Majorie Millar Luke with former student Anthony Edwards.
By Bill Brady, ‘02
Marjorie Millar Luke, ’49, MA University of California, Santa Barbara ’75, Kaysville, Utah, a performing arts teacher for more than 30 years, is the namesake for a new community youth performing arts center in Santa Barbara, Calif. The center is being renovated from the same theater in which her students performed lavish productions more than two decades ago.
The decision to name the facility after her was made by one of her former students, Anthony Edwards, star of the television show ER. Edwards wasn’t Luke’s only student to achieve stardom. Others include Brad Hall, producer and writer for Saturday Night Live; Marilyn Osborne, producer of Touched by an Angel; Howard McGillin, lead in Phantom of the Opera; Cady Huffman, a Tony Award–winning actress; and supermodel Kathy Ireland.
Luke considers the time she spent at BYU, working closely with T. Earl, ’25, and Kathryn, ’34, Pardoe, pioneers of BYU‘s dramatic arts department, instrumental in the development of her talents and passion for theater. As a student she oversaw the costuming of BYU theater productions. By the time she was a senior, she was in charge of most of the shows.
