John Strasberg

John Strasberg, born May 20, 1941, in New York, New York, is an American actor, director, teacher, and writer. He is the son of Lee Strasberg and Paula Strasberg, both central figures at the Actors Studio, and the brother of actress and writer Susan Strasberg. A life member of the Actors Studio, Strasberg has maintained a career spanning performance, stage management, pedagogy, and playwriting across multiple decades and continents.

Strasberg graduated from the Bronx High School of Science in 1958 and spent a year at the University of Wisconsin before returning to New York to study acting under his father. His professional life began in 1960 as an Assistant Stage Manager at the New York City Center, and he soon transitioned into acting with an off-Broadway appearance in Five Evenings. During the three years of the Actors Studio Theater's existence, he worked in multiple capacities, acting in Marathon '33 and serving as stage manager on Dynamite Tonight, Marathon '33, and Blues for Mr. Charlie. He also stage managed his father's production of The Three Sisters. His Broadway credit, Marathon '33, dates to 1963, and his stage management work during this period made him one of the youngest Production Stage Managers on Broadway.

Strasberg began teaching in 1964 while his father was ill. From 1966 to 1968 he taught acting at Columbia Pictures, and he also appeared in television productions and films during that period. He returned to New York in 1969 to teach at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, and in 1971 he led a workshop at the National Film Board of Canada. Back in New York, he acted with the Circle Repertory Company in Lanford Wilson's The Mound Builders. He became Executive Director of the Lee Strasberg Theater Institute in 1975 and held that position until 1977, after which he taught privately and produced the play Slugger, directed by Marshall W. Mason.

In 1979 Strasberg founded John Strasberg's The Real Stage in New York City. Beginning in 1980, he taught and directed extensively in Europe, primarily in France and Spain, staging works by Shakespeare, Aristophanes, Ibsen, O'Neill, and Pirandello, among others, with several productions earning awards. He also served as Co-Artistic Director of the Mirror Repertory Company, founded by Sabra Jones, where Geraldine Page was Artist-in-Residence. At the Mirror he directed productions including Clifford Odets's Paradise Lost, Susan Glaspell's Inheritors, Maxwell Anderson's Joan of Lorraine, Robert Bolt's Vivat! Vivat Regina!, and John Colton's Rain.

Strasberg relocated to Europe in 1985. He returned to New York in 1996 with the publication of his book on acting, Accidentally On Purpose: A Memoir on Life, Acting, and the Nine Natural Laws of Creativity, which was accompanied by an award-winning documentary of the same name. He subsequently established John Strasberg Studios, an International Center for Creative Development and Theater Research. In 2005 he founded The Accidental Repertory Theater, which in 2011 produced several plays he wrote and directed, including Playing House, a modern work inspired by Ibsen's A Doll's House, and Adams' Apples, a modern work inspired by Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard.