Born in Washington, D.C., Rena attended area high schools, Montgomery College, and The University of Maryland. The daughter of a violist with the National Symphony Orchestra, Rena found her niche in all aspects of the arts. She began writing her first novel at six years old and playing the violin at seven. She entered college as a Fine Arts Major, studied acting, and was accepted into the honor's writing program at Montgomery College. Her first acting role was Antigone in Sophocles' "Antigone". She earned her B.A. at Maryland University in 1971.
She married that same year and spent the next five years in Manassas, Virginia, where she began acting in community theatre and doing voice-overs, commercials and industrial films. She lived in The Cotswolds in England for two years, where she acted in her first Shakespearean play, "The Merchant of Venice" with The Banbury Players, in which she portrayed Bassanio, a male role done as a britches role.
Her writing took the form of stories she wrote and shared with her two young sons, Sam and Jake.
Following her divorce, her acting career includes thirty years in Northern Virginia, where she was awarded several distinguished acting awards.
She began acting in professional theatre in Washington, D.C. in 1993.
Her acting career, detailed in her resume, includes a distinguished Helen Hayes Award for her portrayal of Claire in American Century Theatre's production of Edward Albee's "A Delicate Balance."
Rena now lives on Maryland's Eastern Shore, where she appeared in several plays with fellow actor Paul Danaceau and has helped develop a one-woman play about the life of Dame Alice, widow of Sir Thomas More, with local playwright, Margaret Barton Driggs, called "Alice At Dawn".
Rena lives with her husband, John, and her black Lab Hunter, and works in a medical facility in Easton, Maryland. She has coached acting and has taught acting at Church Hill Theatre. She is presently publishing her first children's book, "Where Do I Belong?" expected to be available October 2009.