Robert Lewis 1997 Deaths

Robert Lewis

As a founding member of the Group Theater in the 1930's, Lewis worked with Elia Kazan, Howard Clurman and Lee Strasberg. Although the Group followed the philosophy of Konstantin Stanislavsky, Lewis disagreed with Strasberg's approach, which later came be to known as the Method. After WWII, Lewis founded the Actors Studio with Kazan but resigned after a season after a falling out with him. Ironically, Strasberg assumed Lewis's teaching responsibilities. Lewis wrote several books on acting and nurtured a generation of actors, including Marlon Brando, Meryl Streep, Faye Dunaway and Montgomery Clift. He directed several Broadway hits, including Brigadoon, The Grass Harp and The Teahouse of the August Moon, for which he won a New York Drama Critics Circle Award.