Lee Strasberg

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' (qv)'s mentor--'Stella Adler' (qv), he influenced several generations of actors, from 'James Dean' (qv) to 'Dustin Hoffman' (qv). Film audiences would know him best as gangster Hyman Roth in _The Godfather: Part II (1974)_ (qv).::christiandoig