Yvonne's Bio

Yvonne Perry was born and raised in upstate New York. She received her B.F.A. in Acting from Adelphi University in 1988. While there, she booked her first professional job as the voice of Elizabeth for a series of audio books based on the popular “Sweet Valley Twins” book series. After college, Yvonne moved straight to NYC to pursue her goal of becoming a legitimate actress. The commercial industry beckoned first, though, and by 1990 she was represented by Don Buchwald and Assoc. (DBA) and spent her days auditioning and her nights waitressing. Soon she was booking national radio spots for AT&T, Amstel Light and Coty (among many others), and on-camera commercials for products like Hellmann’s Mayonnaise and Suave.

After a summer spent studying with the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, Yvonne began performing as part of the East Coast improv team for Candid Camera – tricking people alongside the likes of comedians Kevin James and Adam Ferrara. She was finally able to pay off those college loans when she booked the contract role of Rosanna Cabot on the CBS Soap As The World Turns in 1992.

After four years of playing Rosanna – and winning the series’ first Soap Opera Digest Award in 1993, for “Outstanding Female Newcomer in Daytime” - the character was temporarily written off the show and Yvonne left for London to study with the Royal National Theatre. In the fall of 1996, she started making forays into the wilderness of Los Angeles, where she lived off and on for the next two years. Her time in LA was spent auditioning for countless pilots and guest starring roles, as well as several independent films. Although she “went to network” on many projects, her most noticeable bookings were an episode of Silk Stalkings and a sit-com pilot for ABC titled Dads.

In 1998, Yvonne joined her husband back in Albany, NY, and began work on her M.A. in Theatre History. While studying at the University at Albany, she started to teach acting as part of an assistantship there – and she also started directing. The role of Rosanna on ATWT resurfaced as well, and she returned often to NYC to make appearances on the show. In 2000, she graduated Magna Cum Laude and was soon hired as an adjunct both at UAlbany and Siena College. At Siena, Yvonne was hired to direct two main stage shows. She also spent the 2006/2007 academic year as a Visiting Guest Artist at Union College in Schenectady.

In the past few years, Yvonne has been pleased to have created a niche for herself as an actress in the Capital District. She has acted in many regional Equity productions with companies like Capital Rep, StageWorks/Hudson, Oldcastle Theatre Company, NYSTI and Hubbard Hall, among others. Yvonne has become an active member of Upstate Independents (UI), a solon of independent film makers in the area. Through UI she has acted in several locally produced films, including the short Pit Melon which will soon begin the festival circuit. Yvonne was also a frequent performer in the “Movies Without Pictures” screenplay reading series sponsored by UI and the Saratoga Arts Center.

Though she still loves teaching a class at UAlbany, much of her time is now spent managing her business as a freelance commercial actress. Yvonne can be seen often on TV as the spokeswoman for Taft Furniture, and was instrumental in launching new campaigns for Sunmark FCU, Kimberley’s A Day Spa, HANYS, and more. Among her many industrial film clients are the NYS Dept. of Health, TransWorld Entertainment, and EnergyStar. Her expertise with a teleprompter has kept her in demand with area producers. She has professional experience as an on-camera interviewer (“Out & About”), host, and print model. With over 15 years of professional experience, her vocal abilities can cover jobs in radio, TV voice-over, narration and audio books on tape. Yvonne recently completed narrating a series of Social Studies textbooks for McGraw-Hill, and a video training series for Milady Esthetics.

Yvonne is currently planning to expand her performance horizons by working on a one-woman show based on her battle with breast cancer.