Joy Rizzo:
CLASS OF 1963
Washington Elementary SchoolClass of 1963
Westfield, NJ
Union County CollegeClass of 1974
Cranford, NJ
Monmouth UniversityClass of 1973
West long branch, NJ
Westfield High SchoolClass of 1969
Westfield, NJ
Roosevelt Intermediate SchoolClass of 1966
Westfield, NJ
Joy's Story
Hi Folks,
The highlight of my high school years was when I wrote this crazy Thanksgiving Play that Mr. Behringer directed for the school assembly. I played Shirley Pimple in it and it was a great thrill to hear all you guys laugh your heads off at my ideas. Unfortunately the Drama Dept. didn't share my enthusiasm for satire and I tabled the whole thing.
After high school we moved down the shore and I went to Monmouth College for awhile but left to support myself as an artist. I discovered acting at Union College and went on to have a professional acting career (as Fran or Francesca Rizzo) in NYC doing theater, television, radio and voice-overs.
Eventually I branched out to writing and directing in all those areas as well and in 1995 made my first short film. It won some awards and launched another career as an indie filmmaker.
My career(s) took a big blow with the 2000 actor's strike and then,I was forced out of my great Upper West Side apartment by an unscrupulous l...Expand for more
andlord and moved back to Union County in 2001. Sadly, after 9/11 I lost my downtown NYC production company and have been reinventing myself here in NJ ever since.
I was always very focused on my art and never married, although have had some really nice relationships along the way. I don't have kids but do have a couple of adorable grand-nephews. My parents are both gone now and my brother and sister live in Florida and California.
Nowadays, I work free-lance as a digital artist, videographer/editor and media teacher. I'm looking now to cultivate my blogging and digital storytelling skills into a full-time career so that I can be free to travel around the world.
The best news is that I have FINALLY graduated college this year (2009) with a BFA in Media Arts AND am thrilled to say I have just been awarded the State University of New York Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence!
Not bad for an old broad.
How about you? Let me know what you've been doing with your life!
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