Biografie

Strasberg lost the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of mob financier Hyman Roth in Der Pate 2 (1974) to Robert De Niro's portrayal of Young Vito Corleone in the same film.

According to actor Martin Landau, Strasberg was a hard taskmaster as an acting teacher, but Landau said regardless, Strasberg was always right in pushing an actor to deliver an excellent performance.

As the primary teacher and director of the Actors Studio for more than 30 years, he trained many of the great American actors: Al Pacino, Ben Gazzara, Martin Landau, Eli Wallach, Ellen Burstyn, etc. He never taught Marlon Brando, who made the "method" famous, although Brando did support the Studio and regularly attended its formal and informal functions.

On February 13, 1982, Strasberg made what was both his final filmed appearance, and his final public appearance, at the Night of 100 Stars (1982) benefit for the Actors Fund at Radio City Music Hall, Rockefeller Center, in Manhattan, New York City, where, along with protégées Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, he danced in the chorus line with the world renowned The Radio City Rockettes.

He and protégé Al Pacino appeared together in two films: Der Pate 2 (1974) and ... und Gerechtigkeit für alle (1979).