American writer, lyricist, actor and longtime host of the television series “Inisde The Actors Studio” has died. He was 93.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Lipton passed on Monday at his home in Manhattan after a battle with bladder cancer.
“He lived each day as if it were his last,” his wife, Kedakai Lipton said in a statement to THR. “His work was his passion, loved what he did and all the people he worked with. He empowered people to do their best, and hopefully his spirit, curiosity and passion will live on.”
Lipton, who got his start as a child actor in WXYZ’s radio serial The Lone Ranger, is best known as the creator of the Actors Studio Drama School, first at the New School and then at Pace University, a graduate-level distillation of the Actors Studio method approach to acting.
Within the school, he created the Inside the Actors Studio program in which he conducted in-depth interviews with accomplished actors on their craft. The interviews, in front of a live audience, were a non-credit class but were also taped and broadcast via Bravo where they were watched by millions internationally.
Lipton’s acting career include a decade-long stint on the soap opera The Guiding Light, as well as films such as “The Big Break” in 1953. He also performed for live audiences, including a role in the Broadway production of The Autumn Garden by Lillian Hellman.
Offstage, Lipton wrote for several soap operas and the librettist and lyricist for the short-lived 1967 Broadway musical “Sherry!”, based on the play “The Man Who Came to Dinner”.
As well, Lipton studied voice, and dance, including both modern and classical ballet and published “Mirrors” a novel about the lives of professional dancers.
More recently, he appeared in several episodes of Arrested Development as Warden Stefan Gentles, and provided his voice to animated films such as “Bolt” and “Igor”.
His accolades include three honorary Ph.D.s, as well as the French Republic’s Chevalier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
He was also recognized with a Lifetime Achievement award from the Daytime Emmys and a Critics Choice Award for his role as host of “Inside the Actors Studio.”
