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Lee Strasberg 1901-1982

Actor, director, and distinguished acting teacher, Lee Strasberg revolutionized the training of American actors. Born Israel Lee Strasberg in Austria-Hungary, he studied in Moscow with Russian director Konstantin Stanislavsky and championed "Method Acting," based on actors' inner emotional experiences. Strasberg cofounded America's first theatrical collective, the Group Theatre, in 1931, and became the director of New York's prestigious Actors Studio in 1951. Using the techniques of improvisation and "affective memory," Strasberg influenced such actors as James Dean, Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Paul Newman, Shelley Winters, and Marilyn Monroe. In 1974, Strasberg acted in an Oscar-nominated supporting role alongside Pacino in Godfather II.