Yancy Butler
Encyclopedia
Yancy Victoria Butler is an American
television
and movie
actress known for her roles as Natasha Binder in the 1993 John Woo
film Hard Target
and as Detective Sara Pezzini
on the TNT supernatural
drama
Witchblade
.
, New York City
. She is the daughter of Leslie (née Vega), a theatre company manager, and Joe Butler, drummer for the 1960s
rock group The Lovin' Spoonful
.
in 1992, in which she played an android police officer partnered with a human detective. The series was set in Los Angeles
in the near future. The series was co-created by Dick Wolf
, of Law & Order
fame. A year later, she starred in her second series, South Beach
also for Dick Wolf, in which she played a con artist and thief who made a deal with the federal government: in exchange for their wiping of her criminal record, she performs certain tasks for them.
While Butler's first appearance was a small role as a small girl in a 1979 slasher film Savage Weekend
, her next film appearance was the starring role in John Woo
's 1993 film, Hard Target
, featuring Jean-Claude Van Damme
. She then starred in the 1994 film Drop Zone
, featuring Wesley Snipes
. In 1995, she starred as Corinne the dancer in the film Let It Be Me
. Butler was cast as a series regular in the television series Brooklyn South
playing Anne-Marie Kersey, a Brooklyn policewoman, which ran for a full season in 1997–1998.
Butler starred in the made-for-television film Witchblade
(2000) and the subsequent television series
, based on an adaptation from the comic book
(also titled Witchblade
), which ran for two seasons on the Turner Network Television
network (TNT) for a total of 23 episodes. The series has a "cult television" following, and was ranked seventh in the Top 10 Basic Cable Dramas for 2002 (Multichannel News, February 24, 2003). The show's cancellation was announced after the second season in September 2002.
In 2005, Yancy starred in the film Bloodlines, alongside Lou Diamond Phillips
.
In 2006, Butler starred in the American movie Striking Range. and in 2007, she appeared in thirteen episodes of the television soap opera As The World Turns
, as character "Ava Jenkins."
Yancy has been confirmed to appear in Tales of the Ancient Empire, the follow-up to The Sword and the Sorcerer
. Butler appeared in a small role in another comic book adaptation, the film version
of Kick-Ass, based on the Marvel
/Icon Comics
series by Mark Millar
and John Romita, Jr.
Fourteen months after the cancellation of the Witchblade series, in November 2003, Butler was taken into custody in Delray, Florida, for disorderly intoxication and sentenced to a substance-abuse treatment program after police there found her stumbling in and out of traffic. Butler told police that she was an alcoholic who was on medication, according to a Delray Beach Police report. At first, she said she'd been kicked out of a halfway house, but later said she was still in one, the report said.
On March 13, 2007, Butler was charged with driving under the influence
and failure to drive in the established lane after she crashed her Saab 900
into a wire guard rail in Sharon, Connecticut
. The actress was released on a $500 bail and ordered to appear in Bantam
Superior Court on March 26, 2007.
On March 28, Bantam Superior Court Judge Richard Marano issued a re-arrest order for Butler because she had twice not appeared at scheduled court dates. The judge directed that the warrant not be served until April 2 to give Butler a chance to explain why she was not in court.
Two days prior to the DWI offense, Butler allegedly phoned 911 after a fight with her boyfriend, 53-year-old Earl Ward Jr. Responding officers reported witnessing a drunk Butler complaining about Ward, who refused to hand over her car keys. The argument resulted in her throwing several items at him. Ward later told police that Butler had been smoking crack cocaine and drinking liquor over the course of the weekend.
for Best Actress in a Television Series, at the 29th Annual Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films Awards ceremony, for her performances in Witchblade.
|- style="text-align:center;"
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes
|-
|1979
|Savage Weekend
|little girl
|
|-
|rowspan=2|1993
|Hard Target
|Natasha Binder
|
|-
|The Hit List
|Jordan Henning
|TV Movie
|-
|rowpsan=2|1994
|Drop Zone
|Jessie Crossman
|
|-
|
|Annie's Garden
|Lisa Miller
|
|-
|1995
|Let It Be Me
|Corinne
|
|-
|1996
|Fast Money
|Francesca March
|
|-
|rowspan=2|1997
| Ravager
|Avedon Hammond
|
|-
|The Ex
|Deidre Kenyon
|
|-
|1998
|Doomsday Man
|Captain Kate Roebuck
|
|-
|1999
|The Witness Files
|Sandy Dickinson
|
|-
|2004
|The Last Letter
|Ms. Toney / Alicia Cromwell
|
|-
|rowspan=3|2006
|Basilisk: The Serpent King
|Hannah Carmelina Santorini Frankman
|
|-
|Striking Range
|Emily Johanson
|
|-
|Double Cross
|Kathy Swanson
|
|-
|rowspan=2|2008
|Vote and Die: Liszt for President
|Ann Barklely
|
|-
|Wolvesbayne
|Lillith
|
|-
|rowspan=2|2010
|Lake Placid 3
|Reba
|
|-
|Kick-Ass
|Angie D'Amico
|
|-
|rowspan=2|2011
|"Rage of the Yeti"
|Villers
|
|-
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
and movie
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
actress known for her roles as Natasha Binder in the 1993 John Woo
John Woo
John Woo Yu-Sen SBS is a Hong Kong-based film director and producer. Recognized for his stylised films of highly choreographed action sequences, Mexican standoffs, and use of slow-motion, Woo has directed several notable Hong Kong action films, among them, A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, Hard...
film Hard Target
Hard Target
Hard Target is a 1993 American action film directed by Chinese director John Woo. The film stars Jean-Claude Van Damme as Chance Boudreaux, an out-of-work Cajun merchant seaman who saves a young woman, Natasha Binder , from a gang of thugs in New Orleans...
and as Detective Sara Pezzini
Sara Pezzini
Sara Pezzini is a fictional comic book superheroine starring in the series Witchblade. Sara also appeared in a Turner Network Television live-action feature film and TV series of the same name, portrayed by Yancy Butler...
on the TNT supernatural
Supernatural fiction
Supernatural fiction is a literary genre exploiting or requiring as plot devices or themes some contradictions of the commonplace natural world and materialist assumptions about it....
drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
Witchblade
Witchblade (TV series)
Following a pilot film in August 2000, the cable network TNT premiered a Witchblade television series based on the Witchblade Top Cow Productions comic book series in 2001. Some of the episodes were written by Ralph Hemecker, Marc Silvestri and J.D...
.
Early life
Butler was born in Greenwich VillageGreenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. She is the daughter of Leslie (née Vega), a theatre company manager, and Joe Butler, drummer for the 1960s
1960s
The 1960s was the decade that started on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. It was the seventh decade of the 20th century.The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends across the globe...
rock group The Lovin' Spoonful
The Lovin' Spoonful
The Lovin' Spoonful is an American pop rock band of the 1960s, named to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. When asked about his band, leader John Sebastian said it sounded like a combination of "Mississippi John Hurt and Chuck Berry," prompting his friend, Fritz Richmond, to suggest the name...
.
Career
Butler's first major role was in the television series Mann & MachineMann & Machine
Mann & Machine is an American science fiction/police drama series that aired for nine episodes on NBC from April 5, 1992 to July 14, 1992.-Synopsis:...
in 1992, in which she played an android police officer partnered with a human detective. The series was set in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
in the near future. The series was co-created by Dick Wolf
Dick Wolf
Richard Anthony "Dick" Wolf is an American producer, specializing in crime dramas such as Miami Vice and the Law & Order franchise. Throughout his career he has won several awards including an Emmy Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.-Early life:Wolf was born in New York City, the son...
, of Law & Order
Law & Order
Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...
fame. A year later, she starred in her second series, South Beach
South Beach (1993 TV series)
South Beach was an American action/adventure series that aired on NBC during the summer of 1993. The series was created by Dick Wolf and Robert DeLaurentis and starred Yancy Butler, who had been the lead actress a year earlier in another failed Wolf/DeLaurentis series, Mann & Machine.Set in South...
also for Dick Wolf, in which she played a con artist and thief who made a deal with the federal government: in exchange for their wiping of her criminal record, she performs certain tasks for them.
While Butler's first appearance was a small role as a small girl in a 1979 slasher film Savage Weekend
Savage Weekend
Savage Weekend is a 1979 slasher film written, produced and directed by David Paulsen and starring Christopher Allport, David Gale, William Sanderson and a young Yancy Butler.-Plot:...
, her next film appearance was the starring role in John Woo
John Woo
John Woo Yu-Sen SBS is a Hong Kong-based film director and producer. Recognized for his stylised films of highly choreographed action sequences, Mexican standoffs, and use of slow-motion, Woo has directed several notable Hong Kong action films, among them, A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, Hard...
's 1993 film, Hard Target
Hard Target
Hard Target is a 1993 American action film directed by Chinese director John Woo. The film stars Jean-Claude Van Damme as Chance Boudreaux, an out-of-work Cajun merchant seaman who saves a young woman, Natasha Binder , from a gang of thugs in New Orleans...
, featuring Jean-Claude Van Damme
Jean-Claude Van Damme
Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg , professionally known as Jean-Claude Van Damme, is a Belgian martial artist and actor, best known for his martial arts action films, the most successful of which include Bloodsport , Kickboxer , Double Impact , Universal Soldier , Hard Target , Timecop ,...
. She then starred in the 1994 film Drop Zone
Drop Zone (film)
Drop Zone is a 1994 action movie directed by John Badham. It stars Wesley Snipes, Gary Busey and Yancy Butler.-Plot:Aboard a commercial airliner, U.S...
, featuring Wesley Snipes
Wesley Snipes
Wesley Trent Snipes is an American actor, film producer, and martial artist, who has starred in numerous action films, thrillers, and dramatic feature films. Snipes is known for playing the Marvel Comics character Blade in the Blade film trilogy, among various other high profile roles...
. In 1995, she starred as Corinne the dancer in the film Let It Be Me
Let It Be Me (film)
Let It Be Me is a 1995 musical film starring Campbell Scott, Jennifer Beals, Yancy Butler, Leslie Caron, James Goodwin and Patrick Stewart. It was written and directed by Eleanor Bergstein....
. Butler was cast as a series regular in the television series Brooklyn South
Brooklyn South
Brooklyn South is an American ensemble police drama series that aired on CBS for only one season during the 1997-98 television season. The series was co-created by Steven Bochco, Bill Clark, David Milch and William M. Finkelstein. Bochco is the creator of many well-known police dramas such as Hill...
playing Anne-Marie Kersey, a Brooklyn policewoman, which ran for a full season in 1997–1998.
Butler starred in the made-for-television film Witchblade
Witchblade (2000 film)
Witchblade is a made-for-television live-action superhero film adapted from the cult comic book by Marc Silvestri and Top Cow Productions. Set in contemporary New York City, the occult police drama centers on Sara Pezzini , a brooding and willful homicide detective who is the reluctant inheritor of...
(2000) and the subsequent television series
Witchblade (TV series)
Following a pilot film in August 2000, the cable network TNT premiered a Witchblade television series based on the Witchblade Top Cow Productions comic book series in 2001. Some of the episodes were written by Ralph Hemecker, Marc Silvestri and J.D...
, based on an adaptation from the comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
(also titled Witchblade
Witchblade
Witchblade is an American comic book series published by Top Cow Productions, an imprint of Image Comics, from 1995 until present. The series was created by Top Cow editors Marc Silvestri and David Wohl, writers Brian Haberlin and Christina Z, and artist Michael Turner.The series follows Sara...
), which ran for two seasons on the Turner Network Television
Turner Network Television
Turner Network Television is an American cable television channel created by media mogul Ted Turner and currently owned by the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner...
network (TNT) for a total of 23 episodes. The series has a "cult television" following, and was ranked seventh in the Top 10 Basic Cable Dramas for 2002 (Multichannel News, February 24, 2003). The show's cancellation was announced after the second season in September 2002.
In 2005, Yancy starred in the film Bloodlines, alongside Lou Diamond Phillips
Lou Diamond Phillips
Lou Diamond Phillips is an American film, television, and stage actor and director. His breakthrough came when he starred in the film La Bamba. He earned a supporting actor Golden Globe Award nomination for his role in Stand and Deliver and a Tony Award nomination for his role in The King and I...
.
In 2006, Butler starred in the American movie Striking Range. and in 2007, she appeared in thirteen episodes of the television soap opera As The World Turns
As the World Turns
As the World Turns is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS from April 2, 1956 to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created As the World Turns as a sister show to her other soap opera Guiding Light...
, as character "Ava Jenkins."
Yancy has been confirmed to appear in Tales of the Ancient Empire, the follow-up to The Sword and the Sorcerer
The Sword and the Sorcerer
The Sword and the Sorcerer is a 1982 fantasy film, starring Lee Horsley, Richard Lynch, and Richard Moll, directed by Albert Pyun. A mercenary with a three-bladed sword rediscovers his royal heritage when he is recruited to help a princess foil the designs of a brutal tyrant and a powerful...
. Butler appeared in a small role in another comic book adaptation, the film version
Kick-Ass (film)
Kick-Ass is a 2010 superhero comedy film based on the comic book of the same name by Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr. The film was directed by Matthew Vaughn, who co-produced the film with actor Brad Pitt, and co-wrote the screenplay with Jane Goldman...
of Kick-Ass, based on the Marvel
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
/Icon Comics
Icon Comics
Icon Comics is an imprint of Marvel Comics for creator-owned titles, designed to keep select "A-list" creators producing for Marvel rather than seeing them take creator-owned work to other publishers.-History:...
series by Mark Millar
Mark Millar
Mark Millar is a Scottish comic book writer, known for his work on books such as The Authority, The Ultimates, Marvel Knights Spider-Man, Ultimate Fantastic Four, Civil War, Wanted, and Kick-Ass, the latter two of which have been adapted into feature films...
and John Romita, Jr.
John Romita, Jr.
John Salvatore Romita, Jr. is an American comic book artist best known for his extensive work for Marvel Comics from the 1970s to the 2000s...
Substance abuse and legal issues
On January 2, 2003, Butler was arrested after getting into a fight with her father, Joe Butler, at her uncle's Long Island home. She was charged with criminal contempt for violating an order of protection and two counts of harassment. She subsequently completed a stint in rehab and attended counseling sessions.Fourteen months after the cancellation of the Witchblade series, in November 2003, Butler was taken into custody in Delray, Florida, for disorderly intoxication and sentenced to a substance-abuse treatment program after police there found her stumbling in and out of traffic. Butler told police that she was an alcoholic who was on medication, according to a Delray Beach Police report. At first, she said she'd been kicked out of a halfway house, but later said she was still in one, the report said.
On March 13, 2007, Butler was charged with driving under the influence
Driving under the influence
Driving under the influence is the act of driving a motor vehicle with blood levels of alcohol in excess of a legal limit...
and failure to drive in the established lane after she crashed her Saab 900
Saab 900
The Saab 900 was a car produced by Saab Automobile from 1978 until 1998 in two generations. The first generation from 1978 to 1993 is known as the "classic"; the generation from 1994 to 1998 is known as the "new generation" ....
into a wire guard rail in Sharon, Connecticut
Sharon, Connecticut
Sharon is a town located in Litchfield County, Connecticut, in the northwest corner of the state. It is bounded on the north by Salisbury, on the east by the Housatonic River, on the south by Kent, and on the west by Dutchess County, New York...
. The actress was released on a $500 bail and ordered to appear in Bantam
Bantam, Connecticut
Bantam is a borough in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 759 at the 2000 census.While separated for census and historic reasons, Bantam is governed as an integral part of the town of Litchfield...
Superior Court on March 26, 2007.
On March 28, Bantam Superior Court Judge Richard Marano issued a re-arrest order for Butler because she had twice not appeared at scheduled court dates. The judge directed that the warrant not be served until April 2 to give Butler a chance to explain why she was not in court.
Two days prior to the DWI offense, Butler allegedly phoned 911 after a fight with her boyfriend, 53-year-old Earl Ward Jr. Responding officers reported witnessing a drunk Butler complaining about Ward, who refused to hand over her car keys. The argument resulted in her throwing several items at him. Ward later told police that Butler had been smoking crack cocaine and drinking liquor over the course of the weekend.
Stalking complaint
On February 2, 2007, Butler's former boyfriend was arraigned in Litchfield, CT on charges stemming from a stalking complaint filed by the actress. On September 27, 2007, the former boyfriend pleaded no contest in Bantam Superior Court to one count of creating a public disturbance and was ordered to only pay a $50 fine.Awards
On June 10, 2002, Butler won a Saturn AwardSaturn Award
The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, television, and home video. The Saturn Awards were devised by Dr. Donald A. Reed in 1972, who felt that films within...
for Best Actress in a Television Series, at the 29th Annual Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films Awards ceremony, for her performances in Witchblade.
TV series
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Mann & Machine Mann & Machine Mann & Machine is an American science fiction/police drama series that aired for nine episodes on NBC from April 5, 1992 to July 14, 1992.-Synopsis:... |
Sgt. Eve Edison | |
| 1993 | South Beach South Beach (1993 TV series) South Beach was an American action/adventure series that aired on NBC during the summer of 1993. The series was created by Dick Wolf and Robert DeLaurentis and starred Yancy Butler, who had been the lead actress a year earlier in another failed Wolf/DeLaurentis series, Mann & Machine.Set in South... |
Kate Patrick | |
| 1997–1998 | Brooklyn South | Officer Anne-Marie Kersey | |
| 2001–2002 | Witchblade Witchblade (TV series) Following a pilot film in August 2000, the cable network TNT premiered a Witchblade television series based on the Witchblade Top Cow Productions comic book series in 2001. Some of the episodes were written by Ralph Hemecker, Marc Silvestri and J.D... |
Detective Sara Pezzini Sara Pezzini Sara Pezzini is a fictional comic book superheroine starring in the series Witchblade. Sara also appeared in a Turner Network Television live-action feature film and TV series of the same name, portrayed by Yancy Butler... |
|
| 2007 | As The World Turns As the World Turns As the World Turns is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS from April 2, 1956 to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created As the World Turns as a sister show to her other soap opera Guiding Light... |
Ava Jenkins | |
| 2010 | The Mentalist The Mentalist The Mentalist is an American police procedural television series which debuted on September 23, 2008, on CBS. The show was created by Bruno Heller, who is also the show's executive producer... |
Aunt Jodie | |
| 2011 | Rage of the Yeti Rage of the Yeti Rage of the Yeti is a 2011 film by Syfy.... |
Villers |
Films
{| class="wikitable"|- style="text-align:center;"
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes
|-
|1979
|Savage Weekend
Savage Weekend
Savage Weekend is a 1979 slasher film written, produced and directed by David Paulsen and starring Christopher Allport, David Gale, William Sanderson and a young Yancy Butler.-Plot:...
|little girl
|
|-
|rowspan=2|1993
|Hard Target
Hard Target
Hard Target is a 1993 American action film directed by Chinese director John Woo. The film stars Jean-Claude Van Damme as Chance Boudreaux, an out-of-work Cajun merchant seaman who saves a young woman, Natasha Binder , from a gang of thugs in New Orleans...
|Natasha Binder
|
|-
|The Hit List
|Jordan Henning
|TV Movie
|-
|rowpsan=2|1994
|Drop Zone
Drop Zone (film)
Drop Zone is a 1994 action movie directed by John Badham. It stars Wesley Snipes, Gary Busey and Yancy Butler.-Plot:Aboard a commercial airliner, U.S...
|Jessie Crossman
|
|-
|
|Annie's Garden
|Lisa Miller
|
|-
|1995
|Let It Be Me
Let It Be Me (film)
Let It Be Me is a 1995 musical film starring Campbell Scott, Jennifer Beals, Yancy Butler, Leslie Caron, James Goodwin and Patrick Stewart. It was written and directed by Eleanor Bergstein....
|Corinne
|
|-
|1996
|Fast Money
|Francesca March
|
|-
|rowspan=2|1997
| Ravager
Ravager (film)
Ravager is a 1997 Horror/Science Fiction film written and directed by James D Deck and starring Bruce Payne.-Plot:A passenger spaceship is forced to land in a desolate territory on Earth. The crew of the spaceship discover military bio-weapons after searching for minerals within the territory...
|Avedon Hammond
|
|-
|The Ex
|Deidre Kenyon
|
|-
|1998
|Doomsday Man
|Captain Kate Roebuck
|
|-
|1999
|The Witness Files
|Sandy Dickinson
|
|-
|2004
|The Last Letter
|Ms. Toney / Alicia Cromwell
|
|-
|rowspan=3|2006
|Basilisk: The Serpent King
|Hannah Carmelina Santorini Frankman
|
|-
|Striking Range
|Emily Johanson
|
|-
|Double Cross
|Kathy Swanson
|
|-
|rowspan=2|2008
|Vote and Die: Liszt for President
|Ann Barklely
|
|-
|Wolvesbayne
|Lillith
|
|-
|rowspan=2|2010
|Lake Placid 3
|Reba
|
|-
|Kick-Ass
Kick-Ass (film)
Kick-Ass is a 2010 superhero comedy film based on the comic book of the same name by Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr. The film was directed by Matthew Vaughn, who co-produced the film with actor Brad Pitt, and co-wrote the screenplay with Jane Goldman...
|Angie D'Amico
|
|-
|rowspan=2|2011
|"Rage of the Yeti"
|Villers
|
|-