Notable alumni: Arts/entertainment

Mara Brock Akil, executive producer, Girlfriends (Medill 92)
Ann-Margret, actress (Communication 63)
Jayne Atkinson, Tony Award-nominated actress (Communication 81)
Andrew Barrett-Weiss, director of current programs, Warner Brothers Television (Communication 92)
Karim Bartoletti, executive producer, FilmMaster (Communication 94)
Warren Beatty, actor, Academy Award-winning producer (Communication 59)
Lee Phillip Bell, creator, The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful (WCAS 50)
Richard Benjamin, actor/director (Communication 60)
Greg Berlanti, screenwriter, Dawson's Creek; creator and writer, Everwood (Communication 94)
Eric Bernt, screenwriter (Communication 86)
Craig Bierko, Tony Award-nominated actor
Bill Bindley, writer, director (Communication 84)
Richard Block, associate head of the School of Drama, Carnegie Mellon University (Communication 73)
Robert Borden, executive producer, George Lopez (Communication 89)
Zach Braff, actor/writer/director (Communication 97)
Clancy Brown, actor (Communication 81)
Charles Busch, actor, Tony Award-nominated playwright (Communication 76)
Bruno Campos, actor (Communication 95)
Adam Chase, former writer, executive producer, Friends (Communication 90)
Cindy Chupack, former executive producer, Sex and the City; former writer, Coach and Everybody Loves Raymond (Medill 87)
Stephen Colbert, host, Comedy Central's The Colbert Report; reporter, Comedy Central's The Daily Show (Communication 87)
Stephanie Shemin D'Abruzzo, Tony Award-nominated actress (Communication 93)
Laura Eason, artistic director, Lookingglass Theatre Company (Communication 89)
Gregg Edelman, Tony Award-nominated actor (Communication 80)
Paul Edelson, Emmy Award documentary nominee (WCAS 84)
Barbara Gaines, founder and artistic director, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre (Communication 68)
Tom Galantich, actor (Communication 83)
Frank Galati, Tony Award-winning, Oscar-nominated director; writer, actor, and retired Northwestern professor (Communication 65)
Ana Gasteyer, actress (Communication 89)
David Gersh, president and owner, Gersh Agency (Communication 70)
Ileen Getz, actress (Communication 83)
Eric Gilliland, writer/producer (Communication 84)
Joy Gregory, scriptwriter (Communication 88)
Michael Greif, director, Rent (Communication 81)
Heather Headley, Tony Award-winning actress, star of "Aida" and "Lion King", Grammy Award-nominated R&B singer (Communication 97)
Marg Helgenberger, Emmy Award-winning actress (Communication 82)
Charlton Heston, Academy Award-winning actor (Communication 45)
David Hollander, screenwriter and TV producer (Communication 90)
Laura Innes, actress (Communication 79)
Brian d'Arcy James, Tony Award-nominated actor (Communication 90)
Jeff Jarvis, founder, Entertainment Weekly; media consultant (Medill 75)
Tim Johnson, director (WCAS 83)
Jennifer Jones, also known as Phylis Isley, Academy Award-winning actress (Communication 40)
Richard Kind, actor (Communication 78)
Jeff Kurland, costume designer (Communication 75)
Sherry Lansing, former chairman, Paramount Pictures (Communication 66)
Martha Lavey, artistic director, Steppenwolf Theatre Company (Communication 79)
Brad Lawer, co-founder, Chopper Films (Communication 89)
Cloris Leachman, Academy Award-winning actress (Communication 48)
Robert Leighton, cartoonist, The New Yorker (Medill 82)
Harry Lennix, actor (Communication 86)
Richard Lewis, director (Communication 83)
John Logan, playwright and scriptwriter (Communication 83)
Shelley Long, actress (Communication 71)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, actress (Communication 82)
Michael Markowitz, writer and producer (Communication 83)
Garry Marshall, TV and movie producer (Medill 56)
William Scott McBurney, Emmy Award documentary nominee (Communication 84)
Grace McKearney, writer and producer for the Lifetime television network (Communication 74)
Laverne McKinnon, executive vice president of drama development, CBS Broadcasting, Inc. (Communication 87)
Susan Messing, performer, teacher, and director at Second City, ImprovOlympic, and the Annoyance Theatre (Communication 86)
Seth Meyers, actor (Communication 96)
Terri Minsky, executive producer, Lizzie McGuire (Medill 80)
Jason Moore, Tony Award-winning director, Avenue Q (Communication 93)
Robert E. Mulholland, former president, NBC (Medill 55)
Megan Mullally, Emmy Award-winning actress (Communication 81)
Dermot Mulroney, actor (Communication 85)
John Musial, founding member and director, Lookingglass Theatre Company
John Musker, Disney cartoon director (WCAS 75)
Margaret Nagle, actress, Emmy-nominated screenwriter (Communication 83)
Patricia Neal, Academy Award-winning actress (Communication 47)
George Newbern, actor (Communication 86)
Agnes Nixon, soap opera inventor (Communication 44)
Denis O'Hare, Tony Award-winning actor (Communication 84)
Dana Olsen, screenwriter (Communication 80)
Jerry Orbach, actor (Communication 56)
Stephen Peck, documentary filmmaker (Communication 68)
Mary Beth Peil, actress (Music 62)
Michael Pellerin, partner, Kurtti/Pellerin; produced The Lord of the Rings DVD trilogy (Communication 87)
Jenny Powers, actress (Music 03)
Paula Prentiss, actress (Communication 59)
John Quaintance, writer, Joey (Communication 93)
Charlotte Rae, actress (Communication 48)
Tony Randall, actor (Communication 41)
Tony Roberts, actor (Communication 61)
Jeri Ryan, actress (Communication 90)
Alexis Sarkisian, Emmy Award-winning television producer, international marketing executive (Communication 71)
Deborah Schwartz, deputy director for education, Museum of Modern Art in New York (WCAS 77)
David Schwimmer, actor (Communication 88)
Jon Shapiro, IMAX film producer (Communication 87)
Peter Shapiro, IMAX film producer (Communication 95)
Kate Shindle, actress; Miss America, 1998 (Communication 99)
Carole Shure, senior producer, As the World Turns (Communication 81)
Peter Strauss, actor (Communication 69)
Nicole Sullivan, actress (Communication 91)
Ira Ungerleider, former producer, writer, Friends (Communication 90)
Allison Teichner Wallach, vice president of original programming, Lifetime Television Network (Communication 90)
Jim Weitzer, actor (Communication 96)
Dawn Westlake, actress/writer/producer; president, Ron de Caña Productions (Communication 86)
Kimberly Williams, actress (Communication 93)
Fred "The Hammer" Williamson, actor (WCAS 60)
Mary Zimmerman, Northwestern professor, Tony Award-winning director (Communication 82)

> Notable alumni: Government/law

Some Notable Alumni

Stephen Colbert

Stephen Colbert

Zach Braff

Zach Braff

Julia Louis-Dreyfus

Julia Louis-Dreyfus

David Schwimmer

David Schwimmer