Lee Strasberg is recognized throughout the world as having produced three generations of actors, playwrights and directors and due to his phenomenal legacy the influence of his teachings continues to flourish today.
The internationally renowned director, producer, actor, teacher, lecturer, coach, and writer was born in Budanov, Austria-Hungary on November 17, 1901, the son of Ida and Baruch Meyer Strasberg. He began his preparation for the stage with Richard Boleslavsky and Maria Ouspenskaya at the American Laboratory Theatre in New York City.
Strasberg made his professional acting debut in 1924, as the First Soldier in "Processional," a Theatre Guild production which opened at New York's Garrick Theatre. He also served as stage manager for the Guild's production of "The Guardsmen," starring Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, followed by more stage roles in such Theatre Guild presentations as "The Garrick Gaieties," "Goat Song" and "Green Grow the Lilacs."
In 1931, Strasberg co-founded the now-legendary Group Theatre, a permanent cast theatre which some credit as American theater's bravest and most significant experiment. As co-founder, he was able to aid in the development of such distinguished artists as Elia Kazan, John Garfield, Stella Adler, Sanford Meisner, Franchot Tone, and Robert Lewis. Strasberg directed such outstanding Group Theatre productions as "The House of Connelly" (co-directed with Cheryl Crawford), "Johnny Johnson," Sidney Kingsley's "Men in White" (which won the Pulitzer Prize), Ernest Hemingway's "The Fifth Column, and Clifford Odets' "Clash By Night."
In 1949, Strasberg joined the Actor's Studio in New York City and within a year became the Artistic Director, spawning two more generations of actors, directors, and playwrights. The legion of actors who have studied under Strasberg's tutelage is staggering; Geraldine Page, Paul Newman, Al Pacino, Kim Stanley, Marilyn Monroe, Jane Fonda, James Dean, Dustin Hoffman, Eli Wallach, Eva Marie Saint, Robert DeNiro, Jill Clayburgh, Jack Nicholson, Ellen Burstyn, Steve McQueen, Martin Landau, Sally Field, Julie Harris, and the list goes on. Strasberg supervised the Studio's productions of "Marathon '33," "Baby Want a Kiss," "Blues for Mr. Charlie," and "Strange Interlude." For the next twenty years he directed dozens of original plays and classics including the history-making revival of "The Three Sisters."
Among his prestigious contributions to European theatre, Strasberg conducted an International Seminar on Acting at the Spoleto Festival of Two Worlds (1962), represented the American Theatre at the Stanislavski Centennial held in Moscow (1963) and lectured on the Stanislavski Method of acting in Paris (1967). He held seminars in Argentina and his renowned seminar held in Buchem, Germany, carefully chronicled, is still today one of the most sought-after references on acting in that country.
In the United States, Strasberg lectured at Harvard, Brown (where there is a small theatre which bears his name), Tulane, Yale, UCLA, Brandeis, Minnesota and Northwestern Universities. And because his influence on modern acting and directing techniques, as espoused at the Actor's Studio, has had a profound worldwide effect, Strasberg was the recipient of an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Florida.
Early in 1966, a West Coast branch of the Actor's Studio was established in Los Angeles and three years later in 1969 The Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, considered to be among the nation's most prestigious acting schools. The Institutes were established in New York and then in Los Angeles in order to make Strasberg's work (previously confined to the Studio) available to a wider public. As part of that endeavor, Strasberg also organized study units for teenagers and non-actors to stimulate and train the development of the creative faculties in young people. Hence, a Young People's Program was established for this purpose.
With the demise of the studio system of contract players, Strasberg emphasized that "the Hollywood actor can't just be a name anymore...he must be an ACTOR. And because today's production budgets allow for less rehearsal time and re-takes, the need for training is more essential than ever."
Strasberg revitalized his acting career in the 1970s when he delivered a brilliant portrayal of mobster Hyman Roth in "The Godfather: Part II" directed by Francis Ford Coppola. His performance in this modern masterpiece earned him a 1975 Academy Award nomination as for Best Supporting Actor. In 1979, Strasberg starred in two back-to-back feature films, "Going in Style" with comic legends Art Carney and George Burns and "And Justice for All" directed by Norman Jewison. Strasberg can also be seen in the film "Skokie" with Danny Kaye, a true story in which he played a Republican contributor who withdraws from the American Civil Liberties Union for defending the Nazi's right to march. He also played a major role in the all-star film, "Cassandra Crossing" and his television acting debut was in an ABC Movie-of-the-Week, "The Last Tenant." The latter has Strasberg starring as an elderly Italian who, on the verge of senility, returns to the old house he shared with his now deceased wife. "Boardwalk" also co-starred Strasberg, this time with Oscar winner Ruth Gordon, as husband and wife in a study of changing neighborhoods and the problems of being senior citizens in a jungle society.
"Acting is relaxation for me. I enjoy it more then directing or teaching because I don't have to argue with myself," quipped Strasberg, adding humorously: "I understand what the director wants more than he does himself." One of his greatest ambitions was to play the life of Albert Einstein - "During his latter years, of course."
Strasberg was a frequent contributor to publications, including books, magazines, newspapers and reference works. Lee was the only acting teacher ever invited to write about acting, directing and production for the Encyclopedia Britannica. His own book, published by Little Brown, and titled "A Dream of Passion" has been printed in nine languages and is available in hard copy as well as paperback editions, as is his "Strasberg at the Actor's Studio." His book on directing is now being edited. The vast video collection of Mr. Strasberg's work as teacher, director and actor are currently being cataloged for future study and eventually will be made available to universities and colleges worldwide. Lee Strasberg was also elected into the Theatrical Hall of Fame. Lee Strasberg died on February 17, 1982 in Manhattan.
Today the Strasberg legacy continues at The Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute where his concepts are taught to the serious actor of today. His technique has generated an exciting new legion of actors such as Alec Baldwin, Angelina Jolie, Claire Daines, Scarlett Johansson, Bridget Fonda, Uma Thurman, Rebecca De Mornay, John Leguizamo. The Theatre world today is filled with discussions about acting - the Stanislavski system, the controversy about the Method, the laboratory work of Grotowski, the experiments of the Living Theatre, the theories of Artaud, of Brecht, and many others. Nonetheless, it remains true that for over 2000 years the problem of the actor has been misunderstood and has been superficially divided into an external or internal approach.
Now, through our expanding knowledge of human behavior, The Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute is able to train actors to use both their physical and emotional expression in order to do ultimate justice to their own talent and artistic voice.
