In Remembrance: Holly Felton Hayes ’86MFA Died on August 13 2026

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Holly Felton Hayes ’86, accomplished actress of stage and screen and drama teacher, passed on August 13, 2026.  She was 69 years old. In addition to her husband Martyn and two daughters Phoebe and Lucy, Holly is survived by two sisters and multiple cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends. 

Born and raised in upstate New York, Holly enjoyed a distinguished career spanning more than 30 years. She worked extensively across theater, television, film, commercials, and voiceovers, and is perhaps best known for her screen performances in Christmas in Rome, The Killer Beside Me, Free Rein, Living It, Emerald City, The Night Manager, and 1408. 

Graduating with a BFA in acting and directing from Ithaca College in 1979, Holly went on to earn her MFA at the Yale School of Drama in 1986.  After graduating from drama school, she began her career working in regional theaters in the US, including Baltimore Centre Stage, Players Theatre Columbus, and GeVa.  She then starred in the record-breaking, long-running Off-Broadway hit Vampire Lesbians of Sodom by Charles Busch. On Broadway Holly originated the role of Catherine de Brie in David Hirson’s La Bete directed by Richard Jones.  She went on to reprise her role in London at the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith starring opposite Alan Cumming.

For several years Holly split her acting career between New York and London, appearing in The Good times Are Killing Me at Second Stage, Minetta Lane, Ford’s Theatre, Washington DC, and the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto, Canada. 

Holly then married British theater producer Martyn Hayes and started a family.  While her daughters were small her husband’s work took them around the globe, but the family finally settled in London where she spent the remainder of her life.  In the UK, she worked in regional theater and London Fringe before making her West End debut in Ronald Harwood’s Taking Sidesdirected by Harold Pinter.  

Holly devoted over ten years of her life to teaching acting to hundreds of young people.  She often said, “My students have taught me far more than I could ever have taught them”.

All who knew Holly would agree she was pure magic. Whether viewing her from the audience as she plied her craft or sitting next to her at a social gathering, you knew there was something very special about this person. It was not simply her stunning beauty, her brilliant comic timing, or her effortless ability to make the most outrageous faces that would have you doubled over in laughter at the drop of a hat. It was something much deeper: a genuine interest in everyone and everything she encountered. When Holly was with you, she was truly with you. She never tired of hearing what was happening in the lives of those she loved, preferring to be regaled with others’ adventures rather than draw any attention to the incredible things she herself was doing. You always knew she was present in the moment, and you were grateful to be blessed with her love and friendship. 

The astounding thing about Holly was that no matter what age she was when you met her, she was always genuine. Whether she was 5 or 65, the same descriptive words were used by all who knew her. She was kindhearted, generous, honest, funny, playful, trustworthy, gracious, and good. Life, as Holly lived it, was full of possibility and her unwavering commitment to that way of life made everything seem possible for those around her. She was one of those rare people that made you feel better simply by spending time in her company. There will never be another like her, and her absence will be deeply felt by many.

At Holly’s celebration of life in London, many beautiful words were shared by those who loved her, but perhaps the poem by Thich Nhat Hanh said the most about how Holly viewed this life. This is an excerpt from “Be One with the Leaf.”

I asked the leaf if it was frightened because it was autumn and the other leaves were falling. The leaf told me, “No, during the whole spring and summer I was completely alive. I worked hard to help nourish the tree and now much of me is in the tree. . . . So, I don’t worry at all. As I leave this branch and float to the ground, I will wave to the tree and tell her ‘I will see you again very soon.’” . . . Tomorrow I will continue to be. . . . I will be a flower, or a leaf, . . . and I will say hello to you. If you are attentive enough, you will recognize me, and you may greet me. I will be very happy.

 Be attentive, be present, be happy—that’s what Holly would wish for each of us.

—Submitted by Aloysius Gigl ’86MFA for the family.