American director Lee Strasberg: biography, movies

Lee Strasberg - director, founder of the Theater Institute of his name for the professional training of actors. Among his students are several dozen movie stars of the first magnitude. In every film studio located in Hollywood, the followers of Maitre's theory are bound to find themselves, and some of its devotees themselves pass on the experience gained from Strasberg to the younger generation.

short biography

The maestro was born on November 17, 1901 in Buldanovo, Ternopil region. This small town is in Ukraine. The family was small, purely Jewish with orthodox beliefs. Parents - Boruz-Meir and Ida Strasbergi - soon moved with their son to the USA. There he spent all his childhood and youth.

1931 was the time when Lee became a director. They created a creative theater group of the Group Theater. In parallel, Lee Strasberg taught at the school of artistic skill, which was called the "Studio of Actors." In 1952, he became its leader, putting Stanislavsky's system as the basis for teaching students . "Acting Studio Lee Strasberg" immediately became popular in the creative environment. The institution was finished 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 in Los Angeles, the "Western Studio of Actors" was created. And three years later, the director founded the Institute of Theater Arts Lee Strasberg.

Strasberg as the executor of roles

From time to time, he acted in a particular film as an actor. It was necessary for him to feel the role from within, to understand what the performer feels, being in this or that image. For the role of the second plan in the film "Godfather" by Francis Coppola, Lee Strasberg was nominated for an Oscar and Golden Globe.

However, all the attention of Strasberg was drawn to his institute of theater. From the very beginning, the activity of the school was limited to a very small number of students. Those few lucky ones who passed the competition and got the legal right to attend lectures were not compared to a huge number of people wishing to take their place in the audience. The selection was extremely strict. For example, Jack Nicholson auditioned five times, Dustin Hoffman - six, and many actors and did leave disappointed. Two vacancies went to Martin Landau and Steve McQueen, while more than four thousand applications were submitted for two seats.

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 stage - based on Chekhov's novel The Three Sisters. The keynote of the play, as you know, is the general disappointment, the minor atmosphere, which grows with each passing year, as well as longing and despair.

The Russian mentality easily copes with similar problems. Our people are used to the fact that fun happens, but not so often. Most of the time you have to be bored. Strasberg faced a difficult task: to make you sad in the Russian manner of smiling American actors. Nevertheless, the play turned out.

Proposal by Al Pacino

In 1974, one of the actors of the "Godfather" - Al Pacino, who portrayed the character Michael Korleone - invited the maestro to play in the sequel to the film a secondary but very significant role. For the created image of Lee Strasberg received nominations for "Oscar" and "Golden Globe". In 1979, the director starred as a character in Sam Kerkland in the film "Justice for All". The director of the picture was Norman Jewison, the main role was played by Al Pacino.

Lee Strasberg's methods

The famous, repeatedly tested principles of teaching acting master leads to two fundamental methods: constant improvisation and emotional memory, trained and trouble-free. Using these techniques, an artist can expand his range as much as he likes, which means his abilities as an artist become practically unlimited.

Lee Strasberg, whose acting technique is based largely on the postulates of Russian theatrical art, successfully develops the theory of Stanislavsky, his profound dramatic art. There is no real dramatic art in America (tearful melodramas do not count). Therefore, Lee Strasberg with his original theories very successfully took an honorable place in a separate niche. And it's not for nothing that his teaching and practical methods are in such high demand today.

Filmography

During his career, Lee Strasberg as a teacher produced dozens of movie actors, many of whom are still among the top twenty superstars of Hollywood today. In addition, the director himself acted in films, if his character matched the plot line of the project. Below is a list of films featuring Lee Strasberg as an actor.

• "The Storm in a Glass" (1937), the role of Willie;
• "Godfather 2" (1974), the character of Hyman Roth;
• "The Third Man" (1949), the role of a military police officer;
• "Macbeth" (1961), the character of Seyton;
• "The Long Day" (1962), the role of Sergeant Foster;
• "Pass Cassandra" (1976), a character of the Heman Kaplan;
• "Justice for All" (1979), the role of Sam Kirkland;
• "Promenade" (1979), the character of David Rosen;
• "Beautifully to leave" (1979), the role of Willy.

Lee Strasberg's debut film "Storm in a Glass", where he played a microscopic role, had no influence on his career. And yet this film is part of his filmography.

Personal life

In 1926, the director was married by a legal marriage with Nora Krekyan. They lived together not for long: in three years the woman died. The second choice of the master was the drama actress and teacher Paula Miller. This marriage also became fleeting. In 1966, Paula died of cancer. However, in this marriage, two children were born: Suzanne and John. The third wife of Lee Strasberg - Anna Mizrahi - was younger than his wife for forty years. From her master came two more sons. Thus, Lee Strasberg had four heirs.

Great importance in the personal life of the director was Hollywood star - actress Marilyn Monroe. Many years of friendship linked them. After her tragic death, Monroe left Strasberg two-thirds of the state. He died on February 17, 1982 in New York from a heart attack. Ironically, one day before his death, Lee Strasberg was brought into the American Hall of Theater Glory.