DONNA KAREN YEAGER WOOD
1955-2021
Houston lost a bright star this June with the passing of Donna Wood. She left us way too soon, peacefully and with her family close by.
With a bachelor’s degree from Rice University in the class of 1977, Donna went on to a rich and diverse acting career, continuing a legacy of brilliant and funny performances with the Rice Players. One was the secretary in
Tom Stoppard’s Jumpers, described as “an absolute tour de force of comic timing.” While attending Rice, she also appeared in Adaptation, A Man for All Seasons, The Visit, A Gap in Generations, and Three Sisters. A colleague of hers recently observed that “her performance in Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest as Lady Bracknell made her immortal.”
Upon graduation, she became a Rice recruiter for two years, then on to study at the Drama Studio in London for the next year. After appearing in a Shakespearean showcase in New York, she returned to Houston to become a singing waiter at the NY Café Bar, writing and performing original comedy. Then back to London, where she married her fiancé Nick Spurr.
Across the pond she was in acclaimed productions of South Pacific, Annie, and Barefoot in the Park, among many others, and appeared in commercials for Pan Am and Lay’s. Perhaps her highest profile project was a made for TV movie, also starring Dick Van Dyke, called Strong Medicine, which was aired on both British and US television. With her return to Houston, she joined the company of the Alley Theater, with roles in Stepping Out and Henceforward…, opposite George Segal. When another actress was removed from that leading role, Donna learned the part in 5 days and essentially saved the production.
A quality that is rare in an artist, Donna was able to alternate her acting roles successfully with fundraising jobs that provided support to many artists struggling to get their start. One of these was for Stage One, a children’s theater in Louisville, Kentucky. She was a relentless advocate for all artistic endeavors, and an important asset to Houston’s artistic community for decades.
In May of 2000, Donna married Lawrence (Larry) Charles Wood of Houston, a Doctor of Philosophy, with an advanced degree in geophysics. Larry passed away in 2017. Donna is survived by her brother Larry Yeager and sister Kim Yeager-Goehrig, as well as her devoted stepson Lewis Wood. A memorial gathering in Donna’s honor will be held August 21, 2021, between 2 and 5 p.m. For more information contact newman.martha@gmail.com.