Robert Lewis (director) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Robert Lewis
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Lewis at Kent State University in 1990
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| Born | March 16, 1909 |
| Died | November 23, 1997 (aged 88) New York, New York, United States
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| Years active | 1931–1997 |
Robert Lewis (March 16, 1909 – November 23, 1997) was an American actor, director, and teacher. He also wrote books and helped start the famous Actors Studio in New York in 1947.
Besides his work on Broadway and in Hollywood, Lewis made a lasting impact as a top acting and directing teacher. He was one of the first to support the Stanislavski System of acting. He also helped create the important Group Theatre in the 1930s. Later, in the 1970s, he led the acting and directing departments at the Yale School of Drama.
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Early Life and Interests
Robert Lewis, often called Bobby, was born in Brooklyn in 1909. His family was a working-class family. His mother, who used to be a singer, encouraged his interest in the arts. From a young age, Lewis loved music, especially opera.
He learned to play the cello and piano as a child. But his love for acting soon took over. In 1929, he joined Eva Le Gallienne's Civic Repertory Theatre in New York City. His music skills later helped him when he directed operas and filmed musicals in Hollywood.
The Group Theatre: A New Way to Act
In 1931, Robert Lewis became one of the first 28 members of New York's groundbreaking Group Theatre. This group was started by Harold Clurman, Lee Strasberg, and Cheryl Crawford. It was a team of young actors, directors, and writers. They came together to explore new ways of doing theater.
Lewis and other members, like Stella Adler and Elia Kazan, believed in a new acting style. This style was based on the ideas of Russian director Constantin Stanislavski. They thought the Stanislavski System made performances more real and powerful. This was different from the more artificial acting styles common at the time.
Lewis acted in several Group Theatre plays in the 1930s. These included Men in White, which won a Pulitzer Prize. He also appeared in Clifford Odets' plays like Waiting for Lefty, Awake and Sing!, and Golden Boy.
The Group Theatre often spent summers at Pine Brook Country Club in Nichols, Connecticut. Many famous artists stayed there, including Elia Kazan, John Garfield, and Clifford Odets.
There were many discussions within the Group about how to best use Stanislavski's ideas. In 1934, Stella Adler met with Stanislavski himself in Paris. She then challenged Lee Strasberg's approach to acting. This led to Strasberg leaving the Group in 1937. Lewis later felt that Strasberg's "Method" focused on only some parts of Stanislavski's full theory.
Even with its success, the Group faced problems like disagreements and money issues. Many members, including Lewis, moved to Hollywood. In 1938, Lewis and Elia Kazan returned to New York. They restarted Group workshops with new actors. Lewis, Kazan, and Sanford Meisner were the main teachers.
That same year, Harold Clurman came back to direct Golden Boy. This became the Group's most successful play. Robert Lewis acted in it and later directed his own successful version in London in 1938. While in London, Lewis studied with Michael Chekov. Chekov was an actor Stanislavski considered a great interpreter of his theories. This helped Lewis understand Stanislavski's "method" even better.
In 1939, Lewis made his Broadway directing debut. He directed William Saroyan's My Heart's in the Highlands, which was praised by critics.
Hollywood Career
Like many other Group Theatre members, Lewis found Hollywood's appeal strong. He moved to Los Angeles in 1940. Lewis felt that because he was "short and round," he often played character roles instead of leading men.
In Hollywood, he became known for changing himself into memorable characters. He often played people of different nationalities. He was a German officer in Paris After Dark (1943) and Son of Lassie (1945). He played a French collaborator in Tonight We Raid Calais (1943). He was also the Japanese Colonel Sato in Dragon Seed (1944), starring Katharine Hepburn. A special moment was playing Frenchman Maurice Bottello with his friend Charles Chaplin in Monsieur Verdoux (1947).
Lewis also performed in and co-directed musicals like Ziegfeld Follies (1946). He directed Anything Goes (1956). However, he felt bored and underused at MGM studios. He worked for years to end his contract so he could return to Broadway.
In 1947, Robert Lewis finally returned to New York. He directed his first big Broadway hit, the musical Brigadoon.
Founding The Actors Studio
In 1947, Lewis helped create The Actors Studio. This was a workshop for professional actors. He started it with former Group Theatre members, director Elia Kazan and producer Cheryl Crawford. They wanted to bring back the close teamwork of the Group Theatre. They also wanted to improve the acting methods they had explored in the 1930s.
In the first year, about 50 young actors were invited to join. Lewis taught advanced classes, focusing on an actor's inner thoughts and intentions. Kazan worked with younger actors, teaching exercises like sensory recall and improvisation.
Some famous actors in Robert Lewis's group that first year included Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, Karl Malden, and Patricia Neal.
Lewis later left The Actors Studio due to disagreements and to focus on his growing directing career on Broadway. After Lewis left, Lee Strasberg joined the studio. The Actors Studio became a leading center for the Stanislavski System, or "Method," of acting. It helped train many influential performers in American theater and film.
Broadway Directing Success
After the success of Brigadoon (1947), Robert Lewis became a highly respected director on Broadway.
Some of the plays he directed include:
- My Hearts in the Highlands (1939)
- Brigadoon (1947)
- The Teahouse of the August Moon (1953), which won a Tony Award for Best Play.
- Witness for the Prosecution (1954) by Agatha Christie.
- On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1965)
Understanding "The Method"
By the 1950s, Stanislavski's acting ideas were very popular in America. However, Lewis noticed that many people misunderstood them. There were many different ways people tried to teach and use these ideas, all called "The Method".
To help clear up this confusion, Robert Lewis gave a series of eight lectures in New York City in 1957. He explained what Method acting truly was and was not. Thousands of actors, directors, and writers wanted to attend these talks.
One of Lewis's main points was that actors need to prepare both internally (with their feelings) and externally (with their voice and body). He felt that some "Method" actors focused too much on internal feelings. This sometimes led to performances where actors mumbled or didn't use their voices well. Lewis believed this was a misunderstanding of Stanislavski's ideas.
Lewis often said that "Method" actors, who spoke naturally, were sometimes told they couldn't perform plays by Shakespeare. This was because Shakespeare's plays often require a more formal way of speaking. Lewis argued that by learning to use their voices properly, Method actors could master formal speech. This would also help them create more believable characters.
For example, one of Lewis's students, Marlon Brando, was known for Method acting. He received great reviews and an Oscar nomination for playing Mark Antony in the film Julius Caesar. He acted alongside the famous Shakespearean actor John Gielgud.
Lewis's lectures on Method acting later became his first book, Method — Or Madness? (1958).
Teaching and Later Years
Robert Lewis taught at many places throughout his career. These included The Group Theatre, The Actors Studio, and his own Robert Lewis Theatre Workshop. He was also a popular speaker at colleges and universities. He often taught at the Yale School of Drama. In the 1970s, he became the head of the acting and directing departments there. During his time at Yale, Lewis helped shape the careers of many successful actors, including Meryl Streep. He retired from Yale in 1976.
After Method — or Madness?, Lewis wrote two more books about acting. These were Advice to the Players (1980), a guide for actors, and Slings and Arrows: Theater in My Life (1984), which was his memoir.
Lewis stayed active in theater in the 1980s. He continued to teach new actors and directors through his workshop and at Rice University. He also served as the first artistic director at the Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts.
In 1991, he was added to the American Theater Hall of Fame. That same year, Kent State University created an award in his honor, the Robert Lewis Lifetime Achievement medal.
Robert Lewis passed away from heart failure on November 23, 1997, in New York City. He was 88 years old.
Selected Filmography
- Paris After Dark (1943)
- The Hidden Eye (1945)
See also
In Spanish: Robert Lewis (actor) para niños
