The William Esper Studio was founded in 1965 as a

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...

for the

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perform ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. The school is dedicated to the acting technique of

Sanford Meisner Sanford Meisner (August 31, 1905 – February 2, 1997) was an American actor and acting teacher who developed an approach to acting instruction that is now known as the Meisner technique. While Meisner was exposed to method acting at the Group ...

. Its founder, William "Bill" Esper, is often referred to as the best-known of Meisner's first generation teachers, and his most "authentic protege". The William Esper Studio was listed as one of The 25 Best Drama Schools for a Master of Fine Arts numerous times.

Background

When Esper was a young man, he saw Eli Wallach and

Maureen Stapleton Lois Maureen Stapleton (June 21, 1925 – March 13, 2006) was an American actress. She received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Tony Awards, in addition to ...

in a touring production of '' The Rose Tattoo''. As Esper later recounted: " was so struck by the acting ... ter the play was over, I decided to go around the corner to get a cup of coffee so I could think about it some more. I walked into a little drugstore, and Eli was sitting there having a bite to eat..." Esper talked to the actor, and Wallach told him he had studied at

's Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. After graduating

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location in the Connecticut Western Reser ...

in his native

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, Esper moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and began studying with Meisner, who was famous for his repetition exercise. In 1962 Esper undertook training as a teacher and director with Meisner and proceeded to work closely with him for the next 15 years. Esper was on the staff of the Neighborhood Playhouse from 1965 to 1977 and Associate Director of the Playhouse Acting Department from 1974 to 1977. In 1977 Esper also founded the BFA and MFA Professional Actor Training Programs at

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

's Mason Gross School of the Arts. He led that department until 2004. Esper has been a guest artist/teacher at

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

's Banff Festival of the Arts as well as at the National Theatre School of Canada, the St. Nicholas Theater in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Illinois, and the Schauspiel München School in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

. Together with his wife Suzanne Esper, who also teaches at Esper Studios, he has conducted numerous workshops throughout Europe, most notably at the National Film School of Denmark, the

Norwegian National Academy of Theatre The Oslo National Academy of the Arts ( no, Kunsthøgskolen i Oslo, ''KHiO'') is a university college in Oslo, Norway, that provides education in visual arts, design and performing arts. It is one of two public institutes of higher learning in N ...

, and the

National Theatre Mannheim The Mannheim National Theatre (german: Nationaltheater Mannheim) is a theatre and opera company in Mannheim, Germany, with a variety of performance spaces. It was founded in 1779 and is one of the oldest theatres in Germany. History In the 18 ...

. In 2008 Bill and Suzanne Esper introduced Meisner's work to Russia at the St. Petersburg State Academy of Theater. Esper has worked extensively

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

and

regionally In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

. He is a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre in New York. He was profiled in the book ''The New Generation of Acting Teachers'', published by

Viking Press Viking Press (formally Viking Penguin, also listed as Viking Books) is an American publishing company owned by Penguin Random House. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheim and then acquire ...

in 1987. He is a past member of the National Board of the National Association of Schools of Theatre and a former Vice-President and Board Member of the University/Resident Theatre Association. He has lectured on acting at People′s Light and Theatre Company and the

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...

Conservatory, New York City; SAG honored him with a Certificate of Achievement for his service to the profession. In 2011 Esper received the

Association for Theatre in Higher Education The Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) is a United States-based non-profit membership organization whose mission is "To support and advance the study and practice of theatre and performance in higher education." It publishes ''Theat ...

(ATHE)'s Lifetime Achievement in Academic Theatre Award. In 2013 he was inducted into the

College of Fellows of the American Theatre The College of Fellows of the American Theatre is an honorary society of outstanding theatre educators and professional theatre practitioners. Origin The organization was formed in 1965 as a project proposed by members of the American Theatre Ass ...

. Esper died January 26, 2019. The studio is currently led by his widow Suzanne, who also was trained by Sanford Meisner both as an actor and a teacher alongside Esper.

Notable alumni

In 1965 Esper founded his eponymous studio. Among those he and his wife have coached and taught are: *

Mamoudou Athie Mamoudou Athie ( ) is a Mauritanian Americans, Mauritanian-American actor. He is best known for starring in the 2022 Netflix horror series ''Archive 81'' and supporting roles in films including Jurassic World Dominion, ''Jurassic World: Dominion ...

Katherine Bailess Katherine Bailess (born April 24, 1980) is an American actress, singer, and dancer best known for playing the role of Erica Marsh on the CW's hit show ''One Tree Hill'', Life and Death Brigade member Stephanie on ''Gilmore Girls'', and Kyle H ...

Kim Basinger Kimila Ann Basinger ( ; born December 8, 1953) is an American actress and former fashion model. She has garnered acclaim for her work in film and television, for which she has received various accolades including an Academy Award, a Golden Glo ...

* Kathy Bates * Jennifer Beals * Larry David * Kristin Davis * Kim Delaney *

Sofia Black-D'Elia Sofia Black-D'Elia (born December 24, 1991) is an American actress. She is known for her television roles, such as Tea Marvelli in '' Skins'', Sage Spence in ''Gossip Girl'', Andrea Cornish in ''The Night Of'', and Frannie Latimer in '' Your Ho ...

* Aaron Eckhart * Michael Esper * Peter Gallagher *

Jeff Goldblum Jeffrey Lynn Goldblum (; born October 22, 1952) is an American actor and musician. He has starred in some of the highest-grossing films of his era, such as ''Jurassic Park'' (1993) and '' Independence Day'' (1996), as well as their sequels. ...

* Steven Adly Guirgis *

Laura Harrier Laura Ruth Harrier (born March 28, 1990) is an American actress and model. She began modeling at the age of 17 after she was discovered by a location scout. She moved to New York City where she continued modeling and was represented by agencie ...

Maryam Hassouni Maryam Hassouni (born 21 September 1985) is a Dutch television and film actress. In 2006, she won an International Emmy Award for her role in ''Offers'' (2005). Biography Hassouni's parents, Alia and Abdelbaki Hassouni, are Moroccan and moved ...

* Patricia Heaton * Dulé Hill * William Hurt * Christine Lahti * John Malkovich * Wendie Malick *

Marc Menchaca Marc Menchaca (born October 10, 1975) is an American actor, writer and director. He was co-director, co-writer, and lead actor of the 2013 Heartland Film Festival Award Winning movie ''This Is Where We Live'', and was awarded best actor at the ...

Michael Lombardi (actor) Michael Lombardi (born September 2, 1976) is an American actor, producer, and musician. He is best known for his portrayal of the Probationary (Probie) firefighter Mike Silletti in the critically acclaimed hit television show '' Rescue Me'' on FX ...

Gretchen Mol Gretchen Mol (born November 8, 1972) is an American actress and former model. She is known for her role as Gillian Darmody in the HBO series '' Boardwalk Empire'' (2010–2014). She also appeared in the films ''Rounders'' (1998), ''Celebrity'' ...

David Morse David Bowditch Morse (born October 11, 1953) is an American actor, singer, television director, and writer. He first came to national attention as Dr. Jack "Boomer" Morrison in the medical drama series ''St. Elsewhere'' (1982–88). His film ca ...

Timothy Olyphant Timothy David Olyphant ( ; born May 20, 1968) is an American actor. He made his acting debut in an off-Broadway theater in 1995, in ''The Monogamist'', and won the Theatre World Award for his performance, and then originated David Sedaris' ''Th ...

Tonya Pinkins Tonya Pinkins (born May 30, 1962) is an American actress and filmmaker. Her award-winning debut feature film ''RED PILL'' was an official selection at the 2021 Pan African Film Festival, won the Best Black Lives Matter Feature and Best First Fea ...

Maria Pitillo Maria Pitillo (born January 8, 1966) is an American retired actress. She has starred in films and on television, most notably as Audrey Timmonds in ''Godzilla'' (1998). She also had a recurring role on the TV series '' Providence''. Early life Pi ...

Sam Rockwell Sam Rockwell (born November 5, 1968) is an American actor. He is known for appearing in independent films and also as a character actor portraying a wide variety of roles both comedic and dramatic in films such as '' Lawn Dogs'' (199 ...

* Tracee Ellis Ross * Richard Schiff * Amy Schumer * Paul Sorvino *

Mary Steenburgen Mary Nell Steenburgen (; born February 8, 1953) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and songwriter. After studying at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse in the 1970s, she made her professional acting debut in 1978 Western comedy film ''Goin' ...

* Dean Winters *

Ramy Youssef Ramy Youssef ( ar, رامي يوسف; ; born March 26, 1991) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and director of full Egyptian descent known for his role as Ramy Hassan on the Hulu comedy series '' Ramy'' (2019–present), for whic ...

* Deborah Van Valkenburgh

Associated publications

* ''The Actor's Art & Craft'', by William Esper and

Damon DiMarco Damon DiMarco (born October 16, 1971), is a New York City author, actor, playwright, and historian. His oral history work has been compared to that of Studs Terkel. He was born on Princeton, New Jersey. Oral histories DiMarco's oral histories ...

, featuring a preface by David Mamet (2008, ) * ''The Actor's Guide to Creating a Character'', by William Esper and Damon DiMarco (2014)

References

External links

* {{authority control Educational institutions established in 1965 Drama schools in the United States Education in Manhattan 1965 establishments in New York City Theatre in New York City