 On a prestigious Jacob K. Javits Fellowship at the university, he also earned a Master of Fine Arts in Directing and Playwriting, while teaching classes in drama for three years.Banham's dream as a young man was to become a playwright or theatre director.Instead, he fell into acting after college, making his Broadway debut in "The Merchant", which starred Zero Mostel as Shylock, and was directed by two-time Tony award-winning director John Dexter.