I was born in San Jose, California and there encouraged by my father, dreamed of acting despite my incredible shyness. Accordingly as a grade schooler and teen-ager I began to learn about acting. I was in school plays and in the Senior Showcase. I also studied piano, sang in the church choir, worked backstage, and on costumes for high school productions, college, and community theatre. I worked as a model and danced after moving to San Francisco, California. I performed in dance troops Ballet Russe, Russia and Almenrausch Schuplattler dancing in locations all over the United States, Europe, South and North America. I became a Circus Clown and trained at Pickle Circuse owned San Francisco School of Circus Arts. I performed as a clown named Giggles for Make-a-Circus in San Francisco and for Studio One in Oakland, California where my favorite clown bit was to have a pie throw in my face by Ringling Brothers Circus clown, C. J. Gross also know as Squirmy. I was a stage actress at The Renissance Pleasure Fair in Novato, California acting as a Washer Woman, Fool, Sword Fighter, Sign Girl and as a Bones Dancer. I studied film, television and theatre acting, voice-over and other skills, weekly in San Francisco and in San Jose, California at The Lucile Bliss Studio, The American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.), Full Circle Productions, Billie Shephard Productions and others. I also studied stand-up comedy with Neil Leibermann, “The Comedy Coach” in San Francisco. I joined Unions SAG and AFTRA while acting in film and theatre productions, such as playing Ann Deever in All My Sons by Arthur Miller and Rosalind Hay in Moon Over Buffalo by Ken Ludwig in San Francisco.
During this time I went to Rome, Italy and saw what has been my dream place since I was 8 years old, The Sistine Chapel. Afterwards I changed my stage name to “Tracy Ann Chapel.” I soon moved to Los Angeles, California to study acting with John Sarno and Scott Sedita and have acted in film and theatre productions there as in playing the lead role of Bea in Lovers and Other Strangers by Renee Taylor and Joseph Bologna and others. I graduated with an Associates degree from Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Pasadena, California and finished my studies in San Francisco working with French pastry chef Dominique Delanghe.
My childhood dream was to have my own horse but this never happened. When I became an an adult I owned a 16 1/2 hands high thoroughbred gelding named Cappuccino (Capi). I rode equestrian for 8 years and friends called me a horse-whisperer.
Capi was purchased and rescued from the owner. His three other horses had disappeared days before. My horse trainer (who worked for the family) was told they were tired of riding the horses and were disposing of them.
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Here is Tracy’s essay about her childhood, featuring recipes: Let Me Show You, featured on the Blog Eat, Darling, Eat that focuses on “Mothers and Daughters, Voices Past and Present, and Stories and Recipes.”
