Ron Lake, born Ronald Paul La Due in Hannibal, MO, has decades of experience as an actor, and is a recipient of a fellowship with the DC Commission on Arts and Humanities. Ron’s experience with the arts, academia, labor leadership, and federal policy research inform his work with depth, gravitas, and playfulness.

He performed with the Mendelssohn Chorus and the Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of Eugene Ormandy. Ron was a founder of the Darfstellar Repertory Theater and, from scratch, produced 2 full subscription seasons, plus summer stock shows and a tour of Missouri (The Glass Menagerie). In Los Angeles, he appeared in recurring roles in Daytime TV (General Hospital, Days of Our Lives), was tongue-tied sitting next to David Bowie in a dive bar, and acted with an ensemble on LA stages and at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. 

He has a Ph.D. in political science from Indiana University and worked for over 20 years in federal policy analysis at the U.S. GAO in support of Congressional oversight; he was the first president of the GAO Employees Organization, IFPTE Local 1921, and testified before the U.S. Congress on behalf of GAO analysts and specialists.

Ron is based in Washington, DC. Recent work includes Three Hotels by Jon Robin Baitz, Office of the Speaker by Nicole Cox, and Port Authority by Conor McPherson ; and the films The Haunting of Prince Dom Pedro (in production); Righteous; and Bring Wood, O Trojans.

He produces and acts in plays with the Living Room Theater, an actors collaborative.