About
"An unprepared director who comes to rehearsal not fully prepared is a disaster. Don't depend on improvisation.... Like a conductor of an orchestra, you have to know your instruments and how they work and what can they do. Otherwise, the musicians will find you out. And so will the actors."
In his over three-hour interview, David Pressman (1913-2011) recounts his arrival in the U.S. from Russia in 1922 and his early interest in acting. He talks about acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse in the 1930s and his entrance into WWII in the early 1940s (he describes returning home from the war, and what it was like to see the Statue of Liberty from a porthole on his ship.) He discusses the Actors Studio that was created in 1947, which he described as a gym for actors, and details the live prestige ABC television drama series Actors Studio featuring emerging talent at the time. He recalls appearing as an actor in the very first production of Actors Studio and then becoming one of the series' primary directors. Pressman discusses the process by which the productions were staged and directed for television, lists the writers, performers, and other talent who worked on the show, and tells how the series struggled for sponsorship. He outlines the excitement of working in live television and talks about other anthology series he directed. He then chronicles his struggle to work as a director in television under the shadow of the Hollywood Blacklist. He explains how he ultimately switched careers to teaching until the end of the Blacklist, and eventually returned to television, notably as an Emmy award-winning director of the daytime serial One Life to Live. B-roll consists of photos of Esso Repertory Theater, Prudential's On Stage, the CBS control room during a production of The Play's the Thing, and Pressman's appearance as an actor in a small role on One Life to Live. Pressman also shows off his Daytime Emmy awards and talks about receiving them. Karen Herman conducted the interview on July 27, 2004 in New York, NY.
Highlights
David Pressman on studying acting with Sanford Meisner
David Pressman on his first television job (and his first use of videotape) after being blacklisted: directing Esso Repertory Theatre for David Susskind
David Pressman on directing One Life to Live
David Pressman on the Hollywood Blacklist happening again
David Pressman on how being blacklisted affected him
Full Interview
Chapter 1
On his early life and influences; on getting into acting; on his schooling
On learning acting from Sanford Meisner; on his early acting career
Chapter 2
On his service in World War II; on his time in the Actors Studio; on acting in the NBC series Actors Studio
On acting and staging for live television; on early television's relationship to live theater
Chapter 3
On casting and directing Actors Studio; on various actors who appeared on Actors Studio; on learning to be a television director
On the cancellation of the series The Play's the Thing; on directing Cosmopolitan Theater and Prudential Family Playhouse; on directing Treasury Men in Action and being blacklisted
Chapter 4
On what he did while he was blacklisted; on his first television job after the Blacklist; on Elia Kazan and the Hollywood Blacklist
On directing Phillip Morris Playhouse; on directing The Nurses; on directing The Defenders, NYPD and Another World
Chapter 5
On directing Another World; on directing One Life to Live
On the producers of One Life to Live; on how technology changed the production of One Life to Live over the years; on the storylines of the show
Chapter 6
On his acting role on One Life to Live; on the audience for One Life to Live; on the casting of the show
On the actors of One Life to Live
On the guest stars of One Life to Live; on leaving One Life to Live; on directing Loving
Chapter 7
On working with his camera crew and editing; on career achievements and regrets and how he'd like to be remembered
On B-Roll pictures from his career - Esso Repertory Theater; Esso Repertory Theater's production of "The Dumb Waiter"; The Prudential Family Playhouse production of "This Town Will Never Be the Same Again" with E.G. Marshall; E sso Repertory Theater with Donald Moffit and David Susskind; in the control room at CBS with Donald Davis; as "Bernie", his character on One Life to Live with Robert Woods; with his son Michael Pressman; his collection of Emmy Awards
Shows
Actors Studio
David Pressman on acting in the early NBC series Actors Studio
David Pressman on acting and staging for live television
David Pressman on the people involved in creating the series Actors Studio and its relationship with the real Actors Studio
David Pressman on casting and directing Actors Studio
David Pressman on the change of Actors Studio to The Play's the Thing on CBS and comparing the rules for directors on ABC vs. NBC vs. CBS
Another World
David Pressman on directing Another World live-on-tape
David Pressman on directing Another World
Cosmopolitan Theater
David Pressman on directing Cosmopolitan Theater
Defenders, The
David Pressman on directing one episode of The Defenders
Esso Repertory Theatre
David Pressman on his first television job (and his first use of videotape) after being blacklisted: directing Esso Repertory Theatre for David Susskind
Loving
David Pressman on directing Loving
N.Y.P.D.
David Pressman on directing NYPD
Nurses, The
David Pressman on directing the soap opera The Nurses
One Life to Live
David Pressman on directing One Life to Live
Director David Pressman on the production details and producers of One Life to Live
David Pressman on the writing on One Life to Live and how technology has changed the production process
Director David Pressman on some of the social issues covered on One Live to Live
David Pressman on storylines of One Life to Live
David Pressman on acting on One Life to Live
David Pressman on the audience of One Life to Live
David Pressman on the casting of One Life to Live
David Pressman on the actors of One Life to Live
David Pressman on the guest stars of One Life to Live
David Pressman on leaving One Life to Live
David Pressman on preparing to shoot a soap opera
David Pressman on communicating with his camera crew
David Pressman on editing One Life to Live
David Pressman on his proudest career achievements
Philip Morris Playhouse, The
David Pressman on directing The Philip Morris Playhouse while he was blacklisted
Prudential Family Playhouse
David Pressman on directing Prudential Family Playhouse
Treasury Men in Action
David Pressman on directing Treasury Men in Action
David Pressman on learning he was blacklisted and on being fired from Treasury Men in Action
Topics
Anthology Drama
David Pressman on early television's relationship to theater
Health and Medicine
Director David Pressman on some of the social issues covered on One Live to Live
Hollywood Blacklist
David Pressman on learning his was blacklisted and being fired from Treasury Men in Action
David Pressman on being blacklisted; on teaching at Boston University from 1954-1959 during his unemployment; on then running the Neighborhood Playhouse; on the end of the blacklist; on trying to get jobs in television during the blacklist period; on David Susskind hiring him for television
David Pressman on how being blacklisted affected him
David Pressman on "secretly" directing The Philip Morris Playhouse while he was blacklisted
David Pressman on the Hollywood Blacklist happening again
Industry Crossroads
David Pressman on learning his was blacklisted and being fired from Treasury Men in Action
David Pressman on being blacklisted; on teaching at Boston University from 1954-1959 during his unemployment; on then running the Neighborhood Playhouse; on the end of the blacklist; on trying to get jobs in television during the blacklist period; on David Susskind hiring him for television
David Pressman on how being blacklisted affected him
David Pressman on "secretly" directing The Philip Morris Playhouse while he was blacklisted
David Pressman on the Hollywood Blacklist happening again
Technological Innovation
David Pressman on his first television job (and his first use of videotape) after being blacklisted: directing Esso Repertory Theatre for David Susskind
David Pressman on the writing on One Life to Live and how technology has changed the production process
Television Industry
David Pressman on learning his was blacklisted and being fired from Treasury Men in Action
David Pressman on being blacklisted; on teaching at Boston University from 1954-1959 during his unemployment; on then running the Neighborhood Playhouse; on the end of the blacklist; on trying to get jobs in television during the blacklist period; on David Susskind hiring him for television
David Pressman on how being blacklisted affected him
David Pressman on "secretly" directing The Philip Morris Playhouse while he was blacklisted
David Pressman on the Hollywood Blacklist happening again
TV's Golden Age (1940s & '50s)
David Pressman on early television's relationship to theater
Underrepresented Voices
Director David Pressman on some of the social issues covered on One Live to Live
World War II
David Pressman on his service in World War II
Professions
Directors
David Pressman on acting and staging for live television
David Pressman on the change of Actors Studio to The Play's the Thing on CBS and comparing the rules for directors on ABC vs. NBC vs. CBS
David Pressman on a director's relationship with producers
David Pressman on advice to an aspiring director
David Pressman on communicating with his camera crew
Genres
Classic Anthology Series
David Pressman on casting and directing Actors Studio and The Play's the Thing
David Pressman on his first television job (and his first use of videotape) after being blacklisted: directing Esso Repertory Theatre for David Susskind
David Pressman on "secretly" directing The Philip Morris Playhouse while he was blacklisted
Daytime/Primetime Serials
David Pressman on directing Another World
David Pressman on directing One Life to Live
David Pressman on directing One Life to Live
Legal Dramas
David Pressman on directing one episode of The Defenders
People
Jocelyn Brando
David Pressman on casting and directing Actors Studio
Philip Carey
David Pressman on the actors of One Life to Live: Phil Carey
Sammy Davis, Jr.
David Pressman on the guest stars of One Life to Live: Sammy Davis, Jr.
Laurence Fishburne
David Pressman on the actors of One Life to Live: Laurence Fishburne
Lee Grant
David Pressman on casting and directing Actors Studio
Ellen Holly
David Pressman on the actors of One Life to Live: Ellen Holly
Kim Hunter
David Pressman on casting and directing Actors Studio
Jason Robards, Jr.
David Pressman on his proudest career achievements
Elia Kazan
David Pressman on Elia Kazan's rationalization for naming names during the Blacklist era
Grace Kelly
David Pressman on working with Grace Kelly and other actors
Judith Light
David Pressman on storylines of One Life to Live
David Pressman on the actors of One Life to Live: Judith Light
E. G. Marshall
David Pressman on casting and directing Actors Studio
Agnes Nixon
David Pressman on working with One Life to Live creator Agnes Nixon
Irna Phillips
David Pressman on Irna Phillips
Nat Polen
David Pressman on the actors of One Life to Live: Nat Polen
Doris Quinlan
Director David Pressman on the production details and producers of One Life to Live
Little Richard
David Pressman on the guest stars of One Life to Live: Little Richard
Clint Ritchie
David Pressman on the actors of One Life to Live: Clint Ritchie
Erika Slezak
David Pressman on directing Erika Slezak on One Life to Live
David Pressman on the actors of One Life to Live: Erika Slezak
Rod Steiger
David Pressman on casting and directing Actors Studio
Robin Strasser
David Pressman on the actors of One Life to Live: Robin Strasser
David Susskind
David Pressman on his first television job (and his first use of videotape) after being blacklisted: directing Esso Repertory Theatre for David Susskind
Dr. Ruth Westheimer
David Pressman on the guest stars of One Life to Live: Dr. Ruth