Editing Michael Chekhov

{{short description|Russian actor and director}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Michael Chekhov
| image         = Michael Chekhov 1910х.jpg
| caption       = Chekhov, 1910s
| birth_name    = Mikhail Aleksandrovich Chekhov
| birth_date    = {{birth date|1891|8|16|df=y}}
| birth_place   = [[Saint Petersburg]], [[Russian Empire]]
| death_date    = {{death date and age|1955|9|30|1891|8|29|df=y}}
| death_place   = [[Beverly Hills, California]], U.S.
| othername     =
| yearsactive   = 1913&ndash;1954
| spouse        = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|[[Olga Chekhova]]<br>|1914|1917|end=divorced}}
* {{marriage|Xenia Karlovna Ziller<br>|1918}}
}}
| children = [[Ada Tschechowa]]
| parents = [[Alexander Chekhov]]<br>Natalya Golden 
| relatives = [[Anton Chekhov]] (uncle)<br> [[Olga Knipper]] (aunt)<br>[[Vera Tschechowa]] (granddaughter)
}}

'''Mikhail Aleksandrovich Chekhov''' ({{langx|ru|Михаил Александрович Чехов}}; 16 August 1891 &ndash; 30 September 1955), known as '''Michael Chekhov''', was a Russian-American [[actor]], [[Theatre director|director]], [[author]], and [[theatre practitioner]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Cinema|author=Peter Rollberg|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2009|place=US|isbn=978-0-8108-6072-8|pages=135–136}}</ref> He was a nephew of the playwright [[Anton Chekhov]] and a student of [[Konstantin Stanislavski]]. Stanislavski referred to him as his most brilliant student.

Although mainly a stage actor, he made a few notable appearances on film, perhaps most memorably as the Freudian analyst in [[Alfred Hitchcock]]'s ''[[Spellbound (1945 film)|Spellbound]]'' (1945), for which he received his only [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] nomination.

==Life==
{{More citations needed section|date=March 2022}}
He was born in [[Saint Petersburg]], the son of [[Alexander Chekhov]] (the elder brother of [[Anton Chekhov]]) and his wife Natalya Aleksandrovna Golden. It was his father's second marriage. His mother, a Russian Jew, had been the governess to the children from his father's first marriage. He was raised in a middle-class family; his father was in the Imperial Customs Service and was a moderately successful writer.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

Chekhov's first wife was actress [[Olga Chekhova]], whom he met at the [[Moscow Art Theatre]] First Studio. Olga Chekhova was a daughter of Konstantin Knipper and was the niece of [[Olga Knipper]], [[Anton Chekhov]]'s wife, after whom she was named. Their daughter, also baptized Olga, was born in 1916 and became a German actress under the name [[Ada Tschechowa]]. His second wife was Xenia Karlovna Ziller, of German origins. {{citation needed|date=March 2015}}

Chekhov studied under the Russian [[theatre practitioner]] [[Konstantin Stanislavski]] at the First Studio, where he acted, directed, and studied [[Stanislavski's 'system']]. He was also influenced in his creative development as an actor by [[Yevgeny Vakhtangov]] and [[Leopold Sulerzhitsky]].<ref name="International DictionaryofTheatre">"Michael Chekhov." ''International Dictionary of Theatre''. Chicago: St. James Press, 1992. Vol. 3. Updated version by Gale, 1996. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, 2018-06-26.</ref> 
In 1922, after the death of [[Vakhtangov]], Chekhov became director of the First Studio, which was subsequently renamed Moscow Art Theatre II.<ref name="International DictionaryofTheatre"/>

Stanislavski considered Chekhov to be one of his brightest students. When Chekhov experimented with affective memory and had a nervous breakdown, this aided Stanislavski in seeing the limitations of his early concepts of emotional memory.

After the [[October Revolution]], Chekhov split with Stanislavski and toured with his own company. He thought that Stanislavski's techniques led too readily to a [[Naturalism (theatre)|naturalistic]] style of performance. He demonstrated his own theories acting in parts such as Senator Ableukhov in the stage version of [[Andrei Bely]]'s ''[[Petersburg (novel)|Petersburg]]''.

With the beginning of [[Stalinism]] in 1927, Chekov came into conflict with the Communist regime and was threatened to be arrested, especially for his [[Spiritualism (movement)|spiritualist]] interests.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eEBvDwAAQBAJ&q=Michael+Chekhov+stalin&pg=PT30|title = Michael Chekhov|isbn = 9780429941061|last1 = Chamberlain|first1 = Franc|date = 21 September 2018| publisher=Routledge }}</ref> In the late 1920s, Chekhov emigrated to [[Germany]] and set up his own studio, teaching a physical and imagination-based system of actor training. He developed the use of the "Psychological Gesture", a concept derived from the [[Russian Symbolism|Symbolist]] theories of Bely. In this technique, the actor physicalizes a character's need or internal dynamic in the form of an external gesture. Subsequently, the outward gesture is suppressed and incorporated internally, allowing the physical memory to inform the performance on an unconscious level.

Between 1930 and 1935 he worked in [[Kaunas State Drama Theatre]] in [[Lithuania]]. Between 1936 and 1939 Chekhov established The Chekhov Theatre School at [[Dartington Hall]], in [[Devon]], [[England]]. Following developments in Germany that threatened the outbreak of war he moved to the US with the couple, and later writers, [[Anne Cumming]] and Henry Lyon Young to recreate a drama school.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-anne-cumming-1464458.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220512/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-anne-cumming-1464458.html |archive-date=12 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Obituary: Anne Cumming|date=1993-08-31|work=The Independent|access-date=2017-04-12|language=en-GB}}</ref>

==Career==
[[File:Mikhail Chekhov 4.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Chekhov in 1922, from ''The Russian Theater'' by Oliver Sayler]]
Following Stanislavski's approach, much of what Chekhov explored addressed the question of how to access the unconscious creative self through indirect non-analytical means.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cie-azot.com/stages-et-formations-1/m%C3%A9thode-michael-chekhov/|title=Compagnie AZOT - Méthode Michael Chekhov|website=www.cie-azot.com|language=fr|access-date=2018-11-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181013172235/https://www.cie-azot.com/stages-et-formations-1/m%C3%A9thode-michael-chekhov/|archive-date=13 October 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> Chekhov taught a range of movement dynamics such as molding, floating, flying, and radiating that actors use to find the physical core of a [[Character (arts)|character]]. {{Citation needed|date=February 2012}}

Despite his seemingly external approach, Chekhov's techniques were meant to lead the actor to a rich internal life. In spite of his brilliance as an actor and his first-hand experience in the development of Stanislavski's groundbreaking work, Chekhov as a teacher was overshadowed by his American counterparts in the 1940s and 1950s and their interpretations of Stanislavski's 'system,' which became known as [[Method acting]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2013}} Interest in Chekhov's work has grown, however, with a new generation of teachers. Chekhov's own students included [[Marilyn Monroe]], [[Anthony Quinn]], [[Clint Eastwood]], [[Dorothy Dandridge]], [[Mala Powers]], [[Yul Brynner]], [[Patricia Neal]], [[Sterling Hayden]], [[Jack Palance]], [[Elia Kazan]], [[Robert Lewis (director)|Robert Lewis]], [[Paula Strasberg]], [[Guy Gillette (photographer)|Guy Gillette]], and [[Lloyd Bridges|Lloyd]] and [[Dorothy Bridges]].<ref name=lat>{{cite news|first=Dennis|last=McLellan|title=Dorothy Bridges dies at 93; 'the hub' of an acting family|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-dorothy-bridges21-2009feb21,0,1331555.story|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=2009-02-21|access-date=2009-04-23}}</ref> In the television programme ''Inside the Actors Studio'', noted actors such as [[Johnny Depp]] and [[Anthony Hopkins]] have cited Chekhov's book as highly influential on their acting.  [[Beatrice Straight]] also thanked Chekhov in her acceptance speech after winning her [[Academy Award|Oscar]] for her performance in ''[[Network (1976 film)|Network]]'' (1976).<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3g7kclmm0I Beatrice Straight Wins Supporting Actress: 1977 Oscars] at YouTube</ref>

Chekhov's description of his acting technique, ''On the Technique of Acting'', was written in 1942. When reissued in 1991 it had additional material by Chekhov estate executor [[Mala Powers]]; an abridged version appeared under the title ''To the Actor'' in 1953, with a preface by [[Yul Brynner]], and reissued in 2002 with an additional foreword by [[Simon Callow]] and additional Russian material translated and commented on by Andrei Malaev-Babel, a notable Russian-born acting scholar and teacher. The English translation of his autobiography ''The Path of the Actor'' was edited by Andrei Kirillov and Bella Merlin and published by Routledge in 2005, marking the 50th anniversary of his death. Some of Chekhov's lectures are available on CD under the title ''On Theatre and the Art of Acting''. The documentary ''From Russia to Hollywood: the 100 Year Odyssey of Chekhov and Shdanoff'', profiles Chekhov and his fellow Russian associate George Shdanoff; released in 1998, it is narrated by [[Mala Powers]] and [[Gregory Peck]], who starred in [[Alfred Hitchcock]]'s ''[[Spellbound (1945 film)|Spellbound]]'', for which Chekhov earned an Oscar nomination. {{citation needed|date=March 2015}}

==Selected filmography==
[[Image:Eric XIV - M. Chekhov 1921.jpg|thumb|right|Michael Chekhov as Erik in the 1921 production of [[August Strindberg]]'s ''Erik XIV'']]
{| class="wikitable"
! Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes
|-
| [[1914 in film|1914]] || ''Kogda zvuchat struny serdtsa'' || ||
|-
| [[1915 in film|1915]] || ''Shkaf s syurprizom'' || ||
|-
| [[1916 in film|1916]] || ''Liubvi syurprizy tshchetnye'' || ||
|-
| [[1921 in film|1921]] || ''[[Eric XIV (play)|Erik XIV]]'' || [[Erik XIV]] ||
|-
| [[1927 in film|1927]] || ''Einer gegen alle'' || ||
|-
| [[1927 in film|1927]] || ''[[Man from the Restaurant]]'' || Skorokhodov ||
|-
| [[1929 in film|1929]] || ''Der Narr seiner Liebe'' || Didier Mireuil ||
|-
| [[1930 in film|1930]] || ''[[Phantoms of Happiness]]'' || Jacques Bramard ||
|-
| [[1930 in film|1930]] || ''[[Troika (1930 film)|Troika]]'' || Paschka, village idiot ||
|-
| [[1944 in film|1944]] || ''[[Song of Russia]]'' || Ivan Stepanov ||
|-
| [[1944 in film|1944]] || ''[[In Our Time (1944 film)|In Our Time]]'' || Uncle Leopold Baruta ||
|-
| [[1945 in film|1945]] || ''[[Spellbound (1945 film)|Spellbound]]'' || Dr. Alexander 'Alex' Brulov ||
|-
| [[1946 in film|1946]] || ''[[Specter of the Rose]]'' || Max Polikoff ||
|-
| [[1946 in film|1946]] || ''[[Cross My Heart (1946 film)|Cross My Heart]]'' || Peter ||
|-
| [[1946 in film|1946]] || ''[[Abie's Irish Rose (1946 film)|Abie's Irish Rose]]'' || Solomon Levy ||
|-
| [[1948 in film|1948]] || ''[[Texas, Brooklyn & Heaven]]'' || Mr. Gaboolian ||
|-
| [[1952 in film|1952]] || ''[[Invitation (1952 film)|Invitation]]'' || Dr. Fromm ||
|-
| [[1952 in film|1952]] || ''[[Holiday for Sinners]]'' || Dr. Konndorff ||
|-
| [[1954 in film|1954]] || ''[[Rhapsody (film)|Rhapsody]]'' || Professor Schuman || (final film role)
|}

==Bibliography==
* Чехов, Михаил. Литературное наследие: В 2 т. / Общ. науч. ред. М.О. Кнебель; сост.: И.И. Аброскина, М.С. Иванова, Н.А. Крымова; коммент. И.И. Аброскиной, М.С. Ивановой. М., 1995.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Rushe, Sinéad, Michael Chekhov's Acting Technique: A Practitioner's Guide. London, Bloomsbury, 2019.
* Dixon, Graham, The Master Key to Acting Freedom: Getting Ready for the Theatre of Life, 2021.<ref>{{cite web |title=Michael Chekhov |url=http://www.michaelchekhov.org.uk/michael-chekhov/ |website=Michael Chekhov UK |access-date=26 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230314005326/http://www.michaelchekhov.org.uk/michael-chekhov/ |archive-date=14 March 2023}}</ref>
* Chekhov, Michael, On the Technique of Acting. New York: HarperCollins, 1991.
* Chekhov, Michael, Lessons for the Professional Actor. New York: Performing Arts Journal Publications, 1985.
* Chekhov, Michael, Lessons for Teachers of his Acting Technique. Ottawa: Dovehouse Editions Inc., 2000.
* Powers, Mala, Michael Chekhov: On Theatre and the Art of Acting, Audio CD. New York: Working Arts, 2004. There are 4 CDs.
* Chekhov, Michael, The Path of the Actor. London: Routledge, 2005. This includes selections from Life and Encounters.
* Chekhov, Michael, Ball, David (trans), Life and Encounters. Unpublished manuscript, copyright Michael Chekhov Centre UK.
* Leonard, Charles, Michael Chekhov's To the Director and Playwright. New York: Limelight Editions, 1984.
* Hurst Du Prey, Deirdre Hurst, ‘Interview with Deirdre Hurst Du Prey at Dartington in July 1978 by Peter Hulton’ in The Training Sessions of Michael Chekhov, Dartington: Dartington Theatre Papers, Third Series, 9 (1979–80) ( ISSN 0309-8036).
* Hurst Du Prey, Deirdre Hurst, ‘Verbatim transcripts by Deirdre Hurst Du Prey of lessons given by Michael Chekhov in 1939′ in The Training Sessions of Michael Chekhov,
* Dartington: Dartington Theatre Papers, Third Series, 9 (1979–80) ( ISSN 0309-8036).
* Petit, Lenard, The Michael Chekhov Handbook, for the Actor. Oxon: Routledge, 2010.
* Chamberlain, Franc, Michael Chekhov. London; Routledge, 2004.
* Black, Lendley C., Mikhail Chekhov as Actor, Director and Teacher. Michigan: Ann Arbor UMI Research Press, 1987.
* The Drama Review, Vol. 27, No. 3 (T99) (Fall 1983), Michael Chekhov.
* Chamberlain, Franc, Kirillov, Andrei and Pitches, Jonathan, Theatre, Dance and Performance Training, Michael Chekhov, Vol. 4(2) (2013).
* Ashperger, Cynthia, The Rhythm of Space and the Sound of Time. New York: Rodopi, 2008
* Zinder, David, Body, Voice, Imagination. London: Routledge, 2002.
* Micha, Master Classes in the Michael Chekhov Technique, DVD. UK: Routledge, 2007.
* Zinder, David, Actor Training (Michael Chekhov), DVD, Peter Hulton (dir). Exeter: Arts Documentation Unit.
* Michael Chekhov, The Dartington Years, DVD
* Michael Chekhov: From Moscow to Hollywood, DVD
* Mason, Felicity, The Training Sessions of Michael Chekhov (1993) Arts Archives. Arts Documentation Unit, Exeter, UK 2008.
* Farber, Vreneli, ''Stanislavsky in Practice: Actor Training in Post-Soviet Russia'' (Artists & Issues in the Theatre, Vol. 16) New York: Peter Lang, 2008. (summary of M. Chekhov's system and its application in post-Soviet actor training) {{ISBN|978-1-4331-0315-5}}
* Евгений Вахтангов. Документы и свидетельства: В 2 т.  / Ред.-сост В.В. Иванов; ред. М.В. Львова, М.В. Хализева.  М.: Индрик, 2011. Т. 1 – 519 с., илл.; Т. 2 – 686 с., илл.
* Евгений Вахтангов в театральной критике / Ред.-сост. В.В. Иванов. М.: Театралис, 2016. – 703 с.; илл.
* Иванов В.В. Евгений Вахтангов и Михаил Чехов. Игра на краю, или Театральный опыт трансцендентального// Русский авангард 1910-1920-х годов и проблема экспрессионизма/ Редколлегия: Г.Ф. Коваленко и др. М.; Наука, 2003.  
* Лекции Рудольфа Штайнера о драматическом искусстве в изложении Михаила Чехова. Письма к В.А. Громову. Публ. С.В. Казачкова и Т.Л. Стрижак. Вступ. текст В.В. Иванова. Коммент. С.В. Казачкова, Т.Л. Стрижак и В.Г. Астаховой // Мнемозина. Документы и факты из истории отечественного театра ХХ века / Ред.-сост. В.В. Иванов. Вып. 2. М.: УРСС, 2000. С. 85–142. 
* "Зритель – лицо всегда загадочное для артиста…" Письма зрителей, читателей и коллег Михаилу Чехову. Публ., вступит. статья и коммент. М.В. Хализевой // Мнемозина. Документы и факты из истории отечественного театра XX века / Ред.-сост. В.В. Иванов. Вып. 4.  М.: Индрик, 2009. С. 585–616.

==External links==
* [https://www.studioazot-chekhov-meisner-paris.com/  Studio Azot méthodes M.Chekhov et Meisner - Paris]
{{Sister project links|wikt=no|b=no|q=Michael Chekhov|s=no|commons=Category:Michael Chekhov|n=no|v=no|species=no}}
*{{IMDb name}}
*{{Tcmdb name}}
*{{IBDB name}}
* [http://www.chekhov.net National Michael Chekhov Association]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20161006143326/http://mihail-chehov.ru/ Michael Chekhov in Russia]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20121224122652/http://michaelchekhovcenter.org/MICHAEL%20CHEKHOV%20IN%20RIDGEFIELD.htm Michael Chekhov International Center]
* [http://www.iugte.com/projects/russiantheatretradition Michael Chekhov and The Psychological Gesture]
* [http://archives.nypl.org/the/21607 The Actor is the Theatre: a collection of Michael Chekhov's unpublished notes and manuscripts on the art of acting and the theatre: typescript, 1977], held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, [[New York Public Library for the Performing Arts]]
* [https://michaelchekhovschool.org Michael Chekhov School: A Theatre Laboratory]
* [http://www.michaelchekhov.org/ The Michael Chekhov Association]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150304195559/http://chekhovtheatreschool.com/ Chekhov International Theatre School in Melikhovo (Russia)]
* [http://chekhovstudio.com/michaelchekhov/ Chekhov Studio International USA & Europe]
* [https://www.studioazot-chekhov-meisner-paris.com/ Learn Michael Chekhov's Method at Studio Azot]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chekhov, Michael}}
[[Category:1891 births]]
[[Category:1955 deaths]]
[[Category:Theatre directors from Saint Petersburg]]
[[Category:People from Sankt-Peterburgsky Uyezd]]
[[Category:Russian people of Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Acting theorists]]
[[Category:American male film actors]]
[[Category:American male silent film actors]]
[[Category:Drama teachers]]
[[Category:Moscow Art Theatre]]
[[Category:Russian male film actors]]
[[Category:Russian male silent film actors]]
[[Category:Russian male stage actors]]
[[Category:Russian theatre directors]]
[[Category:Theatre practitioners]]
[[Category:20th-century American male actors]]
[[Category:Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Germany]]
[[Category:Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States]]
[[Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)]]