Lauren Ridloff

Lauren Ridloff (née Teruel; born April 6, 1978) is an American actress and former teacher. She is best known as a former Miss Deaf America, for her 2018 Tony-nominated Broadway performance as Sarah Norman in Children of a Lesser God,  and as Connie in the AMC television series The Walking Dead.

Early life and education
Ridloff was born Lauren Teruel in Chicago to a Mexican-American father and an African-American mother. Her parents enrolled her in Catholic schools in the Chicago area, and later she attended the Model Secondary School for the Deaf in Washington, D.C. She moved to the West Coast to attend California State University, Northridge, graduating with a degree in English and Creative Writing in 2000. After college and her stint as Miss Deaf America, she moved to New York to study education at Hunter College and later taught kindergarten for several years.

Personal life
She lives in Brooklyn, is married to Douglas Ridloff, and has two children.