Lee Strasberg - Director, founder of the Theater Institute of his own name for the training of actors. Among his students are several dozen movie stars of the first magnitude. In each film studio located in Hollywood, the followers of the master’s theory will certainly be found, and some of his adherents themselves will pass on the experience gained from Strasberg to the younger generation.
short biography
The maestro was born on November 17, 1901 in the town of Buldanovo, Ternopil region. This small town is located in Ukraine. The family was small, purely Jewish with orthodox foundations. Parents - Boruz-Meir and Ida Strasberg - soon moved to the United States with their son. There he spent all his childhood and youth.
1931 was the time of Lee's emergence as a director. He created the creative theater group Group Theater. In parallel, Lee Strasberg taught at the School of Artistry, which was called the "Studio of Actors". In 1952, he became its leader, putting the Stanislavsky system as the basis for teaching students . "Lee Strasberg's Actor Studio" immediately became popular in the creative environment. The institution was graduated by many famous artists, who later became Hollywood stars. Among them are such famous people: Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Al Pacino, Paul Newman, Marilyn Monroe and Jane Fonda. In 1966, the Western Actors Studio was created in Los Angeles. And three years later, the director founded the Lee Strasberg Institute of Theater Arts.
Strasberg as a cast member
From time to time, he acted in a particular film as an actor. This was necessary for him in order to feel the role from within, to understand what the performer feels, being in a particular image. For a supporting role in Francis Coppola's The Godfather film, Lee Strasberg was nominated for an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award.
However, all the attention of Strasberg was paid to his theater institute. From the very beginning, the activities of the educational institution were limited to an extremely small number of students. Those few lucky ones who passed the competition and received the legal right to attend lectures did not compare with the huge number of people who want to take a place in the audience. The selection was extremely strict. For example, Jack Nicholson auditioned five times, Dustin Hoffman - six, and many actors went away completely disappointed. Two vacancies went to Martin Landau and Steve McQueen, while more than four thousand applications were submitted to two places.
Chekhov
Lee Strasberg devoted much time and energy to theaters on Broadway. Soon he became one of the most popular directors. In 1964, Lee showed his last performance on this scene - based on the story of Chekhov's “Three Sisters”. The keynote of the play, as you know, is general disappointment, a minor atmosphere that grows every year, as well as longing and hopelessness.
The Russian mentality easily copes with such problems. Our people are used to the fact that fun happens, but not so often. Most of the time you have to get bored. Strasberg faced a difficult task: to make sad, in the Russian manner, smiling American actors. Nevertheless, the performance turned out.
Offer Al Pacino
In 1974, one of the actors of The Godfather, Al Pacino, who portrayed the character of Michael Corleone on the screen, invited the maestro to play a secondary but very noticeable role in the film's sequel. For the created image, Lee Strasberg received nominations for Oscars and Golden Globes. In 1979, the director starred as the character of Sam Kerkland in the movie Justice for All. The director of the picture was Norman Juison, the main role was played by Al Pacino.
Lee Strasberg Methods
The master reduces the famous, repeatedly tested principles of teaching acting skills to two fundamental techniques: constant improvisation and emotional memory, trained and trouble-free. Using these techniques, an artist can expand his range as much as he wants, which means that his possibilities as a performer become almost unlimited.
Lee Strasberg, whose acting method is based mainly on the postulates of Russian theater, successfully develops Stanislavsky’s theory and his profound dramaturgy. There is no true dramatic art in America (tearful melodramas do not count). Therefore, Lee Strasberg with his original theories very successfully took pride of place in a separate niche. And it is not in vain that his teaching and practical methods are in such high demand today.
Filmography
During his career, Lee Strasberg as a teacher prepared dozens of film actors, many of whom are still in the top twenty of Hollywood superstars today. In addition, the director himself starred in the films, if his character corresponded to the storyline of the project. The following is a list of films starring Lee Strasberg.
- Storm in a Glass (1937), the role of Willie;
- The Godfather 2 (1974), a character of Hyman Roth;
- The Third Man (1949), the role of military policeman;
- Macbeth (1961), character of Seyton;
- Long Day (1962), the role of Sergeant Foster;
- “Cassandra's Pass” (1976), a character of Heman Kaplan;
- Justice for All (1979), the role of Sam Kirkland;
- The Promenade (1979), the character of David Rosen;
- “Nice to leave” (1979), the role of Willy.
Lee Strasberg's debut motion picture Storm in a Glass, where he played a microscopic role, had no effect on his career. Nevertheless, this film is included in his filmography.
Personal life
In 1926, the director was married by legal marriage to Nora Krekyan. They did not live together for long: after three years the woman died. The second chosen one of the master was a dramatic actress and teacher Paula Miller. This marriage also became fleeting. In 1966, Paula died of cancer. However, two children were born in this marriage: Susanne and John. Lee Strasberg's third wife, Anna Mizrahi, was forty years younger than her husband. From her, the maestro had two more sons. Thus, Lee Strasberg had four heirs.
Of great importance in the personal life of the director was the Hollywood star - actress Marilyn Monroe. They were connected by many years of friendship. After her tragic death, Monroe left Strasberg two-thirds of the fortune. He died on February 17, 1982 in New York from a heart attack. Ironically, one day before the death of Lee, Strasberg was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.