The Actors Studio is a workshop in New York City that for decades has had a marked influence on the stage and screen and yet functions like a secret society behind closed doors. This record ranges from its efforts to form a world-class production company in the 1960s, to an altered image of the Studio and a change of venue for the 21st century.

Such luminaries as these (and many more) have been associated with the Actors Studio: Edward Albee, Lauren Bacall, Glenn Close, Robert DeNiro, Robert Duvall, Danny Glover, Julie Harris, Dustin Hoffman, Dennis Hopper, Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, Mike Nichols, Al Pacino, Julia Roberts, Eva Marie Saint, Neil Simon, Steven Spielberg, Sylvester Stallone, Rod Steiger, Meryl Streep, Eli Wallach, and Tennessee Williams.