Biography of Bethany Joy Lenz

Bethany Joy Galeotti was born as Bethany Joy Lenz on April 2, 1981 in Hollywood, Florida, U.S., is an American actress, musician, director, writer, and producer.

Galeotti is best known for her on screen portrayals of Michelle Bauer Santos on Guiding Light (from 1998 to 2000) and Haley James Scott on One Tree Hill. Furthermore, Galeotti is recognized for her music as a solo artist and as member of the band Everly.

Galeotti is an only child to Robert Lenz, a history teacher and therapist, and Cathie, a personnel manager and entrepreneur. Her grandfather George Lenz, was a regular on the Broadway stage in the 1950s and 1960s in musicals Wish You Were Here and South Pacific among many others.

Following after her grandfather, Galeotti began her singing career with a performance at the age of three in The Carpenter’s Church in Lakeland, Florida. At the age of four, Galeotti and her family moved to Arlington, Texas and as she attended Pope Elementary she attended Creative Arts Theater and School, where she took dance, tap, jazz, acting and theater classes.

Moreover, she performed a twenty minute soliloquy entitled High HopeS and Heavy Sweatshirts in an intimate setting in a Dallas museum. At the age of seven she landed her first stage role playing a Munchkin in a local production of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Three years later Galeotti played Scout in the production of To Kill a Mockingbird at the Irving Community Theater in Texas.

She then moved again at the age of 13 to the small town of Ridgewood, New Jersey where she attended Hawthorne Christian Academy for her high school years. Galeotti is very close to both her parents Bob and Cathi Lenz.

Galeotti has been working steadily as an actress since the age of twelve. She landed her first professional job in a commercial for an American syndicated teen drama series entitled Swans Crossing during a trip to Los Angeles with her drama school. Galeotti continued to garner experience at a young age by landing lead roles in various staged productions like Annie, Cinderella and Gypsy: A Musical Fable.

Consequently at the age of thirteen Galeotti moved with her family to New Jersey where she attended the Hawthorne Christian Academy for a year and began auditioning aggressively for television roles. She became a commercial veteran appearing in commercials for Eggo Waffles, Dr Pepper among many others. By her sophomore year in high school Galeotti appeared in her first film. Her performance in Stephen King’s Thinner was well-noted in reviews, particularly in the Associated Press where a critic states that, “one of the highlights of the film was a joy — Joy Lenz.”

In March 1998 at the age of seventeen, Galeotti earned a nine episode gig as the teenage clone of Reva Shayne Lewis on CBS’s soap opera Guiding Light. Galeotti made a positive impression on viewers, critics and Guiding Light executives alike and was later recast as Michelle Bauer Santos upon Rebecca Budig’s exit. This was an unusual move and “unheard of” in the industry according to CBS producer Mickey Dwyer-Dobbin.

In the summer of 2009, Galeotti teamed with her husband, Enation band member Michael Galeotti and in-laws to open Galeotti’s. The Galeotti family has lived in Battle Ground, Washington for over ten years and was highly enthusiastic to bring their vision of an excellent restaurant with a cozy family feel. Bethany Joy Galeotti is the head owner of the new restaurant which occupies the space in downtown Battle Ground that formerly housed Irby’s Fine Dining at 801 E. Main st. The restaurant focuses on healthful, organic, locally sourced foods, and uses eco-friendly materials and supplies whenever possible.

Galeotti married Enation band member Michael Galeotti on December 31, 2005. On 23 February 2011, they announced the arrival of their daughter Maria Rose Galeotti. When she is not filming One Tree Hill, Galeotti lives in Battle Ground, Washington where she, her husband and his family own a restaurant. Recently, Galeotti has become heavily involved in Love146, a non-profit international human rights organization that works toward the abolition of child sex trafficking and exploitation. Galeotti has gone on record a number of times defending her privacy, and demonstrating dis-satisfaction with the “Gossip Epidemic”.