Lenz is best known for her title role in the film Breezy (1973), for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer – Female.

For her role in the episode "After It Happened" of Midnight Caller, she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series.

She achieved recognition for her title-role performance as the free spirit who captivates William Holden in Breezy (1973), directed by Clint Eastwood.

[6][7] She was also nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards for her role as flinty lawyer Maggie Zombro in the police/legal drama Reasonable Doubts.

[citation needed] In November 2018, Lenz and her partner Dr. Mark Brown, lost their home in the Woolsey Fire in Malibu, California.