Apartment Finder: Acting Studio

Friday 23 November 2012

Acting Studio

Howard Fine was born on November 28, 1958 in Providence, Rhode Island. He is the youngest of 5 children. His parents Max, an American GI, and Nelly, a Holocaust survivor, married in Shanghai, China, before Max returned to the US with Nelly as a war bride.Due to a fluke scheduling conflict between French and German classes, Fine ended up taking his first theatre class in high school. His drama teacher spotted Fine's directing talent and gave him his first play to direct, The Sandbox, at age 16.Fine was first introduced to his mentor, , work while in the same high school drama class. His teacher taught from Hagen’s first book, and he would take the theatre classes to New York to watch classes at Hagen's HB studios. Fine and Hagen remained close friends until her death.After completing graduate school in Boston, Fine moved to New York where he landed his first teaching job at The American Musical and Dramatic Academy. After one semester of teaching, he was promoted to head the Acting Department at the young age of 24 making him the youngest chair in the studio’s history.