Mr. Samuels graduated from Vassar College with distinction in Acting and Directing in 1980. He acted in New York City for several years - joining AFTRA when he was cast in As The World Turns (1956-2010).As a writer, he has had 5 screenplays optioned and was a semifinalist in the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences Nicholl Fellowship competition.After a significant hiatus in the world of politics and marketing he has returned to his first love - acting. In 2013 he completed principal photography on Kantemir (2015), shot in Pittsburgh and starring Robert Englund and he appeared this past summer on stage in New York at Playwrights Horizons as General William Tecumseh Sherman in the world premiere of Attila.Mr. Samuels performed in Sundance - awarded Best Play in the Samuel French One Act Festival in 1981. He returned to the OOB festival 33 years later to appear in Attila.His original screenplay Mindscape was a semifinalist in the 1990 Academy of Motion Pictures Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting and subsequently optioned by director Robert Ellis Miller The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968). Producers included Marcia Nasatir Ironweed (1987) and Steven Haft Dead Poets Society (1989).