Lee Strasberg

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia   Lee Strasberg November 17 1901 February 17 1982 was an American actor director and acting teacher  He cofounded with directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford the Group Theatre in 1931 which was hailed as Americas first true theatrical collective  In 1951 he became director of the nonprofit Actors Studio in New York City considered the nations most prestigious acting school  In 1969 Strasberg founded the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York City and in Hollywood to teach the work he pioneered He is considered the father of method acting in America according to author Mel Gussow and from the 1920s until his death in 1982 he revolutionized the art of acting by having a profound influence on performance in American theater and movies  From his base in New York he trained several generations of theatre and films most illustrious talents including Anne Bancroft Dustin Hoffman Montgomery Clift Marlon Brando James Dean Marilyn Monroe Julie Harris Paul Newman Al Pacino Robert De Niro and director Elia Kazan  Former student Elia Kazan directed James Dean in East of Eden 1955 for which Kazan and Dean were nominated for Academy Awards As a student Dean wrote that Actors Studio was the greatest school of the theater and the best thing that can happen to an actor  Playwright Tennessee Williams writer of A Streetcar Named Desire said of Strasbergs actors They act from the inside out They communicate emotions they really feel They give you a sense of life Directors like Sidney Lumet a former student have intentionally used actors skilled in Strasbergs Method  Kazan in his autobiography wrote He carried with him the aura of a prophet a magician a witch doctor a psychoanalyst and a feared father of a Jewish home He was the force that held the thirtyodd members of the theatre together and made them permanent  61 Today Ellen Burstyn Al Pacino and Harvey Keitel lead this nonprofit studio dedicated to the development of actors playwrights and directors Description above from the Wikipedia article Lee Strasberg licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia