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.