THE MAN WHO TAUGHT LEGENDS HONORING THE CENTENNIAL OF LEE STRASBERG.

Byline: Evan Henerson Theater Writer

It's fairly ironic that legendary acting teacher Lee Strasberg lost the 1974 Best Supporting Actor Oscar to his own student and ``Godfather Part II'' co-star, Robert De Niro.

Maybe, not. After all, it was Strasberg's first film acting role after years of helping the likes of De Niro, Al Pacino, Marilyn Monroe, Paul Newman, Jane Fonda, James Dean, Dustin Hoffman, Sally Field and Geraldine Page shine on the silver screen.

Strasberg, who died in 1982, would have been 100 in November, and throughout the year of his centenary, tributes in his honor are being held on both coasts including an American Cinematheque sponsored screening of ``The Godfather Part II,'' Wednesday night at the Egyptian Theatre, with a number of his former students attending.

Magic to his Method

But what is this semi-mystical process of acting that Strasberg made famous and that actors are still adhering to today?

The teacher's widow, Anna Strasberg, often gets the question. She just wishes they would wait until between bites.

``Airplanes are the most inconvenient, and they often ask when you have a mouthful of food,'' says Strasberg, herself a teacher and widow of the legendary acting teacher. `` 'Can you tell me what the Method is?' ''

Strasberg can explain and teach the Method. She can also refer to countless examples of Method-ic principles on display, from the naturalistic nuance of a Pacino performance to the unchecked play of her year-old granddaughter, Gwendolyn Lee Strasberg.

When you're talking about the Method, says Anna, you're talking about honesty.

``Actors live truthfully under imaginary circumstances. Lee teaches you how to live truthfully,'' says Anna. ``He doesn't teach you how to act; he teaches you to go back to humanity.

``That's what the Method is, and it isn't easy.''

Examining Methodology

New York and L.A. branches of the Lee Strasberg Institute continue to develop students. The New York-based Actors Studio, which Strasberg led, for many years still thrives as well.

Lee and Anna's son, David Lee Strasberg, now runs a new theater company in West Hollywood, the Group at Strasberg. Lee Strasberg is even a character in TGAS' season-opening performance of ``Names,'' Mark Kemble's fictionalized account of members of the original Group Theatre confronting the House Un-American Activities Committee. The company also hosts a film series and publishes a newsletter, ``Subtext.''

As burgeoning as the Strasberg empire is, and even during the 100th anniversary of his birth, Strasberg - both the man and his teachings - continue to come under constant reevaluation. Acting teachers and students alike still debate whether those affective memory exercises are truly the gold standard of performance preparation or a gimmicky way for actors to become amateur psychiatrists, mining personal memories to get in touch with specific emotions.

Konstantin Stanislavsky pioneered the introspective approach to acting in his work with the Moscow Art Theatre. The Method was introduced in America primarily through the direction of the Group Theatre which Strasberg co-founded.

``The methods are really designed to get your instrument to be able to function well and quickly. We're talking about a methodology, a process,'' says Oscar winner Martin Landau (``Ed Wood''), a longtime student and friend of Strasberg. ``The things I learned from Lee were about an actor ultimately being able to pick up any piece of material and act it.''

Strasberg is the only actor ever asked to write the definition of acting in the Encyclopedia Britannica.

``His great gift was to make the actor independent of his guidance,'' says John Stix, a Strasberg student professor of drama at Juilliard and a member of the Actors Studio. ``More than anyone, he was able to bring out the actor's potential and, not invariably, there were people who just couldn't work with him. I've been teaching for more than 30 years and the longer I teach, the more I feel indebted to him.''

Back in the day

Born in Budzanow, Austria (now the Ukraine), Israel Lee Strasberg came to the United States in 1909 but didn't become a U.S. citizen until 1936. He trained with Richard Boleslavsky and Maria Ouspenskaya - both Stanislavski disciples - at the American Laboratory Theatre.

Strasberg, Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford co-founded the Group Theatre in 1931. He joined the Actors Studio in 1949 and became its artistic director a year later. A West Coast branch of the Actors Studio was established in 1966.

Through the Studio's doors came a veritable who's who of top acting talent: Ellen Burstyn, Robert Duvall, Sidney Poitier, Eva Marie Saint, Christopher Walken and Shelley Winters.

Lesley Ann Warren was the youngest actress to be accepted into the Actors Studio when, in 1966, the then 17-year-old actress lied about her age to gain admission. She studied with Strasberg over a 10-year period both at the Studio and through private instruction.

Warren, who will take part in the Wednesday night anniversary tribute along with fellow Studio members Landau and Anna Strasberg, recalls Strasberg as a highly cultured and intelligent instructor who could also be intimidating.

``He was a genius, as far as I was concerned,'' said Warren, an Oscar nominee for ``Victor/Victoria'' in 1982. ``I think he loved excellence. He was exacting and critical, but in my experience, he was incredibly generous and gentle with my development as an artist.''

A former dancer, Warren compares the Method to a standardized set of exercises at the ballet barre.

``You can go to any ballet class in the world, and those 45 minutes of exercise are basically the same wherever you go,'' said Warren. ``That's how I look at the Method. It's a set of exercises that allow an actor to do anything from a sitcom to 'Medea.' It allows you to have that basis of craft to bring the highest level of quality to whatever you do. That was his gift.''

Landau, who became a teacher through the Actors Studio at Strasberg's suggestion, recalls his former instructor's ``tough love'' approach to the classroom. Out of some 2,000 applicants, Landau and Steve McQueen were the only two students admitted to the Actors Studio in 1955.

And to hear Landau tell it, McQueen was the one who had it easy.

``I couldn't please him. He was very rough on me,'' Landau said of Strasberg. ``The day I stopped trying to please him, I guess I started to please him. Because of his demands and insistences, I think I became a very strong actor. A young actor exposed to that kind of human being certainly can glean a great deal.''

When the producers of the 1978 TV movie ``The Last Tenant'' were looking for an older actor to play Tony Lo Bianco's aging Italian father, the name atop everyone's wish list was Anthony Quinn, who wasn't available.

Straight to the source

Jud Taylor, the film's director, suggested Lee Strasberg who, at the time, had acted in a total of two movies.

``I frankly hadn't seen him perform, but I figured, 'Look, he's a great teacher. He's probably a pretty sensational actor,' '' Taylor recalled. ``I went down to where he was teaching, and we had lunch, and it was interesting that he was an extremely shy man.''

During their meeting, Strasberg asked whether the filmmakers believed he could convincingly play an Italian. The character also had to dance, and Strasberg was convinced he was no hoofer.

``I said, 'Well, Lee, this is not a part about a guy like Fred Astaire. My guess is you'll be fine.' He said, 'Well, if you think I can dance, OK, then I'll do it.

``I thought that was hysterical. It had nothing to do with acting. It was something he felt uncomfortable with.''

In fact, Strasberg had an ace up his sleeve: his wife, Anna, who taught him the tarantella he ended up performing in the film. Strasberg even ended up adding a little backward kick ... to the delight of his instructor.

``I said, 'Lee, I didn't choreograph that little kick,' '' said Anna Strasberg. ``He said, 'Ah, but the actor can do that.' ''

``LEE STRASBERG 100TH ANNIVERSARY TRIBUTE''

Who: Special appearances by Martin Landau, Anna Strasberg, David Lee Strasberg, Lesley Ann Warren and other guests.

Where: Egyptian Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood.

When: 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Tickets: $6 to $8. Call [phone].

CAPTION(S):

9 photos

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) Marilyn Monroe

(2 -- cover -- color) Paul Newman

(3 -- cover -- color) Robert DeNiro

(4 -- cover -- color) Al Pacino

(5 -- cover ---color) Dustin Hoffman

(6 -- cover -- color) Lee Strasberg

(7) Strasberg, left, with fellow Group Theatre founders Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford in 1931.

(8) Anna Strasberg says her husband didn't teach acting but how to ``go back to humanity.''

(9) no caption (STRASBERG)