REN HANAMI BIOGRAPHY

Ren Hanami (a.k.a. Linda Hanna) was drawn to the magic of entertainment for as long as she can remember. She memorized and imitated all her favorite cartoon characters, songs in the big musicals and leading women of Hollywood films, often putting on shows for family and friends. Her early training came in musical theatre productions, dancing in Disneyland parades and winning many competitions she entered for academics, singing and dancing. Ren entered U.C.L.A. as a vocal performance major, but caught the acting bug after appearing on stage with one of her favorite actors Sir Ian McKellen when he called for volunteers to be part of his one-man show Acting Shakespeare. She was also influenced by one of her musical idols Gene Kelly and character actress Jean Stapleton who gave her words of encouragement during her years at U.C.L.A. She made her professional debut on stage in Flower Drum Song. She made her TV debut and was trained well early on by co-starring opposite seasoned pros like Ed Asner, Tyne Daly, Carl Weathers, Sandy Duncan, Martin Landau and Lee Grant. In the next decade Ren kept up her stage work with award winning productions at East West Players, made her film debut opposite Glenn Close in Airforce One, then ventured into the world of rock music by forming a band called Renworld which performed at The Whiskey A-Go-Go, The Roxy and The Martini Lounge. Ren’s gift for languages and dialects has served her well in acting and become her signature trademark in her voice-over work. She has acted and/or sung in Japanese, French, Thai, German, Korean, Italian, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, Vietnamese, from New York, Hawaii and even Russia! As Ren likes to say, “I know enough to get in trouble in half a dozen countries.” Her greatest love is television so it was an honor and a thrill to come back to TV working with veteran actress and Academy Award winner Sally Field in a recurring role on the award winning television show "ER." Ren has demonstrated her versatility and depth in dramas, comedies and musicals while flowing seamlessly from film to TV to stage to concert halls to radio to interactive media. Her highest praise has come from the amazing directors she has been privileged to work with whose comments include, “Every once in a while you get to work with someone who absolutely shines… She just radiated the kind of attitude that makes you look forward to going to set in the morning. In short, she's a find."—Ed Nammour, Free Market Films; "Your presence alone elevated the production to All-Star.    To me, you are a director's dream."—Scott Viets, Sierra Repertory Theater; "It was a pleasure working with you, Ren. You have enormous range and depth as an actress…” —Chris Hart; “I love your talent, your spirit, and your positive attitude…”—Tom McCoy. Ren’s passion for acting and performing is so contagious, that even her dog has caught the acting bug. After studying Ren act and sing for many years she was well-prepared to take on the role of the King’s dog in a recent stage production of The King and I in which Ren was appearing as Lady Thiang. Read the reviews As far as we know this is “the first ever” production of The King and I to star a live dog!

Ren is the youngest in her family with an older sister (Lisa) and brother (James B.) Her mother (Alice Akimi) is from Kekaha, Kauai and father (James A.) is from Foxburo, Massachusetts. Ren was raised in Huntington Beach, California. She currently considers both Los Angeles and Orange County her home, yet her heart belongs to her Asian Hawaiian heritage.

Other  credits include "The Young and The Restless" for CBS; "General Hospital" for ABC with Stuart Damon; South Pacific at The Hollywood Bowl starring Reba McIntire and Brian Stokes Mitchell and directed by David Lee; McCoy Rigby's My Fair Lady at La Mirada Theatre which garnered two Ovation Awards. She was the computer like voice of the promotions of "The Amazing Race" on CBS, is heard daily by thousands of people as the Doctor in Disney World's INNERVISION attraction at EPCOT Center and seen daily by thousands as the mother in the Tokyo Disneyland’s CIRCLEVISION attraction.

Ren's voice was also featured on "General Hospital" as Kim Chan, the wedding planner extraordinaire and as the translator in the Latin Sphere Hispanic Ethnography project for Disney.

Ren has two CDs available on CDBaby.com. You can purchase the rock techno pop EP entitled "Alien" at http://cdbaby.com/cd/renhanami1, and the mellow pop CD entitled "Private Island" at http://cdbaby.com/cd/renhanami2. Single songs can be downloaded from iTunes.

More info on Myspace.com/renworldband

Updated May 2008