Born in Memphis and raised in Philadelphia, Wendy started making student films in the summer of 1969 and began acting because she wanted to be able to write for and direct other actors. She discovered a love of acting that became a lifetime commitment, but only turned into a full-time pursuit when Jonathan Demme came to town to follow up his Academy Award with a groundbreaking drama about AIDS starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington. Although she ended up on the cutting room floor of the movie "Philadelphia," the experience gave her a SAG card and convinced her that it was time to leave behind her career as an arts administrator and a published writer. Her short stories have been included in several anthologies, including "Death on a Cold Night," "Death and a Cup of Tea," "Thoroughly Modern Monsters," and "Immanence." And, although she grew up there, she does not have a Philadelphia accent - but she can do one on request.
On the cutting room floor of a number of big movies (joining the unofficial Kevin Costner Nonappearance Film Club), including Jonathan Demmes "Philadelphia," Jake Kasdans "Walk Hard," and Paul Haggis "In the Valley of Elah".
