David Lee Strasberg Combine Business Knowledge with Theatrical Skill

David Lee Strasberg, son of acclaimed theatrical acting coach Lee Strasberg, has an ability his father was often said to lack: the ability to combine his theatrical skill with business knowledge. By applying his vast administrative experience, Strasberg has expanded the Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute beyond its original intentions and design.

The Institute has begun a long-term collaboration with NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, providing opportunites to NYU's students at the Institute. Currently, enrollment features 20% NYU students. Additionally, in 2010 Strasberg will take the Institute international, opening a Strasberg Institute in Mumbai, India.

While much of Stasberg's work centers around the expansion and administrative aspects of the Institute, he generally prefers to discuss the theatrical aspects. "The institute was a way to formalize my father's private acting class," he tells the LA Times. The Times had the opportunity to speak with the entire Strasberg family, including Anna Strasberg, Lee Strasberg's third wife, and another of his sons, John Strasberg, all of whom deal with different aspect of carrying on Lee Strasberg's legacy.

To read the full article from the LA Times, click here.

David's father Lee Strasberg was an actor, director and acting teacher. He cofounded, with director Harold Clurman, The Group Theatre in 1931, which was hailed as "America's first true theatrical collective". In 1951, he became director of the non-profit Actors Studio, in New York City, considered "the nation's most prestigious acting school". In 1969, Strasberg founded the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute in New York City and in Hollywood to teach the work he pioneered.

He was the chief proponent of "Method acting" from the 1920s until his death in 1982, and according to acting author Mel Gussow, "he revolutionized the art of acting and had a profound influence on performance in American theater and movies". From his base in New York, he trained several generations of theatre and film's most illustrious talents, including Anne Bancroft, Dustin Hoffman, Montgomery Clift, James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Julie Harris, Paul Newman, Al Pacino and director Elia Kazan.

The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute, now run by David Lee Strasberg, is a bi-coastal school for the performing arts located at 115 East 15th Street in New York City, and at 7936 Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, that is dedicated to teaching the techniques of method acting developed by Lee Strasberg. The Institute was founded in 1969 by Strasberg, teacher and artistic director at the famed Actors Studio. It has a special program with the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, where students can study in an 8 credit program. The institute is currently under the artistic direction of Anna Strasberg. Notable alumni include Will Arnett, Scarlett Johansson, and Loo Brealey.

For more information about the Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute, visit their website at www.strasberg.com.