American Academy of Dramatic Arts Alumni
by Sylviastel | created - 01 Jul 2014 | updated - 25 Apr 2015 | PublicActors and Actresses and others who have attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City or in Los Angeles, California.
101. Rosalind Russell
Actress | Auntie Mame
The middle of seven children, she was named, not for the heroine of "As You Like It" but for the S.S. Rosalind on which her parents had sailed, at the suggestion of her father, a successful lawyer.
After receiving a Catholic school education, she went to the American Academy of Dramatic Art in New ...
102. Melanie
Soundtrack | Boogie Nights
With her sweet, captivating voice, quirky yet insightful songwriting and bubbly, upbeat, free-spirited hippie persona, pop and folk singer/songwriter Melanie totally epitomized the whole "flower power" counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s.
She was born Melanie Anne Safka on February 3, 1947, in ...
103. Gary Sandy
Actor | The Insider
Fair, light-haired 1970s and 1980s TV actor Gary Sandy was born in 1945 and raised in Ohio. He attended Ohio's Wilmington College and later improved on his chances of an acting career by moving to New York City, studying at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. While there he made his professional...
104. John Savage
Actor | The Last Full Measure
John Savage is an American actor best known for his roles in The Deer Hunter (1978), The Onion Field (1979), Hair (1979), Salvador (1986), The Last Full Measure (2019), In Dubious Battle (2016), and the television shows Goliath (2016), Twin Peaks (2017), and Dark Angel (2000). He was born in Old ...
105. John Saxon
Actor | A Nightmare on Elm Street
John Saxon appeared in nearly 200 roles in the movies and on television in a more-than half-century-long career that has stretched over seven decades since he made his big screen debut in 1954 in uncredited small roles in It Should Happen to You (1954) and George Cukor's A Star Is Born (1954). Born...
106. Adam Scott
Actor | Parks and Recreation
Adam Scott was born in Santa Cruz, California, the son of Anne and Dougald Scott. He has two older siblings, Shannon and David. Scott has said that his brother David "looks like me but is far more cerebral and inherited the intellect of our parents," both of whom are retired teachers. He graduated ...
108. Brooke Smith
Actress | The Silence of the Lambs
Brooke Smith grew up in New York in the shadow of show business owing to the fact that she is the daughter of powerful publicist Lois Smith. After studying at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, her "first big thing" was playing Catherine Martin, the abducted young girl in The Silence of the ...
109. Jaclyn Smith
Actress | The Adventurers
Jaclyn Smith was born Jacquelyn Ellen Smith on October 26, 1945 in Houston, Texas. She graduated from high school and originally aspired to be a famous ballerina. In 1973, she landed a job as a Breck shampoo model. In 1976, she was offered a chance to star in a new pilot for a planned television ...
110. French Stewart
Actor | 3rd Rock from the Sun
His mother is a homemaker and his step-father works in a technological laboratory. He is a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts with a B.F.A. in Theatre Arts. After graduation, he spent seven years touring in regional theatre. French, by the way, is his real name. It's a family name ...
111. Slavko Sobin
Actor | Papillon
Born in Split, Croatia. After finishing high school in his hometown, at 18, he moved to Los Angeles to graduate at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 2006. He lives and works in Croatia now which gives him the opportunity to participate in both domestic productions as well as foreign ...
112. Kevin Sussman
Actor | Burn After Reading
Kevin Sussman was born on December 4, 1970 in Staten Island, New York City, New York, USA. He is an actor and writer, known for Burn After Reading (2008), Killers (2010) and Almost Famous (2000).
113. Loretta Swit
Actress | M*A*S*H
Equally versatile at comedy and drama, Loretta Swit was born on November 4, 1937, in Passaic, New Jersey. Her parents, Polish immigrants, were not in favor of her making a stab at a show business career. Performing on stage from age 7, however, nothing and nobody could deter her.
A natural singer ...
114. Eric Szmanda
Self | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - Season 15: All Dolled Up
Eric Szmanda is an American actor best known for his role of forensic investigator "Greg Sanders" on "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation". Eric was born and raised in Wisconsin where he was active in school plays and community theatre. He moved to LA at the age of 19 to study acting at the American ...
115. Renée Taylor
Actress | The Nanny
Renée Taylor was born in the Bronx, New York City, New York, USA to Frieda (née Silverstein) and Charles Wexler. She worked as a comedian in the early 1960s at the New York City nightclub Bon Soir. Her opening act was a then unknown Barbra Streisand. She earned notice for her portrayal of Eva Braun...
116. Gene Tierney
Actress | Laura
With prominent cheekbones, luminous skin and the most crystalline green eyes of her day, Gene Tierney's striking good looks helped propel her to stardom. Her best known role is the enigmatic murder victim in Laura (1944). She was also Oscar-nominated for Leave Her to Heaven (1945). Her acting ...
117. Spencer Tracy
Actor | Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Spencer Tracy was the second son born on April 5, 1900, to truck salesman John Edward and Caroline Brown Tracy in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. While attending Marquette Academy, he and classmate Pat O'Brien quit school to enlist in the Navy at the start of World War I. Tracy was still at Norfolk Navy Yard...
118. Claire Trevor
Actress | Key Largo
Claire Trevor was born Claire Wemlinger in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn, New York, the only child of Fifth Avenue merchant-tailor Noel Wemlinger, an immigrant Frenchman from Paris who lost his business during the Depression, and his Belfast-born wife, Benjamina, known as "Betty". Young ...
119. Manu Tupou
Actor | Payback
Manu Tupou was born on January 5, 1935 in Lomaloma, Lau, Fiji. He was an actor and writer, known for Payback (1999), The Process (1998) and Hawaii (1966). He died on June 5, 2004 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
120. Richard Van Vleet
Actor | All My Children
Richard Van Vleet, is a veteran actor who is best known for 13-year role as Dr. Chuck Tyler on the daytime Soap Opera All My Children. Mr. Van Vleet other television credits include Guiding Light, The Virginian, Cannon, Name of the Game, Dan August and Night Gallery. His film credits include ...
121. Robert Walker Jr.
Actor | Easy Rider
Born in Jamaica Hospital Medical Center (Queens, New York City) on April 15, 1940, the son of actors Robert Walker and Jennifer Jones, Robert Walker Jr. certainly had the right pedigree to make the grade in Hollywood. His parents separated when Robert was only three. Six years later, his mother ...
122. Peter Weller
Actor | RoboCop
Peter Frederick Weller was born in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, to Dorothy Jean (Davidson) and Frederick Bradford Weller, a federal judge and career helicopter pilot for the United States Army. He traveled extensively as his father literally flew around the world. Before he was out of his teens, he ...
123. Shannon Whirry
Actress | Middle Men
Shannon Whirry is not just a talented actress with girl-next-door looks, she captured a generation of men's (and teenage boys'!) imaginations by wishing that she actually was the girl-next-door.
Born in Green Lake County, Wisconsin, Whirry graduated from high school and packed her bags for New York....
124. Warren William
Actor | The Wolf Man
Warren William, the stalwart leading man of pre-Production Code talkies, was born Warren William Krech on December 2, 1894 in Aitkin, Minnesota, the son of a newspaper publisher. William originally planned to become a journalist, but he had a change of heart, and instead went to the American ...
125. Constance Zimmer
Actress | UnREAL
Constance Zimmer is well-known for playing a number of standout characters in notable projects. Starting in 2005, and for six seasons, she played the role of "Dana Gordon' on HBO's critically acclaimed series "Entourage," she reprises that role when Warner Bros. released the "Entourage" film on the...
126. David Dean Bottrell
Actor | Frasier
Bottrell is probably best known for playing the creepy "Lincoln Meyer" on season three of Boston Legal. Other memorable work includes recurring and guest star work on such shows as Frasier (2023 reboot), Modern Family, FBI: Most Wanted, Law and Order (2022), The Blacklist, Rectify, Law and Order: ...
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127. Karen Hensel
Actress | Psycho III
Karen Hensel was born on November 1, 1948 in Ventura, California, USA. She is an actress, known for Psycho III (1986), The Young and the Restless (1973) and The Guardian (2001). She is married to Carl Reggiardo. They have two children.
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128. Sandy Martin
Actress | Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Sandy Martin began her acting career at the age of 15 touring the country with Martha Raye in Good-bye Charley. After several East Coast touring productions she settled in New York City. Martin began working in many of New York City's esteemed theatres: Lincoln Center, La Mama, Ensemble Studio ...
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129. Ian Ogilvy
Actor | Death Becomes Her
Ian Ogilvy was born on September 30, 1943 in Woking, Surrey, England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for Death Becomes Her (1992), I, Claudius (1976) and My Life in Ruins (2009). He has been married to Kathryn Holcomb since 1992. He was previously married to Diane Sarah Patricia Hart.
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130. Scott H. Reiniger
Actor | Dawn of the Dead
Scott H. Reiniger, born in New York City, holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theater Arts majoring in Acting/Directing at Rollins College in Florida. Following graduation from college. Reiniger went back to New York to train professionally at The American Stanislavsky Theatre for three years and ...
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131. Paige Bishop
Actress | Miss Congeniality
Paige Bishop is known for Miss Congeniality (2000) and The Most Beautiful Man in the World (2002).
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132. Robert Verlaque
Actor | The Games Maker
Robert has been a professional actor, director, teacher and writer for over 40 years. As an actor Robert has extensive film, television and theatre credits and national commercials as well as directing credits in New York, Toronto, and regional theatre.
New York directing credits include Labyrinth ...
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133. Hayden Rorke
Actor | When Worlds Collide
Hayden Rorke was best known as the ever suspicious "Dr. Alfred E. Bellows" on the 1960s TV series, I Dream of Jeannie (1965). Born in Brooklyn, New York, Rorke was educated at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and he began his stage career in the 1930s with the Hampden Theatrical Company. A ...
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