Background
Ilko was born on December 2, 1943 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States; the son of William Bernard Ilko and Carolyn McColly Ilko.
Ilko was born on December 2, 1943 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States; the son of William Bernard Ilko and Carolyn McColly Ilko.
Ilko received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Emerson College in 1965. A year later he earned his Master of Arts degree and Master of Fine Arts degree in 1967 from Case Western Reserve University. Also in 1969, he was given a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the same university.
Ilko began his career as an associate professor at College of the Holy Cross in 1970 and had held it for eight years. In 1975, he became a theatre chairman at the same college, where he worked till 1978. The same years Donald served as a director of Fenwick Theatre. In addition, he served at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco for two years. Then in 1980, Ilko moved to New York and held a position of an actor and an acting coach till 1982.
From 1984 he was an associate professor in the Theatre School at DePaul University. Ilko also worked as a head of the Theatre Studies Program at the same university from 1990. He also appeared in and directed productions at the Court Theatre, Talisman Theatre, Stage Left Theatre, Bailiwick Repertory, the Illinois Theatre Center, the Writer's Theatre and Noble Fool Theatre. Donald performed with the Utah Shakespeare Festival, the Portland Conservatory Theatre and with theatre companies in New England and New York.
Ilko was a member of American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, the Actors Equity Association, Screen Actors Guild and Winston-Salem Writers.
