The Yiddish Book Center's

Wexler Oral History Project

A growing collection of in-depth interviews with people of all ages and backgrounds, whose stories about the legacy and changing nature of Yiddish language and culture offer a rich and complex chronicle of Jewish identity.

Stella Adler's First Theater Memory and Her Capacity to Identify Strongly With Others

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Tom Oppenheim, grandson of Yiddish theatre actors Jacob and Sara Adler, Artistic Director and President of Stella Adler Studio of Acting, tells the story of Stella's first theater experience as a child, when she saw an actor getting into character in a dressing room and being struck by the power of transformation. He connects this memory to her subsequent passion for transforming into characters and exploring otherness.

This is an excerpt from an oral history with Tom Oppenheim.

This excerpt is in English.

Tom Oppenheim was born in New York, New York in 1959.

This interview is part of the Yiddish and the Arts: musicians, actors, and artists series.

Other video highlights from this oral history

Harold Clurman Got Inspiration from the Adler Family

1 min 37 sec

Tom Oppenheim Describes Stella Adler, His Grandmother

2 min 29 sec

Stella Adler's Career Path

4 min 26 sec

"It Was This Impersonal, Powerful, Uncompromisable Artistic Standard Just Coming At You": Descriptions of Stella Adler's Classes

6 min 25 sec

Responsibility of Theater Actors to Raise Themselves and Their Audiences Up

2 min 8 sec

The Importance of Imagination in Stella Adler's Philosophy and Work

3 min 48 sec

Stella Adler and A Flag is Born

4 min 32 sec

More information about this oral history excerpt

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