Sandra Seacat

Sandra Diane Seacat (born October 2, 1936)^[3] is an American actress, director and acting coach best known for teaching stage-style method acting. Professionally known as Sandra Kaufman^[4] before 1969,^{[4][lower-alpha 1]} she was the first of three daughters born to Russell Henry and Lois Marion Seacat in Greensburg, Kansas.^[3][7][8]

Career

Seacat began acting in theater in the early 1960s. After a summer-stock production of Leonid Andreyev's play The Waltz of the Dogs, The Village Voice described her as "destined to bring many future stages alive."^[9]

She moved to New York and studied acting with Michael Howard, later becoming a member of the Actors Studio, where she studied method acting under Lee Strasberg, the studio's director.^[10]

In the early 1970s, she taught at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, City College of New York's Leonard Davis Center for the Performing Arts, as a member of the Actors Studio, and she taught privately. Among her clients were Steve Railsback^[11] and Mickey Rourke, who told New York Magazine that Seacat mentored him for six years.^[12]

Seacat works in both New York and Los Angeles,^[13] coaching actors such as Jessica Lange as Lange prepared for her role in the 1982 film Frances.^[10][14][15] According to The New York Times, she helped pioneer the practice of dream work, where actors study and play characters from their dreams. She also taught the method to her daughter, Greta Seacat, who also became an acting coach. Seacat's clients Melanie Griffith and Gina Gershon publicly credited Seacat's use of the dream method with improving their craft.^[16][17]

Acting teacher Alex Cole Taylor in 2010 told Backstage that he learned compassion for his students from Seacat.^[18] CNN's Todd Leopold, in an article about acting coach Elizabeth Kemp, coupled Seacat with Lee Strasberg as "legendary acting coaches."^[19]

Seacat was a faculty member of the 2012 Winthrop Rockefeller Institute Film Forum at the University of Arkansas's Winthrop Rockefeller Institute atop Petit Jean Mountain.^[20]

She has commented over the years about actors she has trained, including Laura Dern, who thanked Seacat when she accepted a best actress award at the January 2012 Golden Globe Awards presentation.^[21][22]

Actors who have studied under Seacat include Chris Pine,^[23] Marlo Thomas,^[24] Lance Henriksen,^[25] Harvey Keitel, Isabella Rossellini,^[26][27] Rachel Ward,^[15][28][29] Treat Williams,^[30] Meg Ryan,^[31] Michelle Pfeiffer,^[32] Mikhail Baryshnikov,^[33][34] Peter Falk^[35] and Lynda Carter.^[36]

Directing

Seacat directed one movie, 1990's In the Spirit. In reviewing the film starring Marlo Thomas and Elaine May, The New York Times called it "a nervous new-age comedy more notable for good intentions than good luck."^[37] The Boston Globe described the movie as "An Endearing Mess,"^[38] The Washington Post headlined it a "Grand and Goofy Comedy,"^[39] and the Los Angeles Times wrote that "Spirit Loses Its Comic Flair Halfway Through."^[40] Variety, however, described the actors in the leading roles a "memorable screen odd couple."^[41]

While In the Spirit was filming, the Los Angeles Times's Cinefile column covered Seacat's directorial debut, calling her an "acting guru."^[42][43] Liz Smith wrote about the film in her gossip column.^[44]

In August 2007, Seacat, with Jamie Wollrab, directed her daughter, Greta Seacat, along with others in Elizabeth Meriwether's play The Mistakes Madeline Made in Boulder, at Colorado's Dairy Center for the Arts, starring Shannon Woodward, Justin Chatwin and Johnny Lewis.^[45][46]

Filmography

Film

Television

Notes

References

Further reading

• Kelly, John: "1970: June Havoc produces A Streetcar Named Desire in New Orleans". The New Orleans Times-Picayune. April 7, 2010
• Sainer, Arthur: "Obit to Inge and other bouquets: 'Natural Affection,' 'P From B,' 'In the Cage,'". The Village Voice. June 21, 1973
• Sainer, Arthur: "We Move From Darkness Into Light: Mrs. Warren's Profession, Economic Necessity, The Son". The Village Voice. April 12, 1976
• Walden, Robert: "The Method and the Myth: Is the controversial technique still relevant for today’s actor?" Backstage. April 21, 2009

External links

• As Sandra Kaufman at the Internet Broadway Database
• As Sandra Kaufman at the University of Wisconsin's Actors Studio audio collection
• Sandra Seacat at the Internet Broadway Database
• Sandra Seacat at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Sandra Seacat at the Internet Movie Database
• Sandra Seacat at TAKEHOLLYWOOD