Distinguished Alumni

During its 80 year history, the Department of Theatre Arts has produced many alumni that have enjoyed enormous success in their careers. Following a just a few theatre arts alumni and their accomplishments.

Robert Alexander (MFA 1996) is a professional playwright whose works include I Ain't Yo' Uncle, produced by the San Francisco Mime Troupe, A Preface to the Alien Garden, produced by Trinity Rep in Providence, and The Last Orbit of Billy Mars, produced at Woolly Mammoth in Washington DC.

Lee Blessing (MA 1979) is a distinguished writer for the theatre, film and television. His plays have been produced on Broadway and in theatres around the world. His best known works include A Walk in time Woods, Eleemosynary, and Fortinbras.

Robert Andrew Bonnard (BA 1959, MA 1960) has worked around the world as an actor, writer and director. His many awards include an Obie for Best Actor for his portrayal of Old Man in Ionesco's The Chairs.

Rich Bynum (BA 1976) is a professional designer and owner of Hawkeye Scenic Studios in Chicago. Among those who have worked with Hawkeye Studios are Oprah and the touring productions of Les Miserables and Showboat.

Macdonald Carey (BA 1936) was for many years one of America's best known actors. He appeared on Broadway and in more than fifty films. In 1974 and 1975 he was awarded the Emmy for Best Daytime Actor for his portrayal of Dr. Horton on Days of our Lives.

Linda Carlson (BA 1967) is a successful actor in films (Honey, I Blew Up the Kids, The Beverly Hillbillies), television (Twin Peaks, Murder One), and on the Broadway stage (Otto Preminger's Full Circle).

Rick Cleveland (MFA 1995) is co-producer and writer for the television series West Wing. His play Jerry and Toni, first produced at Iowa then made into a feature film, premiered at Sundance and recently appeared on Showtime.

Darrah Cloud (MFA 1984) is a successful screenwriter and playwright. Her plays include her stage adaptation of O Pioneers (also presented on American Playhouse), The Stick Wife, and Heart Land, Her screenplays include many films for NBC.

Margaret Eginton (MFA 1997) is the former Head of Movement for.....ART. She is now the Interim Director of the Florida State University/Asolo Graduate Conservatory for Actor training, and Head of Movement and Dance for the same institution. Her production of David Mamet's Boston Marriage was invited to La Foire St. Germain international theatre festival in Paris, France in 2005.

Nicole Fanarow (BA 1991) is a stage and television actress. Among her many productions is Voices in the Dark, produced on Broadway.

Norman Felton (BFA 1940, MA 1941) has had a distinguished career in radio, film and television. Working for MGM Studios, he produced and wrote for the television series Dr. Kildare and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. In 1953 he received an Emmy Award for Television Direction.

Henderson Forsythe (BA 1939, MFA 1940) is a veteran actor of stage, television, and film. On Broadway he performed in the original productions of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolfe, A Delicate Balance, and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. He has also appeared regularly on the daytime drama As The World Turns.

Julia Gibson (BA 1984) is an actress whose work includes Angels in America at ACT, All in the Timing at the Long Wharf, and such television shows as Law and 0rder and Spin City.

Rebecca Gilman (MFA 1992) is a playwright whose works have been performed across the country. In 1998 she won the American Theater Critics' Association Osborn Award for her play The Glory of Living.

W. David Hancock (MBA 1990) is a playwright who has received Ohie Awards for his plays The Convention of Cartography and The Race of the Ark Tattoo.

Mary Beth Hurt (BA 1968) is a distinguished actor of film, television and stage. She was nominated for Tony Awards for her work in Benefactors, Trelawney of the Wells, and Crimes of the Heart, for which she was awarded an Obie. Her films include Interiors, The World According to Garp, The Age of Innocence, and Six Degrees of Separation.

Barry Kemp (BA 1971) is one of Hollywood's most successful writer-producers. He wrote for some of television's best loved shows, including Taxi and WKRP in Cincinnati, and created the popular series Newhart and Coach.

Adam LeFevre (MFA 1977) is an actor who was seen on Broadway in Our Country's Good, on television in Law and Order, and in films such as In & Out and Private Parts.

Richard Maibaum (BA 1931, MA 1932) is one of America's most successful screenwriters. He is the author of more than fifty screenplays, including Bigger than Life, The Great Gatsby, and many of the popular James Bond films.

Patricia McGourty (BA 1970) is one of America's best known costume designers. She has designed costumes for the Broadway productions of Pump Boys and Dinettes, Crimes of the Heart, and The Pirates of Penzance.

Nicholas Meyer (BA 1968) is a distinguished film writer and director. Among his many films are Star Trek 11, The Wrath of Khan, Time After Time, Star Trek IV, The Undiscovered Country, Volunteers, The Seven Percent Solution, and many others.

John O'Keefe (BA 1965, MFA 1971) is an actor, director, playwright, and screenwriter. His best known work, the play Shimmer, was also adapted for film and television.

Erin Q. Purcell, Frank Ensenberger (BA 1987) and Gregory Jackson (BA 1990) are founding members of the Adobe Theatre Company in New York. Their most recent production, Duet! A Romantic Fable, was produced at SoHo's Ohio Theater to critical acclaim.

Robert Randolph (MFA 1953) designed sets and lights on Broadway for many productions including Bye Bye, Birdie and Sweet Charity. He also designed extensively for theatres throughout the United States and abroad.

Todd Ristau (MFA 1991) is a playwright whose most recent work is the musical Great Balls of Fire, based on the life of Jerry Lee Lewis, which toured packed houses in England on its way to the Cambridge Theater in London's West End.

Charles Smith (MFA 1984) is a writer whose plays have been produced off-Broadway and in regional theatres all over the country. He has also won Emmy awards for Fast Break to Glory and Pequito.

Stewart Stern (BA 1943) is a distinguished Hollywood writer and director. Among his best known films are Rebel Without a Cause and Heart of Darkness. He was nominated for two Academy Awards and in 1979 won The Writers' Guild of America Best Short Form Drama Award for A Christmas to Remember.

Eric Ulfers (BA 1975) has designed sets, costumes and lights for theatres throughout Europe. In 1990 he founded Production Design Group Ltd. in New York City, where his work has won three Emmy awards.

Peter Ullian (MFA 1993) is a playwright whose musical, Elliot Ness in Cleveland, was produced at the Denver Center Theatre Company/Denver Center for the Performing Arts.

Naomi Wallace (MFA 1994) is a playwright whose works have been seen in London, New York, Louisville, Chicago, and around the country. Her 1997 play, One Flea Spare, won an Obie Award. She is the recipient of a 1999 "Genius" award from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Gene Wilder (BA 1955) is one of America's best leading film actors. Among his best known films are The Producers, Young Frankenstein, Silver Streak, and Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. He also writes and directs for film.

Tennessee Williams (BA 1938) is recognized as one of the modem world's greatest playwrights. Among his distinguished works are The Glass Menagerie (Pulitzer Prize), A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Pulitzer Prize), Night of the Iguana, Camino Real, and Summer and Smoke.