Notable Alumni of Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater

Gloria Vanderbilt 1924–2019

Fashion designer, socialite and writer

Spouse: Sidney Lumet (Columbia University in the City of New York, Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater)

Spouse: Wyatt Emory Cooper (University of California-Berkeley, University of California-Los Angeles)

Grace Kelly 1929–1982

Hollywood actress and Princess of Monaco

Also attended: American Academy of Dramatic Arts-New York

Mother: Margaret Majer (Temple University)

Child: Albert II, Prince of Monaco (Amherst College)

Dustin Hoffman 1937–

Actor and filmmaker

Also attended: Santa Monica College

Spouse: Lisa Hoffman (University of Colorado Boulder)

Child: Jake Hoffman (New York University)

Gregory Peck 1916–2003

American film star

Also attended: University of California-Berkeley, San Diego State University

Diane Keaton 1946–2025

American actress

Also attended: Orange Coast College, Santa Ana College, University of Southern California

Kim Basinger 1953–

Actress and Academy Award winner

Also attended: University of Georgia

Spouse: Alec Baldwin (George Washington University, New York University)

Robert Duvall 1931–2026

Actor and director

Attended until 1957

Also attended: Principia College

Steve McQueen 1930–1980

Actor and racing driver

Spouse: Ali MacGraw (Wellesley College)

Sydney Pollack 1934–2008

Film director, producer and actor, two-time Oscar winner

Leslie Nielsen 1926–2010

Canadian-American actor and comedian

Burt Reynolds 1936–2018

Actor and film director

Also attended: Florida State University, Palm Beach State College

Spouse: Loni Anderson (University of Minnesota-Twin Cities)

Jeff Goldblum 1952–

Actor starring in Jurassic Park

James Caan 1940–2022

Actor, Sonny Corleone in The Godfather

Also attended: Michigan State University, Hofstra University

Sidney Lumet 1924–2011

Film director, producer and screenwriter

Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York

Spouse: Gail Lumet Buckley (Harvard University)

Spouse: Gloria Vanderbilt (Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater)

Joanne Woodward 1930–

Actress and producer

Also attended: Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College, Sarah Lawrence College

Spouse: Paul Newman (Yale University, Kenyon College)

Child: Nell Newman (College of the Atlantic)

Eli Wallach 1915–2014

American film, television and stage actor

Also attended: CUNY--City College, The University of Texas at Austin

Spouse: Anne Jackson (Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater)

Allison Janney 1959–

Actress and Academy Award winner

Also attended: Kenyon College

Christopher Lloyd 1938–

Actor, Doc Brown in Back to the Future

William H. Macy 1950–

American actor and filmmaker

Also attended: Goddard College, Bethany College

Spouse: Felicity Huffman (Circle in the Square Theatre School, New York University)

Mary Steenburgen 1953–

Actress, singer and songwriter

Also attended: Hendrix College

Spouse: Ted Danson (Carnegie Mellon University, Stanford University)

Child: Charlie McDowell (American Film Institute Conservatory)

Suzanne Pleshette 1937–2008

Actress with three Emmy nominations

Also attended: Syracuse University

Spouse: Troy Donahue (Columbia University in the City of New York)

Spouse: Tom Poston (American Academy of Dramatic Arts-New York, Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater)

Lee Grant 1925–

Actress and director, Academy Award winner

June Carter Cash 1929–2003

Country singer, wife of Johnny Cash

Also attended: Vanderbilt University

Carol Channing 1921–2019

Actress and singer starring in Broadway musicals

Also attended: Bennington College

Jo Van Fleet 1914–1996

Stage, film and television actress

Also attended: University of the Pacific

Edmond O'Brien 1915–1985

Actor and director, Academy Award winner

Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York, Fordham University

Sibling: Liam O'Brien (Manhattan University)

Edith González 1964–2019

Mexican telenovela actress

Chris Noth 1954–

Actor known for Sex and the City

Also attended: Yale University, Marlboro College

Doris Roberts 1925–2016

Actress and five-time Emmy winner

Spouse: William Goyen (University of Iowa, Rice University)

David Mamet 1947–

Playwright, filmmaker and author, Pulitzer Prize winner

Also attended: Goddard College

Frances Conroy 1953–

Actress known for Six Feet Under

Also attended: The Juilliard School, Dickinson College

Brenda Vaccaro 1939–

Actress, Golden Globe and Emmy winner

Connie Britton 1967–

Actress, Emmy and Golden Globe nominee

Also attended: Dartmouth College

Spouse: John Britton (University of Virginia-Main Campus)

Farley Granger 1925–2011

Film, television and stage actor

Christopher Meloni 1961–

Actor known for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Also attended: University of Colorado Boulder

Jennifer Grey 1960–

Actress known for Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Spouse: Clark Gregg (Wesleyan University, New York University)

Dylan McDermott 1961–

Actor, Golden Globe winner for The Practice

Also attended: Fordham University

Mother: Eve Ensler (Middlebury College)

Tony Randall 1920–2004

Actor, comedian and singer

Also attended: Northwestern University, Columbia University in the City of New York, Northwest University

James Doohan 1920–2005

Canadian actor, Scotty in Star Trek

Mackenzie Davis 1987–

Canadian actress

Griffin Dunne 1955–

Actor, director and producer

Spouse: Carey Lowell (University of Colorado Boulder, Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater)

Father: Dominick Dunne (Williams College)

Dina Meyer 1968–

Actress in Johnny Mnemonic

Also attended: Long Island University

Mark Rydell 1929–2026

Film director, producer and actor, directed The Rose

Elizabeth Ashley 1939–

Actress, Tony Award winner

Spouse: George Peppard (Carnegie Mellon University, Purdue University-Main Campus)

Spouse: James Farentino (American Academy of Dramatic Arts-New York)

Wayne Rogers 1933–2015

Actor known for M*A*S*H and House Calls

Also attended: Princeton University

Marta Kauffman 1956–

Television writer and co-creator of Friends

Also attended: Brandeis University

Jerry Weintraub 1937–2015

Film producer and former chairman of United Artists

Tom Tryon 1926–1991

Actor and novelist, starred in The Cardinal

Also attended: Yale University

Jean Rosenthal 1912–1969

Lighting designer and pioneer of theatrical lighting

Also attended: Yale University

Alice Lewisohn 1883–1972

Philanthropist and founder of the Neighborhood Playhouse

Gabriela Hearst 1976–

Fashion designer, former creative director of Chloé

Amanda Plummer 1957–

Actress of stage and film

Also attended: Middlebury College

Mother: Tammy Grimes (Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater)

James Remar 1953–

Actor in The Warriors and 48 Hrs

Dabney Coleman 1932–2024

Actor known for egomaniacal comedic characters

Also attended: The University of Texas at Austin, Virginia Military Institute

Walter Koenig 1936–2026

Actor and screenwriter, Chekov in Star Trek

Also attended: University of California-Los Angeles, Grinnell College

Amanda Bearse 1958–

Actress, comedian and director

Also attended: Birmingham-Southern College, Rollins College, Young Harris College

Betty Garrett 1919–2011

Actress, comedian, singer and dancer

Spouse: Larry Parks (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

Scott Speedman 1975–

Actor in the Underworld films

Susan Blakely 1948–

Actress known for Rich Man, Poor Man

Also attended: University of Texas--El Paso

James Karen 1923–2018

Character actor in Poltergeist and Wall Street

Fei Xiang 1960–

Taiwanese-born American singer and actor

Also attended: Stanford University