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Cheri Serna, who Impersonates Xena Warrior Princess, was born in 1958 at Northridge Hospital in the San Fernando Valley. Growing up on the back lot of MGM Studios, Cher lived next door to legendary people like Chuck Conners (The Rifleman), Diana Shore, and even Jim Davis (from Dallas).  At a young age, Cheri and Ron Howard (Lil Opie) hung out together. Ronny, being all of 8 years old or so, and the star of the Andy Griffith Show allowed Cheri to ride along with him in the convertible cars with him in parades, and attended appearances at carnivals. She is a few years younger than Ronny.  Her maternal grandfather, Bruce Bowers, was an Executive of the Studio's for 48 years retiring at the age of  75-- when the Studio turned to Television he said that is enough. Cheri's mom, Betty Brown,  was a starlet acting as a double for Ann Sheridan also a few guest appearances here and there. In 1947, she won Miss California, and prior to that  Miss Culver City.  Cher's father was an Advertising Executive in Television and Newspapers  in Southern California. Her  parents are still together after 50 years of marriage. They are retired and living in Kern County.
 

Cheri's mom pictured with the Runners Up in the Miss Culver City Beauty Pageant	1982 Cheri won the  Miss Lone Star Pageant

A native of California, Cheri was taken out of the lime light at age 10 and moved to Apple Valley and started up a whole new world. The ranch house was full with all the animals you could find, but the atmosphere a bit more low key. Cheri grew up around horses, her first one being that of James Arness (from Gunsmoke), a buckskin quarter horse.  Her first job was working for Roy Rogers at the Apple Valley Inn giving tours around the property on horse back. A few years later, stepping up to a morgan thoroughbred, she won lots of ribbons in barrel racing and keyhole. She attended VictorValley College taking Child Psychology and Drama classes. Her third and favorite horse was a  palomino quarter horse, that looks just like Argo (Xena's Horse) and has an almost identical disposition. She kept the palomino even up until the time when she moved back to L.A and boarded him in El Monte.
 

Cheri with her horse	Cheri and Joe Don Baker on  Movie set	Cheri in the make-up trailer on set Love Boat	Cheri in the movie STRIPES!

Now with Classy Characters on the move and growing, Cheri decided to pursue other avenues. She went to the Renaissance Fair in 1996 wearing  a home made Warrior Princess costume for fun. Oh my! What a response! Shortly after that she wore the same costume to a halloween party. The following  year she made a better costume and started to do parties for children.
  The next year she found herself really enjoying the character more and went to some auditions for Universal Studios to study the character more. In the meantime, she also spent time working the Halloween Horror Nights in October of 1998.  On  October 31st she arrived to work as a brunette, there was no longer need for the wig. The children's parties grew into Professional Telegrams, Personal Appearances, and various Conventions. For something that started out as a day of dress up for the fair has become a lifestyle and asset for Cheri Serna and for Classy Characters. This means alot of hard work at  character study, dedication to diet and the Warrior Princess persona. In January of 1999, Cheri met Lucy Lawless and was chosen to be in People Magazine with her. This was interesting because the Lucy out of costume is much different than the Xena in costume. Lucy is the loveliest person you will ever meet.
 
 

Here are a couple of pictures of the real Xena  and Cheri and Lucy pictured above

She is very gentle and soft spoken, she is all of 5'10" and weighs around 140lbs. her weight fluctuates every season. It has taken Cheri all of last year to keep 20 pounds off her normal weight. And the physical work-out doing the character has her going to the gym three times a week. Oh!! Let's not forget that she must dye her natural blond hair once a month. As for the makeup, Cheri really looks the same in or out of costume. November 1999, at the Pasadena Doo Dah parade, Cheri was invited to be Elvira at the opening ceremonies and rode in a Hearse going backwards through the parade route. Elvira is a new character she just started doing this year. She also does Wonder Woman at Comic Conventions and Toy Shows.
 

Cheri dressed in Elvira, with her Look-alike Uncle Fester	Cheri in makeup chair on the set of Zoe...

It's now the year 2000, and the first thing on her plate was a TV sitcom called ZOE.... it will be airing soon on WB.
At the Big Hercules and Xena Convention she was lucky enough to work with Creation Entertainment and their wonderful crew. She even got to meet up with Michael Hurst and Kevin Sorbo from the show Hercules. She met creator R.J. Stewart for the first time, and lots of new fans.When the weekend came to an end, she had even more to do. So keep your eyes open and watch out for her personal appearances. She could pop up anywhere.

Here is the new addition to the Serna family, bought on the 1st of July, year 2000.  A 7 year old registered palomino guilding.He came from a ranch in Greenbush Texas, now residing in Covina Hills Calif.  I did not mean to find a horse that looked like Argo, Xena's horse in TV show, it was just a fluke! But here he is and we love him dearly.

 Cheri Serna was married on September 26,1992, she had a son on August 10th 1994
she is currently playing the role of Xena Warrior Princess and also does appearances
as ELVIRA during  Halloween.

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Last modified: 03/16/09