Jack Garfein (1930–2019)

Jack Garfein was born to a prosperous Jewish family in Mukachevo, Czechoslovakia (present-day Ukraine). His entire family was killed by the Nazis during the Holocaust, and he managed to survive 11 concentration camps. He was 14 years old and near death when he was liberated at Bergen-Belsen at the end of World War II. Nursed back to health in Sweden, he was among the first Holocaust survivors to arrive in the USA in 1946. Though he spoke no English,
he was determined to become an actor. He learned the language and got a scholarship to study at the Dramatic Workshop at the New School in New York City. Even as he was working to support himself, Garfein founded his own theater company, the first of many, and began studying directing under Lee Strasberg at The American Theatre Wing. At age 20, Garfein was directing 15-minute dramas for television. Strasberg was so impressed that he invited him to join the Actors Studio. Garfein directed the Actors Studio first play on Broadway,
End as a Man, which also became his first feature film, retitled The Strange One (1957). After artistic disputes with Columbia Pictures, Garfein’s contract was cancelled. He went on to expand the influence of Method acting to Hollywood with the founding of Actors Studio West alongside Paul Newman in 1966. Although he only made three feature films, he had a long career directing television shows and Broadway plays. He taught acting for more than 40 years in Los Angeles, London, Budapest, and Paris, teaching many actors who later became famous and discovering and mentoring numerous stars. His book Life and Acting: Techniques for the Actor, was published in 2010.