Full Name: Heidi Hudson Leick
Birthday: May 9, 1969
Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Cincinnati, Ohio
Pets: Griffin, her Chihuahua
Favorite Color: Purple
Charities Promoted: the James Ellis Foundation
Interests: Acting, Yoga, Astrology, Salsa Dancing
Favorite Xena Episode (that she was in): A Necessary Evil


Heidi Hudson Leick made her world debut on May 9, 1969 in Cincinnati, Ohio. She moved to Rochester New York when she was in high school and upon graduation, Hudson became a model, traveling throughout Europe as well as Japan. She is also a graduate of the prestigious Neighborhood Playhouse acting school in New York City.

Hudson has described her high school experience as a “Welcome to the Dollhouse kind of education” except “I was persecuted for looking sexy instead of geeky.” Overall, high school was not a generally pleasant experience for the teenage Hudson. “I’ve had a lot of crazy things happen in my life. In high school, I was saddled with the unfortunate nickname of Junk, which doesn’t do a lot for one’s self esteem. The older boys came up with that name to describe the way I looked, the way I was to them.” Even after delving into the world of modeling, Hudson still felt as though there was something missing from her life. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life;” she says, “I just knew I wanted to be very different. I started modeling around the age of 17, but I was terrible at it. I wasn’t pretty enough or tall enough. It was kind of depressing because that’s what that industry is all about.” If they only knew the beautiful nature of what they were not embracing.

Hudson left modeling to concentrate on acting. By portraying the role of the malevolent Warrior Queen, Callisto, on Xena, Warrior Princess, then turning around and playing an entirely convincing angel on CBS’s Touched by an Angel, Hudson revealed to the world the wide range of which her acting ability encompasses. “I think playing Callisto [was] very therapeutic. I think those name-calling boys from high school helped create Callisto,” Hudson explains, “because even though all she ever does is scream and yell and fight, it’s because she’s so hurt and angry.” She describes her role as Celeste in Touched by an Angel as a “radical departure from Callisto, but for me it was easy. I can play both characters because I have both of them inside me. I have Callisto’s rage and hatred, and, at the same time, I can also relate to the bliss and joy of celestial life because of the good things that my life has brought me.”

A convention favorite, Hudson captivates the audience with her dynamic stage presence. Her radiating beauty combined with her clever wit and her hilarious sense of humor leaves her fans, as well as impartial bystanders, with an indescribable and insatiable desire to devour just a little more of “the Hudson experience.”

Hudson Leick has been certified three times over and is a member of the California Yoga Teacher’s Association. She has been studying and teaching yoga for close to ten years and has done her teacher's training with renowned yoga masters such as Ana Forrest, Erich Schiffman and Gurmukh. Hudson specializes in Kundalini and Hatha yoga, and her classes are a subtle blend of both methods. She has also studied Vipassana meditation in Nepal, and the Five Rhythms based on the teachings of Gabrielle Roth.*

She currently pours her time and energy into Healing Heart Yoga, Inc leading retreats all over the world for the purpose of repairing the bodies and minds of her many students. She has described herself as “really spiritual. I don’t have a religion but I believe in something much greater than myself. I believe in soul-searching and finding kindness and love with another human being. And myself, for that matter.” Hudson is a woman with a mission; her aspiration is to propagate concepts seemingly foreign to the majority of society—self-healing, self trust, and self love. Her beauty and talent is surpassed only by her compassion, acceptance, and love of all living things as well as her craving to promote these ideas to whomever she meets. Hudson is a modern day Joan of Arc, opening hearts and changing souls one individual at a time.

*credited to Healing Heart Yoga Inc.   -   Biography written by Julie