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Creator
Garfield, David
Call number
*T-Mss 2003-001
Physical description
6.96 linear feet (15 boxes)
Preferred Citation

David Garfield research files on the Actors Studio, Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library.

Repository
Billy Rose Theatre Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.Restrictions apply

David Garfield is a New York City-based actor, author, and professor who has been a member of the Actors Studio since 1970, and who wrote a history of the Studio called The Actors Studio: A Player's Place. The Actors Studio is a theater workshop for professional actors founded in New York City in 1947. This collection contains material that reflect Garfield's dual role as both researcher and participant and contains material generated by the Actors Studio, the Group Theater, and material collected by Garfield through his research.

Biographical/historical information

David Garfield is a New York City-based actor, author, and professor who has been a member of the Actors Studio since 1970. Garfield studied acting with master teachers Lee Strasberg, Sanford Meisner, and Uta Hagen. He appeared on Broadway as Motel the Tailor in Fiddler on the Roof and as Solomon Rothchild in The Rothchilds. He began his research on the Actors Studio for his dissertation, The History of The Actor's Studio, for the Department of Drama at New York University. In 1980, he expanded his dissertation into a full-length book The Actors Studio: A Player's Place. For his research, Garfield was allowed access to the archives of the Actors Studio and interviewed many prominent staff and members. Garfield went on to teach theater and has taught at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Temple University, State University of New York at Purchase, the New School University, and at Brooklyn College.

The Actors Studio is a theater workshop for professional actors founded in New York City in 1947 by Elia Kazan, Cheryl Crawford, and Robert Lewis. The founders felt that serious actors needed a place where they could work together, between jobs or during long runs, to continue their development and to have a safe space to experiment with new forms of theater. Lee Strasberg, one of the founders of the Group Theatre, was brought on as artistic director in 1951, a role he held until his death in 1982. Under his direction, the Actors Studio became known as one of the centers of method acting, a style of teaching first pioneered by Constantin Stanislavski. Members were, and still are, invited to the Actors Studio after a series of auditions. Often potential members have to audition multiple times before being accepted. Membership is free and for life, and it allows members the opportunity to attend lectures and workshops with master teachers and to develop, produce, and perform in readings and productions. While playwrights and directors had been granted observer privileges since the Studio's inception, an official Playwrights Unit was created in 1956, and a Directors Unit was established four years later in 1960

In 1955, the Actors Studio moved into its permanent home, a former Presbyterian Church located on West 44th Street. Prior to that, the Studio had held its workshops and performances at various theaters or studios in Manhattan. The Actors Studio opened its only branch in West Hollywood, California in 1967. Prominent members of the Actors Studio have included Joseph Anthony, Anne Bancroft, Marlon Brando, Ellen Burstyn, Frank Corsaro, James Dean, Jane Fonda, Carlin Glynn, Lee Grant, William Greaves, Salome Jens, Elia Kazan, Harvey Keitel, Elizabeth Kemp, Jacqueline Knapp, Martin Landau, Stephen Lang, Andreas Manolikakis, Vivian Nathan, Patricia Neal, Paul Newman, Al Pacino, Geraldine Page, Estelle Parsons, Arthur Penn, George Peppard, Anthony Perkins, Sidney Poitier, Sydney Pollack, Mark Rydell, Eva Marie Saint, Gene Saks, Maureen Stapleton, Rip Torn, Jo Van Fleet, Christopher Walken, Eli Wallach, Shelley Winters, and Joanne Woodward, among many others.

Scope and arrangement

This collection contains material that reflect David Garfield's dual role as both researcher and participant and contains material generated by the Actors Studio, the Group Theater, and material collected by Garfield through his research.

Files relating to the Actors Studio include a chronological run of general files that consist of correspondence, memoranda, reports between board members and members, copies of the Actors Studio newsletter, a list of awards won by Studio members, and a Studio handbook from 1974. The general files document the administration of the studio, the work done by the board of directors, and the conflicts between various staff and board members. For additional material on the administration of the Studio and fundraising efforts, see Writings--The Actors Studio: A Player's Place--Documentation Files.

The Actors Studio West file consists of news clippings, mass mailings to members, and newsletters. Correspondence primarily regards Garfield's work as a writer and includes outgoing letters requesting interviews and information, as well as correspondence with other researchers and with the editorial staff at his publisher MacMillan. The Group Theatre files contain an undated report on issues and concerns regarding the Theatre's governance and future, translations commissioned by Strasberg of works by seminal Russian authors on theory, and transcriptions of lectures given by Richard Boleslavsky at the American Laboratory Theatre from 1925 to 1926.

Writings pertain to The History of the Actor's Studio, The Actors Studio: A Player's Place, and Garfield's review of the play The Shadow of the Gunman. Files consist of typescripts, an accession list of articles regarding the Actors Studio, documentation files, notes, photographic research and photographs, and papers detailing permissions and royalties. The documentation files are arranged numerically and contain articles about the Studio, as well as internal documents such as programs, prospectuses, reports, rules and regulations, and grant applications. There is also material on the Repertory Theatre at Lincoln Center, founded by Elia Kazan and Robert Whitehead, and the Actors Studio Theatre. In rare instances, documentation files contain photocopies of archival material from the Actors Studio archives.

Photographs were collected for inclusion in The Actors Studio: A Player's Place. Photographers include Henry Grossman, Martha Holmes, Ira Mazer, and Syeus Mottel. Subjects include Marlon Brando, Patrick McVey, Marilyn Monroe, Paul Newman, Al Pacino, Geraldine Page, Kim Stanley, Rod Steeger, Lee Strasberg, and Eli Wallach in both candid shots and in performances like Baby Want a Kiss, Blues for Mister Charlie, Strange Interlude, and Three Sisters.

The sound recordings are interviews Garfield conducted from 1973 to 1978. Interviewees include Group Theatre founders Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, Actors Studio founders Elia Kazan and Robert Lewis, artistic director Lee Strasberg, members Lou Antonio, Thomas Avera, Rudy Bond, Joan Copeland, Jack Garfein, Lou Gilbert, Terese Hayden, Jane Hoffman, Geoffrey Horne, Anne Jackson, Harvey Keital, Liska March, Geraldine Page, Estelle Parsons, Lenka Peterson, Maureen Stapleton, John Stix, Dennis Weaver, Christine White, Robert Whitehead, and board members Steven Greenberg and Carl Schaeffer. There is also a recording of Florida State University's Actors Studio Salute (1977) featuring staff and members from the Studio. Inquiries regarding audio materials in this collection may be directed to the Billy Rose Theatre Division (theatrediv@nypl.org). Sound recordings may be subject to preservation evaluation and migration prior to access.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged alphabetically by title or format.

Administrative information

Custodial history

These papers were compiled and maintained by David Garfield prior to donation.

Source of acquisition

Donated by David Garfield, 2003

Processing information

Compiled by Susan Malsbury.

Material was reboxed and refoldered as necessary. Original arrangement and folder titles were retained when apparent. A tape of duplicate recordings from the Actors Studio recordings from the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research was removed.

Related Material

Actors Studio Recordings. Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research, Wisconsin Historical Society Archives. Cheryl Crawford papers. Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library. Geraldine Page papers. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Kim Hunter papers. Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library. Patricia Bosworth papers. Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library.

Using the collection

Location

Billy Rose Theatre Division
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center
40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498
Third Floor

Conditions Governing Use

For permission to publish, contact the Billy Rose Theatre Division.

Access restrictions

Inquiries regarding audio and video materials in the series may be directed to the Billy Rose Theatre Division (theatrediv@nypl.org). Sound recordings may be subject to preservation evaluation and migration prior to access.