Estelle Harman

Infobox actor
name = Estelle Harman
birthname = Estelle Karchmer
birthdate = birth date|1922|9|11|mf=y
birthplace = Beaumont, Texas, U.S.
deathdate = death date and age|1995|4|15|1922|9|22|mf=y
deathplace = Los Angeles, California, U.S.
spouse = Samuel Harman (1947-1995; her death)
children = Deborah Harman (b. 1959), Alexis Harman (b. 1961), Eden Harman (b. 1963)

Estelle Harman was an esteemed acting coach in Los Angeles. She began as an acting instructor at UCLA in the 1950s, then was hired by Universal Studios as Head of Talent to groom their stable of film actors, which included Rock Hudson, Bill Bixby, Tony Curtis and Audie Murphy.

As the contract years ended in Hollywood, she started her own school — the Estelle Harman Actors Workshop. It operated two theatres, an on-camera class and offered a curriculum that met federal requirements for financial aid. The school closed shortly before her death in the mid-1990s. The list of movie actors that studied with her is lengthy, many of whom went on to successful acting careers in hollywood movies and television.

Grounded firmly in Shakespeare, she emphasized the "independent actor" who could pull from all the tools the different acting philosophies offered (Sanford Meisner, Stanislavsky) without having to be dogmatic about any of them.