Mira Rostova (née Rosovskaya; April , â€" January , ) was a Russian
American actress turned acting teacher, best known for her own
variation of method acting that she used in coaching of Montgomery
Clift. Her other acting students included Armand Assante, Alec
Baldwin, Peter Gallagher, Jessica Lange, Zohra Lampert, Jerry Orbach
and Madonna (who attended approximately half a dozen class sessions,
working on scenes from Tennessee Williams' Summer and Smoke and
Isherwood's I Am a Camera).Mira Rosovskaya was born on April , in
Saint Petersburg, Russia. She fled to Switzerland after the Russian
Revolution and then Hamburg, Germany, where she began acting. She also
acted in Vienna. She moved to France after the rise of the Nazi party,
and made it to the United States by way of England. In the U.S., she
abbreviated her surname to Rostova.Rostova had been taken in on a
scholarship by Robert Lewis. She was cast as a fake witch doctor in
Mexican Mural, an experimental play directed by Lewis, when she first
met Clift, who also appeared in the play. Gradually, Rostova would
play an increasing role in his acting career, discussing for hours the
roles he should accept and the way he should act in these roles.
Patricia Bosworth, Clift's biographer, described how Rostova had been
hired on the payroll as Clift's coach while he was starring in films
including A Place in the Sun and The Heiress.Rostova was a fixture in
his dressing room by , when Clift had a lead role in You Touched Me!,
a play by Tennessee Williams and Donald Windham. Clift became
frustrated living at home with his mother and Rostova moved him into
her apartment, while she moved out and found another place to live.
During the filming of Alfred Hitchcock's film I Confess, Rostova
stood behind a pillar and Clift would look over for her approval.
During the filming of the drama The Heiress, co-star Olivia de
Havilland said that Clift would look in the opposite direction.
American actress turned acting teacher, best known for her own
variation of method acting that she used in coaching of Montgomery
Clift. Her other acting students included Armand Assante, Alec
Baldwin, Peter Gallagher, Jessica Lange, Zohra Lampert, Jerry Orbach
and Madonna (who attended approximately half a dozen class sessions,
working on scenes from Tennessee Williams' Summer and Smoke and
Isherwood's I Am a Camera).Mira Rosovskaya was born on April , in
Saint Petersburg, Russia. She fled to Switzerland after the Russian
Revolution and then Hamburg, Germany, where she began acting. She also
acted in Vienna. She moved to France after the rise of the Nazi party,
and made it to the United States by way of England. In the U.S., she
abbreviated her surname to Rostova.Rostova had been taken in on a
scholarship by Robert Lewis. She was cast as a fake witch doctor in
Mexican Mural, an experimental play directed by Lewis, when she first
met Clift, who also appeared in the play. Gradually, Rostova would
play an increasing role in his acting career, discussing for hours the
roles he should accept and the way he should act in these roles.
Patricia Bosworth, Clift's biographer, described how Rostova had been
hired on the payroll as Clift's coach while he was starring in films
including A Place in the Sun and The Heiress.Rostova was a fixture in
his dressing room by , when Clift had a lead role in You Touched Me!,
a play by Tennessee Williams and Donald Windham. Clift became
frustrated living at home with his mother and Rostova moved him into
her apartment, while she moved out and found another place to live.
During the filming of Alfred Hitchcock's film I Confess, Rostova
stood behind a pillar and Clift would look over for her approval.
During the filming of the drama The Heiress, co-star Olivia de
Havilland said that Clift would look in the opposite direction.
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