Background and approach Concurrent with her work as an actor and director, Stella Adler began to teach in the early 1940s at the
Erwin Piscator Workshop at the
New School for Social Research in New York. She left the faculty in 1949 to establish her own studio in New York in the same year. Combining what she had learned from the
Yiddish theatre, the
Group Theatre,
Broadway, Hollywood, and
Constantin Stanislavski, she created the Stella Adler Theatre Studio, later renamed the Stella Adler Conservatory of Acting and more recently the Stella Adler Studio of Acting, and in 1985, she opened the Stella Adler Academy and Theatre in Los Angeles. (1901–1992), founder of the schoolThe studio offered courses in principles of acting, voice and speech,
Shakespeare, movement, and makeup, as well as workshops in play analysis, character, scene preparation, and acting styles. Onstage experience was acquired by performances of scenes and plays before an invited audience. Among her early students were
Marlon Brando,
Robert De Niro,
Warren Beatty,
Elaine Stritch,
Mario Van Peebles,
Harvey Keitel, and
Candice Bergen. Adler's grandson Tom Oppenheim, who runs the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York and the Art of Acting Studio in Los Angeles, summarizes her approach to acting as such: "Growth as an actor and growth as a human being are synonymous."
Establishment in New York The New York Studio continues to be operated by the Adler family, with Stella Adler's grandson Tom Oppenheim leading the organization as Artistic Director since 1995. The Stella Adler Studio of Acting official West Coast branch is the Art of Acting Studio Los Angeles, named after Stella Adler's most famous book. The Stella Adler Studio of Acting is not affiliated with the Stella Adler Academy in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles studio '' (2019) Adler's long history with Hollywood meant she had close ties and strong connections in the Los Angeles area. She taught for many years at various locations in Los Angeles, and eventually, with her longtime friend and protégé
Joanne Linville, opened the doors to the Stella Adler Conservatory of Acting at the corner of
Hollywood Boulevard and Argyle. Some of the notable people who have passed through the Hollywood conservatory include
Nick Nolte,
Salma Hayek, Together, Gilbert and Linville are considered the school's cofounders, with Adler granting them permission to use her name. Gilbert remained the director of the school for 20 years. ==Notable alumni==