AU isn’t just a Capitol Hill breeding ground—it’s also the alma mater of a number of acclaimed actors, writers, and directors of whom you may have heard. Here are a few AU alumni in the entertainment industry with works you can check out from our collection.
Caroline Aaron
Actor and playwright Caroline Aaron graduated from AU in 1974 with a BA in performing arts. Just last year, she returned to campus for a commencement address. With a lengthy filmography, a few highlights in our collection include Edward Scissorhands (1990), Sleepless in Seattle (2003), and 21 Jump Street (2012).
Sean Astin
After a forty-year career in entertainment with credits in the Lord of the Rings trilogy (Fellowship of the Ring, Two Towers, Return of the King) and The Goonies (1985), Sean Astin decided to continue his education and enroll at AU. Astin graduated in 2024 with a Masters degree in Public Administration and Policy.
Max Brooks`
Author, actor, zombie aficionado and son of Mel Brooks graduated from AU in 1997 with a Masters in film. In the early 2000s, Brooks was a writer for Saturday Night Live, and in 2006, he published the novel World War Z: an Oral History of the Zombie War. Brooks earned writing credits on the 2013 film adaptation World War Z.
Goldie Hawn
Academy award-winning actress Goldie Hawn attended AU in the mid 1960s before dropping out to pursue a career in dance. After a stint of supporting roles in sitcoms and sketch shows, Hawn found success in the film industry, appearing in movies such as The Sugarland Express (1974), Shampoo (1975), and Everyone Says I Love You (1996). In 2002, AU granted Hawn an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts.
Barry Levinson
Film director and producer Barry Levinson studied broadcast journalism at AU, graduating in 1967 with a BA. With an oeuvre featuring acclaimed titles such as Diner (1982), Good Morning, Vietnam (1987), and Rain Man (1988) which earned him an Academy Award for best director. Levinson regards his time at AU as the origin of his interest in radio and television.
Tom Maddox, PhD
A close collaborator of science-fiction novelist William Gibson, Tom Maddox is notable in his own right for authoring the novel Halo and numerous short stories. In the late 1990s, Gibson and Maddox co-wrote two episodes for the science fiction drama series The X-Files, titled Kill Switch and First Person Shooter. Maddox held a PhD in Literary Studies from AU and taught literature at Evergreen State College prior to his passing in 2022.
Ernest Thompson
Playwright and author Ernest Thompson is perhaps best known for his 1979 play On Golden Pond, which was adapted into a film two years later and earned him an Academy Award for best screenplay. In years since, Thompson has written and directed a number of films, some of which he adapted from his own Broadway productions. Thompson was interviewed by American University Magazine in November 2023.
Charlie Wachtel
After graduating from AU in 2008 with a Bachelor’s in Film & Media Arts, Charlie Wachtel moved to Los Angeles with Hollywood aspirations. Less than a decade later, he walked onto stage and accepted the Academy Award for best screenplay for the 2018 film BlacKkKlansman. After developing the screenplay from a 2014 memoir of the same title, Wachtel and his writing partner David Rabinowitz teamed up with Jordan Peele and Spike Lee to produce what would become a hugely successful, six-time-nominated Academy Award film.
Russell Williams II
Now a distinguished artist-in-residence in AU’s Film and Media Arts department, Russell Williams II began his career as an audio engineer while working on his BA in film production and literature. After graduating from AU in 1974, he pursued further training in audio engineering in Los Angeles, where he got his start in the film industry. Williams worked as a sound mixer for dozens of films and TV productions in the 80s, and in 1989, he won the Academy Award for best achievement in sound for his work on the movie Glory. The following year, he won the same award for Dances with Wolves (1990), making him the first African American to win two Academy Awards.
Honorable mention: Judge Judy Sheindlin
Any listicle on AU alumni in entertainment would be remiss without the venerable Judge Judy. With a nearly three decade on-screen career and well over 6000 episodes broadcast to date, no other television arbitrator has had such an enormous impact on the American conception of the legal system. Enrolling at AU in the early 1960s, Sheindlin earned a BA in Government and started her JD at Washington College of Law as the only female student in the class. While our media collection regrettably doesn’t feature any of her televised career, her pre-stardom book “Don’t Pee on My Leg and Tell Me It’s Raining” is available at the library.