Co-founder of the American Laboratory Theater with Polish actor/director
Richard Boleslawski, she was the first Russian actor
from the Moscow Art Theatre to teach the Stanislavski Method in the
United States. Her methods greatly influenced her young students
Lee Strasberg and
Harold Clurman, founders of the Group
Theater (1931-40). Strasberg first practiced his very personal
variation of the system, now known as "The Method," with the Group
actors
Stella Adler,
Luther Adler,
Sanford Meisner,
Elia Kazan,
Clifford Odets,
Franchot Tone,
Morris Carnovsky,
John Garfield and
Robert Lewis. Adler went on to
teach
Marlon Brando; Meisner taught
Robert Duvall and
Diane Keaton; Lewis taught
Meryl Streep. What the world
knows as the psychologically realistic American acting style can be
traced back to the enduring influence of Madame Ouspenskaya.
