Klosterman 1
Maryn Klosterman
Professor Jerome Yorke
Acting for Everyone
28 April 2016
Stella Adler
Stella Adler once said, “When you stand on the stage you must have a sense that you are
addressing the whole world, and that what you say is so important the whole world must listen”.
Because of Stella Adler’s life on and off the stage it altered the way actors create scenes today.
Stella was actively involved in the Yiddish theater community. As well as striving to teach other
actors and actresses about what she discovered through her time as an actress. Because of this we
see the impact she had on the acting community through her teachings still discussed in acting
classes everywhere. Stella Adler’s life on and off the stage impacted the way she approached
acting, created theories used today and impacted my thought process as an actress.
To start, Stella’s life was actively involved in bettering the acting community at the start
of a young age and all the way through her life. Stella was born to be a star. Her life began on
February 10th 1901 in New York, New York to her parents Jacob and Sara Adler (Hopwood, Jon).
It was a known fact she would be an actress, “acting ran in her blood and veins as she was born
to Yiddish theatre actors, Jacob and Sarah Adler. Making her stage debut at the age of four, Stella
Adler soon found her way to the top” (Stella, Adler). After Stella’s first debut on the stage there
was no stopping her, she performed in many plays and acting engagements. Stella was very
driven to learn about acting and acting only. Because of Stella’s fame and talent at such a young
age she barely had any time for a formal education, so she attended public school and New York
Klosterman 2
University when time permitted (Stella, Alder). Stella’s time was better spent learning about the
art of acting, “Adler was luckily one of the chosen few who got a chance to work with the
legendary Russian actor and director, Konstantin Stanislavski. He was not only a major influence
on her but changed her line of belief thus, exchanging method acting for emotional content”
(Stella, Alder). She spent most of her time traveling, learning different techniques of acting and
putting that to use throughout the United States, Europe, South America, etc. Surprisingly,
Stella’s biggest achievements were not those which involved her acting but when she taught
