William Esper

William Esper (2 August 1932 - 26 January 2019) was an American acting teacher. His students included famed actors such as Paul Sorvino, William Hurt, Sam Rockwell, Tracee Ellis Ross, Kim Basinger, and Mary Steenburgen.

William Esper was born as William Joseph Esper on August 2, 1932, in Pennsylvania, USA. He attended Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. 

Esper was mesmerized by the art of acting after he saw he saw Eli Wallach and Maureen Stapleton in a touring production of The Rose Tattoo, a play by Tennessee Williams. As he 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 struck up a conversation with Wallach who told him he had studied at the famous Sanford Meisner's Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City. After graduating from Case Western Reserve University, Esper relocated to New York City to pursue a career in acting and began studying with Sanford Meisner.

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 1965, he launched his own coaching studio named William Esper Studio in New York City. Over the following years, he had trained over 300 students, many of whom went on to be Hollywood's A-list actors including Kim Basinger, Kathy Bates, Jennifer Beals, Larry David, Aaron Eckhart, Ramy Youssef, Paul Sorvino, Amy Schumer, John Malkovich, William Hurt, and Jeff Goldblum among many others.

In addition, in 1977, he 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.

In the 1980s and early ’90s, Bill was a member of several national organizations and served on various committees. Most of this work focused on attempts to raise standards for university and college theater programs. During this period, he served as Vice President and National Board member of the University Resident Theater Association and Board member of National Association of Schools of Theater. He also spent several years as a NAST Program Evaluator. Upon his retirement from Mason Gross, Bill was honored with the Warren I. Susman Award for Excellence in Teaching and was designated Professor of Theater Emeritus.

Esper has been a guest artist/teacher at Canada's Banff Festival of the Arts as well as at the National Theatre School of Canada, the St. Nicholas Theater in Chicago, Illinois, and the Schauspiel München School in Munich. Together with his wife Suzanne Esper, who also teaches at Esper Studios, he has conducted numerous workshops throughout Europe, most notably at the National Film School of Denmark, the Norwegian National Academy of Theatre, and the National Theatre Mannheim. In 2008 Bill and Suzanne Esper introduced Meisner's work to Russia at the St. Petersburg State Academy of Theater.

Esper has worked extensively Off-Broadway and regionally. He is a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre in New York. He was profiled in the book The New Generation of Acting Teachers, published by Viking Press in 1987. He is a past member of the National Board of the National Association of Schools of Theatre and a former Vice-President and Board Member of the University/Resident Theatre Association. He has lectured on acting at People's Light and Theatre Company and the Screen Actors Guild Conservatory, New York City.

In 2008, Esper and his former student, actor/writer Damon DiMarco, co-wrote the 2008 book The Actor's Art and Craft: William Esper Teaches the Meisner Technique. The book's preface was written by film director David Mamet. In 2014, he co-authored with Damon DiMarco another book titled The Actor's Guide to Creating a Character: William Esper Teaches the Meisner Technique Kindle Edition. The book's preface was written by David Mamet and it was introduced by actress/comedian Patricia Heaton.

In a 2014 interview for Backstage, Esper said his actors were "drilled on how to create and craft spontaneity. Meisner said that acting without spontaneity is like soup without salt — it's stale, flat and totally unprofitable." Esper's method helped his students create characters with compelling inner lives.

• SAG honored him with a Certificate of Achievement for his service to the profession. 
• 2011: Esper received the Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE)'s Lifetime Achievement in Academic Theatre Award.
• 2013:Inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Theatre.

Esper was married to his wife Suzanne Esper, also an acting teacher, since 23 November 1973. The couple had two children. 

Esper died on January 26, 2019, in New York City, New York, due to complications from Lewy body disease.

• Jeff Goldblum
• Kim Basinger
• Kathy Bates
• Jennifer Beals
• Larry David
• Kristin Davis
• Kim Delaney
• Sofia Black D'Elia
• Aaron Eckhart
• Michael Esper
• Calista Flockhart
• Peter Gallagher
• William Hurt
• Katherine Bailess
• Laura Harrier
• Christine Lahti
• Dulé Hill
• John Malkovich
• Steven Adly Guirgis
• Gretchen Mol
• Bruce McCarty
• Patricia Heaton
• Wendie Malick
• Amy Schumer
• Sam Rockwell
• Richard Schiff
• David Morse
• Timothy Olyphant
• Tonya Pinkins
• Tracee Ellis Ross
• Dean Winters
• Paul Sorvino
• Maria Pitillo
• Mary Steenburgen

• 2008: The Actor's Art and Craft: William Esper Teaches the Meisner Technique
• 2014: The Actor's Guide to Creating a Character: William Esper Teaches the Meisner Technique Kindle Edition