Sanford Meisner

Birth : 1905-08-31, New York City, New York, USA

Death : 1997-02-02

History

Sanford Meisner (August 31, 1905 – February 2, 1997) was an American actor and acting teacher who developed an approach to acting instruction that is now known as the Meisner technique. While Meisner was exposed to method acting at the Group Theatre, his approach differed markedly in that he completely abandoned the use of affective memory, a distinct characteristic of method acting. Meisner maintained an emphasis on "the reality of doing", which was the foundation of his approach. Description above from the Wikipedia article Sanford Meisner, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Profile

Movies

She's The Best Thing in It

Self (archive footage)

Mary Louise Wilson is the most accomplished character actor you've never heard of. While teaching skeptical young students, she examines whether her life has been successful.

Sanford Meisner Master Class

Himself

Encapsulating Meisner's 1980 Master Class into eight hours and providing rare insight into his increasingly popular acting style. Essential viewing for film, TV and theatre actors and directors, the Master Class also offers artists of all disciplines the opportunity to learn directly from one of the most important acting theorists and teachers of the 20th century.

Requiem

Restaurant Patron

A waitress-dancer remembers her loving brother and their bittersweet childhood in Hong Kong.

Sanford Meisner: The American Theatre's Best Kept Secret

Self

A leading acting teacher who trained some of the most famous performers of the stage and screen, Sanford Meisner was a founding member of the Group Theatre. The Group Theatre, a cooperative theater ensemble, became a leading force in the theater world of the 30s. Meisner performed in many of the group’s most memorable productions.

Broadway's Dreamers: The Legacy of the Group Theatre

Self (archive footage)

A study of the Group Theatre, a company that changed the face of American drama. The Group was founded in 1931 by Cheryl Crawford, Harold Clurman and Lee Strasberg, who were strongly influenced by the naturalistic acting of Konstantin Stanislavski’s Moscow Art Theatre.

Mikey and Nicky

Dave Resnick

In Philadelphia, a small-time bookie who stole mob money is in hiding and he begs a childhood friend to help him evade the hit-man who's on his trail.

Tender Is the Night

Franz Gregorovious

Against the counsel of his friends, psychiatrist Dick Diver marries Nicole Warren, a beautiful but unstable young woman from a moneyed family. Thoroughly enraptured, he forsakes his career in medicine for life as a playboy, until one day Dick is charmed by Rosemary Hoyt, an American traveling abroad. The thought of Dick possibly being attracted to someone else sends Nicole on an emotional downward spiral that threatens to consume them both.

The Story on Page One

Phil Stanley

An adulterous couple is accused of murder after the woman's husband is shot and killed during a scuffle. A high-profile court case tells the story.