Michael Howard (American actor)

Michael Howard
Born
Robert Horowitz

(1923-04-23)April 23, 1923
Manhattan, New York, U.S.
DiedNovember 29, 2019(2019-11-29) (aged 96)
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
OccupationsActor, director, master teacher
SpouseBetty Bartelt Howard
Children2

Michael Howard (April 23, 1923 – November 29, 2019) was an American actor, theatre director, and master teacher. He founded Michael Howard Studios in New York City.

Early years

Howard was born April 23, 1923, in New York City.[1][2]

Career

Howard began to study drama seriously at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre, where his teachers included Martha Graham and Sanford Meisner. His professional acting debut came in Zero Hour. His acting career was interrupted by military service as a paratrooper during World War II, after which he helped to organize the American Forces Network in Berlin. Following his military service he "was instrumental in the off-Broadway movement" and was one of the founders of New Stages Incorporated.[3] He worked as a director with the Theatre Guild and was a permanent member of the Director's Unit of the Actors Studio. In 1968 he became artistic director of the Atlanta Repertory Theater,[3] and in 1969 he was named artistic director of the Alliance Resident Theater in Atlanta.[4]

Howard's work on Broadway included performing in The Country Girl (1950) and staging Third Best Sport (1958).[1]

Actors who have studied with Howard include Laura Benanti,[5] Julie Budd,[6] Jacqueline Brookes,[7] Linda Cook,[8] Joan Darling,[9] Keith David,[10] Roger Davis,[11] Cameron Douglas[12] Jack Gilpin,[13] James Hampton,[14] Roxanne Hart,[15] Polly Holliday,[16] Mark Jacoby[17] Michael Kahn,[18] Nastassia Kinski,[19] Ralph Lee,[20] Stuart Margolin,[21] Ernestine McClendon,[22] Alexandra Neil[23] Claudette Nevins,[13] Carol Potter,[24] Linda Powell,[17] James Read,[25] Diana Sands,[26] Terry Schreiber[27] Sandra Seacat,[28] Valda Setterfield,[29] Cornelia Sharpe,[30] Jessica Tuck,[31] and Kerry Washington.[32]

Personal life and death

Howard was married to Betty Bartelt, who predeceased him in 2016, aged 97.[33] He died in Brooklyn, New York in November 2019 at the age of 96.[34]

References

  1. ^ a b "Michael Howard". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on October 25, 2020. Retrieved November 15, 2025.
  2. ^ Kay, Terry (April 20, 1969). "'Twelfth Night' and Birthdays". The Atlanta Journal. p. . Retrieved November 18, 2025. "Wednesday evening, April 23, William Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" will open at the Atlanta Memorial Arts Center. Michael Howard is directing. The Alliance Resident Theater Company is performing. Wednesday, April 23, is William Shakespeare's birthday. It is also Michael Howard's birthday. [...] Truth is that Howard had forgotten the date of his birthday, until someone mentioned one day that 'Twelfth Night' would open on Shakespeare's birthday. [He asked,] 'Which day is that?' 'The 23rd.' 'Hey, that's my birthday, too.'
  3. ^ a b Kay, Terry (June 16, 1968). "Michael Howard: A Bold View". The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution. p. 15 F. Retrieved November 15, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Calta, Louis (March 11, 1969). "Atlanta Forms Theater Troupe". The New York Times. p. 41. Retrieved November 15, 2025.
  5. ^ Eckert, Laura (June 20, 1999). "19 going on stardom; Kinnelon actress lifts Broadway's 'Annie'". Daily Record. Retrieved November 17, 2025. p. 1E. "For the first half of her senior year at Kinnelon, Benanti would leave school at 10:30 a.m. and take a bus into Manhattan, where she studied at the Michael Howard Studio."
  6. ^ Guarino, Ann (March 26, 1981). " Julie Budd: The Face Is Familiar". New York Daily News. p. 69. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
  7. ^ Hubbard, Linda S., O'Donnell, Owen; ed. (1989). Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television. Volume 7. Detroit, MI: Gale Research. p. 43. ISSN 0749-064X.
  8. ^ O'Donnell, Monica M., ed. (1986). Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television. Volume 3. Detroit, MI: Gale Research Company. p. 111. ISBN 0-8103-2066-5.
  9. ^ Austen, Greg (May 11, 1990). "The darling of Santa Fe musical circles". The Santa Fe New Mexican Pasatiempo. p. 26. Retrieved November 17, 2025. "After college, she went to New York. 'That was when I started to get some really good acting training, really top-notch,' she said. It was under the tutelage of acting coaches, Michael Howard and George Morrison, that she perfected her own teaching methods."
  10. ^ Jamieson, Sarah (September 14, 2018). "Keith David: The Man With the Golden Voice". Danville Register and Bee. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
  11. ^ "Squeezing in an Interview", San Antonio Light. April 23, 1972. p. ST6. Retrieved November 17, 2025. "'When I went to Columbia University I majored in English Literature and began studying acting at the same time with Michael Howard. The bug hit me then, but I knew that the life of an actor can be a chancy one so I continued with my education."
  12. ^ Levy, Emanuel (April 25, 2003). "Like father Like son: In the Douglas clan, talent runs in the family". The Jerusalem Post. p. 16. ProQuest 1443848302. 'Not only did It Runs in the Family have a wonderful part for my father,' says Michael, 'but the role of Alex's son, Asher, seemed tailor-made for my own 24-year-old sone, Cameron.' But Michael insisted that Cameron spend a few months studying with an acting coach, and he actually had to screen test for the picture. Cameron gave up his late-night job and devoted himself to working with acting teacher Michael Howard.
  13. ^ a b O'Donnell, Monica M., ed. (1974). Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television. Volume 1. Detroit, MI: Gale Research Company. p. 203. ISBN 0-8103-2064-9.
  14. ^ Riggs, Thomas, ed. (2001). Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television. Volume 34. Detroit, MI: Gale Group. p. 118. ISBN 0-7876-4639-3.
  15. ^ Wahl, Robert (July 15, 1979). "Footlight's: She's at Loose Ends". New York Daily News. p. 4 Leisure. Retrieved November 17, 2025. "'I was drafted to play Sophocles Electra who, of course, murders her children. I got very method that spring. [...] I suddenly decided to be an artist.' She has an acting coach, Michael Howard, who has guided her."
  16. ^ "Actress Polly Holliday Joins Front St. Company". The Commercial Appeal. November 14, 1965. p. TV-4. Retrieved November 17, 2025. "Holliday did graduate work in music at Florida State University where she studied with composer Carlisle Floyd. She studied acting with Michael Howard in New York."
  17. ^ a b Cutler, Jacqueline (August 27, 2023). "Musicals: N.J. actor commands Broadway stage each night as Neil Diamond (continues from E1)". The Star-Ledger. p. E3. Retrieved November 17, 2025. "'Mark and I have actually known each other for years,' Powell says. 'We studied together under a wonderful teacher named Michael Howard. So, it was a gift coming into the rehearsal process with that degree of comfort and a similar way of working. We’ve continued to find new moments even far into the run — as well as a few secrets that keep us amused during the eight-show weeks.'"
  18. ^ Howard, Michael (2016). The Actor Uncovered : A Life in Acting. New York, NY : Allworth Press. p. 12. ISBN 9781621535492. "There is no one who has had a more lasting influence on my journey as a theater artist than the wise and generous Michael Howard, the author of this wise and generous book. I first met Michael — 'Mr. Howard' as he was then to me — at the beginning of my third year at the High School of Performing Arts when he became the principal acting teacher of our class."
  19. ^ Siskel, Gene (April 4, 1982). "Nastassia Kinski: At 21, she's sultry, smart, and a smash at the box office". Chicago Tribune. April 4, 1982. sec. 6, pp. 24, 25. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
  20. ^ Molarsky, Mona (April 1998). "Profiles: Ralph Lee". American Theatre. pp. 32–34. ProQuest 220580995. Like many of his generation, Lee cut his teeth in the New York experimental theatre scene of the '60s. After studying Method acting with Michael Howard, he sculpted masks for the Living Theatre's Julian Beck, worked with experimentalist Andre Gregory, and acted with Joseph Chaiken at the Open Theatre.
  21. ^ "Me and Max: Stuart Margolin and son pair up for double bill". Times Colonist. p. 1C. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
  22. ^ Mapp, Edward (1978). Directory of Blacks in the Performing Arts. Metuchen, N.J. : Scarecrow Press. p. 231. ISBN 0-8108-1126-X.
  23. ^ Sheridan, Scott; Willman, Chris (2012). Now You Tell Me! : 12 Actors Give the Best Advice They Never Got. Warwick, NY : Arundel Publishing. pp. 139, 149. ISBN 9781933608259. "My teacher Michael Howard says, 'They pay to see us in danger. They don’t pay to see us be safe.' And I think there’s something about an actor putting himself or herself in danger that translates to the audience. It’s very exciting."
  24. ^ "Potter Is a Regular: Carol Potter stars as Maggie Clinton". Florence Morning News. January 16, 1982. p. 43. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
  25. ^ "Didn't Want to Be an Actor". Rock Island Argus. April 3, 1983. p. TV2. Retrieved November 17, 2025. "After college, he went to New York, where he enrolled in acting classes while supporting himself as a waiter. 'I fell in with a great teacher, Michael Howard. There were 20 of us studying with him in a dingy room on Eighth Avenue. It was a cold, miserable day in November, but the energy in that room knocked me out,' he said. That's when he decided acting was for him."
  26. ^ Jackson, Kenneth T.; ed. (1973). Dictionary of American Biography. Supplement Nine (1971–1975). New York : Scribner. p. 698. ISBN 0-684-15054-9.
  27. ^ Schiffman, Jean (September 15, 2011). "Passing It On". Back Stage. pp. A1 – A3. ProQuest 896481588. [In 1969], Terry Schreiber opened the T Schreiber Studio, which now offers a variety of classes and a three-play season. He studied acting with Michael Howard (who still teaches today, although minimally, about a block away from Schreiber's studio in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood) and Hagen, and he learned about directing in Clurman's classes.
  28. ^ Hampton, Edna (April 12, 1968). "Actresses develop tension-shedding skills". The Globe and Mail. p. 15. ProQuest 1242326223. Sandra grew up in Greensburgh, Kan. and became interested in method acting while studying drama at Northwestern University in Chicago. Later she went to New York and studied with Michael Howard of the famous Actors Studio.
  29. ^ Benbow-Pfalzgraf, Taryn; Benbow-Niemier, Glynis; ed. (1998). International Dictionary of Modern Dance. Detroit, MI : St. James Press. p. 708. ISBN 1558623590. "Since this family affair with the theater, Setterfield began studying acting with Michael Howard in New York. She has acted at the Guthrie in Minneapolis, at Playwrights Horizons in New York, and at American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, mostly in Gordon productions. In 1991 she played Marcel Duchamp in David’s The Mysteries. Setterfield says that acting is not a great leap for her since she has background in pantomine and that Gordon often includes speaking parts in his compositions, as did Waring."
  30. ^ Guarino, Ann (April 13, 1975). "Off Camera: Nudity With a Purpose Not a Vengeance – Cornelia Sharpe—Al's Her Type". New York Daily News. p. 9 Leisure. Retrieved November 17, 2025. "Once she began living here, she was attracted to the theater, and she had her first Broadway role in 'The Penny Wars.' She studied acting with Michael Howard and eventually became an observer at Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio."
  31. ^ Rout, Nancy E.; Buckley, Ellen; Rout, Barney M.; ed. (1992). The Soap Opera Book : Who's Who in Daytime Drama. West Nyack, NY : Todd Publications. p. 269. ISSN 1065-402X. "It was at Yale that Jessica first began to seriously consider a career as an actress when she starred in a student written play called 'Parkington and Me.' After graduation Jessica traveled extensively before returning to New York to begin her acting and voice training at H.B. Studio, Julliard and the Michael Howard Studio."
  32. ^ "All About Kerry Washington; Did You Know". Johnson City Press. October 6, 2017. p. 2B. Retrieved November 17, 2025. "Washington was accepted into Yale University and Dartmouth College, but declined both. She studied acting at Michael Howard Studios in New York City. Jennifer Lopez was her high school dancing teacher."
  33. ^ "BETTY HOWARD Obituary (2016) - New York, NY - New York Times". Legacy.com.
  34. ^ "Tributes.com". www.tributes.com.

Further reading

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