Biography

Yancy Victoria Butler was born July 2, 1970 in Greenwich Village, New York City, to Joe Butler, lead singer and former drummer of the Lovin’ Spoonful and Leslie Butler, a company manager for Broadway shows.

Acting was a natural career choice for Yancy, having a family working in show biz, including her grandparents who were involved in theatre.

She landed her first movie role in 1977, at the young age of 7, which was a small part in the thriller "Savage Weekend". Her parents separated when she was 12. A year later, she went on to study at prominent HB Studios in New York City, as well as taking dance and ballet classes at Joffrey and Ailey schools. When the time came for her to choose a college, Yancy went to the well known Sarah Lawrence College where she did her B.A. in Liberal Arts. She earned a 3.8 GPA and received a Griggs Scholarship. She graduated from SLC in 1991.

Fresh from college, Yancy got a guest-starring role on the critically acclaimed hit series "Law & Order”. Series creator, Dick Wolf, then offered her a lead role in the sci-fi series "Mann & Machine". She accepted the opportunity and developed a fan following for her portrayal as the android 'Eve'. Despite the great fan base, it was pulled after only 9 episodes.

Not too long after that was canceled, Dick Wolf created another show called "South Beach", which had been created with her in mind. Regardless of the success, that show was also canceled. In 1993, Yancy went on to star in her first full length film, the action thriller "The Hit List".

Yancy Butler's acting talent and beautiful personality got her a motion picture debut opposite Jean Claude Van Damme in "Hard Target".

In 1994 she took on the role, originally written for a man, opposite Wesley Snipes in the skydiving adventure "Drop Zone". In between shooting these two big budget studio films, she starred in an independent film called "Annie's Garden".

Taking a break from action films, Yancy joined the cast of the ballroom dance drama "Let It Be Me" - which is no surprise due to her love for ballroom dancing. The film was made in 1995, but due to problems with the company, it wasn't released until 2 years later in 1997.

She then went on to lead in three movies: the action-adventure: "Fast Money"; a psychological thriller: "The Ex" and also "Ravager": a made for TV sci-fi thriller.

Her guest appearances as a drug addict on popular tv-series "NYPD Blue" in 1997's episode "I Love Lucy" led to a role on the critically acclaimed Emmy-winning police drama "Brooklyn South". Although the series received praises from critics and audience, it was cancelled after 22 episodes.

Yancy's distinctive husky voice was used to narrate a half dozen stories in audio books. Her voice also got her to do a voice-over for a cartoon called "The Wild Thornberrys". The most prominent among this work were two interesting stories read from J.A. Jance novels, 'Rattlesnake Crossing' and 'Outlaw Mountain', which she did in 1999.

She also starred in the television movie, "Thin Air".

In June of 2002 Yancy won a Saturn Award for best actress in a TV Series - among the nominees were Jessica Alba (Dark Angel), Gillian Anderson (The X-Files), Claudia Black (Farscape), Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Kristin Kreuk (Smallville).

On September 4, 2002, TNT cancelled the Witchblade series. The show has a huge fan following. Tons of letters and phone calls have gone to Top Cow (the comic book that they created Witchblade); TNT ; and Warner Brothers (who also owns a portion of the rights) to get it back on the air.

This unique actress has an equally unique name: Yancy is a Native American mispronunciation of the word 'Yankee', which is strange because she is of Irish descent. In her spare time, Yancy enjoys doing the NY Times crossword puzzle. When she has summers off, she loves to work with the kids at Camp Erutan (Click on Make A Difference). It’s for physically and mentally abused children. It was created to help rehabilitate them as well as reunite brothers and sisters who have been separated. She is a huge supporter.

After the cancellation of Witchblade, Yancy took a year off to rest and regain her health.  In November of 2003, Yancy appeared as a guest on the drama series "The Lyon's Den".

Near the end of 2003, Yancy co-starred in an independent film alongside William Forsythe, "The Last Letter". No release date has yet been set. Yancy is also taking it slow for the time being because she has been dealing with some personal issues - we give love and support and wish her happiness.

In 2005, Yancy co-starreed in another independent film, Bloodlines. Yancy plays opposite of Lou Diamond Phillips in this action-packed drama. Bloodlines is planned for release to DVD in October.