Karen was born in Detroit, Michigan. Her Mother died when she was age 4 and her father remarried, so in addition to her 4 natural siblings she got 4 **** in the bargain, ****** for a rather crowded station wagon. After graduating from the University of Iowa as a Theatre Major she moved to Chicago where she has appeared in numerous theaters, including Writers' Theatre, The Goodman Theatre, Northlight, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre and many others.