Cheryl Saban (; born April 30, 1951) is an American psychologist, author, television writer, and philanthropist. She is a former Senior Advisor to the
United States Mission to the United Nations. She is the author of several children's books, a novel, self-help books, numerous gift books, and many teleplays.
Early life and education
Cheryl Saban was born as Cheryl Lyn Flor on April 30, 1951, in
San Diego, California.
Her father worked for the local telephone company.
Saban worked as a telephone solicitor, waitressed at a barbecue-pit restaurant, and worked summers as a lifeguard at a Navy training center.
Saban attended
San Diego State University.
In 2005 she earned a doctorate in psychology from
California Coast University.
Career
Saban started her career as a model in
San Francisco, California in 1973 and
Los Angeles in 1975.
She recorded her first album in 1978 under the name Flower.
In April 1979, ''
Playboy'' included her in a nude pictorial titled “Disco Queens".
Saban accepted a job as an assistant for Israeli-American
Haim Saban, a millionaire who later became her husband, in 1986.
She wrote for television multiple times, including 19 episodes of ''
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers'', produced by Saban. She is the author of four children's books, a thriller, and several self-help books.
Saban was nominated as Senior Advisor to the
United States Mission to the United Nations by President
Barack Obama in September 2012.
Philanthropy
Saban is the president of Saban Family Foundation.
She and her husband both donate through the foundation, which typically focuses on children, education and women's health. Through a $10 million donation, Saban established the Cheryl Saban Self-Worth Foundation for Women & Girls in 2009.
The foundation will provide micro-financing programs to women in the U.S. and in Israel.
Saban is on the board of directors of the
Clinton Foundation
The Clinton Foundation (founded in 2001 as the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation, and renamed in 2013 as the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation) is a nonprofit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. tax code. It was e ...
.
She received an honorary doctorate from the
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel in 2014.
As of May 2018, they are supporting the building of a museum in
Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Free Clinic
In 1968, Los Angeles Free Clinic opened at 115 North Fairfax Avenue, Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles
Free Clinic is the longest continually running
free clinic in the nation.
In her years of financial difficulty, Cheryl Saban was a patient of the Los Angeles Free Clinic. Later, with her husband, they donated $10 million, and in 2008, it was renamed the Saban Free Clinic.
now Saban Community Clinic of Beverly Hills, Rampart Village, Hollywood, Melrose, and Blessed Sacrament.
Personal life
Saban has been married three times. She married her first husband, Ray Lenhart, at the age of 20.
[Cheryl Saban.com: Biography]
retrieved October 4, 2012 They had two daughters,
Tifanie Lenhart Chaney and actress
Heidi Lenhart Stills, and divorced soon after.
She later married and divorced Bobby Ocean. He was a music producer, and struggled to provide for her children.
Saban married her third husband, Egyptian-born Israeli-American billionaire
Haim Saban in 1987. They had two children through a surrogate (Saban had previously had a
hysterectomy
Hysterectomy is the surgical removal of the uterus. It may also involve removal of the cervix, ovaries (oophorectomy), Fallopian tubes (salpingectomy), and other surrounding structures.
Usually performed by a gynecologist, a hysterectomy may b ...
): son Ness (Hebrew for Miracle) and daughter Tanya. Ness was the eighth
surrogate-born baby in the world and Tanya was the fortieth.
What is Your SELF-WORTH? - A Woman's Guide to Validation By Cheryl Saban
retrieved July 17, 2013 Although Cheryl is a Lutheran, she agreed to raise the children Jewish. The family always puts up a Christmas tree
A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, or an artificial tree of similar appearance, associated with the celebration of Christmas. The custom was further developed in early modern ...
and celebrates Shabbat
Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...
weekly. Saban told the rabbi who married them: "Think of me as a Christian who believes in Judaism.” They reside in Beverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. B ...
.
Bibliography
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Screenwriting credits
Television
* '' Mighty Morphin Power Rangers'' (1993-1995)
* '' VR Troopers'' (1994)
* '' Sweet Valley High'' (1995)
* ''Little Mouse on the Prairie
''Little Mouse on the Prairie'' () is a 26 episode animated series made by the cooperation of the US and China, loosely based on the '' Serendipity'' book by Stephen Cosgrove with the same title. The story features a city mouse named Osgood Dee wh ...
'' (1996)
Film
* '' Au Pair'' (1999)
* ''Au Pair II
''Au Pair II'' (also known as ''Au Pair II: The Fairytale Continues'') is a 2001 American made-for-television romantic comedy film starring Gregory Harrison and Heidi Lenhart and is the second installment in the ''Au Pair'' trilogy.
Synopsis
A ...
'' (2001)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saban, Cheryl
1951 births
American children's writers
American Lutherans
American non-fiction writers
American self-help writers
American thriller writers
California Coast University alumni
California Democrats
Clinton Foundation people
Living people
People from Beverly Hills, California
People from San Diego
San Diego State University alumni
Philanthropists from California
1970s Playboy Playmates
American women children's writers
Women thriller writers
Novelists from California
American women non-fiction writers
21st-century American women