Sherri Saum

Sherri Saum is an American actress and producer known for the television series The Fosters, Sunset Beach, Rescue Me, In Treatment, Beggars and Choosers, the flick Finding Home, and the television show Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

Saum was born as Sherri Michelle Saum on October 1, 1974, in Dayton, Ohio to an African-American father and a Caucasian (German) mother, Lois Saum. Her siblings are Michael and Lisa Saum, a political scientist.

Saum was brought up by her mother Lois who single-handedly looked after her three children and at the same time studied and worked at Dayton Daily News as a copy editor. The actress-cum-producer studied at Oakview Elementary School, Kettering, Ohio, and the Kettering Fairmont High School.

Sherri was inclined towards fashion and glamor during her school days. While she was at school, she was a part of a drama club and acted as a cheerleader in high school. She would enroll in beauty pageants and sign for modeling assignments as a teenager. It was at a Model Search America convention in Kettering that she caught real attention. Later, she relocated to New York Click to look into! >> Read More... to join Images Management as a full-time model.

After studying for a semester at Ohio State University, Sherri joined New York University and majored in psychology. At the same time she was studying, she worked as both a waitress and a model. She also studied Spanish in Madrid for six months for her study abroad program.

Saum made her acting and television debut with the soap opera Sunset Beach, where she portrayed the role of Vanessa Hart for the entire series that aired on NBC. Her performance was so well-received that she secured a Daytime Emmy Award nod for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series.

Later she appeared in a recurring role in the comedy-drama series Beggars and Choosers, premiered on Showtime, where she plays Casey Lenox. In 2001, she featured as Keri Reynolds in the ABC series One Life to Live.

Her other television credits include the series Rescue Me, where she portrays Natalie, the TV movie Relative Stranger, the 2009 HBO series In Treatment, where she plays the recurring role of Bess, Gossip Girl, Unforgettable, and Body of Proof and Revenge.

Saum debuted in movies with the 2003 flick Anne B. Real, directed by Lisa France, where she portrays Janet Gimenez. Her other movie projects include Finding Home, Love& Suicide, Ten Stories Tall, and Deadly scholars.

The actress crossed paths with her husband Kamar de los Rayes while shooting for One Life To Live in 2001. After knowing each other for about six years, the duo tied the knot in 2007 and has twin sons named Michael and John Ruben.