Mel Brooks said, “I hope for the best. Expect the worst. The world is a stage. We are unprepared." Brooks was not wrong to point out that the world is a stage. Brooks did not say that the world is a movie, a painting or a comic book. The world is a stage and the theater – excluding ozone depletion – it is our best representation of the human race on this earth.Theatre – and subsequently acting – has existed and functioned as a social commonplace almost since the beginning of recorded history.Theatre is said to be the most art form realistic, as it is the closest thing to an accurate representation of human life. The visceral stage is just a few steps away from the viewer and the art happens in real time, from living, flesh-and-blood human beings. Naturally the most effective aspect and realistic of theater is acting. Acting is an art, a skill and a profession that has continued to progress and evolve since the evolution of theater. This progression could be said to have taken an almost linear path of increased development , or at least until the advent of the 20th century. This linear progression has developed exponentially, expanding profoundly over the last hundred years. Most of the “recent” growth in the acting field can be attributed to Lee Strasberg and the Actors Studio. At the helm of the Actors Studio, Strasberg revolutionized the depth of acting and had a lasting impact, forever changing the training of actors and their quality of work. To fully understand how Lee Strasberg and the Actors Studio revolutionized actor training, methods, and practices, one must first look back and understand Strasberg's source material and influences. In doing this, it is imperative to look at the work......at the center of the paper......and not at an actor's individual talents. Strasberg left the Group Theater in 1937 for Hollywood, where he would try to make a name for himself; he returned permanently to New York ten years later, becoming the driving force and artistic director of the Actors Studio – the organization formed by Crawford, Elia Kazan and Robert Lewis after the dissolution of the Group Theatre; this dissolution was partly due to the Group's problems with HUAC - the House Un-American Activities Committee. It was in 1948 when Strasberg became artistic director and brain trust of the Actors Studio; a position he would hold for 34 years until his death in 1982. The Actors Studio's goal was – and still is – to provide a high-level acting education, improving both the methods and skills of both young actors and current working professionals. Also. The study was