- Born
- Birth nameBethany Joy Lenz
- Nickname
- Joy
- Height5′ 4″ (1.63 m)
- Bethany Joy Lenz was born in Hollywood Florida, an only child of Robert George Lenz (a history teacher and therapist) and Catharine Malcolm Holt Shepard (a personnel manager and entrepreneur). She is best known for her role on - the WB hit One Tree Hill (2003) - as "Haley James Scott", wife to James Lafferty's "Nathan" and childhood mate of Chad Michael Murray's "Lucas".
Prior to One Tree Hill (2003), Bethany spent most of her acting career on the stage. She has called Musical theater her passion, and has performed in various productions of "Annie", "The Wizard of Oz", "Gypsy", "Cinderella", "CATS for Cats" etc...
After moving from Texas to New York, Bethany portrayed "Michelle Bauer Santos" on CBS's Guiding Light (1952). When her two year contract ended there, she left New York and moved to Los Angeles and guest starred on shows like Charmed (1998), Felicity (1998) and The Guardian (2001). She also appeared in Los Angeles stage productions of "The Outsiders" - directed by Arthur Allan Seidelman and "Happy Days" (as Pinky Tuscadero) - directed by Garry Marshall.
After moving from North Carolina (One Tree Hill), Bethany spent a year raising her daughter Maria before taking any more roles. Although she started an internet rotating novel 'Diamond Gothic' with 'Abigail Spencer' and 'JC Coccoli' on 'Hello Giggles.
Bethany came back strong and guest starred on shows like Men at Work (2012) and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000), joined the cast on Sock Monkee Therapy (2013) and Dexter (2006), and got her own TV show Songbyrd (2014). She also joined and performed original songs on Rock the Schools Concert (2012) and recorded several songs in 2012 (Album: 'Then Slowly Grows') and 2013 (Album: 'Your Woman').
She is an accomplished singer with an four-octave range, trained in New York by Richard Barrett, the director of the Brooklyn College of Opera, and in Los Angeles by renowned voice teacher Eric Vetro (Jennifer Garner, John Stamos and Ewan McGregor).- IMDb mini biography by: Envoy Entertainment & Joie de Vivre Prods, Inc.
- SpouseMichael Jacob Galeotti(December 31, 2005 - September 18, 2015) (divorced, 1 child)
- ChildrenMaria Rose Galeotti
- ParentsCatharine Malcolm Holt ShepardRobert George Lenz
- Goes by her middle name "Joy."
- One Tree Hill (2003) costar Shantel VanSanten was in the delivery room when she gave birth to her daughter, Maria.
- Changed her last name from Lenz to Galeotti when she got married. It was reflected on the credits of One Tree Hill (2003). She has changed her name back to Lenz following her split from her husband.
- Took the "Julius Caesar" book her character Haley gives Lucas in season one of One Tree Hill (2003) when the show ended. She had the entire cast and crew sign it.
- Started a podcast with One Tree Hill co-stars, Hilarie Burton Morgan and Sophia Bush, titled "Drama Queens" in 2021.
- I don't party. I'm a total homebody. I like hanging out with my cat and I've actually been known to stay home and knit.
- Joining One Tree Hill (2003) has been: "Like summer camp, only it's really cold in Wilmington, North Carolina! I've never lived in a small town, but I always pictured myself in a small house, drinking lemonade on my porch swing. Now I have the porch!".
- Favorite holiday: Christmas. "It will always be number one on my list. You feel cozy for like two months straight. You sing songs, all the stories look exactly the same. There's no other holiday where everybody decorates. There's a joy and a spirit of excitement that's in the air around Christmastime. It's the best."
- I am not a people person. It's not that I am shy, but I am more comfortable in an atmosphere of one-on-one. I hate crowds and parties.
- That's the exciting thing. I still don't know what I'm going to be. I love acting. I would love to be an English teacher. I would love to be a housewife and have a chateau in the South of France, I would love to be a singer that travels to cafes around different towns. I am loving to live out my life right now and see where it goes, it's exciting.
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