The Adler tradition of creative excellence began in the European Yiddish theatre toward the end of the 19th Century.
In America, Jacob Adler’s contributions to this translocated institution were unparalleled. The contributions of his son Luther—and of his son-in-law Harold Clurman—to the Group Theatre in the 1930s; and of his daughter Stella, who created a revolutionary new training program based on Stanislavski, were immense.
Stella Adler transformed the careers and art of an extraordinary collection of theatre and film actors that included, arguably, the greatest American actor of all, Marlon Brando, who is the Honorary Chairman of the Stella Adler Studio of Acting and the Group Theatre Society.
Today, Jacob Adler’s granddaughter Ellen Adler and his great-grandson Tom Oppenheim continue to direct this noble institution into the 21st Century.
From 1905, at the age of four, until her death eighty-seven years later, Stella Adler dedicated herself to understanding the theatre. The child of actors Sara and Jacob Adler, Stella began her career in the Yiddish theatre. At the age of eighteen, she went to London, where she worked for a year before returning to New York. She spent the next ten years travelling throughout the United States, Europe, and South America, performing in vaudeville and the Yiddish theatre. She received a great deal of acclaim among Yiddish-speaking audiences as the leading lady of Maurice Schwartz; yet she longed for wider recognition and the opportunity to play roles that were more varied.
In 1931, she met her second husband Harold Clurman, one of the co-founders of the Group Theatre. Both the politics and the cooperative energy of the company appealed to her, and she joined. Leaving briefly to study with Konstantin Stanislavski in 1934, she returned to the group with a new idea of what American theatre could be. While with the Group, she did some of her best work, including the notable role of Bessie Berger in Awake and Sing. Although the Group provided her with some support, she never felt comfortable there; and in 1937, she left for Hollywood. After six years and a number of roles in movies such as Love on Toast (1937) and The Shadow of the Thin Man (1941), she returned to Broadway to act and direct.
"Almost all filmmaking anywhere in the world has been affected by American films, which have been, in turn, influenced by Stella Adler’s teachings. She is loved by many; and as an actor, we owe her much. I am grateful to the inestimable contributions she has made to my life, and I feel privileged to have been associated with her and her family professionally and personally throughout my life."
-Marlon Brando
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