Stella! Mother of Modern Acting by Sheana Ochoa

Author:Sheana Ochoa [Ochoa, Sheana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Entertainment & Performing Arts, Biography & Autobiography, General, Performing Arts, biography, theater
ISBN: 9781480392557
Google: qhqXAwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation
Published: 2014-04-01T23:51:25.848746+00:00

Even before Stella had officially left the Group Theatre, it barely resembled the idealistic, socially conscious ensemble Clurman, Strasberg, and Crawford had willed into existence. Original Group members who were not in the current play were left by the wayside, while film stars took their place in a blatant betrayal of the Group’s democratic ideals. Members’ personal dramas had always played out in the Group, but the infighting and tension wore at the delicate fabric with which the Group held itself together. The perennial lack of money and plays corroded the morale of the players and especially Clurman, who, after more than a decade of being the Group’s ringleader, had lost his own inspiration. In March of 1941 Clurman allowed the Group Theatre to disband and boarded a train west to be near Stella.

Harold followed Stella’s lead at MGM, becoming a producer for Columbia Pictures. He and Stella cultivated a life as Hollywood executives. On Saturday nights they would dine with Clifford Odets, who was now married to Bette Grayson. Charlie Chaplin frequently visited the Odetses’ home. Clurman recalled that Chaplin was the life of the party wherever he went, always happy to recreate his films scene by scene. He had just finished shooting Monsieur Verdoux when Stella and Harold met him, and he reenacted his movie for them. Clurman thanked the screen idol. Now, he informed Chaplin, he wouldn’t have to spring for the cost of a ticket.9

If not at the Odetses’, Stella and Harold would spend Saturday evenings at Berthold and Salka Viertel’s home. An Austrian poet, critic, stage, and film director who had fled Europe just as Nazism took hold, the noble and cultured Viertel was emblematic of the company Stella enjoyed. His wife had acted in Europe but now enjoyed life as an elite Hollywood hostess, orchestrating Saturday-night gatherings with actors, writers, directors, painters, and composers. Their home became a refuge for illustrious European artists who, escaping the encroachment of fascism, found themselves together in the unlikely town of Hollywood. Here Stella met Heinrich and Thomas Mann and the playwright Bertolt Brecht.

Sundays were less intellectual than leisurely at the home of their former Group colleague Franchot Tone and his wife, Joan Crawford. The day consisted of a late brunch, followed by badminton, sunbathing, swimming, drinks, and “nostalgic theater talk.”10 In the evenings the guests would gather in the screening room to view a recent film. One evening, speaking about the standard studio call-in time, Stella complained to Crawford about how arduous it was to get up at six in the morning to act. Stella was a theater actress; whether in rehearsals or during the run of a play, an actor’s clock was oriented to late afternoon and evening. Rising at six in the morning seemed an absurd hour. Crawford, a Hollywood veteran, responded, “For what they pay us, it’s more than worth it.” Whereupon Stella quipped, “For what they pay you.”11

The world-renowned director Max Reinhardt lived in an opulent house in Santa Monica, where he would host gatherings.

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