Theater News

Chicago Actors Molly Glynn and Bernie Yvon Die in Tragic Accidents on the Same Day

The Chicago theater community was hit with two losses on Saturday, September 6.

Chicago actors Molly Glynn and Bernie Yvon died on Saturday, September 6.
Chicago actors Molly Glynn and Bernie Yvon died on Saturday, September 6.

The city of Chicago mourns the death of two of its actors, Molly Glynn and Bernie Yvon, who died in separate incidents on Saturday, September 6. Glynn was 46, and Yvon was 50.

Glynn was reportedly biking with her husband and fellow Chicago stage actor Joe Foust on a north suburban forest preserve trail at approximately 3pm when strong winds uprooted a tree that fell on Glynn. Foust was not seriously injured.

Glynn was a regular of some of Chicago's most renowned theaters, including Steppenwolf, Writers, Next, Chicago Shakespeare, and Northlight. She has also appeared on the television series Boss on Starz and NBC's Chicago Fire.

"In a cast, she was a strong, stabilizing influence," said Northlight Theatre Artistic Director BJ Jones about Glynn. "A real pillar in the cast. And when she walked on stage, you knew you were in good hands. You knew that you were seeing the truest colors of the character and the play."

Yvon was killed earlier that morning in Munster after a collision with a semi-trailer. The actor was headed to a rehearsal for Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, in which he was appearing at Theatre at the Center, when the crash occurred. Munster police were called at around 10am and reportedly found a white 2007 semi-trailer on top of a gray, four-door Toyota at an intersection. Yvon, the driver of the Toyota, was dead when rescuers arrived.

Yvon regularly performed at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire and appeared as Harry Houdini in the original Broadway production of Ragtime, a role he later took on tour.

"Bernie was all about love," said Terry James, executive director of the Marriott Theatre.

"The people you work with tend to become your really close friends," said Yvon in a 2012 interview with TheaterMania. "I guess I love most that I'm paid to do what I love doing. That's the best feeling ever, and I often wish that everybody in this world was doing something they love."