Michael Chekhov
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Bibliography
Notes
Among Chekhov's acting students in Hollywood were Marilyn Monroe, Jack Palance, Anthony Quinn and Akim Tamiroff.
Chekhov and fellow Russian actor-director-coach George Shdanoff were the subjects of the 1999 documentary "From Russia to Hollywood".
Biography
A distinguished actor, theater director and stage impresario of Russian and German ancestry, Michael Chekhov was the nephew of famous playwright and short story writer Anton Chekhov. He began his career in his native Russia and was a member of the legendary Moscow Art Theater, but his international acclaim really began to spread when he emigrated to England and set up the Michael Chekhov Theatre and an influential acting school. He later set up another famed acting school in New York and, indeed, his work in theater education may be his most important legacy. Indeed his acting students included the likes of Gregory Peck, Yul Brynner and Beatrice Straight. Nonetheless, the intense, diminutive Chekhov, most typically cast as intelligent, impassioned Middle Europeans, also made his mark as an actor, and in middle age began to work occasionally in films as well.
Chekov made his film debut in the very pro-USSR, pre-Cold War romance, "Song of Russia" (1943). With his good speaking voice and accent, he was generally cast as immigrant types, downtrodden "little men" and intellectuals; his role in the wartime drama "In Our Time" (1944) was quite typical. In 1945, Chekov won an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his work as a psychiatrist colleague of Ingrid Bergman's who helps her solve the murder mystery of "Spellbound." His feature work was only occasional and ranged from the routine likes of "Cross My Heart" (1946) and "Texas, Brooklyn and Heaven" (1948) to the good soap opera "Invitation" (1952) to the laughably arty and pretentious "Specter of the Rose" (1946), where Chekhov at least played his over-the-top material to the fullest. His last film role was as a music teacher in the lush and sudsy "Rhapsody" (1954) before his death of a heart attack. Chekhov's film roles were generally modest, but, as with other emigres like Albert Basserman, his work was a testament to the strength of the acting traditions underpinning his early training.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Life Events
1912
Joined Konstantin Stanislavsky's Moscow Art Theatre
1913
Had small part in the play "The Wreck of the 'Good Hope'"
1915
Cast as the character Frazer in "The Deluge"
1918
Opened own acting studio in Moscow; closed for financial reasons in 1921
1922
Garnered attention in title role of Gogol's "The Inspector General"
1923
Appointed as director of the Second Studio of the Moscow Art Theatre
1924
Played title role in "Hamlet" with Moscow Art Theatre
1927
Denounced by the Soviet government as a "mystic" and an "idealist"
1928
Allowed to immigrate to Germany to work with Max Reinhardt
1928
Formed troupe of "method" actors who spent seven years traveling throughout Europe
1938
Established an acting studio, the Chekhov Theatre School, at Dartington Hall in Devon, England
1940
With the advent of WWII, relocated acting studio to Ridgefield, Connecticut
1940
Mounted production of Dostoyevsky's "The Possessed" on Broadway
1941
Opened Michael Checkhov Theatre Studio in NYC
1943
Feature film acting debut, "Song of Russia"
1945
Received Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his role in Alfred Hitchcock's suspenser, "Spellbound"
1954
Last film, "Rhapsody"
Videos
Movie Clip
Trailer
Family
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
Among Chekhov's acting students in Hollywood were Marilyn Monroe, Jack Palance, Anthony Quinn and Akim Tamiroff.
Chekhov and fellow Russian actor-director-coach George Shdanoff were the subjects of the 1999 documentary "From Russia to Hollywood".
