Born on October 1, 1974 in Dayton, Ohio, Sherri Saum is a Daytime Emmy-nominated actress who is best known for her role as Vanessa Hart on the soap Sunset Beach, where she stayed throughout its run. She was discovered during high school, when she was modeling mostlyu during summer breaks. Specifically, she was spotted at a Model Search America convention near her hometown in Kettering, Ohio. Soon, she decided to move to new York and work full time with a New York-based modeling agency called Images Management. As she was in her high school’s drama club, Saum shifted to acting, as she started auditioning for roles in film and television. She eventually landed her first major role in a television series, as a regular in the soap Sunset Beach during its two-year run from 1997 to 1999. This was followed by a string of shows, including Showtime’s Beggars and Choosers from 1999 to 2000, Charmed in 2001, and she landed the role of Natalie on the FX series Rescue Me. In 2009, she was cast in the HBO series In Treatment as Bess, Oliver’s mother who is set to divorce his dad.