Vivian Nathan

Vivian Nathan (born Vivian Firko, October 26, 1916 – April 3, 2015) was an American actress and founding member of the Actors Studio, which opened in 1947. She served on the Actors Studio's board of directors until 1999. She appeared in the original Broadway debut productions of The Rose Tattoo (1951) and Camino Real (1953). Her film credits included Klute. Early years Nathan was born in Manhattan on October 26, 1916, to Hipolit and Anna Firko. The family soon relocated to Maspeth, Queens, where Vivian attended Holy Cross Parochial School. She later attended the St. Nicholas school on Manhattan's Lower East Side. Stage In 1944, Vivian caught the eye of John Golden, a theater producer who was auditioning aspiring stage actors. Still performing under the name Firko, she made her Broadway debut under Elia Kazan's direction in 1948, in the Actors Studio production of Bessie Breuer's Sundown Beach. The decision to employ her husband Nathan Schwalb's given name as Firko's stage name appears to have taken place sometime between casting and opening night in the 1949 production of Montserrat, Lillian Hellman's adaptation of the Emmanuel Roblès play. Nathan became an original member of the Actors Studio when it was founded in 1947 by Elia Kazan and Lee Strasberg. She also worked as acting instructor and session moderator at the Studio. Her students included the late actress, Kim Stanley. Vivian Nathan served on the Actor Studio's board of directors until 1999, alongside Ellen Burstyn, Lee Grant, Paul Newman, Al Pacino, and Estelle Parsons.