Yancy Butler was born, July 7, 1970, and raised in Greenwich Village, New York City as the only child of Joe and Leslie Butler. Yancy is third generation show biz; her father is a member of the band, The Lovin Spoonful, her mother was a company manager for Broadway shows, and her grandparents were involved in theater work as well. Yancy's parents separated when she was 12 years old. Yancy studied at the prestigious HB Studios, from the age of 13, as well as dance and ballet at the Joffrey and Ailey schools in New York City. She attended Sarah Lawrence College, where she graduated with a B.A. in Liberal Arts in 1991. With plenty of stage credits on her resume, Yancy soon landed a guest starring role in the drama Law & Order. Yancy caught the eye of Law & Order creator, Dick Wolf, who offered her a leading role in the sci-fi series Mann & Machine, which folded after developing a cult-like fandom. Soon after that she got another lead in (another!) Dick Wolf series, South Beach, which ended after one season. Yancy made her theatrical motion picture debut opposite Jean Claude Van Damme in John Woo's Hard Target. Yancy is 5'7", single, has homes in LA and New York. Her name is a Native American mispronunciation of the word 'Yankee'.
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