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David Gideon - Biography
In addition to my acting credits and membership in The Actors' Studio,
I have extensive experience teaching acting. "The Method"
is an understanding of the practical experience and procedures of
the actor during performance. As such, it can only be learned by training
with a teacher schooled in this work.
I began studying with Lee Strasberg at his Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute
in New York in 1971, and continued studying with him until his death
in 1982; a period of eleven years.
At his urging, and under his tutelage, I began teaching his work at
The Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in New York in 1976. I remained
there as a teacher for fifteen years. In addition to the regular classes
taught at his school, I was selected as one of a handful of teachers
to teach classes for The New York University Undergraduate Drama Department,
Tisch School of the Arts, and taught that program for thirteen years
beginning in 1978.
In 1978, Mr. Strasberg appointed me as the Director of his New York
school; as such I was responsible for coordinating all classes and
programs. I kept that position until 1980 when I stepped down in order
to be able to continue teaching and acting. In 1990, I was appointed
to the position of Producing Director of The Lee Strasberg Creative
Center.
My private coaching in acting and public speaking has included working
with major personalities such as Canada’s Prime Minister, The
Right Honorable Joe Clark. Many of my students have achieved a high
level of success in film, television, and theater. These include Alec
Baldwin, Karen Allen, Bridget Fonda, Ed Norton, Connie Nielsen, Adam
Sandler, John Leguizamo, and Jesse Martin, among others.
My work is well known in the European theater and film community.
Over the years, many actors have come to this country specifically
to study with me. I was recently featured in the Canal+ documentary
for European television on The Actors Studio and its work. In 1979,
I was invited by Bertolt Brecht’s Berliner Ensemble (then in
Communist East Berlin) to conduct a one week workshop on the teachings
of Lee Strasberg and The Actors Studio
During the past twenty-five years of teaching I have continued to
be active as an actor, as well as having directed plays both Off-Off
Broadway and in regional theater. These range all the way from a production
of Equus at The Rhinebeck Summer Theater to a production of The Masque
of Saint George and the Dragon at The Lee Strasberg Creative Center's
Marilyn Monroe Theatre in New York.
Additionally, I have been called upon to act as a casting and auditioning
consultant for several motion pictures. The most notable of these
was Brian DePalma’s Scarface for Universal Pictures, starring
Al Pacino.
In June 1991 I resigned from the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in
order to form my own independent classes known as The Acting Class.
These classes, for professional actors, operate continually throughout
the year.
In September, 1995 I was invited to teach the scene study classes
for The MFA Program in Dramatic Arts at The Actors' Studio Drama School/New
School University. I accepted this position, and in 1996 added a class
in Classical Theater.
I am presently on sabbatical from both The Actors’ Studio/New
School MFA Program and The Acting Class while producing an educational
TV series.
During the autumn of 2001 I helped found Lobo Theater, a not for profit
theater company, in New York City. Lobo Theater produced Lyle Kessler’s
“Orphans” as its inaugural production, and has just acquired
the rights for the American premier production of Tennessee Williams’
“Spring Storm” due in the Spring of 2004.
I have been a licensed pilot for 40 years, having earned my wings
as a high school Junior. I hold single and multi-engine land, and
instrument ratings. I am a licensed sky-diver, an advanced certified
scuba diver, and an accomplished sailor.
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