Lee Strasberg

Lee Strasberg was an American actor, director and acting teacher born in a part of Galicia, Austrian Poland in what is now Ukraine. He cofounded, with directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931, which was hailed as Americas first true theatrical collective. In 1951, he became director of the nonprofit Actors Studio, in New York City, considered the nations most prestigious acting school, and in 1966, was involved in the creation of Actors Studio West in Los Angeles.

Lee Strasberg was born Israel Strassberg in Budzanw in Austrian Poland , to Jewish parents, Baruch Meyer Strassberg and his wife, Ida , ne Diner, and was the youngest of three sons. His father emigrated to New York while his family remained in their home village with an uncle, a rabbinical teacher. His father, 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 his wife and his two remaining sons. In 1909, the family was reunited on Manhattans Lower East Side, where they lived until the early twenties. Young Strasberg took refuge in voracious reading and the companionship of his older brother, Zalmon, whose death in the influenza epidemic of 1918 was so traumatic for the young Strasberg that, despite being a straightA student, he dropped out of high school.

Source: Wikipedia