Jack Garfein
Encyclopedia
Jack Garfein, born July 2, 1930 in Mukacevo, Carpathian Ruthenia
, Czechoslovakia
, now Mukacheve
, Ukraine
, is an acting teacher and former motion picture and theater director.
Garfein survived imprisonment at Auschwitz and came to the United States
at the end of World War II
. He took classes in acting at the Dramatic Workshop
of The New School
in New York with the influential German director Erwin Piscator
. He joined the Actors Studio
and married his fellow student, actress Carroll Baker
. Baker and Garfein had one daughter, actress Blanche Baker
, and a son, Herschel Garfein
.
Garfein made his Broadway
debut as a director with End as a Man starring Ben Gazzara
. Notably Garfein produced two plays by Arthur Miller
, The Price
and The American Clock
, and went on to direct other Broadway productions such as The Shadow of a Gunman, The Sin of Pat Muldoon, and Girls of Summer. His Off-Broadway credits include The Lesson and Rommel’s Garden. He directed the French premiere of Master Harold...and the Boys
in Paris
, and the world premiere of Nacht und Träume
by Samuel Beckett
in Austria
.
Garfein's film directorial debut, The Strange One, is an ensemble piece set in a sadistic Southern military academy. It was released without an ending – leaving audiences bewildered and critics annoyed. A crucial scene involved black actors and, in racially segregated America of 1957, the studio objected on the ground that to use black actors would mean commercial failure. Garfein refused to bow down and filmed the scene anyway. It was denounced by a U.S. Congressman as an 'un-American' film, but in Paris, a critic wrote that if anyone doubted that America was a free country, then they should see the film.
Garfein directed two other films. One was the 1961 independent film, Something Wild
, which starred Baker as a young rape victim held captive by the man who rescued her from suicide. The film includes an Aaron Copland
score. It was panned by many U.S. critics, even though he was hailed as an American Ingmar Bergman. His documentary The Journey Back chronicles his return to Auchwitz.
Garfein founded several institutions and became director of the Actor's Studio in Los Angeles in 1966, and created The Harold Clurman
Theatre on Theatre Row
in New York City. Instructing for more than 40 years, he is one of the most experienced teachers of Method Acting
. Garfein offers acting and directing classes in Paris at Le Studio Jack Garfein, London, Budapest, and Los Angeles. He has written a book on the subject, Life and Acting - Techniques for the Actor, published in paperback
in 2010.
In September 2010, a tribute to Jack Garfein was presented in Los Angeles at the UCLA Film and Television Archive at the Billy Wilder Theater which featured screenings of the two feature films he directed, 1957's "The Strange One" and 1961's "Something Wild," which stars his ex-wife Carroll Baker, as well as the documentary "A Journey Back," in which he returned to his childhood home and revisited Auschwitz. A similar event is scheduled for March 20 & 21, 2011 at the Film Forum in New York City.
Ruthenia
Ruthenia is the Latin word used onwards from the 13th century, describing lands of the Ancient Rus in European manuscripts. Its geographic and culturo-ethnic name at that time was applied to the parts of Eastern Europe. Essentially, the word is a false Latin rendering of the ancient place name Rus...
, Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, now Mukacheve
Mukacheve
Mukachevo or Mukacheve is a city located in the valley of the Latorica river in the Zakarpattia Oblast , in southwestern Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Mukachivskyi Raion , the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, is an acting teacher and former motion picture and theater director.
Garfein survived imprisonment at Auschwitz and came to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
at the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He took classes in acting at the Dramatic Workshop
Dramatic Workshop
Dramatic Workshop was the name of a drama and acting school associated with the New School for Social Research in New York City. It was launched in 1940 by German expatriate stage director Erwin Piscator. Among the faculty were Lee Strasberg and Stella Adler, among the students Marlon Brando, Tony...
of The New School
The New School
The New School is a university in New York City, located mostly in Greenwich Village. From its founding in 1919 by progressive New York academics, and for most of its history, the university was known as the New School for Social Research. Between 1997 and 2005 it was known as New School University...
in New York with the influential German director Erwin Piscator
Erwin Piscator
Erwin Friedrich Maximilian Piscator was a German theatre director and producer and, with Bertolt Brecht, the foremost exponent of epic theatre, a form that emphasizes the socio-political content of drama, rather than its emotional manipulation of the audience or on the production's formal...
. He joined the Actors Studio
Actors Studio
The Actors Studio is a membership organization for professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights at 432 West 44th Street in the Clinton neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded October 5, 1947, by Elia Kazan, Cheryl Crawford, Robert Lewis and Anna Sokolow who provided...
and married his fellow student, actress Carroll Baker
Carroll Baker
Carroll Baker is a former American actress who has enjoyed popularity as both a serious dramatic actress and, particularly in the 1960s, as a movie sex symbol...
. Baker and Garfein had one daughter, actress Blanche Baker
Blanche Baker
-Personal life:Born Blanche Garfein in New York City, she is the daughter of actress Carroll Baker and director Jack Garfein. She attended Wellesley College from 1974 until 1976.-Career:...
, and a son, Herschel Garfein
Herschel Garfein
Herschel Garfein is an American composer, librettist, stage director, and faculty member of the Steinhardt School of Music at New York University. He is widely known for his work on Robert Aldridge's Elmer Gantry. In his compositions for the musical Suenos he found an inspiration in Hispanic...
.
Garfein made his Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
debut as a director with End as a Man starring Ben Gazzara
Ben Gazzara
-Early life:Gazzara was born Biagio Anthony Gazzara in New York City, the son of Italian immigrants Angelina and Antonio Gazzara, who was a laborer and carpenter. Gazzara grew up on New York's tough Lower East Side. He actually lived on E. 29th Street and participated in the drama program at...
. Notably Garfein produced two plays by Arthur Miller
Arthur Miller
Arthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include plays such as All My Sons , Death of a Salesman , The Crucible , and A View from the Bridge .Miller was often in the public eye,...
, The Price
The Price
The Price may refer to:* The Price , by Arthur Miller* The Price , by Jim Starlin* The Price by Neil Gaiman, originally published in his book Smoke and Mirrors...
and The American Clock
The American Clock
The American Clock is a play by Arthur Miller. The play is about 1930s America during The Great Depression. It is based in part on Studs Terkel's Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression. The play premiered on Broadway at the Biltmore Theatre on November 11, 1980; closing on November 30,...
, and went on to direct other Broadway productions such as The Shadow of a Gunman, The Sin of Pat Muldoon, and Girls of Summer. His Off-Broadway credits include The Lesson and Rommel’s Garden. He directed the French premiere of Master Harold...and the Boys
Master Harold...and the Boys
Master Harold...and the boys is a play by Athol Fugard. It was first produced at the Yale Repertory Theatre in early 1982 and made its premiere on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre on 4 May where it ran for 344 performances...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, and the world premiere of Nacht und Träume
Nacht und Träume (play)
Nacht und Träume is the last television play written and directed by Samuel Beckett. It was written in English for Süddeutscher Rundfunk, recorded in October 1982 and broadcast on 19 May 1983 where it attracted “an audience of two million viewers.” The mime artist Helfrid Foron playing both...
by Samuel Beckett
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
.
Garfein's film directorial debut, The Strange One, is an ensemble piece set in a sadistic Southern military academy. It was released without an ending – leaving audiences bewildered and critics annoyed. A crucial scene involved black actors and, in racially segregated America of 1957, the studio objected on the ground that to use black actors would mean commercial failure. Garfein refused to bow down and filmed the scene anyway. It was denounced by a U.S. Congressman as an 'un-American' film, but in Paris, a critic wrote that if anyone doubted that America was a free country, then they should see the film.
Garfein directed two other films. One was the 1961 independent film, Something Wild
Something Wild (1961 film)
Something Wild was a 1961 independent film, starring Carroll Baker and Ralph Meeker and directed by Jack Garfein, who was Baker's husband at the time....
, which starred Baker as a young rape victim held captive by the man who rescued her from suicide. The film includes an Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...
score. It was panned by many U.S. critics, even though he was hailed as an American Ingmar Bergman. His documentary The Journey Back chronicles his return to Auchwitz.
Garfein founded several institutions and became director of the Actor's Studio in Los Angeles in 1966, and created The Harold Clurman
Harold Clurman
Harold Edgar Clurman was a visionary American theatre director and drama critic, "one of the most influential in the United States". He was most notable as one of the three founders of the New York City's Group Theatre...
Theatre on Theatre Row
Theatre Row (New York City)
Theatre Row is the popular name for a section of 42nd Street in New York City which is the location for a number of small theatres; it is also the name of a large theatre complex built in 2000 to house six theatres....
in New York City. Instructing for more than 40 years, he is one of the most experienced teachers of Method Acting
Method acting
Method acting is a phrase that loosely refers to a family of techniques used by actors to create in themselves the thoughts and emotions of their characters, so as to develop lifelike performances...
. Garfein offers acting and directing classes in Paris at Le Studio Jack Garfein, London, Budapest, and Los Angeles. He has written a book on the subject, Life and Acting - Techniques for the Actor, published in paperback
Paperback
Paperback, softback or softcover describe and refer to a book by the nature of its binding. The covers of such books are usually made of paper or paperboard, and are usually held together with glue rather than stitches or staples...
in 2010.
In September 2010, a tribute to Jack Garfein was presented in Los Angeles at the UCLA Film and Television Archive at the Billy Wilder Theater which featured screenings of the two feature films he directed, 1957's "The Strange One" and 1961's "Something Wild," which stars his ex-wife Carroll Baker, as well as the documentary "A Journey Back," in which he returned to his childhood home and revisited Auschwitz. A similar event is scheduled for March 20 & 21, 2011 at the Film Forum in New York City.