Karen Leigh was born in Manhattan, New York City. Brenda Kennedy-Smith, her Irish/English mother was birthed in Maidstone, Kent; the south of England. As a teen, Brenda migrated to London, where she b ...Show More
Karen Leigh was born in Manhattan, New York City. Brenda Kennedy-Smith, her Irish/English mother was birthed in Maidstone, Kent; the south of England. As a teen, Brenda migrated to London, where she became a top ten model, posing before the Queen of England and appearing in magazines such as Vogue and Bizarre. During WWII, Brenda met Karen's father, Morton, and soon after they were married. The young couple voyaged by boat to New York City to meet his Ashkenazi Russian immigrant parents. Morton became an executive for MGM during the heyday era, contributing to films such as The Sound of Music, and was later transferred to Los Angeles when Karen was seven.Surrounded by the creative world of entertainment during her adolescent years, Karen studied music, dramatic arts and wrote her first science fiction screenplay by the age of 14. A multi-instrumentalist, she was featured as a solo artist in school concerts, performing duets with her music professor. After her parent's divorce, her mother moved the children to Scottsdale Arizona, where Karen focused her high school years on the dramatic arts and English. By 20, she moved back to California as an aspiring actress/screenwriter and studied film and theater at UC Davis. During her senior year of college, Karen had her only child, Samantha.As a young single parent, she garnered her first break, becoming on-air talent for a local radio station, before moving on to major radio stations such as 104.5 KFOG in San Francisco and 97.1 KLSX in Los Angeles. Additionally, she hosted a TV program as an Entertainment Reporter, working her way into being a commercial actress, a voice-over artist, and later a syndicated comedy radio show and writer. Karen soon expanded, becoming a San Francisco-based live concert Director for a local music TV program (MV8), in addition to Hosting the show. She later landed a bit role in David Zucker's The Naked 33 1/3, Directed by her older brother, Peter Segal.Karen continued to hone her craft as a Screenwriter, as well as her training as a Film Editor. She landed an editor position on a feature - Lewis and Clark and George (Rose McGowen) working closely with Director/writer Rod McCall and Film Editor Ed Marx. From there, Karen contributed to many network and cable television shows as a Director, Writer, Producer and Editor. Providing a private French School education for her daughter, she found that Editing gave her the most regular hours, optimizing her dedication as a responsible parent.Spirituality is the core foundation in her life. In gratitude for her gifts, she generously devotes her time to helping others and is developing a non-profit foundation.Karen has been cast in the role of Office Manager in for the sit-com, Prison Doc.A devout humanitarian and multi-faceted creative artist, Karen continues to write scripts, screenplays and songs, seeking to fulfill her goal in order to elevate and enrich the lives of the human family. Hide
K.L. Segal'S roles
