David Pressman
Director
About This Interview
In his over three-hour Archive interview, David Pressman (1913-2011) recounts his arrival in the U.S. from Russia in 1922 and his early interest in acting. He talks about acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse in the 1930s and his entrance into WWII in the early 1940s (he describes returning home from the war, and what it was like to see the Statue of Liberty from a porthole on his ship.) He discusses the Actors Studio that was created in 1947, which he described as a gym for actors, and details the live prestige ABC television drama series Actors Studio featuring emerging talent at the time. He recalls appearing as an actor in the very first production of Actors Studio and then becoming one of the series' primary directors. Pressman discusses the process by which the productions were staged and directed for television, lists the writers, performers, and other talent who worked on the show, and tells how the series struggled for sponsorship. He outlines the excitement of working in live television and talks about other anthology series he directed. He then chronicles his struggle to work as a director in television under the shadow of the Hollywood Blacklist. He explains how he ultimately switched careers to teaching until the end of the Blacklist, and eventually returned to television, notably as an Emmy Award-winning director of the daytime serial One Life to Live. B-roll consists of photos of Esso Repertory Theater, Prudential's On Stage, the CBS control room during a production of The Play's the Thing, and Pressman's appearance as an actor in a small role on One Life to Live. Pressman also shows off his daytime Emmy Awards and talked about receiving them. Karen Herman conducted the interview on July 27, 2004 in New York, New York.
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Highlights
David Pressman on studying acting with Sanford Meisner
Clip begins at: 14:25, Duration: 09m 44s
David Pressman on his first television job (and his first use of videotape) after being blacklisted: directing Esso Repertory Theatre for David Susskind
Clip begins at: 07:24, Duration: 02m 11s
David Pressman on how being blacklisted affected him
Clip begins at: 09:59, Duration: 04m 45s
David Pressman on directing One Life to Live
Clip begins at: 04:48, Duration: 10m 02s
David Pressman on the possibility of the Hollywood Blacklist happening again
Clip begins at: 06:52, Duration: 01m 12s
Interview
- Part 1
- On his early life and influences; on getting into acting; on his schooling
Clip begins at: 0:0 - On learning acting from Sanford Meisner; on his early acting career
Clip begins at: 14:25 - Part 2
- On his service in World War II; on his time in the Actors Studio; on acting in the NBC series Actor's Studio
Clip begins at: 0:0 - On acting and staging for live television; on early television's relationship to live theater
Clip begins at: 14:00 - Part 3
- On casting and directing Actor's Studio; on various actors who appeared on Actor's Studio; on learning to be a television director
Clip begins at: 0:0 - On the cancellation of the series The Play's the Thing; on directing Cosmopolitan Theater and Prudential Family Playhouse; on directing Treasury Men in Action and being blacklisted
Clip begins at: 13:51 - Part 4
- On what he did while he was blacklisted; on his first television job after the Blacklist; on Elia Kazan and the Hollywood Blacklist
Clip begins at: 0:0 - On directing Phillip Morris Playhouse; on directing The Nurses; on directing The Defenders, NYPD and Another World
Clip begins at: 13:33 - Part 5
- On directing Another World; on directing One Life to Live
Clip begins at: 0:0 - On the producers of One Life to Live; on how technology changed the production of One Life to Live over the years; on the storylines of the show
Clip begins at: 14:50 - Part 6
- On his acting role on One Life to Live; on the audience for One Life to Live; on the casting of the show
Clip begins at: 0:0 - On the actors of One Life to Live
Clip begins at: 09:50 - On the guest stars of One Life to Live; on leaving One Life to Live; on directing Loving
Clip begins at: 21:29 - Part 7
- On working with his camera crew and editing; on career achievements and regrets and how he'd like to be remembered
Clip begins at: 0:0 - On B-Roll pictures from his career - Esso Repertory Theater; Esso Repertory Theater's production of "The Dumb Waiter"; The Prudential Family Playhouse production of "This Town Will Never Be the Same Again" with E.G. Marshall; E sso Repertory Theater with Donald Moffit and David Susskind; in the control room at CBS with Donald Davis; as "Bernie", his character on One Life to Live with Robert Woods; with his son Michael Pressman; his collection of Emmy Awards
Clip begins at: 12:16


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