Wilfred C. La Voie Theatrical Fund
Established 2014
Anne La Voie, Shenandoah native and Wil’s wife, established this fund as a memorial tribute for her husband, Wilfred Charles La Voie, who died August 2013 in Los Angeles.
Born in Troy, NY on February 17, 1932, he was the son of the late Wilfred and Mildred Smith Faille La Voie. Wilfred attended La Salle Institute in Troy where he found a home in the Dramatic Society.
During the Korean Conflict and Cold War, he served in the United States Navy, stationed aboard the aircraft carrier USS Hornet as a member of the flight deck crew responsible for electrical maintenance of jet aircraft.
After he returned from service, Wilfred performed in several theatres in New York including the Driftwood Showboat, The Coach House Players, Mid-Hudson Rep Company, as well as in radio plays. In 1979, he moved to Los Angeles where he was a member of Actors' Equity Association, the Screen Actors Guild, and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. His credits from the Catskills to California encompassed sound stages and store windows, theaters, tents, and even a floating showboat. Los Angeles stage credits included premier performances of original work at The Court and Tiffany, as well as revivals of dramas, musicals, and comedies from "Guys & Dolls" to "You Can't Take it With You." On television, he appeared in episodic series ("LA Law," "Who's the Boss," "General Hospital"), and he did voiceovers ("Magnum, P.I.," "Quantum Leap") and commercials for Mercedes Benz and Bank of America.
In recent years he traveled to some of the ports he had visited "courtesy of the U.S. Navy" as well as visit family and friends across the United States, and from London to Lithuania. Wil's 80th birthday was celebrated with dinner at the Eiffel Tower in Paris and tea in London. He said he was blessed with a good life, a series of happy events.
The Wilfred C. La Voie Theatrical Fund will support the Coach House Players, Inc. annually for the organization's scholarship program.
