Yancy Victoria Butler is an American television and movie actress known for her roles as Natasha
Binder in the 1993 John Woo film Hard Target and as Detective Sara Pezzini on the TNT supernatural
drama Witchblade.
Early life Butler was born in Greenwich Village, New
York City.
She is the daughter of Leslie, a theatre company manager, and Joe Butler, drummer for the 1960s
rock group The Lovin' Spoonful.
Career Butler's first major role was in the television
series Mann & Machine in 1992, in which she played an android police officer partnered
with a human detective.
The series was set in Los Angeles in the near future.
The series was co-created by Dick Wolf, of Law & Order fame.
A year later, she starred in her second series, South Beach also for Dick Wolf, in which she
played a con artist and thief who made a deal with the federal government: in exchange for
their wiping of her criminal record, she performs certain tasks for them.
Butler's first film appearance was a small supporting role in the 1979 slasher film Savage
Weekend.
Her next film appearance was a starring role in John Woo's 1993 film, Hard Target, featuring
Jean-Claude Van Damme.
She then starred in the 1994 film Drop Zone, featuring Wesley Snipes.
In 1995, she starred as Corinne the dancer in the film Let It Be Me.
Butler was cast as a series regular in the television series Brooklyn South playing Anne-Marie
Kersey, a Brooklyn policewoman, which ran for a full season in 1997–1998.
Butler starred in the made-for-television film Witchblade and the subsequent television
series, adapted from the ongoing comic book of the same title; the TV series ran for two
seasons on the Turner Network Television network for a total of 23 episodes.
The series has a cult following, and was ranked seventh in the Top 10 Basic Cable Dramas for
2002.
The show's cancellation was announced after the second season in September 2002.
In 2005, Yancy starred in the film Bloodlines, alongside Lou Diamond Phillips.
In 2006, Butler starred in the American movie Striking Range. and in 2007, she appeared
in thirteen episodes of the television soap opera As The World Turns, as character "Ava
Jenkins".[citation needed] Yancy was confirmed to appear in Tales of
an Ancient Empire, the follow-up to The Sword and the Sorcerer.
On January 24, 2012, Tales of an Ancient Empire was released on DVD.
Butler, however, did not appear in the film.
Butler appeared in a small role in another comic book adaptation, the film version of
Kick-Ass, based on the Marvel/Icon Comics series by Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr.
Personal life Substance abuse and legal issues
On January 2, 2003, Butler was arrested after getting into a fight with her father, Joe
Butler, at her uncle's Long Island home.
She was charged with criminal contempt for violating an order of protection and two counts
of harassment.
She subsequently completed a stint in rehab and attended counseling sessions.
Fourteen months after the cancellation of the Witchblade series, in November 2003, Butler
was taken into custody in Delray, Florida, for disorderly intoxication and sentenced
to a substance-abuse treatment program after police there found her stumbling in and out
of traffic.
Butler told police that she was an alcoholic who was on medication, according to a Delray
Beach Police report.
At first, she said she'd been kicked out of a halfway house, but later said she was still
in one, the report said.
On March 13, 2007, Butler was charged with driving under the influence and failure to
drive in the established lane after she crashed her Saab 900 into a wire guard rail in Sharon,
Connecticut.
The actress was released on a $500 bail and ordered to appear in Bantam Superior Court
on March 26, 2007.
On March 28, Bantam Superior Court Judge Richard Marano issued a re-arrest order for Butler
because she had twice not appeared at scheduled court dates.
The judge directed that the warrant not be served until April 2 to give Butler a chance
to explain why she was not in court.
Two days prior to the DUI offense, Butler allegedly phoned 911 after a fight with her
boyfriend, 53-year-old Earl Ward Jr.
Responding officers reported witnessing a drunk Butler complaining about Ward, who refused
to hand over her car keys.
The argument resulted in her throwing several items at him.
Ward later told police that Butler had been smoking crack cocaine and drinking liquor
over the course of the weekend.
Stalking complaint On February 2, 2007, Butler's former boyfriend
was arraigned in Litchfield, Connecticut on charges stemming from a stalking complaint
filed by the actress.
On September 27, 2007, the former boyfriend pleaded no contest in Bantam Superior Court
to one count of creating a public disturbance and was ordered to pay a $50 fine.
Awards On June 10, 2002, Butler won a Saturn Award
for Best Actress in a Television Series, at the 29th Annual Academy of Science Fiction,
Fantasy & Horror Films Awards ceremony, for her performances in Witchblade.
Filmography TV series
Films References
External links Yancy Butler at the Internet Movie Database