As many of you know, I have the wonderful good fortune of being able to study with one of the greatest living acting coaches, Wynn Handman. If you’re outside of the theater world, or even inside it, and haven’t heard of him, don’t beat yourself up over it. Finding his class requires having an ear to the ground, a finger on the pulse, and a propensity for being in the know, as he doesn’t advertise in places like Backstage, and until recently was listed solely as a number in the phone book. But I can tell you this for certain: calling that phone number was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made—both as an actor and as a person.
Wynn was an early assistant to Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse during the period prior to Meisner’s development of the repetition exercises. He teaches organic acting with a deep emphasis on character work. He is Artistic Director and co-founder of The American Place Theater, which has been presenting the cutting edge in theater talent since 1962. His acting class, which has been going on continuously for just as long, has produced countless exceptional actors including: Alec Baldwin, James Caan, Kathleen Chalfant, Chris Cooper, Michael Douglas, Sandy Duncan, Mia Farrow, Christopher George, Richard Gere, Joel Grey, Allison Janney, Raul Julia, Frank Langella, John Leguizamo, Susan Lucci, Burt Reynolds, Tony Roberts, Anna Deveare Smith, Mira Sorvino, Christopher Walken, Denzel Washington and Joanne Woodward…and now me!
All this and he’s also a WWII veteran and native New Yorker with a thousand and one fascinating stories from both inside and outside the theater. You would be hard-pressed to find a more charismatic and truly beautiful man.
This year marks Wynn’s 90th birthday, which I got to celebrate with him in class, along with the remarkable actors that I’ve had the gift of training with over the past two years. Letters and videos have poured in from all over the world to celebrate—he’s just the kind of man that changes people’s lives, and when you’ve felt that, you can’t help but express your gratitude. Below is the short video that I put together for the occasion…with a little help from my “friends.” I hope you can handle this much cuteness—consider yourself warned.
To read more about Wynn, I recommend checking out this great New York Times article from his 85th birthday, or this bio from the Studio’s new website.