Stella Adler Studio of Acting
Encyclopedia
Stella Adler Studio of Acting (formerly Stella Adler Conservatory) is an acting school in New York
founded by the actress and teacher Stella Adler
Concurrent with her work as an actor and director, Stella Adler began to teach in the early 1940s at the Erwin Piscator
Workshop at the New School for Social Research in New York. She left the faculty in 1949 to establish her own studio in New York in the same year.
Combining what she had learned from the Yiddish theatre
, The Group Theatre, Broadway
, Hollywood, and Constantin Stanislavski, Stella created the Stella Adler Theatre Studio, later renamed the Stella Adler Conservatory of Acting and more recently the Stella Adler Studio of Acting, here she taught acting for many decades, and in 1985 she opened the Stella Adler Academy and Theatre in Los Angeles
The studio offered courses in principles of acting, voice and speech, Shakespeare, movement, and makeup, as well as workshops in play analysis, character, scene preparation and acting styles. Onstage experience was acquired by performances of scenes and plays before an invited audience. Among her early students were Marlon Brando
, Robert De Niro
, Warren Beatty
, Elaine Stritch
, Mario Van Peebles
, Harvey Keitel
and Candice Bergen
.
The scope of the Studio’s current activities can be summarized in three categories: 1) Professional Actor Training, the core activity of the Studio; 2) The Stella Adler Outreach Division, which provides free training to low-income inner-city teenagers and 3) The Harold Clurman Art Series which presents cultural events that are free and open to the public. The Stella Adler Studio of Acting currently trains over 500 students per year in full-time, part-time and summer programs and also presents lectures, poetry readings, jazz, classical music, theater, and dance theater events. In addition, the Stella Adler Outreach Division provides free training to approximately 300 inner-city youth each year. Stella’s daughter Ellen is the Studio’s Executive Chair. Tom Oppenheim, grandson of Stella Adler, is the Artistic Director and President. The Stella Adler Studio of Acting has a West Coast sister school, the Art of Acting Studio.
The Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York is not affiliated with the Stella Adler Academy/Stella Adler Theater in Los Angeles.
The Stella Adler Academy of Acting & Theatre is not affiliated with the Stella Adler Studio of Acting New York City.
Stella’s long history with Hollywood meant she had close ties and strong connections in the Los Angeles area. She taught for many years at various locations in Los Angeles and she and long time friend and protege Joanne Linville eventually opened the doors to the Stella Adler Conservatory of Acting at the corner of Hollywood Boulevard
and Argyle. Some of the notable names that have passed through the Hollywood conservatory include Nick Nolte
, Salma Hayek
, Eric Stoltz
, Clifton Collins Jr., Deidre Hall
, Sean Astin
, John Charles Jopson
, John Ritter
, Cybill Shepherd
, Michael Richards
, Benicio del Toro
, and Mark Ruffalo
.
Proteges Joanne Linville and Irene Gilbert
persuaded Stella Adler to open the academy in 1985 in Los Angeles. Together, Gilbert and Linville are considered the school's co-founders. Gilbert would remain the director of the school for twenty years.
The original school was located in a small theater at Hollywood Boulevard and Argyle Avenue. A fire forced the temporary closure of the school in 1991. The building was threatened with demolition
to make way for a proposed subway line at the time of Adler's death in 1992. In 1994, Irene Gilbert reopened the school present location at 6773 Hollywood Boulevard
and Highland Avenue. It was renamed the Stella Adler Academy of Acting is celebrating it's 25th anniversary in 2010. The historic location housed the famous Embassy Club in the 1930s.
The school is an acting studio offering extensive training for actors in theatre, film, and television. The facility houses the not-for-profit Stella Adler Theatre, the Irene Gilbert Theatre, The Studio C Theatre, classrooms, dance studio, music studio, library, dressing rooms, video and equipment room, scene shop and administrative offices, all dedicated to teaching Stella’s technique.
Linville continues to teach at the academy as the lead instructor for the last 25 years. Irene Gilbert died in 2011.
In 2010, alumni of the school formed the Stella Adler Los Angeles Theatre Collective.
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
founded by the actress and teacher Stella Adler
Stella Adler
Stella Adler was an American actress and an acclaimed acting teacher, who founded the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York City and the The Stella Adler Academy of Acting in Los Angeles with long-time protege Joanne Linville, who continues to teach and furthers Adler's legacy...
History
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...
Workshop at the New School for Social Research in New York. She left the faculty in 1949 to establish her own studio in New York in the same year.
Combining what she had learned from the Yiddish theatre
Yiddish theatre
Yiddish theatre consists of plays written and performed primarily by Jews in Yiddish, the language of the Central European Ashkenazi Jewish community. The range of Yiddish theatre is broad: operetta, musical comedy, and satiric or nostalgic revues; melodrama; naturalist drama; expressionist and...
, The Group Theatre, 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...
, Hollywood, and Constantin Stanislavski, Stella created the Stella Adler Theatre Studio, later renamed the Stella Adler Conservatory of Acting and more recently the Stella Adler Studio of Acting, here she taught acting for many decades, and in 1985 she opened the Stella Adler Academy and Theatre in Los Angeles
The studio offered courses in principles of acting, voice and speech, Shakespeare, movement, and makeup, as well as workshops in play analysis, character, scene preparation and acting styles. Onstage experience was acquired by performances of scenes and plays before an invited audience. Among her early students were Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
, Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
, Warren Beatty
Warren Beatty
Warren Beatty born March 30, 1937) is an American actor, producer, screenwriter and director. He has received a total of fourteen Academy Award nominations, winning one for Best Director in 1982. He has also won four Golden Globe Awards including the Cecil B. DeMille Award.-Early life and...
, Elaine Stritch
Elaine Stritch
Elaine Stritch is an American actress and vocalist. She has appeared in numerous stage plays and musicals, feature films, and many television programs...
, Mario Van Peebles
Mario Van Peebles
Mario "Chip" Cain Van Peebles is an American director and actor who has appeared in numerous Hollywood films. He is son of filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles.-Life and career:...
, Harvey Keitel
Harvey Keitel
Harvey Keitel is an American actor. Some of his most notable starring roles were in Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, Ridley Scott's The Duellists and Thelma and Louise, Ettore Scola's That Night in Varennes, Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, Jane Campion's The...
and Candice Bergen
Candice Bergen
Candice Patricia Bergen is an American actress and former fashion model.She is known for starring in two TV series, as the title character on the situation comedy Murphy Brown , for which she won five Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards; and as Shirley Schmidt on the comedy-drama Boston Legal...
.
The Stella Adler Studio of Acting, New York
The Stella Adler Studio of Acting is located in New York City. The Studio was founded in 1949 by Stella Adler. In 1969, The Stella Adler Studio of Acting became the first professional training school to become affiliated with NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. The Studio became a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization in 2000. The mission of the Stella Adler Studio of Acting is to create an environment with the purpose of nurturing theatre artists who value humanity, their own and others, as their first and most precious priority while providing art and education to the greater community.The scope of the Studio’s current activities can be summarized in three categories: 1) Professional Actor Training, the core activity of the Studio; 2) The Stella Adler Outreach Division, which provides free training to low-income inner-city teenagers and 3) The Harold Clurman Art Series which presents cultural events that are free and open to the public. The Stella Adler Studio of Acting currently trains over 500 students per year in full-time, part-time and summer programs and also presents lectures, poetry readings, jazz, classical music, theater, and dance theater events. In addition, the Stella Adler Outreach Division provides free training to approximately 300 inner-city youth each year. Stella’s daughter Ellen is the Studio’s Executive Chair. Tom Oppenheim, grandson of Stella Adler, is the Artistic Director and President. The Stella Adler Studio of Acting has a West Coast sister school, the Art of Acting Studio.
The Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York is not affiliated with the Stella Adler Academy/Stella Adler Theater in Los Angeles.
The Stella Adler Academy of Acting & Theatre, in Los Angeles
Stella’s long history with Hollywood meant she had close ties and strong connections in the Los Angeles area. She taught for many years at various locations in Los Angeles and she and long time friend and protege Joanne Linville eventually opened the doors to the Stella Adler Conservatory of Acting at the corner of Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood Boulevard
-Revitalization:In recent years successful efforts have been made at cleaning up Hollywood Blvd., as the street had gained a reputation for crime and seediness. Central to these efforts was the construction of the Hollywood and Highland shopping center and adjacent Kodak Theatre in 2001...
and Argyle. Some of the notable names that have passed through the Hollywood conservatory include Nick Nolte
Nick Nolte
Nicholas King "Nick" Nolte is an American actor whose career has spanned over five decades, peaking in the 1990s when his commercial success made him one of the most popular celebrities of that decade.-Early life:...
, Salma Hayek
Salma Hayek
Salma Valgarma Hayek Jiménez de Pinault is a Mexican film actress, director and producer. She received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress for her role as Frida Kahlo in the film Frida.-Early life:...
, Eric Stoltz
Eric Stoltz
Eric Hamilton Stoltz is an American actor, director and producer. He is widely known for playing the role of Rocky Dennis in the biographical drama film Mask, which earned him the nomination for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture...
, Clifton Collins Jr., Deidre Hall
Deidre Hall
Deidre Ann Hall is a dramatic American actress best known for her portrayal of Dr. Marlena Evans on NBC's daytime drama Days of our Lives, which she played for over 29 years, and is to return to the role this summer. The character is considered an icon to the soap, and has been experienced some of...
, Sean Astin
Sean Astin
Sean Astin is an American film actor, director, voice artist, and producer better known for his film roles as Mikey Walsh in The Goonies, the title character of Rudy, and Samwise Gamgee in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. In television, he appeared as Lynn McGill in the fifth season of 24...
, John Charles Jopson
John Jopson
John Charles Jopson is a film director, screenwriter, and cinematographer best known for the jazz film “One Night with Blue Note” and his music videos from the 1980s.- Biography :...
, John Ritter
John Ritter
Jonathan Southworth "John" Ritter was an American actor, voice over artist and comedian perhaps best known for having played Jack Tripper and Paul Hennessy in the ABC sitcoms Three's Company and 8 Simple Rules, respectively...
, Cybill Shepherd
Cybill Shepherd
Cybill Lynne Shepherd is an American actress, singer and former model. Her best known roles include starring as Jacy in The Last Picture Show, as Betsy in Taxi Driver, as Madeleine Spencer in Psych, as Maddie Hayes on Moonlighting, as Cybill Sheridan on Cybill, and as Phyllis Kroll on The L...
, Michael Richards
Michael Richards
Michael Anthony Richards is an American actor, comedian, writer and television producer, best known for his portrayal of the eccentric Cosmo Kramer on the television sitcom Seinfeld....
, Benicio del Toro
Benicio del Toro
Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez is a Puerto Rican and Spanish actor and film producer. He won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a BAFTA Award for his role as Javier Rodríguez in Traffic . He is also known for his roles as Fred Fenster in The Usual...
, and Mark Ruffalo
Mark Ruffalo
Mark Alan Ruffalo is an American actor, director, producer and screenwriter. He starred in films such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Zodiac, Shutter Island, Just Like Heaven, You Can Count on Me and The Kids Are All Right for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best...
.
Proteges Joanne Linville and Irene Gilbert
Irene Gilbert
Irene Gilbert was an German-born American actress and school director, who co-founded the Stella Adler Academy in Los Angeles with actress Joanne Linville in 1985. She also served as the Academy's director for approximately 20 years after the school's establishment.Gilbert was born Irene Liebert...
persuaded Stella Adler to open the academy in 1985 in Los Angeles. Together, Gilbert and Linville are considered the school's co-founders. Gilbert would remain the director of the school for twenty years.
The original school was located in a small theater at Hollywood Boulevard and Argyle Avenue. A fire forced the temporary closure of the school in 1991. The building was threatened with demolition
Demolition
Demolition is the tearing-down of buildings and other structures, the opposite of construction. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a building apart while carefully preserving valuable elements for re-use....
to make way for a proposed subway line at the time of Adler's death in 1992. In 1994, Irene Gilbert reopened the school present location at 6773 Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood Boulevard
-Revitalization:In recent years successful efforts have been made at cleaning up Hollywood Blvd., as the street had gained a reputation for crime and seediness. Central to these efforts was the construction of the Hollywood and Highland shopping center and adjacent Kodak Theatre in 2001...
and Highland Avenue. It was renamed the Stella Adler Academy of Acting is celebrating it's 25th anniversary in 2010. The historic location housed the famous Embassy Club in the 1930s.
The school is an acting studio offering extensive training for actors in theatre, film, and television. The facility houses the not-for-profit Stella Adler Theatre, the Irene Gilbert Theatre, The Studio C Theatre, classrooms, dance studio, music studio, library, dressing rooms, video and equipment room, scene shop and administrative offices, all dedicated to teaching Stella’s technique.
Linville continues to teach at the academy as the lead instructor for the last 25 years. Irene Gilbert died in 2011.
In 2010, alumni of the school formed the Stella Adler Los Angeles Theatre Collective.
Notable alumni
- Marlon BrandoMarlon BrandoMarlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
- Robert De NiroRobert De NiroRobert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
- Warren BeattyWarren BeattyWarren Beatty born March 30, 1937) is an American actor, producer, screenwriter and director. He has received a total of fourteen Academy Award nominations, winning one for Best Director in 1982. He has also won four Golden Globe Awards including the Cecil B. DeMille Award.-Early life and...
- Elaine StritchElaine StritchElaine Stritch is an American actress and vocalist. She has appeared in numerous stage plays and musicals, feature films, and many television programs...
- Mario Van PeeblesMario Van PeeblesMario "Chip" Cain Van Peebles is an American director and actor who has appeared in numerous Hollywood films. He is son of filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles.-Life and career:...
- Harvey KeitelHarvey KeitelHarvey Keitel is an American actor. Some of his most notable starring roles were in Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, Ridley Scott's The Duellists and Thelma and Louise, Ettore Scola's That Night in Varennes, Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, Jane Campion's The...
- Candice BergenCandice BergenCandice Patricia Bergen is an American actress and former fashion model.She is known for starring in two TV series, as the title character on the situation comedy Murphy Brown , for which she won five Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards; and as Shirley Schmidt on the comedy-drama Boston Legal...
- Nick NolteNick NolteNicholas King "Nick" Nolte is an American actor whose career has spanned over five decades, peaking in the 1990s when his commercial success made him one of the most popular celebrities of that decade.-Early life:...
- James CoburnJames CoburnJames Harrison Coburn III was an American film and television actor. Coburn appeared in nearly 70 films and made over 100 television appearances during his 45-year career, and played a wide range of roles and won an Academy Award for his supporting role as Glen Whitehouse in Affliction.A capable,...
- Benicio del ToroBenicio del ToroBenicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez is a Puerto Rican and Spanish actor and film producer. He won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a BAFTA Award for his role as Javier Rodríguez in Traffic . He is also known for his roles as Fred Fenster in The Usual...
- Melanie GriffithMelanie GriffithMelanie Richards Griffith is an American actress. She is an Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner for her performance in the 1988 film Working Girl...
- Clifton Collins Jr.
- Salma HayekSalma HayekSalma Valgarma Hayek Jiménez de Pinault is a Mexican film actress, director and producer. She received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress for her role as Frida Kahlo in the film Frida.-Early life:...
- Sidney Pollock
- Anthony QuinnAnthony QuinnAntonio Rodolfo Quinn-Oaxaca , more commonly known as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican American actor, as well as a painter and writer...
- Mark RuffaloMark RuffaloMark Alan Ruffalo is an American actor, director, producer and screenwriter. He starred in films such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Zodiac, Shutter Island, Just Like Heaven, You Can Count on Me and The Kids Are All Right for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best...
- Martin SheenMartin SheenRamón Gerardo Antonio Estévez , better known by his stage name Martin Sheen, is an American film actor best known for his performances in the films Badlands and Apocalypse Now , and in the television series The West Wing from 1999 to 2006.He is considered one of the best actors never to be...
- Ayşecan Tatari
- Peter BogdanovichPeter BogdanovichPeter Bogdanovich is an American film historian, director, writer, actor, producer, and critic. He was part of the wave of "New Hollywood" directors, which included William Friedkin, Brian De Palma, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, Michael Cimino, and Francis Ford Coppola...
- Bianca LawsonBianca LawsonBianca Jasmine Lawson is an American film and television actress.-Early life:Lawson was born in Los Angeles, California. She is the daughter of Denise and actor Richard Lawson. Bianca is also the great niece of Motown founder Berry Gordy...
- Kate MulgrewKate MulgrewKatherine Kiernan Maria "Kate" Mulgrew is an American actress, most noted for her roles on Star Trek: Voyager as Captain Kathryn Janeway and Ryan's Hope as Mary Ryan...
- Cybill ShepherdCybill ShepherdCybill Lynne Shepherd is an American actress, singer and former model. Her best known roles include starring as Jacy in The Last Picture Show, as Betsy in Taxi Driver, as Madeleine Spencer in Psych, as Maddie Hayes on Moonlighting, as Cybill Sheridan on Cybill, and as Phyllis Kroll on The L...
- Alexander GodunovAlexander GodunovAlexander Borisovich Godunov was a Russian-American ballet danseur and film actor, whose defection caused a diplomatic incident between the USA and the USSR.-Biography:...
- Sean AstinSean AstinSean Astin is an American film actor, director, voice artist, and producer better known for his film roles as Mikey Walsh in The Goonies, the title character of Rudy, and Samwise Gamgee in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. In television, he appeared as Lynn McGill in the fifth season of 24...
- Darrell M. SmithDarrell M. SmithDarrell M. Smith is an American entrepreneur, businessman, producer and actor.-Career:He studied at Stella Adler, the drama school where actors like Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro went, in New York City for a few years. After finishing his studies he went on to do numerous off-broadway plays,...
- Tommy WiseauTommy WiseauTommy Wiseau is a screenwriter, director, producer, executive producer, and actor. He is the founder of the film production company Wiseau Films. Wiseau is best known for his film The Room which has been described as "one of the worst movies ever made" and has gained cult film status...
Pop culture
- The band Unwritten LawUnwritten LawUnwritten Law is an American rock band formed in 1990 in Poway, California and currently recording for Suburban Noize Records. They have released seven full-length studio albums and have toured internationally, including performances on the Warped Tour...
has a song called "Actress Model Dancer Whatever" which contains the lyrics, "Dear Mom, I'm dating an actress, and I'm just writing to let you know why I'm so far from home. Followed her to Stella Adler. A method man was what she was after..." - In Season Five, Episode Four, of Sabrina the Teenage Witch it is said by the train conductor: "Here these are your parts. Learn them. Or, as we at the Stella Adler Company say, become them."