It’s Hamilton Binge Night
Television
Paul Lieberstein ’89
The Office (2005-13)
Join the team at Dunder Mifflin, including mild-mannered human resources director Toby Flenderson, played by Paul Lieberstein ’89, who also was a writer and executive producer of the NBC sitcom.
Sarah Rafferty ’93
Suits (2011-19)
This legal drama, originally on USA Network, features Sarah Rafferty ’93 as the firm’s quick-witted legal secretary.
Tony Goldwyn ’82
Law & Order (2024-); Scandal (2012-18)
From the big screen to your TV, catch Tony Goldwyn ’82 as DA Nicholas Baxter on NBC's Law & Order and fictional U.S. President Fitzgerald Grant III in the ABC political drama Scandal.
Wynn Van Dusen ’15
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (2018-)
The senior news producer shared in an Emmy for outstanding scripted variety series for her work on the hit HBO series.
Ryan Serhant ’06
Million Dollar Listing NY (2012-21); Owning Manhattan (2024-)
Catch Ryan Serhant ’06 in this Emmy-nominated series that follows four luxury real estate agents. He also stars in the spin-off, Sell it Like Serhant, and in Netflix's Owning Manhattan.
Alex Haley
Roots (1977)
The Emmy Award-winning series is based on Alex Haley’s 1976 novel Roots: The Saga of an American Family. Haley wrote the first draft of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book while on College Hill serving as a writer-in-residence.
Peter Falk ’49
Columbo (1968-78)
NBC’s long-running crime series starred the rumpled, cigar-toting homicide detective played by Peter Falk ’49.
Deirdre Fenton ’04
O.J.: Made In America (2016)
Part of ESPN’s series 30 for 30, the five-part documentary examines O.J. Simpson’s childhood, NFL career, murder trial, and current life. When the miniseries won the Academy Award in the best documentary category, Deirdre Fenton ’04, one of its producers, shared in the Oscar.
Film
Thomas Tull ’92
The Dark Knight (2008)
The adventures of Batman continue in this second film in the trilogy of the same name. It was produced by Thomas Tull ’92 when he was chairman and CEO of Legendary Entertainment, which also lists The Hangover series (2009, 2011, 2013) and Inception (2010) among its many blockbusters.
Nat Faxon ’97
The Descendants (2011)
Faxon has made appearances in many films, but he took home an Academy Award for co-writing the screenplay for The Descendants starring George Clooney.
Thomas Meehan ’55
Hairspray (2007); The Producers (2005); Annie (1982)
You can’t stop the beat! These three hit Broadway musicals, with books written by Tony Award-winning playwright Thomas Meehan ’55, made successful leaps from stage to screen.
Odd Man Rush (2020)
filmed in Sage Rink
Based on a true story of a Harvard hockey player who follows his dreams to Europe. Hamiltonians will no doubt notice that hockey scenes were filmed in Sage Rink.
Tony Goldwyn ’82
Tarzan (1999)
Time studying on College Hill prepares you to be anything — even a 20-year-old man raised by gorillas! Tony Goldwyn ’82 gave voice to the hero in this animated Disney film. You can also catch Goldwyn in Ghost (1990) as Carl Bruner; Nixon (1995) as Harold Nixon; and The Last Samurai (2003) as Colonel Bagley.
Natalie Babbitt, writer
Tuck Everlasting (2002)
If you could drink from a magical spring that would give you the power to live forever, would you do it? That’s the theme of this film based on the 1975 classic children's novel by Natalie Babbitt, wife of Kirkland College President Sam Babbitt. The book was ranked 16th among the “Top 100 Chapter Books” of all time in a 2012 survey by School Library Journal.
John Nichols ’62
The Sterile Cuckoo (1969)
Based on the book by John Nichols ’62 and starring Liza Minnelli, many of the scenes were filmed on Hamilton’s campus with student “extras.” Nichols’ book The Milagro Beanfield War, which tells of how a poor New Mexican farmer defends his small beanfield against political and business interests, was also adapted for a 1988 film directed by Robert Redford.
Ernie Found ’74
The Miracle Season (2018)
William Hurt takes on the role of Ernie Found in this true story of how a high school volleyball team must band together to win the Iowa state championship after the tragic loss of its star player (and Ernie's daughter), Caroline Line Found. The 17-year-old was killed in a freak moped accident while on her way to the hospital to visit her mother, who was dying of cancer. Helen Hunt plays the team's coach.
Peter Cameron ’82, writer
The City of Your Final Destination (2009)
Based on Cameron's award-winning novel of the same name, this film starring Anthony Hopkins and Laura Linney tells the story of a graduate student who travels to Uruguay seeking permission from the family of an obscure deceased writer to write his biography.
Yance Ford ’94
Strong Island (2017)
Yance Ford ’94 directed and produced this documentary that focuses on the murder of his brother in 1992. Nominated for an Academy Award, the film won an Emmy for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking, making Ford the first openly transgender man and the first Black openly transgender person to win Emmy honors.
Robert Bilheimer ’66
Not My Life (2011)
This film deals with human trafficking and contemporary slavery. Bilheimer’s other works include The Cry of Reason (1988), an Academy Award-nominated documentary in which an anti-apartheid activist discusses human issues confronting the people of South Africa, and A Closer Walk (2003), about the global AIDS epidemic.
Andy Horton ’66
The Dark Side of the Sun (1988)
Here’s a great trivia question: Which Hamilton alum gave Brad Pitt his big break? The answer is Andy Horton ’66, who wrote this film in which Pitt landed his first leading role as a young man in search of a cure for a dreaded skin disease.
Loch Phillipps ’83 and Matthew Levine ’83
Utica: The Last Refuge (2021)
Phillips directs and Levine is associate producer of this powerful documentary that follows the Azeins, a refugee family of four from Sudan, over the course of two-and-a-half years as they transition from isolation to being part of a larger community.
Grayson McCouch ’91
Armageddon (1998)
After appearing alongside Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Liv Tyler, and Ben Affleck in what would become the highest-grossing film of 1998, McCouch turned his talents to the small screen where, among many roles, he joined the cast of As the World Turns from 2003-10 as Dusty Donovan.
Related News
Leapin’ Lizards! Annie Manuscript Comes to Hamilton
The original draft manuscript to what would become the musical sensation Annie — with handwritten annotations by its author Thomas Meehan ’51 — has found a home in Hamilton’s permanent collection.
Theatre Dept.’s Tobin Ost: Building Sets and Relationships
Assistant Professor of Theatre Tobin Ost, who specializes in scenic design, does not believe in “art with a capital A,” especially when it applies to design. Throughout his career, Ost has broadened his experiences and knowledge of the world around him while encouraging students to do the same. And some of his students are people who never intended to set foot into the world of theatre.
