Bravo 1994
Cora Devries
Inside the Actors Studio is an American talk show that airs on Ovation. The series premiered in 1994 on Bravo where it aired for 22 seasons and was hosted by James Lipton from its premiere until 2018.[1] It is taped at the Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts at Pace University's New York City campus.[2][3][4]
The program began as a televised craft seminar for students of the Actors Studio Drama School, originally a joint venture of the Actors Studio and New School University in 1994, with Paul Newman, a former Actors Studio president, as its first guest, and soon became Bravo's flagship program.[2] At first taped at the New School's Tishman Auditorium in Greenwich Village, New York City, it was shifted subsequently to its present location, Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts at Pace University's New York City campus. The program is presented as a seminar to students of the Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University.
The show deliberately uses a slower pace in the interviews as compared with a typical celebrity interview, thus cameras usually record a couple of hours of conversation, later edited to one or two hours. The result, as a New York Times article expressed it, "In Mr. Lipton's guest chair, actors cease being stars for a while and become artists and teachers." Though sometimes, some interviews go longer; Steven Spielberg's 1999 visit, for example, stretched to four hours, and was later shown as two episodes of one hour each. The interviews are guided by Lipton's trademark index-card questions, which sometimes reveal his well-researched knowledge of guests' lives, often startling some. On one such occasion, Billy Crystal told Lipton, "You know you're scary, don't you?"[2][3] On another occasion, Martin Sheen asked Lipton, "How do you know all this? This is extraordinary." And Sir Anthony Hopkins, upon learning that Lipton knew the exact address where the former had been born and raised in Wales, turned to the audience and remarked, "He's a detective, you know."
In May 2005, the contract between the Actors Studio and New School University was not renewed. Beginning with the 12th season, in the fall of 2005, the program was taped at the Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts at Pace University's New York City campus. The show featured a new set with a gritty backstage feel, designed by Will Rothfuss for Blair Broadcast Designs, and The Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University re-opened in new facilities.
Since its premiere, Inside the Actors Studio has had over 300 guests. The first episode's guest was Paul Newman (Alec Baldwin was the first guest, but his interview was broadcast after Newman's). The guests have included 74 Academy Award winners: eight directors; four screenwriters; 61 actors and actresses; and three composers. For its 200th show, Lipton became the guest subject of the show. He was questioned by Dave Chappelle, whom he picked personally. The show ended with the Pace University provost announcing that the college is sponsoring a scholarship in Chappelle's name to his high school alma mater. Based on the show, James Lipton published a book titled Inside Inside in 2007.[1] In September 2018, Lipton declared that he was stepping down from the program after 23 seasons. Starting in 2019, the show is hosted by different celebrities.
In his review of the program, The Sunday Times critic A.A. Gill wrote: "The format is simple and idiotically inspired. The Actors Studio is the New York drama school made famous by Stanislavsky and his method (although the series is now filmed elsewhere). These shows are thinly set-up masterclasses for students. The cleverness is in the vanity it allows the guests, who are the very greatest and most self-regarding performers and creators of theatre and film. People who are too grand to talk to anyone will talk to Inside the Actors Studio. They believe they're giving something back, offering precious pearls of insight to a new generation. And who doesn't look good passing it on to adoring students? In truth, it's just a chat show on satellite, but the veil of education and posterity is held decorously high, so everybody turns up and talks with a smile."[6]
While most of the show is a one-on-one interview conducted by the host (Lipton in the first 22 seasons, rotating hosts since season 23), this is followed by the host submitting a questionnaire to the guest. The questionnaire concept was originated by French television personality Bernard Pivot on his show Apostrophes, after the Proust Questionnaire.[citation needed] The 10 questions Lipton asks are:
The show has been good-naturedly lampooned for Lipton's paused and somewhat clipped delivery on Saturday Night Live, in which Will Ferrell portrayed Lipton interviewing himself as an annoyed guest. He was also spoofed on The Simpsons, where character Rainier Wolfcastle (a parody of Arnold Schwarzenegger) shoots his interviewer and a dying Lipton croaks, "It's a pleasure to eat your lead, good sir." In another episode of The Simpsons, in which Homer donates a kidney, he single-mindedly rushes his family home so he can watch the Inside The Actors Studio interview of F. Murray Abraham. Ferrell, with his Old School co-stars Vince Vaughn, Luke Wilson and director Todd Phillips, again portrayed a satirical version of Lipton in a skit called "Inside the Actors Studio Spoof", which can be seen as part of the DVD release special features for the film. Ferrell appears as himself and answers questions poking fun at some of his less successful films, such as A Night at the Roxbury, in what is obviously a comedic take on Lipton's reverential approach to his interviewees. Comedian Will Sasso portrayed Lipton on Mad TV and David Cross parodied him as Cyrus on Mr Show. Weird Al Yankovic's song "Couch Potato" describes "James Lipton discussing the oeuvre of Mr. Rob Schneider." among other things on TV. In the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode "Werewolf," Mike Nelson hits his head and thinks he is James Lipton.
[B]y the time I started the show -- although he was a member of the Actor's Studio and had been trained by Stella Adler as I was; we knew each other, and we used to talk on the phone for hours at a time -- but by that time he was already reclusive. I couldn't get him out of the house and neither could anyone else.[11]
Selected episodes of the show have been released by Shout! Factory. Three DVDs containing a single episode each feature Robin Williams, Johnny Depp, Dave Chappelle and Barbra Streisand. Two compilation sets were also released. Leading Men features Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Sean Penn, and Russell Crowe. Icons features Clint Eastwood, Paul Newman, Robert Redford, and Barbra Streisand.
Nestled in the heart of Jackson, BRAVO! has proudly served delicious Italian food in a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere since 1994. Every day, our passionate chefs work with the best raw ingredients in order to serve you hearty and flavorful dishes. With almost three decades of Wine Spectator awards, our wines are just as good as our food, and you will always be served with warmth and grace by our knowledgeable staff.
The Lola lvarez Bravo archive contains two series, personal papers and photographic materials, covering 1904-1994. The personal papers include biographical materials, correspondence, manuscripts, 19th century photographs purchased by Lola lvarez Bravo, a portfolio, a ledger containing accounting information, clippings, catalogues, posters, announcements, and publications, as well as artifacts. Series two contains a wide array of negatives and contact prints listed below in the container list.
All materials are open to research. To access materials from this collection, please contact CCP-R...@email.arizona.edu. The negatives have been isolated from the collection and are stored in cold storage.
Copyright to Lola lvarez Bravo's work and writings is held by the Center for Creative Photography. Copyright credit should read: 1995 University of Arizona Foundation, Center for Creative Photography.
It is the responsibility of the user to obtain permission from the copyright owner (which could be the institution, the creator of the record, the author or his/her transferees, heirs, legates or literary executors) prior to any copyright-protected uses of the collection.
The user agrees to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless the Arizona Board of Regents, the University of Arizona, Center of Creative Photography, including its officers, employees, and agents, from and against all claims made relating to copyright or other intellectual property infringement
Lola lvarez Bravo was born Dolores Martnez de Anda in 1903 in Lagos de Moreno, a small city in Jalisco on Mexico's Pacific coast. She moved to Mexico City as a young child, after her mother left the family under mysterious circumstances. Her father died when she was a young teenager, and she was then sent to live with the family of her half brother. It was here that she met the young Manuel lvarez Bravo, a neighbor. They married in 1925 and moved to Oaxaca where Manuel was an accountant for the federal government.
Manuel had taken up photography as an adolescent; he taught Lola and they took pictures together in Oaxaca. Manuel also taught Lola how to develop film and make prints in the darkroom. Lola became pregnant but before she gave birth, they returned to Mexico City, where their son, Manuelito, was born in 1927.
As he became more serious about pursuing a career in photography, she acted as his assistant, although she also harbored a desire to become a photographer in her own right. In 1934 lvarez Bravo's marriage came to an end; the couple separated and were divorced 15 years later, although she decided to maintain the lvarez Bravo name.
lvarez Bravo taught as well as worked in a government archive to support herself, but she also continued to experiment with photography and in 1936 received her first real commission photographing the colonial choir stalls of a former church.
Inspired by such photographers as Edward Weston and Tina Modotti, lvarez Bravo established a successful independent career. For 50 years, she photographed a wide variety of subjects, making documentary images of daily life in Mexico's villages and city streets and portraits of great leaders from various countries.
lvarez Bravo's first one-woman exhibition was held at Mexico City's Palace of Fine Arts in 1944; numerous solo and group shows followed. From 1951 through 1958, she directed her own Mexico City art gallery, La Galera de Arte Contemporneo, where in 1953 Frida Kahlo had her only one-woman exhibition in her native country during her lifetime. In addition, lvarez Bravo taught photography at the prestigious Academia de San Carlos in the Mexican capital. A major retrospective of her work was held in Mexico City in 1992, although the artist had stopped making new work three years earlier because of failing eyesight.