Janis Young

Image of Janis Young
Visiting Faculty

Janis Young is an award winning actress and Fulbright Scholar who has performed in television, film and theatre. She has worked with several noted theatre companies, such as Circle in the Square, Lincoln Center and Williamstown Theatre Festival. She likes to mix and match sensible choices with serious play.


Biography

Janis Young graduated BFA at Carnegie Mellon University where she was given the Apel Award for most outstanding work in the Drama Department and MFA at University of Arizona where she received the Meritorious Achievement Award from the American College Theater Festival. After studying as a Fulbright Scholar at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art she became a member of the Association of Producing Artists, founded by Rosemary Harris and Ellis Rabb, a principle member of the American Conservatory Theater, founded William Ball and in NewYork, The Working Theatre, founded by Kristin Linklater. Her New York appearances include work at The Booth Theater, Lincoln Center and Circle in the Square.
She has acted in such regional theaters as The Old Globe in San Diego, Hartford Stage Company, Milwaukee Rep, Philadelphia Theatre for the Living Arts, Arizona Theatre Company and the Williamstown Theater Festival, where she played opposite Christopher Walken in Summer and Smoke, and Ken Howard in Abe Lincoln in Illinois. Regionally, Young played Lady Boyle in Superior Donuts and Dottie in Good People at the Dorset Theatre Festival, Vera in 4000 Miles at Oldcastle Theatre Company, and Mary Tyrone in Long Day’s Journey Into Night at Hubbard Hall. Young originated the role of Bernice in NBC's Another World, Dolly in CBC Festival Theatre's The Dolly Scene and performed in NYPD, NET's Under Milkwood, and opposite George Segal in the 20th Century Fox film, Loving, released on DVD. Young has taught at Williams and Dartmouth colleges. She was a member of the Bennington faculty from 1978 to 2004, and returns from time to time as visiting faculty.