Isabelle Anna "Ziggy" Lorenc (pronounced like "Lawrence", ) is a Canadian television and radio personality as well as occasional actress in film and television, best known for hosting programming on the

CHUM Limited CHUM Limited was a Canadian media company based in Toronto, Ontario in operation from 1945 to 2007. The company was founded in 1945 as York Broadcasters Limited when it launched CHUM-AM 1050 but was acquired by salesman Allan Waters in 1954. CHU ...

-owned television stations Citytv, MuchMusic, and

Bravo! CTV Drama Channel (formerly known as Bravo) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by Bell Media. The channel was founded as the Canadian version of the U.S. channel Bravo (which is now owned by NBCUniversal) on January 1, 1995 b ...

, having previously worked for CHUM/City as a

receptionist A receptionist is an employee taking an office or administrative support position. The work is usually performed in a waiting area such as a lobby or front office desk of an organization or business. The title ''receptionist'' is attributed t ...

Career

Having done modelling work since the age of thirteen, Lorenc began pursuing acting jobs during her late teens. Hanging around Toronto in the late 1970s among a group of aspiring performers including

Michael Wincott Michael Anthony Claudio Wincott (born January 21, 1958) is a Canadian actor. His deep, raspy voice has often led to his being cast in villainous roles. Some of his best-known roles include Guy of Gisborne in '' Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves'' ( ...

Kim Cattrall Kim Victoria Cattrall (; born 21 August 1956) is a British-Canadian actress. She is known for her role as Samantha Jones on HBO's ''Sex and the City'' (1998–2004), for which she received five Emmy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Awa ...

, Jim Carrey, and Tonya Lee Williams, Lorenc was accepted at the

Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre is a full-time professional conservatory for actors in New York City. First operational from 1915 to 1927, the school re-opened in 1928 and has been active ever since. It is the birthplace of th ...

in New York City via an "audition" that consisted of the school's director Sanford Meisner just speaking to the applicants. The New York stay turned out to be short, however, as the budding actress returned to Toronto due to being unable to support herself financially in New York. While unsuccessfully looking for acting work in Toronto, young Lorenc supplemented her income via Toronto night club gigs, performing live as a "disco bunny", which led to an appearance on ''Boogie'', Citytv's Canadian disco counterpart to the U.S. music-performance and dance television programs '' American Bandstand'' and '' Soul Train''. She would soon meet Citytv producer and creative director

Moses Znaimer Moses Znaimer (; born 1942) is a Tajik-born Canadian media executive of jewish descent. He is the co-founder and former head of Citytv, the first independent television station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the current head of ZoomerMedia ...

, a connection that by 1980 resulted in a job at the station as a switchboard operator.

Citytv

While working the switchboard at Citytv's 99 Queen Street East headquarters, Lorenc became part of the Switchettes—a group of young female office staffers the station sent around the city of Toronto for promotional activities and even human interest reporting. She continued going to acting auditions and soon got a part on the Canadian sketch comedy series '' Bizarre'' being shot in Toronto. Asking for time off from her Citytv duties in order to do ''Bizarre'', she got rejected eventually and left Citytv. Her time on ''Bizarre'' was short, however, as she got fired after a couple of episodes. Without both jobs, Lorenc began waitressing at night at Bemelmans, a popular Toronto eatery, while going to acting auditions during the day. She soon got cast as one of the romantic leads in '' Copper Mountain'', a 1983 comedy that was never completed though still got a limited video release, starring

Alan Thicke Alan Thicke (born Alan Willis Jeffrey; March 1, 1947December 13, 2016) was a Canadian actor, songwriter, and game and talk show host. He is the father of singer Robin Thicke. In 2013, Thicke was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame. Thicke was be ...

and young impressionist comedian Jim Carrey. By 1984 she was back in the Citytv fold and was on hand during the launch of Much Music. Lorenc was also the star/host of the series '' Life on Venus Ave.'' She is currently heard on

CFZM CFZM is a Class A clear-channel radio station, licensed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, broadcasting on the assigned frequency of 740 kHz, and with a low power repeater in downtown Toronto at 96.7 FM. The station airs an oldies format br ...

, hosting a late night program devoted to romantic music. She also had roles in movies '' White Room'' and ''

Love, Sex and Eating the Bones ''Love, Sex and Eating the Bones'' is a 2003 Canadian romantic comedy film directed and written by Sudz Sutherland featuring a mostly African American and Black Canadian leading cast. It premiered and played twice at the 2003 Toronto Internationa ...

''.

References

External links

* Canadian people of Polish descent Living people Much (TV channel) personalities Canadian radio personalities Canadian sketch comedians Canadian women comedians Canadian women television personalities Canadian women radio hosts Canadian VJs (media personalities) Year of birth missing (living people) {{Canada-tv-bio-stub