Stella Adler

Stella Adler was one of the premiere acting coaches in the United States. Among her students were some of this country's most popular stars, including Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro, Warren Beatty, and Harvey Keitel. Adler was born into a prominent... more

Stella Adler was one of the premiere acting coaches in the United States. Among her students were some of this country's most popular stars, including Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro, Warren Beatty, and Harvey Keitel. Adler was born into a prominent Yiddish family of actors headed by her famous father, the actor Jacob Adler. Her brothers Jay and Luther Adler were also prominent actors. She began her own career working in the theater of her father. This led to appearances on Broadway; in 1931 she joined the newly created Group Theater where she became renowned for her work in Odet's Awake and Sing. Adler was one of the original method actors and studied with the technique's famous creator Stanislavsky. For a while she and Lee Strasberg, also a noted method actor and teacher, worked together, but then split up in the mid-1940s when they began arguing over his way of interpreting Stanislavsky. This led Adler to become a teacher of acting at the Dramatic Workshop of the New School for Social Research in New York. In 1949, she founded her own school of drama. During her long career, Adler only appeared in three films during the '30s and '40s. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide less