Lee Strasberg (born Israel Strasberg; November 17, 1901February 17, 1982) was a Polish-born American actor, director, and theatre practitioner. He was born in a part of Galicia, Austrian Poland, in what is now Ukraine. He co founded, with directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931, which was hailed as "America's first true theatrical collective". In 1951, he became director of the nonprofit Actors Studio in New York City, considered "the nation's most prestigious acting school", and in 1966, was involved in the creation of Actors Studio West in Los Angeles.
Although other highly regarded teachers also developed "the Method", Strasberg is often considered the "father of method acting in America", according to author Mel Gussow, and from the 1920s until his death in 1982, "he revolutionized the art of acting by having a profound influence on performance in American theater and movies". From his base in New York, he trained several generations of theatre and film notables, including Anne Bancroft, Dustin Hoffman, Montgomery Clift, James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Jane Fonda, Julie Harris, Paul Newman, Ellen Burstyn, Al Pacino, Geraldine Page, Eli Wallach, and directors Frank Perry and Elia Kazan.