Earle R. Gister, born in March 1934, is an acting teacher of international stature and has been a pioneer in professional theatre training since the mid-1960s.[1] Earle Gister is renowned for his specialty and passion for the plays of Anton Chekhov.[2]
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Gister (Carleton College ’56) of New Haven, Conn., widely recognized as one of America’s finest acting teachers, has spent more than 30 years training professional actors. He credits the foundation of his acting technique to his studies with Paul Mann in New York City. For a number of years Earle Gister ran the theatre program at Carnegie Mellon University.[3] From the New York Times archive, "The Board of Higher Education yesterday approved the appointment of Earle R. Gister as director of the Leonard Davis Center for the Performing Arts at City College. The appointment [was] described by a college official as a step toward transforming the center into a major metropolitan area theater-training program."[4]
Then, under Lloyd Richards who was the dean of the Yale School of Drama from 1979–1991, Earle Gister grew into a Master Acting Teacher.[5] Earle was named the first Lloyd Richards Adjunct Professor of Drama in 1994.[6] Following Richards, Stan Wojewodski, Jr., took over the stewardship of the Yale School of Drama from 1991-2002. For a total of 19 years Earle Gister was Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Chair of the MFA Acting Program at the Yale School of Drama. In 1999 Earle Gister retired from the Yale School of Drama.
In 1991 Gister shared a Tony Award on behalf of the Yale School of Drama and the Yale Repertory Theatre.[7] He was a founding member of the League of Professional Theatre Training Programs, a member of the National Theatre Conference since 1967, a Tony Award nominating committee member in 1980, and a member the first grants award panel in theater for the National Endowment for the Arts. He and his wife have three sons.[8]
Earle Gister was a Co-founder of the League of Professional Theatre Training Programs, advisor to the National Endowment for the Arts, and co-chair of the training panel of the Theatre Communications Group. Gister has played a significant role in the nurturing and development of most of the major theatre training programs in the United States.[9]
Teacher-North Carolina School of the Arts; Teacher-The Juilliard School; Teacher-NYU; Associate Dean-Yale School of Drama; Associate Dean and Master Teacher of Acting-Yale School of Drama; Chairman of the Acting Department-Yale School of Drama; Head of Acting-Carnegie Mellon University; and Chairman of the Drama Department-Carnegie Mellon University.