Lee Strasberg (born Israel Strassberg; Born in Budzanów, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, he immigrated to the United States in 1909. He co-founded, with theatre 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," Geraldine Page, Eli Wallach, and directors Andreas Voutsinas, Frank Perry, Elia Kazan and Michael Cimino.
By 1970, Strasberg had become less involved with the Actors Studio and, with his third wife, Anna Strasberg, opened the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute with branches in New York City and in Hollywood, to continue teaching the Stanislavski's system, which he had interpreted and developed, for contemporary actors.
As an actor, Strasberg is best known for his portrayal of the primary antagonist, the gangster Hyman Roth, alongside his former student Al Pacino in The Godfather Part II (1974), a role he took at Pacino's suggestion after Kazan turned down the role, and which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He also appeared in Going in Style (1979) and ...And Justice for All (1979).
Early years
Strasberg was born Israel Strassberg into a Jewish family in Budzanów, a village then in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and now in the Ternopil Oblast of Ukraine. He was the youngest of three sons born to Ida () and Baruch Meyer Strassberg. Baruch immigrated to New York City while his family remained in Budzanów with an uncle, who worked as a rabbinical teacher. Baruch, who worked as a presser in the garment industry, sent first for his eldest son and his daughter. Finally, enough money was saved to bring over Ida and the couple's two remaining sons. In 1909, the family was reunited on Manhattan's Lower East Side, where they lived until the early 1920s. A young Strasberg took refuge in voracious reading and the companionship of his elder brother, Zalmon, whose death in the 1918 influenza pandemic was so traumatic for him that, despite being a straight-A student, he dropped out of high school.
A relative introduced Strasberg to the theatre by giving him a small part in a Yiddish-language production being performed by the Progressive Drama Club. He later joined the Chrystie Street Settlement House's drama club. Philip Loeb, casting director of the Theater Guild, sensed that Strasberg could act, although he was not yet thinking of a full-time acting career and was still working as a shipping clerk and bookkeeper for a wig company.
Strasberg eventually left the Clare Tree Major School to study with students of Stanislavski — Maria Ouspenskaya and Richard Boleslawski — at the American Laboratory Theatre. In 1925, Strasberg had his first professional appearance in Processional, a play produced by the Theater Guild.
According to Schickel: