Heidi James was born and raised in Austin, Texas. At seven years old she was the tap-dancing jack rabbit in her family's traveling road show "Alice In Texasland". At thirteen she landed a lead role in a national mini-series and proceeded to developed her acting, voice and dance ability in regional productions, including Joe Egg, Curse Of The Starving Class, Getting Out and West Side Story. She studied four years at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles and after Marion Dougherty of Warner Brothers saw Heidi in the showcase, she cast her in the film Falling Down, working in a scene opposite Robert Duval. She continued producing, directing, and acting in theater and was introduced to Tim Robbins' Actors Gang, where she originated the role of hard-rock singer Ricky Roy. She then moved to New York.
It didn't take long before she was invited into the critically acclaimed Off-Broadway theater company 29th Street Rep, known for producing such NY premieres as Tracy Letts' Killer Joe and Rona Munroe's Bold Girls. She continued studies with William Esper, Wynn Handman and Larry Moss. She worked with director Shira Piven on a story theater production utilizing the short stories of Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love) and optioned a short story about a female bull rider which she has developed into a feature length screenplay.
Shortly after 9/11 she went on a world tour of "Tom Waits For No Man" performing alongside Australian vocalist Stewart D'Arrietta. A show that played to sold out houses in New York, The Edinburgh Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, London, and toured the entire gold coast of Australia.
She resides in Los Angeles where she acts, writes, directs, paints and sings with her blues band The LA Slims. Her original "One Shoe" is on the soundtrack for the film Underdogs, alongside The Blues Travelers and Black Keyes.
