Michael Chekhov
Mikhail A. Chekhov
Birth name	Mikhail Aleksandrovich Chekhov
Born	August 29, 1891 Moscow, Russian Empire
Died	September 30, 1955, age 64 Beverly Hills, California, United States

Mikhail Aleksandrovich Chekhov (Russian: Михаил Александрович Чехов, August 29, 1891 in Moscow – September 30, 1955 in Beverly Hills, California) was an Academy Award-nominated Russian-American actor, director, author, and developer of his own acting technique used by actors such as Clint Eastwood, Marilyn Monroe, Yul Brynner, and Robert Stack. Image File history File links Mchekhov. ... August 29 is the 241st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (242nd in leap years), with 124 days remaining. ... Year 1891 (MDCCCXCI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Russia_(bordered). ... Location Position of Moscow in Europe Government Country District Subdivision Russia Central Federal District Federal City Mayor Yuriy Luzhkov Geographical characteristics Area  - City 1,081 km² Population  - City (2007)    - Density 10,469,000   9684. ... Anthem: God Save the Tsar! The Russian Empire in 1914 Capital Saint Petersburg Language(s) Russian Government Monarchy Emperor  - 1721-1725 Peter the Great (first)  - 1894-1917 Nicholas II (last) History  - Established 22 October, 1721  - February Revolution 2 April, 1917 Area  - 1897 22,400,000 km2 8,648,688 sq... September 30 is the 273rd day of the year (274th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Beverly Hills is a city in the western part of Los Angeles County, California. ... August 29 is the 241st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (242nd in leap years), with 124 days remaining. ... Year 1891 (MDCCCXCI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Location Position of Moscow in Europe Government Country District Subdivision Russia Central Federal District Federal City Mayor Yuriy Luzhkov Geographical characteristics Area  - City 1,081 km² Population  - City (2007)    - Density 10,469,000   9684. ... September 30 is the 273rd day of the year (274th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Beverly Hills is a city in the western part of Los Angeles County, California. ... Although he never won an Oscar for any of his movie performances, the comedian Bob Hope received two honorary Oscars for his contributions to cinema. ... Clint Eastwood (born Clinton Eastwood, Jr. ... Marilyn Monroe (born Norma Jeane Mortenson on June 1, 1926 – August 5, 1962), was a Golden Globe Award-winning American actress, singer, model and pop icon. ... Yul Brynner (July 11, 1920[1] – October 10, 1985) was a Russian-born Broadway and Academy Award-winning Hollywood actor. ... Charles Langford Modini Stack (January 13, 1919 – May 14, 2003), better known as Robert Stack, was an American stage and movie actor. ...

History

His father was Aleksandr Pavlovich Chekhov (brother of famed Russian playwright Anton Chekhov) and his mother was Natalya Golden, the eldest of three Jewish sisters. Chekhov was considered by Konstantin Stanislavsky to be one of his brightest students. In 1915, he married Olga Knipper, who would later make a remarkable film career in the Third Reich cinema. Template:Unsourced A playwright, also known as a dramatist, is someone who writes dramatic literature or drama. ... The house in Taganrog where Chekhov was born Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (Russian: , IPA: ) was a Russian physician, short story writer, and playwright. ... The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination... Konstantin (Constantin) Stanislavski (Константи́н Серге́евич Станисла́вский / Алексе́ев) (January 5, 1863... 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar). ... Olga Tchechowa Olga Konstantinovna Chekhova or Tchechowa (1897, Tbilisi-1980, Berlin) was a Russian actress who made a stunning career in the cinema of the Third Reich. ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ...

Michael Chekhov was one of a handful of proteges of Stanislavsky who both embraced and rebelled against the theories and practices of Stanislavsky. After the Revolution in Russia, Michael Chekhov had split with Stanislavsky and toured with his own company. He believed Stanislavsky’s techniques led too readily to a naturalistic style. He illustrated his own theories in such stunning parts as Senator Ableukhov in the stage version of Andrei Bely's Petersburg. The Russian Revolution of 1917 was a series of political and social upheavals in Russia, involving first the overthrow of the tsarist autocracy, and then the overthrow of the liberal and moderate-socialist Provisional Government, resulting in the establishment of Soviet power under the control of the Bolshevik party. ... Leon Bakst Portrait of Andrei Bely Andrei Bely (Андрей Белый) was the pseudonym of Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev (October 14, 1880 (Old Style)- January 8, 1934), a Russian novelist, poet, theorist, and literary critic. ...

In the late 1920s, Chekhov emigrated to the United States and set up his own studio, teaching a physical and imagination based system of acting training. He advocated the establishing of scenes’ atmospheres in order to create the tones of the play, from which the actor could then draw personal inspiration. He also established the use of the “Psychological Gesture”, a concept derived from the Symbolist theories of Bely. In this technique, the actor physicalizes a character’s need or internal dynamic in the form of an external gesture. He then mutes the outward gesture and incorporates it internally, allowing the physical memory to inform the performance on an unconscious level. This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

Career

Much of what Chekhov explored was the question of how to access the unconscious creative self through indirect non-analytical means. Chekhov also taught a range of movement dynamics such as molding, floating, flying, and radiating which actors could use to find a physical core of a character. His techniques, though seemingly external, were meant to lead the actor to a rich internal life. In spite of his brilliance as an actor and his first hand experience in the development of the Moscow Art Theatre’s groundbreaking work, Chekhov as a teacher was overshadowed by his American counterparts in the 1940s and 1950s and their branching interpretations of Stanislavsky's work. The Moscow Art Theatre is a theatre company in Moscow, Russia, founded in 1897 by Konstantin Stanislavsky and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko. ...

Modern teachers in New York have extended Chekhov's work with "Archetype Work for Actors" and "Dream Work for Actors."

Chekhov's description of his acting technique, On the Technique of Acting, was published in 1942; an abridged version appeared under the title, To the Actor. The English translation of his autobiography "The Path of the Actor" was edited by Andrei Kirillov and Bella Merlin, and was published by Routledge in 2005, marking the 50th anniversary of his death on 30 September 1955.

Selected filmography

// July 20 - Since You Went Away is released. ... Song of Russia is a pro-Soviet propaganda film made and distributed by MGM Studios in 1944. ... // July 20 - Since You Went Away is released. ... // Paramount Studios releases theatrical short cartoon titled The Friendly Ghost, featuring ghost named Casper With Rossellinis Roma Città aperta, Italian neorealist cinema begins. ... DVD cover of the Criterion Collection release Spellbound (1945), a movie directed by Alfred Hitchcock, tells the story of the new head of a mental asylum who turns out not to be what he claims to be. ... See also: 1945 in film 1946 1947 in film 1940s in film years in film film // Events Top grossing films North America The Bells of St. ... See also: 1945 in film 1946 1947 in film 1940s in film years in film film // Events Top grossing films North America The Bells of St. ... See also: 1945 in film 1946 1947 in film 1940s in film years in film film // Events Top grossing films North America The Bells of St. ... Abies Irish Rose is a Broadway play by Anne Nichols about a Catholic girl who marries into an Jewish family. ... See also: 1947 in film 1948 1949 in film 1940s in film years in film film // Events Top grossing films North America The Red Shoes, (55th in year of release, lifetime box office would place it in first) The Road to Rio Easter Parade Red River The Three Musketeers, Johnny... // Events February 20 - The film The African Queen opens (Capitol Theater in New York City). ... Line-up: Vocals: Jouni Nikula Guitar: Emppu Vuorinen Guitar: Jani Liimatainen Bass: Marko Pukkila Drums: Tony Smedjebacka Track listing Unicorn (3:32) History of Times to Come (4:16) Ravenwing (4:30) Innocent (4:11) Wrath of a Warchild (4:13) Kingdom of the Night (2:55) Fire & Ice (3... // Events February 20 - The film The African Queen opens (Capitol Theater in New York City). ... See also: 1953 in film 1954 1955 in film 1950s in film years in film film Events May 12 - The Marx Brothers Zeppo Marx divorces wife Marion Benda. ... Elizabeth Taylor and John Ericson in Rhapsody Rhapsody is a 1954 MGM film directed by Charles Vidor, and produced by Lawrence Weingarten. ...

External links

• Michael Chekhov at the Internet Movie Database
• Michael Chekhov at the TCM Movie Database
• Michael Chekhov at the Internet Broadway Database
• Michael Chekhov Centre UK website