STANISLAVSKY, KONSTANTIN SERGEYEVICH

born Jan. 5 [Jan. 17, New Style], 1863, Moscow, Russia died Aug. 7, 1938, Moscow Stanislavsky also spelled Stanislavski, original name Konstantin Sergeyevich Alekseyev Russian actor, director, and producer, founder of the Moscow Art Theatre (opened 1898). He is best known for developing the system or theory of acting called the Stanislavsky system, or Stanislavsky method (q.v.). Additional reading David Magarshack, Stanislavsky (1950, reprinted 1986); and Jean Benedetti, Stanislavski, 2nd ed. (1990), are biographies. Discussions of the Stanislavsky method include Nikolai M. Gorchakov, Stanislavsky Directs (1954, reprinted 1985); Sonia Moore, The Stanislavski System, 2nd rev. ed. (1965); and Training an Actor: The Stanislavski System in Class, rev. ed. (1979), a work based on class tape recordings demonstrating the Stanislavsky technique in practice.