Vivian Nathan

Vivian Nathan (born Vivian Firko, October 26, 1916 – April 3, 2015) was an American actress and founding member of the Actors Studio, which opened in 1947. She served on the Actors Studio's board of directors until 1999. She appeared in the original Broadway debut productions of The Rose Tattoo and Camino Real (1953). The family soon relocated to Maspeth, Queens, where Vivian attended Holy Cross Parochial School. She later attended the St. Nicholas school on Manhattan's Lower East Side. Still performing under the name Firko, she made her Broadway debut under Elia Kazan's direction in 1948, in the Actors Studio production of Bessie Breuer's Sundown Beach. The decision to employ her husband Nathan Schwalb's given name as Firko's stage name appears to have taken place sometime between casting and opening night in the 1949 production of Montserrat, Lillian Hellman's adaptation of the Emmanuel Roblès play.

Nathan became an original member of the Actors Studio when it was founded in 1947 by Elia Kazan and Lee Strasberg. She also worked as acting instructor and session moderator at the Studio. Her students included the late actress, Kim Stanley.

Film Nathan made her film debut in the 1958 romantic comedy Teacher's Pet, starring Clark Gable. two episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and in three episodes of Playhouse 90 including "The Violent Heart" (1958), "Word From a Sealed-Off Box" (1958), and "Journey to the Day" (1960). In 1967, she appeared in the color teleplay, The Investigation.

Death Nathan died at the Lillian Booth Actors Home in Englewood, New Jersey on April 3, 2015, at the age of 98. Her late husband, Nathan Schwalb, whom she had been married to for more than 50 years, died in 2000. Nathan's memorial service was held at Riverside Memorial Chapel on the Upper West Side of Manhattan on April 12, 2015.

Awards and honors 1955: Clarence Derwent Award for her portrayal of the Charwoman in Anastasia, directed by Alan Schneider

Filmography

+ Vivian Nathan film and television credits Year Title Role Notes 1956–1958 Studio One (various) 7 episodes 1958 Studio One Mrs. Wales Episode: "The Last Summer" 1958 Teacher's Pet Edna Kovac Film 1958 Playhouse 90 Annette Episode: "The Violent Heart" 1958 Playhouse 90 Frieda Episode: "Word From a Sealed-Off Box" 1958 Alfred Hitchcock Presents Margaret Goames Episode: "Fatal Figures" 1960 Playhouse 90 Martha Kowalski Episode: "Journey to the Day" 1961 The Young Savages Mrs. Escalante Film 1961 The Outsider Nancy Hayes Film 1961 Alfred Hitchcock Presents Elise 'Elsie' Thompson Episode: "Final Arrangements" 1967 The Investigation Teleplay 1971 Klute Psychiatrist Film 1976 Kojak Mrs. Coletti 1 episode 1989 The Equalizer Mrs. Drake Episode: "Lullaby of Darkness"