Ron Lake

Ron Lake was born Ronald Paul La Due in Hannibal, Missouri, birthplace of Mark Twain. He never lived in Hannibal, but he did go to the Mark Twain cave once. His first acting opportunity was in the 3rd grade where he played the Mayor of Munchkin City to parental acclaim. He began studying acting in Philadelphia in the mid-1970s and starred in several productions in 1976, when every actor within a few hundred miles found employment celebrating America's Bicentennial. He attended the Goodman School of Drama in 1979, and left after a year to start a theater in Missouri with friends from Goodman and Webster University. After two seasons performing David Rabe, Mark Medoff, Milan Stitt, and Preston Jones, Ron moved to Los Angeles. He's best known for his work on "General Hospital" where he learned to walk and talk on set as Darryl Wainwright (1984-1988). He was known then as Ron La Due, but after being told he needed to speak French with a name like that in Hollywood, he took the professional name Ron Lake. He thought his career was up and running, but after appearing as Wayne on "Days of Our Lives" (1987) and the memorable courtroom drama "The Judge" (Matthew Litvak, 1987), he decided it was time to try a different approach. He did theater in the Midwest, including touring out-state Kansas as Ichabod Crane. After working as Ronald McDonald's stand-in, Donald, in a series of holiday commercials and being kicked out of Oprah's dressing room at Harpo Studios, he went in yet another direction. He finished his undergraduate degree, went on to complete a Ph.D. in Political Science at Indiana University, and worked for over 20 years in federal policy analysis and Congressional oversight, including at the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), where he is known as Ronald La Due Lake. He lives in Washington, DC, where he played the Speaker in "Office of the Speaker" (2019 Capitol Fringe Best Drama Audience Award) and played March in the film "Bring Wood, O Trojans".