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Alumni Success Stories

Ann Dowd ’78

Ann Dowd

Ann Dowd ’78 is easy to find. Just turn on your TV, head to the movies or the theater and you’re likely to encounter this hard-working actress. She has guest-starred in many shows, including House and Law & Order and appeared in films, such as Clint Eastwood’s Flags of Our Fathers and the family comedy Marley & Me. She recently took the stage, starring in the Broadway production of Chekhov’s The Seagull.

This was not the career Dowd envisioned when she entered Holy Cross as a premed student. “My life at Holy Cross was studying science and acting in plays. I had a fantastic acting teacher, and when he – together with my roommate and organic chemistry professor – advised me to take a hard look at an acting career, I thought I’d better pay attention,” she explains. “They were right – acting was what I truly loved.”

After graduating from Holy Cross, Dowd studied at The Theatre School at DePaul University and spent several years in Chicago before moving to New York. Her career began on the stage, and she made her Broadway debut as Shaw’s Candida, winning the 1993 Clarence Derwent Award for her performance.

“At first my mother was concerned about my choice,” Dowd recalls. “But parents shouldn’t worry when their children become actors. An acting career teaches you to go out there swinging, and you learn very quickly whether you can hang in. Even more important, acting makes you figure out who you really are, because the self is the instrument you use to do your work.”