User:Dbethsp/Luke yankee

Luke Yankee

Personal Life

Luke Yankee was born in Stamford, Connecticut. His father, John Harrison Yankee, Jr. (1920-1997) was an insurance executive. His mother was the character actress, Eileen Heckart (1919-2001), who won an Oscar, two Emmys, a Golden Globe and an honorary Tony Award for lifetime achievement . He has two older brothers, Mark Kelly Yankee and Philip Craig Yankee. Philip died in 2004 from liver and kidney failure. Yankee is married to Don Hill, a producer, stage manager and university professor.

Early Life

Yankee’s love of show business was evident at an early age. He started acting in community theatre at age 12 and became a member of Actor’s Equity at 15 in a production of Our Town at the American Shakespeare Theatre, starring Kate Mulgrew, Fred Gwynne and Geraldine Fitzgerald. He spent two years at the Juilliard School of Drama and completed his degree at New York University.

Directing & Acting Career

Early acting roles include The Dream Watcher with Eva LeGallienne, the American premiere of The Greeks with Gwyneth Paltrow, Christopher Reeve, Blythe Danner and Tony Goldwyn; he also performed in numerous regional theatre productions and toured internationally with his one-man show, Diva Dish! Yankee assistant directed six Broadway shows, including Grind (starring Ben Vereen and directed by Harold Prince), The Circle (starring Sir Rex Harrison) and New York City Opera’s Brigadoon (starring Tony Roberts). His Off-Broadway and regional theatre directing credits include The Cherry Orchard with Cynthia Nixon and Penny Fuller, Lend Me A Tenor with David Canary, High Infidelity with John Davidson and Driving Miss Daisy with his mother, Eileen Heckart. He served as producing artistic director of the Long Beach Civic Light Opera (one of the largest musical theatres in America) and the Struthers Library Theatre (an historic opera house in northwestern Pennsylvania). He has directed many corporate events and award shows with such artists as Stephen Sondheim, Quincy Jones, Annette Bening, Nathan Lane, Lily Tomlin, Barry Manilow and Rosemary Harris.

Yankee has served on the advisory board of the William Inge Theatre Festival for more than 15 years, where he has taught numerous workshops and served on panels alongside some of America’s greatest playwrights, including Neil Simon, John Guare, A.R. Gurney, Marsha Norman and David Henry Hwang. In 2010, he created and hosted the DVD series, Conversations on Craft, where he interviewed prominent actors, writers, producers and directors. Guests have included actors Edward Asner, Michael Learned and Harriet Harris, as well as television writer/producers Marc Cherry, David Lee and Oscar nominated director Mark Rydell.

Writing Career

Yankee’s memoir, Just Outside The Spotlight was published by Backstage Books in 2006, with a foreword by Mary Tyler Moore. Critics called it, “One of the most compassionate, illuminating showbiz books ever written.” (Michael Musto, The Village Voice) His first play, A Place at Forest Lawn (co-written with James Bontempo and published by Dramatists Play Service) has been presented at regional theatres throughout the US and abroad. His next play, The Jesus Hickey was produced in Los Angeles starring Harry Hamlin. His latest play, The Last Lifeboat was published by Dramatists Play Service in 2013. The screenplay version of The Last Lifeboat was one of ten scripts in 2012 to be accepted to the prestigious Plume & Pellicule screenwriting workshop in the Swiss Alps. He has written numerous other screenplays and television scripts.

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External links==

• Official Website
• official website for book, Just Outside The Spotlight
• official website for Conversations on Craft
• Luke Yankee’s one-man show, Diva Dish!
• Play, The Jesus Hickey
• Play, The Last Lifeboat