Introduce Yourself : Ending an Old Argument by June Barfield

No, I didn't know her, Peter, but I was of course familiar with her work ever since "Dog Day Afternoon". I did know Judith Molina; had been invited to join their company and turned them down -- how foolish! I wish I'd known that Susan Peretz was teaching in my neighborhood because I began teaching again in the late '90s. Was she a friend of yours?

Did you receive my response? I may have inadvertently zapped it, and am way too lazy to rewrite it here! Let's see -- I think I addressed the major reasons there are so many pros and cons regarding the so-called "method" (as Strasberg labeled it) in my Jan 7th blog post. Would be interesting to hear how Susan Peretz conducted her classes and what Elinor Renfield despised about the "method." Too bad you weren't steered to Uta Hagen at the HB Studio. You currently produce films? What are they?

Thanks for all that info, Peter! There's lots to say about all of it, too much for emails. Susan's class sounds more derivative of the Group Theatre folks, which makes sense. If there were a way for me to hear Susan's tapes, that'd be great. I used to be in NY often, but as of late, haven't been in a while. There are classes I'd like to visit, most of all, the Strasberg Institute's classes. Who knows, maybe I'll make it to NY in 2016. As for Ms. Renfield, she eschews the so-called "Method" yet seems to come up with a mystical formula instead. I have no idea what she means about "resisting that unspoken truth." I do agree with an emphasis on the action, but that goes back to Stanislavski. After I studied with Uta and visited my family here in L.A., I sat in on Jeff Corey's class, and took one of them. I didn't continue; compared to Uta, he had virtually nothing substantive to tell me. Now that I think of it, even though I was encouraged to study with Lee by some of Uta's own students (!), I decided not to. The anecdote on my blog about Geraldine Page applies to me as well. I'd get asked (in a state of awe) who taught me. when I'd audition. I found I was able to take direction from any director, of any persuasion, after I studied with her. She taught basic Stanislavski without mystical frills, and she didn't teach anything she couldn't do herself. Nope, no relation to Owen Barfield!