At the turn of the twentieth century Stella Adler was born to the king and queen of the Yiddish theater on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Her parents, the prodigious Jacob and Sara Adler whose performances provided spiritual sustenance to thousands of world-weary Jewish immigrants, put their youngest daughter onstage as soon as she could walk. Stella spent her life trying to live up to the dynasty she had inherited—going from the Yiddish stage to starring on Broadway and later in Hollywood to finally becoming one of the most indomitable, yet under-recognized luminaries of her time.
A tall, intellectual beauty and founding member of the Group Theatre with Clifford Odets, Elia Kazan, Harold Clurman and Lee Strasberg, Stella Adler believed that the actor’s responsibility to uphold his centuries-old profession dwelt in a deep understanding of the human condition. Yet it was not onstage but off that she would make her greatest contribution. Adler taught and inspired generations of actors, from Marlon Brando and Shelley Winters to Benicio del Toro and Mark Ruffalo. Her unrealized dream of becoming a movie star, hindered in part due to Senator Joseph McCarthy’s Blacklist, chafed against an unflagging commitment to the transformative power of art. From the socially conscious plays of the Depression-era Group Theatre to freedom fighting during World War II, she used her notoriety as a tool for change.
Playwright Clifford Odets was struck by the force of her persona, and the young Arthur Miller decided to become a playwright after seeing her perform with the Group Theatre. The only American acting teacher to have studied with Constantin Stanislavski, Stella made it her life’s mission to help evolve the art of acting from its histrionic Greco-Roman days to the realism we prize today in film, television, and theater.
Unearthing private audio recordings, Adler’s extensive FBI file, class videos and teaching materials, countless unpublished letters, and interviewing all of Stella’s living family as well as many of her colleagues, friends and students, biographer Sheana Ochoa brings alive the story of Stella Adler— actress, director, film producer, teacher, and theatrical giant.
Targeted Age Group:: 18+
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Author Bio:
Sheana Ochoa received a Masters in Professional Writing at the University of Southern California. She has published poetry and articles in various literary and magazine journals. She has also written for online outlets such as Salon and CNN.
Ms. Ochoa is a freelance editor and writer, regularly contributing to the award winning website TheNextFamily and The Levantine Review.
Ms. Ochoa inaugurated the One-Act Play festival at the Stella Adler Academy where she directed her one-act play, The Masterpiece. In 2012, she helped found Freedom Theater West, co-producing the premier of Sarah’s War. Ms.Ochoa’s forthcoming book Stella! Mother of Modern Acting is the first biography on Stella Adler.
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