Rick Lenz was born on November 21, 1939 in Springfield, Illinois. He was a popular football player in High School but quit because he kept breaking bones. He was very tall and very thin and constantly got hurt while playing. Once he was off the football team he no longer had all the attention from the girls in school any longer so he joined the drama club and began acting in school plays. His sensitivity and charm in the plays made him popular with the girls again.
After high school he attended the University of Michigan where he earned a degree in theater in 1964. While in college he began working at the Civic Theater in Jackson, Michigan. He directed the theater for two years before he decided to move to NYC to seek out work as an actor.
Not long after relocating to NYC he landed his first role on Broadway, in “Mating Dance”. The show was a disaster and closed on opening night. Despite the show closing opening night, stage impresario David Merrick was in the audience and impressed by the young actor. He cast Lenz as the understudy for the character Igor in the new play “Cactus Flower”. He remained understudy for over a year in the smash hit play, before the original actor left the play and Lenz took over the part. The play continued to do amazing. Film producer Mike Frankovich and Walter Matthau decided to offer him the same role in the film version being made, as they felt he was perfect as Igor and his style and looks would be great for the big screen. He took the role and would star opposite Goldie Hawn, who was cast over the stage actress (as was Ingrid Bergman over Lauren Bacall).
In 1968 he guest starred in 4 episodes of “Green Acres”, while also filming Cactus Flower the film, and also made a TV movie, “Doc”, that aired in 1969. “Cactus Flower” came out in 1969 and was a massive hit, commercially and critically. After the success of “Cactus Flower”, he was cast in a handful of theatrical films and tv guest spots in the 1970s. By 1980 his film career completely died, and his career was relegated to TV Guest spots and a few TV movies throughout the decade. He also did a couple of small plays. Because of this he changed career paths and began writing. He became a screenwriter (writing 3 episodes of Aloha Paradise in 1981 and 1 episode of The Love Boat in 1982) and a play writer, writing small plays he would star in.
In the 1990s-200s he continued writing and doing small plays as well as TV guest spots and a couple of TV movies. He had since written a few books, one being a memoir.
In 1982 he married his wife (who he is still married to). They have 3 children together, 2 sons and a daughter. In 2017 they moved to LA full time but still visit NYC when they can.