“I grew up in Glen Ellyn, which is about 20 miles west of Chicago. I attended Glenbard South High School and University of Illinois. I didn't study acting until I moved to Los Angeles after college, but the fact that I was raised in the Chicago area set the stage for all of my comedic and acting sensibilities.” FactsSchoolActingStudyStageCollegeGrewGrew UpHigh SchoolAreasMovedWestSouthRaisedUniversityMilesLos AngelesChicagoSensibilityComedicIllinois Author:Ryan McPartlin
“My personal beliefs were shaped more by experience and by watching the news when I was young: images of angelic-looking college students in Mississippi crying like the world was ending because black people were being allowed on their campus; the slow mounting horror of Vietnam on the evening news every night; sitting with my parents in front of the TV and being appalled at the way the Chicago police were treating the protesters during the '68 Democratic convention. Being eyed with suspicion because of my age and the way I wore my hair.” PeopleWorldWayAgeYoungNightBeliefParentBlackFrontsCryStudentsCollegeTvsHairHorrorNewsSittingPoliceDemocraticEveningChicagoBlack PeopleVietnamConventionsEvery NightSuspicionMississippiCampusAngelicCollege StudentsPersonal Beliefs Author:James Vance
“Organizer is kind of a grand term for what I was doing. I answered an ad that the Presbyterian Church of Chicago put up on college campuses. I was at the University of Kansas, and it's somewhat relevant to my life and work that I'm a Jew. But they weren't doing a religious litmus test. They wanted energetic, civil-rights-committed college students to come help them run some summer programs.” KindHelpingRunningWantedTermChurchReligiousRightsStudentsCollegeSummerProgramTestsUniversityCommittedJewCivil RightsChicagoRelevantAdsEnergeticCampusKansasOrganizerCollege StudentsPresbyteriansCollege Campus Author:Sara Paretsky
“When I was in college my improvisation troupe and I did a road trip to Chicago, and went to The Second City to see the classic 'Paradigm Lost' revue - with Tina Fey, Rachel Dratch, Scott Adsit and Kevin Dorff. It blew my mind, and proved to me you can do sketch comedy like you're doing 'Long Day's Journey into Night.' We could treat it like theater.” MindLongNightLostCan DoCitiesComedyJourneyCollegeLike YouTreatsTheaterClassicChicagoParadigmImprovisationKevinRoad TripLong DayFeySketch ComedySecond CityTroupe Author:Mike Birbiglia
“When you go into a college of education you've got aspirations of making a difference in people's lives, of loving children, of working with kids, but none of that is affirmed in your college of education. Then you go working in schools, especially in places like New York City and Chicago that I'm most familiar with, and you find these huge aspirations are beaten out of you in a very systematic way - and still people persevere.” PeopleWayChildrenStillsKidsSchoolDifferencesCitiesNew YorkCollegeHugeFamiliarAspirationMaking A DifferenceChicagoNew York CityBeatenPersevereSystematicLoving Children Author:Bill Ayers