William Esper Studio

The William Esper Studio was founded in 1965 as a school for the performing arts in Manhattan, New York. The school is considered an internationally recognized authority on the acting technique of Sanford Meisner. Its founder, William "Bill" Esper (1932 - ), is often referred to as the best-known of Meisner's first generation teachers, and his most "authentic protege".

When Esper was a young man, he saw Eli Wallach and Maureen Stapleton in a touring production of The Rose Tattoo.

As Esper later recounted: "[I] was so struck by the acting ...[A]fter the play was over, I decided to go around the corner to get a cup of coffee so I could think about it some more. I walked into a little drugstore, and Eli was sitting there having a bite to eat..."

Esper talked to the actor, and Wallach told him he had studied at Sanford Meisner's Neighborhood Playhouse. After graduating Case Western Reserve University in his native Ohio, Esper moved to New York City and began studying with Meisner, who was famous for his exercises in repeated dialogue.

In 1962 Esper undertook training as a teacher and director with Meisner and proceeded to work closely with him for the next 15 years. Esper was on the staff of the Neighborhood Playhouse from 1965 to 1977 and Associate Director of the Playhouse Acting Department from 1974 to 1977.

In 1977 Esper also founded the BFA and MFA Professional Actor Training Programs at Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of the Arts. He led that department until 2004.

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