Saturday, March 2, 2013

Lee Strasberg

He and protégé Al Pacino appeared together in two films: The Godfather: Part II (1974) and ...And Justice for All (1979)

Famed acting teacher Lee Strassberg was born in Budzanov, Austria-Hungary (now Budanov, Ukraine). Brought to America as a child, he had a brief acting career, before becoming one of the founders of the Group Theatre in 1931, directing a number of plays there. His greatest influence, however, was through the Actors Studio, where he became director in 1950. A proponent of Method acting, which he adapted from the System brought to America by Konstantin Stanislavski's disciple --and Marlon Brando's mentor-- Stella Adler, he influenced several generations of actors, from Jimmy Dean to Dustin Hoffman. Film audiences would know him best as gangster Hyman Roth in The Godfather: Part II.

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