American actress Wendy Moniz was born on January 19, 1969 in Kansas City, Missouri. Of Portuguese descent, she graduated from Siena College in Loudonville, New York with an English degree in 1991. She got her start in acting in 1995, when she joined the daytime soap Guiding Light. She played the role of Dinah Marler; her introduction in the series saw her go home from studying in Europe, already sophisticated and spoiled, and not willing to reveal that she is, in fact, broke and has dropped out of school. She played the role until 1999.
Her next regular television role was in the police drama Nash Bridges. She joined the show’s last season as Rachel McCabe, a police inspector who falls in love with the title character (Don Johnson), eventually giving up her career to save him when he was being framed. Later in 2001, she joined the cast of the drama series The Guardian, taking on the role of Lulu Archer. She stayed until the series ended its run in 2004. Two years later, she joined yet another drama series, Big Shots; here she played the role of Stacey Walker, the former wife of retail bigwig James Walker (Michael Vartan). The series was cancelled after one season because of negative reviews.