Life and career
Penny was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and raised in Chatsworth, California, the daughter of former Western Swing bandleader and comedian Hank Penny and his wife, Shari. [2] She began performing when she was three years old singing "My Little Pony" during her father's concert. [2] She made her screen debut playing the supporting role in the made-for-television movie The Night Rider (1979) starring David Selby, Kim Cattrall and Hildy Brooks. She performed as Lucy Van Pelt in the 1981 television special It's Magic, Charlie Brown and also that year appeared in the Primetime Emmy Award-nominated television movie Through the Magic Pyramid. [2] She played Tessa Dahl in the television film The Patricia Neal Story (1981) starring Glenda Jackson and Peg Adams in The Capture of Grizzly Adams (1982). At the 4th Youth in Film Awards, Penny received two Best Young Actress in a Movie Made for Television nominations for this performances, as well one Best Young Actress in a Television Special nomination for The Circle Family. [3] She later guest-starred on Fame , T. J. Hooker , St. Elsewhere and The Twilight Zone .
In 1983, Penny played Young Meggie Cleary in the miniseries The Thorn Birds . For her performance she won Best Young Actress in a Movie Made for Television at the 5th Youth in Film Awards. [4] In 1985, she starred as Megan Wheeler in the Western film Pale Rider directed by Clint Eastwood, released on June 26, 1985. [5] For this performance she was awarded a Young Artist Award for Exceptional Performance By a Young Actress - Motion Picture at the 7th Youth in Film Awards in December 1985. [6] The following year, Penny went to star in the science fiction family film Hyper Sapien: People from Another Star distributed by Tri-Star Pictures. She starred as Danielle 'Dani' Collins-Griffin in the syndicated sitcom The New Gidget from 1986 to 1988. She later played the role of Bernadette Soubirous in the French drama film Bernadette (1988) and its sequel The Passion of Bernadette (1990) both directed by Jean Delannoy. She starred alongside Sophia Loren in the Italian drama film Running Away (1989), and opposite Malcolm McDowell in the Switzerland-filmed thriller film In the Eye of the Snake (1990). [7] [8] In 1991 she appeared in the made-for-television horror film Child of Darkness, Child of Light .
In 1992, Penny made her daytime television debut playing the role of B.J. Walker in the NBC soap opera, Santa Barbara appearing on show to its finale in 1993. For her performance, she received Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series nomination. [9] She played the role of Julia Santos Keefer on the ABC soap opera All My Children , from 1993 to 1996, with guest appearances in 1997 and 2002 and returned to the show in 2005. Penny left the show in May 2008 when Julia was killed off. She received Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series nomination in 1995. [10] She returned to film starring in independent productions Hearts Adrift (1996), Enchanted (1998) and The Pawn. From 1998 to 1999, Penny starred alongside Mark-Paul Gosselaar in the WB drama series, Hyperion Bay . In 1999 she took the role of Meg Cummings in the NBC soap opera Sunset Beach replacing Susan Ward for one month during her filming the movie The In Crowd . The serial's creator, Aaron Spelling, was impressed with Penny's portrayal of Meg so he cast her in another series he created. She had a recurring role as Josie Oliver during the final season of Beverly Hills, 90210 . [11]
From 2001 to 2003, Penny starred in the internationally-produced action adventure series, Largo Winch . In August 2003, she was cast as Samantha Kelly on The Bold and the Beautiful . [12] The character never caught on and Penny was bumped to recurring status in late 2004. She last appeared on April 26, 2005, and rejoined All My Children a few months later. She stayed with the show for an additional three years. Since leaving daytime television, Penny guest-starred on Drop Dead Diva and Pretty Little Liars . [13] She starred in the number of movies for Hallmark Channel and Lifetime, notable Hidden Places (2006), The Wife He Met Online (2012) and Killer Crush (2015).
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