G R E E N ROOM
THE LILLIAN BOOTH ACTORS HOME, A SMASH HIT BY CHR I S T Y SM I TH - S LOMAN
It’s an impressive cast at the Lillian Booth Home, an assisted living and skilled nursing care facility in Englewood, New Jersey devoted to entertainment veterans. You’re likely to come across a comedian who played the vaudeville circuit, a retired, traveling Shakespearean actor, Broadway dancers in their golden years, or an elderly baritone belting out a few notes while tickling the ivories of a grand piano donated by Tony award-winning director, Harold Prince. “We like the idea that the people working in a creative community, the writers, performers, stage hands, directors, have a place where they can retire with their peers so that the quality of their life is high,” said Joe Benincasa, President and CEO of the Actors Fund, the non-profit that owns and operates the facility. Founded in 1882, the Actors Fund is a non-profit organization that supports members of the entertainment industry in crisis or transition through a wide range of social service programs such as Addiction Recovery Services, a Financial
Wellness Program, Affordable Housing, Senior Services, Services For the Disabled, HIV/Aids Initiative, Healthcare and Insurance Counseling, Secondary Career Development and the Phyllis Newman Women’s Health Initiative. The Lillian Booth Actors Home’s sprawling six-acre facility currently houses 124 retired actors, musicians, dancers, stagehands, writers and technicians. In addition to its top-notch health-care offerings, the home also provides numerous arts and performing arts activities such as poetry classes, theater and singing groups, music therapy and outings to shows and cultural events. The Home is a recipient of U.S. News and World Report’s Best Nursing Homes in America” designation, as well as the highest rating of 5 stars from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. At the facility you’ll find a 20-seat, three-piano theatre (courtesy of the National Academy of Arts & Sciences – the Grammys), a library stacked with film,
television and theater scripts, a screening room and a beauty salon. “We have many visitors from Broadway and other performers from around the country coming to perform and commiserate with people they have worked with in the past,” added Benincasa. Alan Alda, Mary Tyler Moore, Lynne Redgrave, Bernadette Peters and Tommy Tune are just a few guests who have stopped by for a visit or impromptu performance. The Actors Fund Home moved from Staten Island to Englewood, New Jersey in 1928. The name was officially changed to the Lillian Booth Home in 2007 after the philanthropist who donated a substantial amount to the home. “There are many reasons why I love this home,” said Brian Stokes Mitchell, chairman of the board of the Actors Fund. “The people whose shoulders we stand on... are living there ABOVE: TONY AWARDWINNER, BILLY PORTER, ACTORS’ EQUITY PRESIDENT, KATE SHINDLE AND TONY AWARDWINNER, BRIAN STOKES MITCHELL. PHOTO BY JAY BRADY PHOTOGRAPHY
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