Ren Woods

Los Angeles native Renee "Ren" Woods, born January 1, 1958, probably performed for candies as a toddler. The child singing prodigy first major appearance was when she was 10 years old, she sung on NBC's Soul Special, a television show that aired in 1968. Shortly afterwards she started the Soul Five, a vocal group influenced by the Jackson Five. The group evolved into the trio Sunday's Child's with Mary Lou Anderson, and Ilene Anderson; they recorded Sunday's Child on Reprise Records in 1970. The short- lived group disbanded and Ren began a solo career, appearing on Bob Hope's Christmas Special, as well as, recording for various labels with little success.
Her next big musical break came when Maurice White signed her to his ARC Record label in West Los Angeles, California joining the Emotions, Deniece Williams, D. J. Rogers, Ramsey Lewis, and a few others as roster mates. Unfortunately, Out of the Woods, produced by Earth, Wind & Fire member Al McKay, an old friend of Woods failed to ring up sufficient sales. Tracks like "Everybody Get Up," "I'm So In Love," and "Take Me To Heaven," didn't exactly assault the charts. A stint at Elektra Records came up lame too, Azz Izz, released in 1982 bombed. The LP had a bit of controversy (no pun intended) as Prince requested and got his composition "I Don't Wanna Stop," pulled from the album.
While Woods never made a big splash with her recordings, her acting career took off like a Boeing 707. Movie & stage appearances include, The Jerk, Target For Rage, Car Wash, Cooley High, Jumping Jack Flash, Convicted: A Mother's Story, Brother From Another Planet, 9 to 5, Xanadu, Beer, and many others; she played Dorothy in The Wiz, and Edie, an office computer wiz in Beauty & the Beast. Televison appearances include appearances on the Lou Grant Show, Hill Street Blues, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, NYPD, and the highly-rated mini-series Roots. Woods, who wanted to be the next Michael Jackson, has quietly become one of the top African-American character actresses in movies and television. ~ Andrew Hamilton, All Music Guide