
Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (1987) .... Karen Sheldon
"Hotel"
... aka Arthur Hailey's Hotel
- And Baby Makes Two (1987) TV Episode .... Gail Matthews
- Reflections (1984) TV Episode .... Mary Morowsky
"Moonlighting"
- Come Back Little Shiksa (1987) TV Episode .... Melissa
Stripped to Kill (1987) .... Detective Cody Sheenan
"Starman"
- The Probe (1987) TV Episode .... Dr. Katherine Bradford
"Charles in Charge"
- The Undergraduate (1987) TV Episode .... Joan Robinson
Heart of the City (1986) (TV)
House (1986) .... Sandy
... aka House: Ding Dong, You're Dead (USA: video title)
"Hunter"
- Scrap Metal (1986) TV Episode .... Alicia Fiori
"Riptide"
- Still Goin' Steady (1985) TV Episode .... Brenda Malloy
"MacGyver"
- Last Stand (1985) TV Episode .... Kelly Nielson
"Murder, She Wrote"
- Armed Response (1985) TV Episode .... Jennie Wells
"Finder of Lost Loves"
- Last Wish (1985) TV Episode .... Ellen Ross
"Matt Houston"
- Stolen (1984) TV Episode .... Cassie Stanley
"The Fall Guy"
- Losers Weepers: Part 1 (1984) TV Episode .... Kim Donnelly
- Losers Weepers: Part 2 (1984) TV Episode .... Kim Donnelly
"Cagney & Lacey"
- Victimless Crime (1984) TV Episode .... Linda Mack
"Magnum, P.I."
- Let the Punishment Fit the Crime (1984) TV Episode .... Sally DeForest
"Hill Street Blues"
- The Other Side of Oneness (1984) TV Episode .... Whitney Barnes
"Whiz Kids"
- Amen to Amen-Re (1984) TV Episode .... Helen Langton
"Scene of the Crime"
- A Very Practical Joke (1984) TV Episode
Trial by Terror (1983)
Prisoners of the Lost Universe (1983) .... Carrie
Fast-Walking (1982) .... Moke
Sekai meisaku dôwa: Hakuchô no mizûmi (1981) (voice) .... Odille
... aka Swan Lake (USA)
The Hustler of Muscle Beach (1980) (TV) .... Jenny O'Rourke
Escape (1980) (TV) .... Barbara Chilcoate

Sanctuary of Fear (1979) (TV) .... Carol Bain
... aka Father Brown, Detective
... aka Girl in the Park
... aka Sanctuary of Death
The Passage (1979) .... Leah Bergson
The Seeding of Sarah Burns (1979) (TV) .... Sarah Burns
Mean Dog Blues (1978) .... Linda Ramsey
"How the West Was Won" (1978) (mini) TV Series .... Doreen
The Initiation of Sarah (1978) (TV) .... Sarah Goodwin
"Rich Man, Poor Man - Book II" (1976) TV Series .... Kate Jordache (1976-1977)
Moving Violation (1976) .... Cam Johnson
The Great Scout & Cathouse Thursday (1976) .... Thursday
... aka Wildcat
"Jigsaw John"
- Eclipse (1976) TV Episode .... Miriam Buckley
"Rich Man, Poor Man" (1976) (mini) TV Series .... Kate Jordache
... aka Rich Man, Poor Man - Book I
"Petrocelli"
- Face of Evil (1975) TV Episode .... Janet/Mary
White Line Fever (1975) .... Jerri Kane Hummer
Journey from Darkness (1975) (TV) .... Sherry Williams
The F.B.I. Story: The FBI Versus Alvin Karpis, Public Enemy Number One (1974) (TV) .... Shirley
... aka Alvin Karpis: Public Enemy No. 1 (USA)
... aka The FBI Story - Alvin Karpis
"Cannon"
- The Avenger (1974) TV Episode .... Sally
"Nakia"
- The Hostage (1974) TV Episode
"McCloud"
- The Barefoot Girls of Bleecker Street (1974) TV Episode .... Eve Randall
"Kodiak"
- Death Chase (1974) TV Episode
The Underground Man (1974) (TV) .... Sue Crandell
"Medical Center"
- The Conspirators (1974) TV Episode .... Kitty
Unwed Father (1974) (TV) .... Vicky Simmons
"Gunsmoke"
... aka Gun Law (UK)
... aka Marshal Dillon (USA: rerun title)
- The Foundling (1974) TV Episode .... Lettie Graham
"Love Story"
- Time for Love (1974) TV Episode .... Sara
The One (1974) (TV) .... Shirley
A Summer Without Boys (1973) (TV) .... Ruth Hailey
Lisa, Bright and Dark (1973) (TV) .... Lisa Schilling
Breezy (1973) .... Edith Alice Breezerman ('Breezy')
"The Streets of San Francisco"
- Harem (1973) TV Episode .... Sarah Holt
American Graffiti (1973) (as Kay Ann Kemper) .... Jane, Girl at Dance
The Weekend Nun (1972) (TV) .... Audree Prewitt
... aka Matter of the Heart
"Ironside"
... aka The Raymond Burr Show (USA: syndication title)
- Cold Hard Cash (1972) TV Episode .... Stephanie

"The Andy Griffith Show"
... aka Andy of Mayberry (USA: rerun title)
- Opie's Group (1967) TV Episode .... Phoebe
"The Monroes"
- Teaching the Tiger to Purr (1967) TV Episode (as Kay Ann Kemper) .... Maudie