List of Northwestern University Alumni - Arts/Entertainment (Theatre, TV and Film)

Arts/Entertainment (Theatre, TV and Film)

• Mara Brock Akil (B.A. 1992), creator and executive producer of Girlfriends and The Game, former supervising producer of The Jamie Foxx Show
• Claude Akins (B.S. 1949), actor (Inherit the Wind, Battle for the Planet of the Apes, The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo)
• Ann-Margret (Olsson) (Class of 1963, never graduated), Academy Award-nominated actress (Tommy, Carnal Knowledge)
• Sharif Atkins (B.S. 1999), actor (ER)
• Jayne Atkinson (B.S. 1981), Tony Award-nominated actress (Enchanted April, The Rainmaker); currently portrays Karen Hayes on 24
• Jane Badler (B.S. 1976), actress (V)
• Kate Baldwin actress (1997 – theaterschool)
• Bonnie Bartlett (B.S. 1950), Emmy Award-winning actress (St. Elsewhere, Twins, Ghosts of Mississippi)
• Warren Beatty (Class of 1959, never graduated), Academy Award-winning actor/writer/director (Bonnie and Clyde, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Shampoo, Reds)
• Lee Phillip Bell (B.A. 1950) Emmy Award-winning co-creator of The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful
• Rob Benedict (B.S. 1993), actor (Threshold, Felicity)
• Richard Benjamin (B.S. 1960), actor (Catch-22, Deconstructing Harry); director (Mermaids, Racing with the Moon)
• Edgar Bergen (attended, did not graduate), Academy Award-winning actor and ventriloquist (Charlie McCarthy)
• Greg Berlanti (B.S. 1994), screenwriter and producer (Dawson's Creek); creator of Everwood and Jack & Bobby; writer/director of Broken Hearts Club
• Eric Bernt (B.S. 1986), screenwriter (Surviving the Game, Virtuosity, Romeo Must Die)
• Craig Bierko (B.S. 1986), actor (Cinderella Man, The Thirteenth Floor); Tony Award-nominee (The Music Man)
• Andrew Bird (B.S. 1996), musician, songwriter, whistler
• Karen Black (attended, never graduated), Academy Award-nominated actress (Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces)
• Jeff Blumenkrantz (B.S. 1986), Tony Award-nominated musical theatre composer/lyricist (Urban Cowboy)
• Zach Braff (B.S. 1997), Emmy Award-nominated actor (Scrubs); writer/director (Garden State)
• Cary Brothers (B.S. 1995), Grammy-nominated musician (Garden State)
• Clancy Brown (B.S. 1981), actor (Highlander, The Shawshank Redemption)
• Charles Busch (B.S. 1976), Tony Award-nominated playwright (The Tale of the Allergist's Wife)
• Frank Buxton (B.S. 1951), actor/writer/director
• Bruno Campos (B.S. 1995), actor (Nip/Tuck)
• Josh Chetwynd, UK based baseball analyst and former player
• Cindy Chupack (B.S. 1987), Emmy Award-winning executive producer and writer (Sex and the City, Everybody Loves Raymond)
• Jeanne Clemson (M.A.), theater director, stage actress and teacher, preserved the Fulton Opera House
• Stephen Colbert (B.S. 1987), Emmy Award-winning comedian (The Colbert Report, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart)
• Jack Clay, acting teacher/director/actor
• Claire Coffee, actress (General Hospital)
• Kate Collins, actress (All My Children)
• Robert Conrad (B.S. 1955), actor (The Wild Wild West, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Hawaiian Eye)
• Steven Conrad (B.A. 1991), screenwriter (The Pursuit of Happyness, The Weather Man)
• Cindy Crawford (attended, never graduated), model
• Jan Crull Jr.(attended, never graduated),filmmaker, Native American Rights Activist, Attorney
• Jane Curtin (attended, never graduated), original cast member of Saturday Night Live; Emmy Award-nominated actress (Kate & Allie, 3rd Rock from the Sun)
• Stephanie D'Abruzzo (B.S. 1993), Tony Award-nominated actress and puppeteer (Avenue Q)
• William Daniels (B.S. 1950), Emmy Award-winning actor (St. Elsewhere, Boy Meets World); former president of the Screen Actors Guild
• Zooey Deschanel (attended, never graduated), actress (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Elf, Almost Famous, Winter Passing)
• Lydia R. Diamond (B.S. 1992), playwright
• Matt Doherty (B.S. 1999), actor (So I Married an Axe Murderer, The Mighty Ducks films)
• Anne Dudek, actress (House, Psych, Law and Order: CI, Desperate Housewives, How I Met Your Mother, Mad Men, White Chicks, The Human Stain)
• Teddy Dunn (B.S. 2003), actor (Veronica Mars)
• Nancy Dussault (B.A. 1957), actress (Too Close for Comfort); two-time Tony Award nominee (Do Re Mi, Bajour)
• Gregg Edelman (B.S. 1980), Tony Award-nominated actor (City of Angels, Into the Woods)
• Jennie Eisenhower (B.S. 2000), actress; granddaughter of Richard Nixon and the great-granddaughter of Dwight D. Eisenhower
• Mary Frann (B.S. 1965), actress (Newhart, Days of our Lives)
• Temi Epstein (B.S. 1996), child actress (North and South)
• Joe Flynn, actor (McHale's Navy)
• Penny Fuller (B.S. 1959), Emmy Award-winning actress (The Elephant Man); Tony Award nominee (The Dinner Party)
• Gerald Freedman (B.S. 1949, M.A. 1950), theatre director (The Gay Life, The Robber Bridegroom, The Grand Tour)
• David T. Friendly (B.S. 1978), Academy Award-nominated producer (Little Miss Sunshine)
• George Furth (B.S. 1955), Tony Award-winning playwright (Company); actor (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid)
• Aimee Garcia (B.S. 2000), actress (George Lopez)
• Daniele Gaither (B.S. 1993), actress, comic (MADtv)
• Frank Galati (B.A. 1965), Tony Award-winning director (The Grapes of Wrath), Academy Award-nominated screenwriter (The Accidental Tourist)
• Ana Gasteyer (B.S. 1989), actress (Mean Girls, Wicked); former cast member of Saturday Night Live
• Ileen Getz (B.S. 1985), actress (3rd Rock from the Sun)
• Zach Gilford (B.S. 2004), actor (Friday Night Lights)
• Eric Gilliland (B.S. 1984), writer/producer (Rosanne, My Boys)
• Ira Glass (attended, transferred), radio and TV personality
• Jonathan Glassner, TV writer/producer, most known for developing Stargate SG-1.
• Virginia Graham (M.S.J.), former daytime TV talk show host
• Michael Greif (B.S. 1981), Tony Award-nominated director of Rent and Grey Gardens
• Mamie Gummer (B.S. 2005), actress (Evening), daughter of Meryl Streep
• Anna Gunn (B.S. 1990), actress (Deadwood)
• Kathryn Hahn (B.S. 1995), actress (Crossing Jordan)
• Brad Hall (B.S. 1990), former cast member of (Saturday Night Live); creator of (The Single Guy, Watching Ellie)
• Samantha Harris (B.S. 1996), Emmy Award-nominated co-host of Dancing with the Stars
• Bill Hayes (M.M. 1949), Daytime Emmy Award-nominated actor (Days of our Lives)
• Heather Headley (B.S. 1997), Tony Award-winning actress and singer (Aida, The Lion King); Grammy Award-nominated R&B vocalist
• Kyle T. Heffner, actor Flashdance
• Marg Helgenberger (B.S. 1982), Emmy Award-winning actress (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, China Beach, Erin Brockovich)
• Charlton Heston (B.S. 1945), Academy Award-winning actor (Ben-Hur), National Rifle Association President
• Michael Hitchcock (B.S. 1980), writer, co-executive producer (MADTv); actor (Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, Serenity )
• Ron Holgate (B.S. 1959), Tony Award-winning actor (1776, The Grand Tour)
• David Hollander (B.S. 1990), creator, screenwriter, and executive producer of The Guardian
• David Horowitz (M.S. 1961), former host of Fight Back! With David Horowitz
• Jeffrey Hunter (B.A. 1949), actor (The Searchers, The Last Hurrah, King of Kings, The Longest Day)
• Lew Hunter (M.S. 1956), Emmy Award-nominated screenwriter (Fallen Angel); Chairman Emeritus and Professor of Screenwriting, UCLA School of Theater Film and Television
• Ron Husmann (B.S. 1959), Tony Award-nominated actor (Tenderloin)
• Martha Hyer (B.S. 1945), Academy Award-nominated actress (Some Came Running, Houseboat, The Sons of Katie Elder, Bikini Beach)
• Rex Ingram, actor (Cabin in the Sky, The Thief of Baghdad, Sahara, Green Pastures)
• Laura Innes (B.S. 1979), Emmy Award-nominated actress (ER); Emmy Award-nominated director (The West Wing)
• David Ives (B.A. 1971), playwright, (All in the Timing)
• Brian d'Arcy James (B.S. 1990), Tony Award-nominated actor (Sweet Smell of Success: The Musical)
• Tim Johnson (B.A. 1983), director (Antz, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas)
• Jennifer Jones, Academy Award-winning actress (The Song of Bernadette, Since You Went Away, Love Letters, Duel in the Sun, Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing)
• Peter Kapetan, (B.A. 1978), Broadway actor, singer, dancer 1956–2008
• Spencer Kayden (B.S. 1990), former cast member of MADTv; Tony Award-nominee for Urinetown
• James Keach (B.S. 1970), actor (The Long Riders); producer (Walk the Line); director (Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman)
• Stacy Keach, Sr. (B.S. 1935), actor (Get Smart); director (Tales of the Texas Rangers)
• Clinton Kelly (M.S. 1993), co-host of (What Not to Wear)
• Richard Kind (B.S. 1978), actor (Mad About You, Spin City)
• Richard Kline (M.A. 1967), actor (Three's Company)
• Robert Knepper (attended, never graduated), actor (Prison Break, Hostage, Carnivàle)
• Gary Kroeger (B.S. 1981), former cast member of (Saturday Night Live)
• Roger Kumble (B.S. 1988), writer/director (Cruel Intentions)
• Clyde Kusatsu (B.S. 1970), actor (All American Girl, In the Line of Fire)
• Mark Lamos (B.S. 1969), Tony Award-winning former artistic director of the Hartford Stage
• Sherry Lansing (B.S. 1966), former CEO of Paramount Pictures; Academy Award-nominated producer (Fatal Attraction); 2007 recipient of The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award
• Britt Leach, actor (Weird Science)
• Cloris Leachman (B.S. 1948), Academy Award-winning and Emmy Award-winning actress (The Last Picture Show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Spanglish)
• Harry J. Lennix (B.S. 1986), actor (The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Commander in Chief, Ray)
• Richard J. Lewis (B.A. 1982), Emmy Award-nominated director/producer (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation)
• Herschell Gordon Lewis, filmmaker
• John Logan (B.S. 1983), Academy Award-nominated screenwriter (The Aviator, Gladiator, The Last Samurai)
• Laura Linney (attended for a year then transferred), actress (The Truman Show)
• Shelley Long (Class of 1971, never graduated), Emmy Award-winning actress (Cheers, The Money Pit, Irreconcilable Differences)
• Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Class of 1982, never graduated), Emmy Award-winning actress (Seinfeld, The New Adventures of Old Christine); former cast member of Saturday Night Live
• Paul Lynde (B.S. 1948), actor (Hollywood Squares, Bewitched, Bye Bye Birdie)
• J.P. Manoux (B.S. 1991), actor (ER, Phil of the Future, The Emperor's New School)
• Stephanie March (B.S. 1996), actress (Law & Order: SVU, Conviction)
• Michael Markowitz (B.S. 1983), Emmy Award-nominated writer and producer (Duckman, Becker)
• Garry Marshall (B.S. 1956), creator of Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, and Mork & Mindy; director (Pretty Woman, Beaches, The Princess Diaries)
• Marshall W. Mason (B.S. 1961), Tony Award-nominated director (Fifth of July, As Is)
• Daphne Maxwell Reid (B.A. 1970), actress (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air)
• Jacquelyn Mayer (B.S. 1964), former Miss America
• Ralph Meeker (B.S. 1943), actor (Kiss Me Deadly, Paths of Glory, Picnic, The St. Valentine's Day Massacre, The Anderson Tapes)
• Susan Messing (B.S. 1986), performer, teacher, and director at The Second City, ImprovOlympic, and the Annoyance Theatre
• Josh Meyers (B.S. 1998), actor (MADtv, That '70s Show)
• Seth Meyers (B.S. 1996), cast member of Saturday Night Live; co-anchor of Weekend Update; winner of the third Celebrity Poker Showdown
• Terri Minsky (B.S. 1980), creator/writer/executive producer of Lizzie McGuire, Less Than Perfect, and The Geena Davis Show
• John Cameron Mitchell (B.S. 1985), writer/actor/director (Hedwig and the Angry Inch), executive producer (Tarnation)
• Andrew Moskos (B.A. 1990), co-founder of Boom Chicago in Amsterdam
• Karen Moncrieff (B.S. 1986), Miss Illinois 1985; writer and director of The Dead Girl and Blue Car
• Jason Moore (B.S. 1993), Tony Award-nominated director (Avenue Q)
• Megan Mullally (Class of 1981, never graduated), Emmy Award-winning actress (Will and Grace)
• Dermot Mulroney (B.S. 1985), actor (About Schmidt, My Best Friend's Wedding, The Family Stone)
• John Musker (B.A. 1975), writer/producer/director (The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Hercules)
• Tony Musante, actor (Toma, As the World Turns) *Margaret Nagle, screenwriter (Emmy Award Winning "Warm Springs")
• Patricia Neal (B.S. 1947), Academy Award-winning and Tony Award-winning actress (A Face in the Crowd, Hud, Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Subject Was Roses)
• Tom Neal, actor (Detour, Jungle Girl)
• George Newbern (B.S. 1986), actor (Father of the Bride, Father of the Bride Part II, Justice League Unlimited)
• Jamie Ray Newman (B.S. 2000), actress (Veronica Mars, Stargate Atlantis)
• Agnes Nixon (B.S. 1944), Emmy Award-winning writer/producer (All My Children, One Life to Live, Another World, As the World Turns, Loving)
• Denis O'Hare (B.S. 1984), Tony Award-winning actor (Take Me Out, Sweet Charity, Assassins)
• Dana Olsen (B.S. 1980), screenwriter (George of the Jungle, The 'Burbs)
• James Olson (B.S. 1952), actor (Rachel, Rachel, The Andromeda Strain, Ragtime, Commando)
• Jerry Orbach (Class of 1956, never graduated), Tony Award-winning and Emmy Award-nominated actor (Law & Order, Promises, Promises, Dirty Dancing)
• Maulik Pancholy (B.S. 1995), actor (30 Rock, Weeds)
• Mary Beth Peil (B.S. 1962), Tony Award-nominated actress (The King and I, Dawson's Creek)
• Jeff Pinkner, screenwriter (Lost)
• Michael Prywes, (B.S. 1996), writer and director of Returning Mickey Stern
• Paula Prentiss (B.S. 1959), Emmy Award-nominated actress (Where the Boys Are, The Parallax View, In Harm's Way, The World of Henry Orient)
• Jenny Powers (B.S. 2003), Miss Illinois 2000; Broadway actress (Little Women)
• John Qualen, actor (The Grapes of Wrath, The Searchers, Casablanca, The High and the Mighty)
• Maeve Quinlan (attended, transferred to University of Southern California), actress (90210, South of Nowhere, Ken Park, The Bold and the Beautiful)
• Lily Rabe (B.S. 2004), actress (No Reservations, Steel Magnolias)
• Charlotte Rae (B.S. 1948), Emmy Award-nominated and Tony Award-nominated actress (The Facts of Life, Diff'rent Strokes, Queen of the Stardust Ballroom)
• Tony Randall (Class of 1941, never graduated), Emmy Award-winning and Tony Award-nominated actor (The Odd Couple, Mr. Peepers, Inherit the Wind)
• Robert Reed (B.S. 1954), Emmy Award-nominated actor (The Brady Bunch, The Boy in the Plastic Bubble, Roots)
• Keith Reddin (B.S. 1978), playwright
• Marcia Rodd (B.S. 1960), Tony Award-nominated actress (Little Murders, Shelter)
• Tony Roberts (B.S. 1961), Tony Award-nominated actor (Annie Hall, Serpico, Play It Again, Sam)
• Jeri Ryan (B.S. 1991), actress (Boston Public, Star Trek: Voyager, Shark)
• Ethan Sandler (B.S. 1995), actor (Crossing Jordan)
• Kristen Schaal (B.S. 2001), actress and comedian, contributor to The Daily Show
• David Schwimmer (B.S. 1988), Emmy Award-nominated actor (Friends, Band of Brothers, Madagascar)
• Yuki Shimoda (Yukio Shimoda, B.A. in Accounting 1950's), Emmy Award-nominated actor
• Katherine Shindle (B.S. 1999), Miss America 1998, actress (Capote)
• Dan Shor, actor (Tron, Strange Behavior, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure)
• Candace Smith (J.D. 2002), Miss Ohio USA 2003; actress (Beerfest)
• Jerry Springer (J.D. 1968), host of The Jerry Springer Show; former mayor of Cincinnati
• Florence Stanley, actress (My Two Dads, Atlantis: The Lost Empire)
• McLean Stevenson (B.S. 1952), Emmy Award-nominated actor (M*A*S*H, The Doris Day Show); guest host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
• Peter Strauss (B.S. 1969), Emmy Award-winning actor (Rich Man, Poor Man, Masada, Soldier Blue, The Secret of NIMH)
• Nicole Sullivan (B.S. 1991), original cast member of MADtv; actress (The King of Queens); winner of the inaugural Celebrity Poker Showdown
• Hope Summers, actress (The Andy Griffith Show)
• Inga Swenson (B.S. 1953), actress (The Miracle Worker, Benson)
• Leigh Taylor-Young (attended, never graduated), Emmy Award-winning actress (Soylent Green, Picket Fences, I Love You, Alice B. Toklas)
• Lloyd Thaxton (B.A. 1950), television show host, Emmy Award-winning producer of "Fight Back! With David Horowitz"
• David Thompson (B.S.J.), playwright and writer (The Scottsboro Boys, Steel Pier)
• Chuti Tiu (B.A. 1991), Miss Illinois 1994; actress (Desire)
• Deborah Tranelli (B.S. 1977), actress (Dallas)
• Robert Trebor, actor (Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Raise Your Voice)
• Tom Virtue (B.S. 1979), actor (Even Stevens, Read It and Weep)
• Billie Lou Watt (B.S. 1945), actress (Search for Tomorrow, Astro Boy)
• Michael Weston (B.S.), actor (The Last Kiss, Coyote Ugly, Six Feet Under)
• Kimberly Williams (B.S. 1993), actress (Father of the Bride, Father of the Bride Part II, According to Jim)
• Fred Williamson (B.S. 1960), actor (MASH, Three the Hard Way, Black Caesar, Starsky & Hutch); former professional defensive back who played in Super Bowl I
• Edward D. Wood, Jr., filmmaker
• Mary Zimmerman (B.S. 1982, M.A. 1985, Ph.D. 1994), Tony Award-winning director/writer (Metamorphoses); librettist (Galileo Galilei)