Bob “Beny” Benedetti (1969-70) continued to teach after Second City and was Head of the Acting Program at the Yale Drama School, then Dean of Theater at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). He retired from teaching in 1991 to run Ted Danson’s production company at Paramount and proceeded to win three Emmys, two Humanitas Prizes, and a Peabody as a producer. Here he is with Cicely Tyson after collecting his Emmy for HBO’s A LESSON BEFORE DYING, just one year after winning Best Movie Emmy for HBO’s MISS EVERS BOYS.

After retiring to Santa Fe, he founded his own theater, THE NEW MEXICO ACTORS LAB, which is now celebrating its tenth season. He has directed eighteen shows with the company, and is thinking of retiring again at 85 if he can find the energy for it.