Sanford Meisner

Sanford Meisner is one of the most important and influential acting teachers of the Twentieth Century. He defined acting as doing things truthfully under imaginary circumstances. By 1930, the most respected and influential theater company in American history formed called The Group Theater assembling such luminaries as Harold Clurman, Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler, Clifford Odets, Morris Carnovsky and Sanford Meisner. They were pioneers of what would become an “American acting technique” derived from the teachings of Russian actor and director Constantin Stanislavski. The "Stanislavski System" inspired audiences with performances of raw power, realism, and emotional truth.

While Strasberg focused on the Sense Memory technique using events in one’s past as a way of emotionalizing, Meisner developed his technique using Stanislavski’s revised method. Rather than delving exclusively into one’s past memories as a source of emotion, one could more effectively summon up the character’s thoughts and feelings through the concentrated use of the imagination and the belief in the given circumstances of the text. Meisner defined acting as doing things truthfully under imaginary circumstances and his technique is still known for its depth, reliability and balanced approach.

Over the course of forty-eight years at the Neighborhood Playhouse, Meisner honed his skills as an acting instructor. Growing out of the days with the Group Theatre and the Russian theater theorist Constantin Stanislavsky, Meisner created a series of exercises for actors. For Meisner, acting was about reproducing honest emotional human reactions. He felt the actor's job was simply to prepare for an experience that would take place. The best acting, he believed, was made up of spontaneous responses to the actor's immediate surroundings. Meisner explained that his approach was designed "to eliminate all intellectuality from the actor's instrument and to make him a spontaneous responder to where he is, what is happening to him, what is being done to him."

Meisner's role within the industry remained important throughout his long career. Among his most famous students were actors Gregory Peck, Robert Duvall, Grace Kelly, Diane Keaton, Steve McQueen, James Caan, Joanne Woodward, Lee Grant, Dylan Mcdermott, Sydney Pollack and Peter Falk. Gregory Peck said of Meisner, "What he wanted from you was truthful acting...He was able to communicate, and the proof of that is the number of people that have studied with him over a forty-year period who've gone on to become people who set standards of acting." Though troubled with a number of physical problems, including losing his larynx, Meisner continued to be an active part of the industry for his entire life. During his final years, he split his time between the Caribbean island of Bequia and Los Angeles. He died at age 91,in Sherman Oaks, California,  leaving behind a legacy of commitment and enthusiasm rarely seen in any art.  His life partner, James Carville, president of The Sanford Meisner Foundation and Estate and the Sanford Meisner Studio are committed continuing the teachings of Mr. Meisner.  In 2008, Mr. Carville requested that Alex Taylor open the Sanford Meisner Studio.

Today, the Sanford Meisner Studio continues the legacy and teaches the same body of work that Meisner taught: a specific, sequential training program designed to create an emotionally alive actor of depth, imagination, and truth.