Heather Henderson
| Heather Anne Henderson | |||||
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2015
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| Born |
Heather Anne Henderson March 7, 1973 Camden, New Jersey U.S. |
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| Residence | Hollywood, CA | ||||
| Nationality | American | ||||
| Other names | Baby Heather | ||||
| Occupation | singer, actress, podcaster, model, filmmaker, skeptical activist | ||||
| Years active | 1974–present | ||||
| Known for | lead singer in the Penn Jillette's No God Band - co-host of Skeptically Yours and Ardent Atheist podcasts | ||||
| Website | hhenderson.com | ||||
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Heather Henderson (born March 7, 1973), also known as Baby Heather, is a professional burlesque dancer, singer, model, filmmaker, producer and host for Ardent Atheist and Skeptically Yours podcasts. In 2012 Ardent Atheist won The People's Choice Podcast Awards in the religion inspiration category. In 1989-1991 Henderson was a regular on the nationally televised Dance Party USA show where she appeared as Baby Heather. In her teens, Henderson released a single called Give it up Baby Heather which received a positive review from Billboard magazine. She currently is a member of Penn Jillette's No God Band and is a vocal activist for atheism and against psychics.
Henderson was raised in a poor neighborhood in Camden, New Jersey by her mother, a Hungarian Jew. When Henderson was 10 her father left the home. She attended Camden City Public Schools for elementary, middle and high school. She was a "shy and quiet girl" who did not talk back and listened to, and believed, everything her mother told her: "I did not grow up with critical thinking skills at all." Henderson's mother died when Heather was 23.
Henderson's father, Ed Henderson, was a self-taught musician who worked as an EKG technician. He quit that job when Heather was seventeen in order to work full-time as a musician singing and playing the guitar and banjo. Henderson started singing with her father when she was seven. She also played the violin.
Growing up, Henderson knew that she wanted to be "a star". At age fifteen, she appeared on a nationwide teen dance show called Dance Party USA. She appeared on the show regularly for three years and went by the nickname Baby Heather. Her favorite musicians were Prince and Milli Vanilli, and her favorite actor was Michael J. Fox.
When Henderson's mother became involved with Jews for Jesus, they started attending progressive Christian churches. Henderson was very uncomfortable attending these churches because of how they treated the members. "I thought they were hypocrites," she said. According to Henderson, they made fun of people who were poor and of a family who had a child with a mental disability. In addition, they asked for, "money all the time," and scared the kids by telling them that God is always watching them and they are going to go to Hell. "It was awful for me." As soon as she was old enough, Henderson told her mother she would not attend church again.
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