On November 17, 1901, Lee Strasberg was born in Budzanow, Austria-Hungary which is now Budanov, Ukraine. His birth name was Israel Lee Strassberg. His father was an innkeeper.
Strasberg emigrated with his family to the United States at age 7 but he did not become a United States Citizen until 1936.
February 17, 1982, Lee Strasberg died in New York, New York of a heart attack. He is buried at Westchester Hills Cemetery in New York.
Paula Strasberg married Lee Strasberg in 1934 but later divorced in 1929. They had two children. Paula was acting coach and confidante to Marilyn Monroe. In 1926 Lee Strasberg married Nora Krecaun but they were later divorced in 1929. Anna Strasberg, the actress who had a role in THE
FORTUNATE PILGRIM in 1988 became Lee Strasberg's third wife. She was with Strasberg until in died in 1982. They had two children.
Strasberg had a brief acting career before becoming one of the founders of the Group Theatre in 1931 where he directed several plays. The most influential years of Lee Strasberg's life was a result of becoming a director of the Actors Studio. He taught proponents of acting which he learned from the system brought to America by Konstantin Stanislavski's and Stella Adler.
He greatly influenced several generations of actors from James Dean to Dustin Hoffman with his coaching and teaching methods. Martin Landau said that Lee Strasberg was a hard taskmaster as far as an acting teacher. Landau also said that he pushed his students to deliever excellent performance. Lee Strasberg trained some of our greatest American Actors such as Al Pacino, Ben Gazzara, Martin Landau, and Eli Wallach. John Strasberg, Lee Strasberg's son teaches where his father taught at the Actor's Studio in New York City.
Lee Strasberg is known best for gangster role in Hyman Roth's THE GODFATHER: PART II in 1974. He was nominated for both a Golden Globe award and an Academy Award for his performance.
In Marilyn Monroe's will, she left Lee Strasberg total control of 75% of her estate which included the licensing of her image. She did this in gratitude for his mentorship and kindness before and after she became a star. Today, Anna Strasberg, Lee's widow administers the estate which earns millions of
dollars in licensing fees whenever an advertiser wants to use Monroe's image.
February 13, 1982 was Lee Strasberg's last public apperance at the NIGHT OF 100 STARS. It was a benefit for the Actors Fund at Radio City Music Hall in New York. Lee Strasberg danced in the chorus line with the Rockettes. Dancing with him was Al Pacino and Robert De Niro.
Some of Lee Strasberg's credits include -
THE GODFATHER TRILOGY: 1901-1980-1992
AMERICAN MASTERS: BROADWAY'S DREAMERS: THE LEGACY OF THE GROUP THEATRE - 1989
SKOKIE - TV - 1981
AND JUSTICE FOR ALL - 1979
THE LAST TENANT - 1978
THE GODFATHER SAGA - TV - 1977
THE LEGEND OF MARILYN MONROE - 1964
THE GUN RUNNERS - 1958
THE THIRD MAN - 1949
SOMEWHERE IN THE NIGHT - 1946
PARNELL - 1937
Awards achieved by Lee Strasberg -
Venice Film Festival - GOING IN STYLE - 1980
Hollywood Walk of Fame - Star
