Barry Paris
Stella Adler was a legendary American actress and acting teacher who shaped modern performance.
Daughter of a theatrical family, she became a grand dame of American theater and mentored numerous stars including Marlon Brando, Robert DeNiro, and Warren Beatty.
Married to Harold Clurman, she was a popular stage actress in the 1930s-40s and had a Hollywood career playing gun molls, though she turned down major roles like "Come Back, Little Sheba." Adler taught at her studio in California, delivering brilliant, acerbic lectures until her death in 1992.
She championed O'Neill, Tennessee Williams, and Thornton Wilder as America's greatest playwrights.
