Biography

James Lipton is an actor, academic, author, choreographer, interviewer, scriptwriter, and is a producer for stage and television projects. He is most known for creating and hosting the noted and popular TV series Inside the Actors Studio (1994), where successful and prominent actors discuss their craft for the benefit of acting students. Lipton's mother, Betty (Weinberg), was a teacher and librarian, and his father, Lawrence Lipton (originally Israel Lipschitz), was a beatnik poet. His parents divorced when he was quite young. As a reaction against his beatnik father's anarchic and chaotic lifestyle, Lipton at first chose to pursue a stable and staid career as a lawyer. He originally took up acting as a sideline to finance his law studies but eventually he shifted the focus of his career to acting. Lipton moved to New York City and undertook twelve years of intensive studies in the performing arts. He studied acting and directing under

Stella Adler, widely regarded as the most respected acting teacher in the history of American dramatic arts. Adler's other students at various times have included Marlon Brando, Robert de Niro and Harvey Keitel. Lipton also studied with Harold Clurman and Robert Lewis. He studied movie/TV production and directing at New York University and at The New School. He also studied voice, modern dance, classical ballet, and jazz technique.