The first 30 years of the 20th-century produced a theatrical
explosion whose reverberations are still felt today. Stanislavsky,
Meyerhold, Vakhtanghov, Michael Chekhov in Russia; Reinhardt,
Piscator and Brecht in Germany; and Copeau, Barrault and Artaud in
France collectively demolished the 19th-century aesthetic and, in
their wake, created the modernity which is the hallmark of today's
theatre. Most of these men have already been turned into modern
icons; there is no shortage of bios on the pioneers of the Moscow
Arts Theatre, and the achievements of the others are chronicled and
archived for posterity. Only one of these artists remains murky and
ill-defined. He is Michael Chekhov (1891-1955), nephew of the
famous playwright Anton Chekhov, the man that Stanislavsky
described as "the most brilliant actor in all of Russia." A
charismatic actor, an inspiring director and a teacher that
developed a dynamic antidote to Russian Naturalism, Chekhov remains
the invisible man of the modern theatre. Was he, as Lee Strasberg
alleged, a dangerous mystic who would subvert the vigor of
Stanislavsky's teachings and undermine the integrity of The Group
Theatre? Or was he, as his disciples - Yul Brynner, Gregory Peck,
Ingrid Bergman, Anthony Quinn, Jack Palance, Leslie Caron, Jennifer
Jones, Patricia Neal, Anthony Hopkins, Jack Nicholson and Marilyn
Monroe - believed, a man who had discovered a unique approach to
acting which transcended the precepts enshrined in Stanislavsky's
"System." Charles Marowitz was granted special access to the
Chekhov archives in Devon, England, and he interviewed actors and
directors who worked closely with Chekhov both in Europe and
America. The book chronicles Chekhov'sinfluential period in
Hollywood when he was nominated for an Oscar for his performance as
the avuncular psychiatrist in Alfred Hitchcock's 1945 film
Spellbound. It also describes his close association with Marilyn
Monroe at the most delicate stage of her career.
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