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Mini Biography

Michael Chekhov was born in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1891. His mother Natalya Golden was Jewish, and his father Aleksandr Chekhov was a brother of writer Anton Chekhov, who wrote of his nephew in 1895, "I believe that he has a growing talent." From 1907-11 he studied classic drama and comedy at Suvorin Theater School, and graduated with honors. In St. Petersburg, he met with Stanislavsky, who invited him to join the Moscow Art Theater. Later Stanislavsky wrote that Michael was a genius. His film career began in 1913 with a role in 'Tryokhsotletie tsarstvovaniya doma Romanovykh (1913)' (Tercentennary of the Romanov Dynasty), followed by five more roles in Russian silent films. During the Russian Revolution of 1917 his beloved first wife, Olga Tschechowa, divorced him, and he suffered from depression and alcoholism for the rest of his life. He led the second Moscow Art Theater in 1922-28, experimenting with symbolism and acmeism. He updated Stanislavsky's acting method, blended with yoga, theosophy, psychology and physiology, with his own ideas of transformation of Actor's consciousness, of psychological gesture, and movement techniques for entering a special state of subconscious creativity. His idea of using the actor's own intuition and creative imagination was a departure from his teacher's method. He joined the anthroposophic society and fell under suspicion. He emigrated from Russia in 1928, and soon made a big success in German films, co-starring with his ex-wife Olga Tschechowa, then living in Germany with her second husband. In 1931 he founded the Chekhov Theatre, with support from Rachmaninov, Bohner and Morgenstern, and in 1935 he brought the Chekhov Theatre on tour to New York. He taught acting in France, Austria, Latvia, Lithuania, and in England, before WWII. In 1938 he moved to the United States, where he started his own school, and successfully directed Dostoyevsky's Demons" on Broadway. In 1942 he was introduced to Hollywood by Rachmaninov. In 1945 he played his best film role, psychiatrist Brulov in Spellbound (1945). Hed was nominated for an Oscar and became a member of the American Film Academy in 1946. In 1953 he published the book To The Actor about his acting method, with preface written by 'Yul Brynner (I)'. His students included Gregory Peck, Marilyn Monroe, Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman, Anthony Quinn, Jack Palance, Feodor Chaliapin Sr., Elia Kazan, Clint Eastwood, and many other Hollywood actors and directors. He died in 1955 in Beverly Hills, and was buried at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Los Angeles.

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Trivia

A nephew of Anton Chekhov.

Was a student of Konstantin Stanislavski.

Taught Yul Brynner, Marilyn Monroe, Ingrid Bergman, Clint Eastwood, Gregory Peck, Gary Cooper, Anthony Quinn, Jack Palance, and Elia Kazan.

Created a widely used acting method involving movement and imagination. Created the Psychological Gesture.

Personal Quotes

The director, the stage designer, etc., are all accessories, but the Actor is the theater.

Actor Michael Chekhov

Michael Chekhov Acting Technique