Wayne Pyle

Born in Philadelphia, Wayne Pyle is the first son of Dan and Patricia Pyle. He has one brother, Kevin, who lives in Australia and works in publishing. His parents got him into acting at the age of four, when he appeared on the Philadelphia affiliate of the classic children's television program "Romper Room". Being in front of the t.v. cameras thrilled him and he has been hooked on acting ever since.When his parents moved out of Philadelphia to rural Pennsylvania he tried to find as many opportunities as he could to pursue his love of acting. As a high school student he had his first professional theatre job in summer stock doing Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and The Sound of Music in a barn in Pennsylvania with Prather Productions.While enrolled at Susquehanna University, where his mother worked in the accounting office, his love for theatre grew as he studied with Larry Augustine, Bruce Nary and Axel Kleinsorg. He soon realized that he wanted more training than their program could offer, so he convinced the university to let him take an apprenticeship at the famed Actors Theatre of Louisville apprenticeship program. He was accepted into the program at the age of 19, but waited until the next year (1987) to participate. Other actors from that same apprentice year include: Rob Campbell, Kevin Farrel (IV), Matt Greenberg, Del Pentecost, Heidi Swedburg, Pamela Stewart and others.After leaving the apprenticeship program in 1988, he moved to Chicago and participated in the theatre, film and television community there and worked at Bailiwick Rep, the Griffin Theatre and other small venues while also pursuing roles in films including Eight Men Out, Bix, and others. He was once again working in children's television by appearing as a series regular in the CBS affiliate WBBM's "The Magic Door" which was shot in the same studio as Siskel and Ebert's "At the Movies".His mother, Patricia, died from lung cancer at the age of 42 and he moved back to the East coast in 1992 to be closer to family and to attend graduate school at the University of Delaware's Professional Theatre Training Program, known as the P.T.T.P., where he received his MFA in acting in 1995.During his three years at the P.T.T.P. he performed at Shakespeare festivals around the country and in international theatre festivals. After grad school, he founded the American Shakespeare Theatre Company and produced and appeared in a national tour of Taiwan with a production of "Hamlet" in 2000. He produced a documentary about the experience called "Within a Play" that appeared on the Sundance Channel. He has worked with the improvisational comedy group ComedySportz in Philadelphia and appeared in small background roles in Unbreakable and other films. While pursuing work in regional theatre, he was cast in the first National Tour of Disney's "The Lion King" appearing as Ed the hyena, Timon and Zazu in 2001. He was divorced from his wife Kimberly in 2005. He has two sons from that marriage.When he left the road in 2006, after five years of touring, he finally settled in the Hudson Valley in New York in 2008 and along with his spousal equivalent,Heidi Eklund, Pyle became part of a tight-knit filmmaking and theatre community with strong ties to New York City. Eklund and Pyle had a son in 2010.As a company member of the Half Moon Theatre in Poughkeepsie, NY, Pyle works with some of the finest theatre artists in the New York area.His work in independent films in the Hudson Valley has included Liza Johnson's Return (2011) starring Linda Cardellini, Michael Shannon and John Slattery. Return was the only U.S. film to appear at the Director's Fortnight in Cannes.Pyle was in Bruce Beresford's Peace, Love and Misunderstanding (2011) starring Catherine Keener and Jane Fonda. He had a few scenes with the very funny Jee Young Han in Rhymes with Banana (2012), directed by Peter Hutchings and Joseph Muszynski. Other films are listed on his IMDb page.Adam Salky's Dare (2009), starring Ana Gasteyer, Emmy Rossum and Alan Cumming was shot in Philadelphia and was his first featured role in film. His mentor and good friend Mike Lemon, the casting director, got him involved in that film.Pyle is currently involved in developing projects in theater, television and film as an actor, producer, writer and director. He enjoys spending time with his family as much as possible. Show less «