Actors Studio

The Actors Studio is a membership organization for professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights at 432 West 44th Street in the Hells Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded October 5, 1947 by Elia Kazan, Cheryl Crawford, and Robert Lewis. Anna Sokolow taught movement for actors, but the Studio is best known for its work refining and teaching method acting. The group initial met in a rehearsal space in the Princess Theatre [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=v2k9IpxT6f8C&pg=PA47&dq=%22Old+Labor+Stage%22&sig=ACfU3U12nup22woTqobZP6JrSOfIS6u3_Stanislavsky in Focus by S. Carnicke - Routledge; (November 1, 1998)] ISBN 9057550709] This approach was originally developed by the Group Theatre in the 1930s based on the innovations of Constantin Stanislavski. The Studio came to worldwide recognition under the leadership of Lee Strasberg, who took over the helm in 1951.While at the Studio, actors work together to develop their skills in an experimental environment, where they can take risks as performers without the pressure of commercial roles.

In 1955 it moved to its current location in the former Seventh Associate Presbyterian Church (built in 1859). [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=PWXnRWvl0Q0C&pg=RA1-PA292&lpg=RA1-PA292&dq=%22Seventh+Associate+Presbyterian+Church%22&source=web&ots=9iwVploMUT&sig=e7CDFGqbYM-NruAySJU1J7ceg-A&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship by David W. Dunlap - Columbia University Press (April 21, 2004)] ISBN 0231125429]

The Actors Studio Drama School

From September 1994 through May 2005, the Studio collaborated with The New School in the education of masters-level theater students at the Actors Studio Drama School (ASDS). After months of negotiation, New School President Bob Kerrey decided not to renew the Studio's contract and selected Robert LuPone to head the new program. By ending 10 years of collaboration with the Studio, he was criticized by some of the university's alumni. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/26/theater/newsandfeatures/26acto.html The New York Times - New School, in Split With Actors Studio, to Create Own Program] ] Since the fall of 2006, the Actors Studio has offered a three-year MFA degree program through Pace University. [http://appserv.pace.edu/execute/page.cfm?doc_id=20051]

The television program "Inside the Actors Studio" airs on the cable television network Bravo. It is hosted by James Lipton, Dean Emeritus of the Actors Studio Drama School, and provides in-depth interviews with actors, directors, writers, and other artists, some of whom are members of the Studio. The program was taped in front of the students of ASDS, and served as a class seminar for them, until the school's dissolution. Beginning with the twelfth season, in the fall of 2005, "Inside the Actors Studio" is taped at the Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts at Pace University's New York City campus.

Famous alumni

Over its long history, many famous and successful actors, directors and playwrights have come out of the Studio, including:

*Edward Albee *Carmen Argenziano *Carroll Baker *Joe Don Baker *Barbara Bain *James Baldwin *Anne Bancroft *Ellen Barkin *Marlon Brando *Ellen Burstyn *Nandita Chandra *Hayden Christensen *Lee J. Cobb *Montgomery Clift *Bruce Dern *Robert De Niro

*James Dean *Sally Field *Jane Fonda *James Gandolfini *Robert Ginty *David Groh *Gene Hackman *Lance Henriksen *Steven Hill *Pat Hingle *Dustin Hoffman *Kim Hunter *Anne Jackson *Salome Jens *Harvey Keitel *Bruno Kirby *Martin Landau

*Diane Ladd *Brandon Lee *Jack Lord *Norman Mailer *Karl Malden *Terrence McNally *Steve McQueen *Allan Miller *Marilyn Monroe *Paul Newman *Jack Nicholson *Gerald S. O'Loughlin *Al Pacino *Geraldine Page *Estelle Parsons *Chazz Palminteri

*Will Patton *George Peppard *Tracy Pollan *Sidney Poitier *Michael J. Pollard *Ginette Reno *Julia Roberts *Mickey Rourke *Eva Marie Saint *Gene Saks *P. J. Soles *Sissy Spacek *Kim Stanley *Maureen Stapleton *Rod Steiger *Eric Stoltz

*Susan Strasberg *Rip Torn *Christopher Walken *Eli Wallach *Gene Wilder *Tennessee Williams *Shelley Winters *Joanne Woodward

Notes

External links

* [http://www.theactorsstudio.org/ The official web site of The Actors Studio]
* [http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/actors_studio.html PBS American Masters Series profile]
* [http://www.bravotv.com/Inside_the_Actors_Studio/ "Inside the Actors Studio"]
* [http://appserv.pace.edu/execute/page.cfm?doc_id=20051 The Actors Studio MFA Program at Pace University] * [http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/ead-idx?c=shs&id=uw-whs-tape00339a Audio collection of the Actors Studio from 1956-1969 at the Wisconsin Historical Society]