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18-478: The location was originally home to the respected Bliss-Hayden School of Acting run by a husband and wife team of motion picture actors—actress Lela Bliss with over 45 credits stretching from 1915 to 1965, and her husband actor Harry Hayden with over 260 credits from 1936 to 1955. Veronica Lake , Mamie Van Doren and many other professional actors studied there. In 1954, the Bliss-Hayden Theatre

36-656: A director, Barton has helmed the following Los Angeles stage productions: ABOUT FAITH (2001), I MAKE YOU LAUGHING (2004), PINK DOT (2005), BURN THIS (2006), THE LAST FIVE YEARS (2007), RABBIT HOLE (2008), THE REAL THING (2009), ENGAGEMENT (2010), and Project X presentations of THE HEIDI CHRONICLES (2012), OLEANNA (2013), SPEED-THE-PLOW (2014), and GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES (2016). Allen Barton grew up in Lexington, Massachusetts , and has an A.B. from Harvard University , where he studied Russian & Soviet Studies. He married Tiffany Yu in 2003, and they have three children. In

54-584: Is an American playwright, director, acting teacher, and classical pianist. He is known primarily for his longtime association with the Beverly Hills Playhouse , a Los Angeles–based acting school. His older brother, Fred Barton , is a New York–based pianist and composer. His father, David K. Barton , is a radar-systems engineer. His cousin was jazz saxophonist Paul Desmond . After graduating from Harvard University in 1990, Barton relocated to Los Angeles and began his studies as an actor at

72-513: Is one of the city's oldest and most respected. The BHP is one of only a few schools that not only teaches the craft of acting, but also attitude and administration. With regard to acting technique, the BHP uses Katselas' approach, which is decidedly independent of the major acting philosophies of Stanislavski, Strasberg, Adler, Meisner, Hagen, etc. His experience as a director led him to a highly individual and adaptive way of training actors, mostly based in

90-617: The Beverly Hills Playhouse (BHP). Over the next 18 years, he completed apprenticeships as a director and teacher under Milton Katselas , BHP's founder. Simultaneously with his artistic training, he began working part-time for BHP in 1993, rapidly ascending to become CFO in 1997 and then the school's youngest ever CEO in 2003. He began teaching for BHP in 2002, had a class under his own name in 2005, and taught alongside Katselas starting in 2007 up until Katselas' death in October 2008. Katselas bequeathed BHP ownership to Barton, who still teaches at

108-576: The BHP has been run by his longtime administrators Allen Barton , and the BHP's connection with Scientology is less noticeable. The BHP operates out of its headquarters in Beverly Hills, as well as programs in San Francisco and New York City. Since 1984, it has also had an in-house non-profit theatre company (currently called The Skylight Theatre Company), which has produced hundreds of theatre productions, largely originated and fulfilled by

126-743: The Day (2013). It was nominated in writing and acting categories by the LA Drama Critics Circle and the LA Weekly, and was one of the latter’s Ten Best Plays of 2013. It was performed in Paris in October, 2013, and also participated in the 59E59 St. Theatre’s “East To Edinburgh” Festival in June, 2014 on its way to a run at the 2014 Edinburgh Theatre Festival. Barton’s third play, Disconnection , had two successful Los Angeles runs in 2015. As

144-425: The favor of Scientologist actors such as Anne Archer, Giovanni Ribisi, Marisol Nichols, Catherine Bell, Jenna Elfman and others who were his students as well. Some of the teachers on the staff of the school were Scientologists. During Milton's life there were persistent rumors that he was trying to proselytize his religion through his teaching - but the total percentage of students who had any connection with Scientology

162-574: The mid-late 1990s, Barton was associated with Scientology , and acted in many of their in-house films under the Golden Era Productions banner. His last course completion was in 2000, and he appears to have had no activity with the group since then. In 2012, he became more of an outspoken critic, as he took on the movement's disconnection policy , which affected Milton Katselas during his life and came to interfere with Barton's own relationship with his piano teacher Mario Feninger. He

180-719: The mother of Margie's boyfriend, in the 1952 episode "Vern's Chums"), The Twilight Zone , Maverick , Mister Ed and The Addams Family . She ended her acting career with a guest role in That Girl in 1967. Bliss was married to Canadian actor Harry Hayden from 1924 until his death on July 24, 1955. They had one child. They ran the Bliss-Hayden School of Acting at 254 South Robertson Boulevard in Beverly Hills , where their students included Veronica Lake , Mamie Van Doren and Betty White . In 1954,

198-598: The school and oversees its operations, including expansion to both New York and San Francisco. He started the BHPs free-theatre concept, Project X, which presents free performances of established plays acted by BHP students. Barton’s first play ENGAGEMENT was produced by the Skylight Theatre Company in Los Angeles in 2010, and was mounted as well in San Francisco in 2014. His second play was Years to

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216-545: The school was acquired by Douglas Frank Bank and Jay Manford and became the Beverly Hills Playhouse , one of the oldest acting schools and theatres in Los Angeles . She died in Los Ángeles, California, in 1980, at the age of 84. This article about a United States film and television actor born in the 1890s is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Allen Barton Allen Barton (born May 18, 1968)

234-429: The simple observation and recreation of human behavior, along with an understanding of what's happening in the story. It is a down-to-earth training, with vastly reduced emphasis on exercises, and with techniques to create full, believable performances that enlighten and entertain. There has been controversy regarding the BHP and Scientology. This was because Milton Katselas was a well-known Scientologist, and as such drew

252-414: The talent and interests of the BHP students. Its current focus under the leadership of Gary Grossman is the development of new plays, using the full array of talent available in the Los Angeles theatre community. 34°3′49.939″N 118°23′0.434″W  /  34.06387194°N 118.38345389°W  / 34.06387194; -118.38345389 Lela Bliss Lela Bliss (May 11, 1896 – May 15, 1980)

270-646: The theatre until 1959. In 1978, Milton Katselas , the noted director and acting teacher, moved his already established and renowned acting classes to the location. For the next 30 years he taught such stars as George Clooney , Lana Parrilla , Alec Baldwin , Giovanni Ribisi , Tom Selleck , Michelle Pfeiffer , Ted Danson , Tony Danza , Jeffrey Tambor , Gene Reynolds , Tyne Daly , Mel Harris , Catherine Bell , Sofia Milos , Christy Carlson Romano , Jenna Elfman , Doris Roberts , Miguel Ferrer , James Cromwell , Anne Archer , Larry Miller , John Glover , James Wilder , Jennifer Aspen . The Beverly Hills Playhouse

288-564: Was acquired by Douglas Frank Bank and Jay Manford, and renamed The Beverly Hills Playhouse. This was a showcase for many productions written by Douglas Bank ( The Preacher , and Journey to a Lonely Star ) as well as well-known plays of the time including Jenny Kissed Me , Room Service , The Lawyer , Harvey , and The Second Man . Many actors had performed there including Stanley Adams , Anne Baxter , Ken Mayer , Michael Fox and Louella Parsons , and directors Larry Stewart and Arthur M. Lowe, Jr. , as well as others. They owned

306-611: Was an American actress. She made her first silent film, Pretty Mrs. Smith , in 1915 and appeared in at least over 40 movies until the 1960s. Bliss appeared in supporting roles and bit parts in Hollywood films such as The Dark Mirror (1946), Miracle on 34th Street (1947) and Intruder in the Dust (1949). She often played mothers, neighbours or society women. From the 1950s on, she also appeared frequently on popular television shows including My Little Margie (as Trixie Wilson,

324-399: Was never more than 10%, and in 2004 Katselas in fact fell out of favor with Scientologist celebrities. By 2007, almost all those involved with the movement left the school. Also, as Katselas was highly respected by countless non-Scientologist actors such as Doris Roberts and John Glover, his reputation remained primarily that of a first rate teacher above all else. Since Katselas' death in 2008,

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