biography

Nancy Valen was raised in Hallandale, Florida and grew up on the beaches of the beautiful, sunny southern Atlantic coast of the United States. By the time she was twelve years old she was spending her summers modeling in New York City. She attended a performing arts high school in Ft. Lauderdale and upon graduating she won a theatrical scholarship to the University of Florida. Valen decided to decline the scholarship and opted to pursue her professional career in Miami. There she attended Broward College where she studied theater and continued modeling and acting to pay for her education.

Valen’s timing couldn’t have been better. Hollywood was making a second home in Florida at that time. She landed a role opposite Jason Gedrick in Orion Pictures’ “The Heavenly Kid.” She was also cast in Fox’s “Porkys Revenge,” and had two guest roles on the wildly popular “Miami Vice.”

Upon graduating college, Valen made a move to New York to further her theatrical career. It didn’t take her long (within a month) to land a series regular role on the day-time drama “Ryan’s Hope.” She stayed with the soap opera for two years before heading west to try her luck in Hollywood.

In Los Angeles, Nancy worked opposite Patrick Dempsey in “Loverboy” and Rod Steiger and Molly Ringwald in “Seven Sundays.” Then came the Television role in NBC’s innovative musical series “Hull High,” where she played the sexy English teacher that sang and danced. This is perhaps her most notable role on television.

Valen used her “Hull High” performance in a demo reel to land the role of Cpt. Samantha Thomas on the world wide television sensation “Baywatch.” She played Mitch’s love interest in the series seventh season which also is the only season she was with the show. Her most recent work has been in the play “How To Go On a Date in Queens” in Los Angeles. Valen lives in the San Fernando Valley with her husband, Nels Van Patten.