Howard Fine

Howard Fine (November 28, 1958) is an American acting teacher, the founder of the Howard Fine Acting Studio in Hollywood, CA, and also a theatre director.

Early life

Howard Fine was born on November 28, 1958 in Providence, Rhode Island. He is the youngest of 5 children. His parents Max, an American GI, and Nelly, a Holocaust survivor, married in Shanghai, China, before Max returned to the US with Nelly as a war bride.

Due to a fluke scheduling conflict between French and German classes, Fine ended up taking his first theatre class in high school. His drama teacher spotted Fine's directing talent and gave him his first play to direct, Edward Allbee's The Sandbox, at age 16.

Fine was first introduced to his mentor, Uta Hagen's, work while in the same high school drama class. His teacher taught from Hagen’s first book, "Respect for Acting,” and he would take the theatre classes to New York to watch classes at Uta's HB studios. Fine and Hagen remained close friends until her death.

Early career

After completing graduate school in Boston, Fine moved to New York where he landed his first teaching job at The American Musical and Dramatic Academy. After one semester of teaching, he was promoted to head the Acting Department at the young age of 24 making him the youngest chair in the studio’s history.

Career as an Acting Teacher

In 1985, Fine moved to Los Angeles with his best friend, voice coach David Coury. Fine began his career in Los Angeles by privately coaching students in his living room, but in 1988 had to expand to accommodate his growing classes. His studio relocated three times before occupying its present location on North Las Palmas Avenue in Hollywood.

Fine received recognition for his teaching in 2006 when named “Best Acting Teacher in Los Angeles” in Back Stage West’s “Best of Los Angeles” issue.

Theatre Director

In addition to being an acting coach, Fine is also an accomplished theatre director. He directed Michael Chiklis in his Broadway debut in Rob Becker's Defending the Caveman [http://www.ibdb.com/search.asp] . He recently directed Elizabeth Berkley, Ally Sheedy and Rachel Dratch in David Lindsay Abaire's That Other Person as part of the Best of the 24-hour plays on Broadway. He won a drama-logue award and an Ovation Award nomination for his direction of Billy Campbell in Fortinbras.

Oscar Commentary

For 5 consecutive years, Fine has been asked by the Los Angeles Times to analyze the acting of the Oscar Nominees. His Oscar commentary has been featured on Entertainment Tonight, Extra, Access Hollywood, E, Sky TV, BBC and CNN. In addition to The Los Angeles Times, Fine has been quoted in The Times, The Christian Science Monitor, and USA Today Weekend, and has spoken on numerous radio shows nationwide.

Reality Television

Fine has appeared as himself in numerous reality shows including, Next Action Star, The Anna Nicole Show, MTV's The Big Picture, It Girls, Twenty Four-Seven, and on many E True Hollywood stories and A&E Biographies. Recently he appeared as himself in the film Spiritual Warriors.

Charitable Works

Fine's favorite charity is Project Angel Food. He directed 10 consecutive years of the critically acclaimed benefit Divas Simply Singing, which featured such artists as Roberta Flack, Tina Arena, Melissa Manchester, The Pussycat Dolls, Whoopi Goldberg and Sharon Stone. He along with Producer Paul Papile created In Concert, which benefits Project Angel Food and has featured such artists as Deborah Gibson, Michael Chiklis, Jim Belushi, Sam Harris and Tisha Campbell-Martin.

Past and Present Students

Actors

*Roseanna Arquette
*Jim Belushi
*Elizabeth Berkley
*Tisha Campbell-Martin
*Morris Chestnut
*Michael Chiklis
*Jack Coleman
*Jennifer Connelly
*Bradley Cooper
*Daniel Davis
*Kim Delaney
*Rob Estes
*Camille Guaty
*Carla Gugino
*Daryl Hannah
*Jack Houston
*Salma Hyeck
*David James Elliott
*Stacy Keibler
*Val Kilmer
*Sheryl Lee Ralph
*Laura Leighton
*Jared Leto
*Heather Locklear
*Lindsay Lohan
*Lori Loughlin
*Chris Meloni
*Enrique Murciano
*Danny Nucci
*Adrian Pasdar
*Brad Pitt
*Jason Priestly
*Tara Reid
*Doug Savant
*Garry Shandling
*Marina Sirtis
*Amy Smart
*Tori Spelling
*Robin Thomas
*Wilmer Valderamma
*Scott Wolf

Athletes

*Lyle Alzado
*Sasha Cohen
*Rick Fox
*Michelle Kwan
*Carl Lewis
*Greg Louganis
*Cathy Rigby
*Mike Tyson

Musicians

*Clint Black
*Jon Bon Jovi
*Deborah Gibson
*Josh Groban
*Geri Halliwell
*Sam Harris
*Diana Ross
*Sakis Rouvas
*Will Smith
*Paul Stanley
*Justin Timberlake

Resources:

[http://www.backstage.com/bso/news_reviews/features/feature_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002876932] [http://www.howardfine.com]

[http://www.ibdb.com/search.asp]