James Lipton Celebrates 87th Birthday

James Lipton, a man who is known for interviewing the most prestigious actors, is celebrating his 87th birthday today. A writer, composer, and actor, Lipton is known for being the dean emeritus of the Actors Studio Drama School, which is located at Pace University in New York City.

For well over a decade, Lipton has interviewed stellar actors in pursuit to understanding the craft of acting. He started the Bravo cable series called Inside the Actors Studio, which helped his students engage with the acting professionals of today while getting a well-rounded education.

According to Lipton, he was inspired by French journalist Bernard Pivot to create the three-year program for actors. In 1994, he created and started The Actors Studio Drama School at the New School University. In 2006, that idea turned into The Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University.

Throughout his years overseeing students and interviewing actors, his best interview came when he had the opportunity to interview Bradley Cooper. Lipton said the experience was an honor due to the fact that Cooper was a former student of his at the Drama School.

James Lipton spoke to Parade about the honor of interview former student Bradley Cooper, having said:

“What I’ve waited for is that one of my graduated students has achieved so much that he walks out and sits down on that chair next to me. It happened when Bradley Cooper walked out on that stage. We looked at each other and burst into tears. It was one of the greatest nights of my life.”

In addition to interviewing Bradley Cooper, Lipton has had other greats grace his stage, to name a few Robert De Niro, Johnny Depp, John Cusack, Francis Ford Coppola, Angelina Jolie, James Franco, Meryl Streep, Ben Affleck, Michael Douglas, Lauren Bacall, Kathy Bates, Cate Blanchett, and so many more. Throughout the years, Lipton is known for his candid back and forth, his witty banter, and his thorough research on each subject. It is truly his fascination and spirit for film studies that make his program Inside The Actor’s Studio unique.

Always one to joke, James Lipton said that he was quite the pimp in France. He even became a good friend to a prostitute and managed a bordello full of hookers. He spoke about the experience to Parade, having said:

“It was only a few years after the war. Paris was different then, still poor. Men couldn’t get jobs and, in the male chauvinist Paris of that time, the women couldn’t get work at all. It was perfectly respectable for them to go into le milieu.”

A very happy birthday to James Lipton. May your sense of humor and appetite for the arts always live on.

[Image credit: Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com]