Yancy Butler

Yancy Victoria Butler (born July 2, 1970) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Natasha Binder in the 1993 film Hard Target, Jess Crossman in Drop Zone, and Detective Sara Pezzini on the TNT supernatural drama series Witchblade. For her performance in Witchblade, she won a Saturn Award for Best Actress in a Television Series.

Early life Yancy Victoria Butler was born in Greenwich Village in Manhattan, the daughter of Leslie Vega, a theatre company manager, and Joe Butler, the drummer and vocalist for the 1960s rock group the Lovin' Spoonful.

Butler attended Sarah Lawrence College, graduating in 1991. 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 and was co-created by Dick Wolf. A year later, she starred in her second series, South Beach, 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. She then starred in the 1994 film Drop Zone. In 1995, she starred as Corinne the dancer in the film Let It Be Me. Butler was cast as a series regular in the CBS television series Brooklyn South playing Anne-Marie Kersey, a Brooklyn policewoman, which ran for one season from 1997 to 1998.

Butler starred in the television film Witchblade (2000) and the subsequent television series, adapted from the ongoing comic book of the same title; the 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, Butler starred in the film Bloodlines. For distribution purposes, it was retitled in 2006 as Striking Range. In 2007, she appeared in 13 episodes of the television soap opera As the World Turns, as Ava Jenkins. She 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. She appeared in a small role in another comic-book adaptation, the film version of Kick-Ass.

Legal issues In November 2003, Butler was taken into custody in Delray Beach, Florida, for disorderly intoxication and sentenced to a substance-abuse treatment program. In 2007, she was charged with driving under the influence after she crashed her car.

On April 3, 2017, Butler was arrested in Sag Harbor, New York, and charged with aggravated drunken driving and possession of drugs after she was found passed out behind the wheel of her car after it had hopped a curb onto the sidewalk.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1979 Savage Weekend Little Girl 1993 Hard Target Natasha Binder 1993 The Hit List Jordan Henning 1994 Drop Zone Jessie Crossman 1995 Let It Be Me Corinne 1996 Fast Money Francesca March 1997 Ravager Avedon Hammond 1997 The Ex Deidre Kenyon 1997 Annie's Garden Lisa Miller 1998 The Treat Wendy 1999 The Witness Files Sandy Dickinson 2000 Doomsday Man Captain Kate Roebuck 2004 The Last Letter Ms. Toney / Alicia Cromwell 2006 Striking Range Emily Johanson 2008 Vote and Die: Liszt for President Ann Barklely 2010 Kick-Ass Angie D'Amico 2010 Lake Placid 3 Reba 2012 Shark Week Elena 2012 Lake Placid: The Final Chapter Reba 2013 Hansel & Gretel Get Baked Officer Hart 2013 Kick-Ass 2 Angie D'Amico 2015 Lake Placid vs. Anaconda Reba 2017 Death Race 2050 Alexis Hamilton Direct to video 2017 Chasing the Star Salome 2018 The Assassin's Code Laura Consolo 2019 American Criminal Dr. Penelope Lang 2020 Emerald Run Anna Thomas 2021 Initiation Detective Sandra Fitzgerald 2021 Boogey-Man Elena 2021 The Accursed Hana 2021 Last Call in the Dog House Mary

Television Year Title Role Notes 1991 Law & Order Beverly Kern Episode: "Misconception" 1992 Grapevine Karen 1 episode 1992 Mann & Machine Sgt. Eve Edison 9 episodes 1993 South Beach Kate Patrick 7 episodes 1997 NYPD Blue Lucinda "Lucy" Hastings 1 episode 1997 Perversions of Science Lisa Gerou 1 episode, "Given the Heir" 1997–1998 Brooklyn South Officer Anne-Marie Kersey 21 episodes 2000 Witchblade Detective Sara Pezzini Television movie 2001–2002 Witchblade Detective Sara Pezzini 23 episodes 2006 Double Cross Kathy Swanson Television movie 2006 Basilisk: The Serpent King Hannah Carmelina Santorini Frankman Television movie 2007 As the World Turns Ava Jenkins 13 episodes 2008 Wolvesbayne Lillith Television movie 2010 Lake Placid 3 Reba Television movie 2011 The Mentalist Aunt Jodie Episode: "Blood for Blood" 2011 Rage of the Yeti Villers Television movie 2012 Lake Placid: The Final Chapter Reba Television movie 2015 Lake Placid vs. Anaconda Reba Television movie 2017 Boyfriend Killer Carrie Ellington Television movie 2017 Witness Protection Susan Television movie 2021 Diary of a Lunatic Clarissa Television miniseries, 2 episodes

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 and Horror Films Awards ceremony, for her performances in Witchblade.