Danna Schaeffer
Danna Schaeffer grew up in New York and Los Angeles, where she married Benson in 1963. Rebecca was born in Eugene, Oregon in 1967, and, when Rebecca was 14, the family moved to Portland. At age 16, Rebecca struck out on her own for New York, where she soon landed acting jobs, starting with a role on a soap and ultimately a role on the sitcom My Sister Sam alongside Pam Dawber, which took her to Los Angeles. Danna's first play, City Women, won a major award from the Kennedy Center in 1988. In 1989, Rebecca was murdered on her front step. Benson and Danna were shattered but survived. Danna went on to write more plays, teach playwriting, publish stories, articles, and reviews, produce two websites, write manuscripts for several novels and a memoir, and pursue a career in mental health. You in Midair premiered in January, 2017 at Portland’s Fertile Ground Festival.
