Bob Krakower

Bob Krakower (born Robert Jay Krakower) is an American acting teacher/coach who is founder and owner of his own acting studio in New York City. He also works in film and television in Los Angeles and around the country.
Early life
Krakower was born in Paterson, New Jersey. His parents Alvin (a doctor) and Diane (an office manager) were married for 29 years until his father’s death in 1987. He grew up in Oradell, New Jersey, graduating from River Dell High School. Many of his summers were spent with his grandparents in Brooklyn, New York, where his grandfather ran a knish & beer stand on the Brighton Beach boardwalk. He went to Tufts University, double majored in English and Psychology, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts. In order to fulfill a course requirement, he ended up in an acting class. After taking several classes, the theatre faculty spotted his ability to help actors, and enlisted him to help his fellow students with their performance. By the time he graduated, he knew he wanted to teach acting.
Theatre

For his first professional experience, Krakower applied for a position as a stage management intern at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, California. He was hired as an employee after the theatre took on more interns than they needed. The company's founder and Artistic Director (William Ball) and the Conservatory Director (acting teacher Allen Fletcher), helped develop Krakower's teaching skills and by the age of 24, he was teaching first year graduate acting, directing projects, and held the title of Associate Director of the Conservatory, making him the youngest person to hold that post at a major Theatre Conservatory in the United States.
When Allen Fletcher left A.C.T., he asked Krakower to go with him. Together they started the National Theatre Conservatory, a graduate program created by Act of Congress and Presidential designation in association with the American National Theatre and Academy. Fletcher died at the end of the first year, and Krakower returned to the East Coast. But it was not long before he was involved with yet another landmark institution: a few months later, Jon Jory, Producing Director of the Tony Award winning Actors Theatre of Louisville, asked him to come to the theatre and revive its Student Company. For six years, he was the Director of Actor Training and Master Acting Teacher. In a 1988 exchange program, he taught with the Moscow Art Theatre's Studio Chelovek . Along with Jory and Michael Bigelow Dixon, he was also a creative force behind the bi-yearly Shorts Festivals of New American Plays, producing and/or directing over 100 plays at the theatre by writers such as Howard Korder, Lanford Wilson, Jane Anderson, and Jane Martin, among many others. As a Resident Director, he helmed several productions, including the first regional productions of David Mamet's "Speed-The-Plow" and Craig Lucas' "Prelude To A Kiss."
While at Louisville, he remained involved with his own San Francisco-based theatre company, "Encore" (winner of several Bay Area Theatre Awards for Acting, including Best Ensemble), serving as a founding member, actor, and Artistic Director. Krakower directed two of the company's most critically acclaimed productions: the sold-out runs of Howard Korder's "Boys Life," and The Three Sisters. During this time, he also served as Guest Director/Teacher for the Atlantic Theatre Company (founded by David Mamet and William H. Macy). He directed original productions, including Steven Dietz's "Trust," starring Kristen Johnston. In 1996-97, he took over as Director of the Atlantic Theatre Company Acting School, running both the Professional and New York University Undergraduate Divisions. He has been on staff and guest-taught for at NYU, the Stella Adler Conservatory, The Howard Fine Studio, and in New York, where he joined Earl Gister (Yale), Lloyd Richards (Broadway), and J. Michael Miller (NYU) as a Founding Faculty Member.
Film and television

After six years in Louisville, Krakower was offered a job in casting by ABC, who had noted his eye for young talent, and eager to get back home to New York on a permanent basis, he accepted. Over the next three years — at ABC, MTV, Paramount, and Tollin-Robbins Productions — he worked as a casting director on over 50 projects, including NYPD Blue, My So-Called Life ', All That and Varsity Blues. Director Brian Robbins employed him as an acting coach on many projects, culminating in their work together on The Perfect Score (starring Scarlett Johansson, Erika Christensen, Chris Evans, Bryan Greenberg, and Darius Miles), and Hardball (starring Keanu Reeves). In the director’s commentary of the DVD for Hardball, Robbins says “Bob helped find a lot of the kids and more importantly --I knew I had my hands full with ten actors who never acted before -- he really gave them skills, and he really turned them into actors. Because when I got them on the set, they were ready. They knew the essence of a scene, they weren’t just saying words…they really had some chops built up and he just did a fantastic job with them.”
Krakower has gone on to coach actors on dozens of television shows and movies, frequently hired by the studios, networks, and production companies themselves. Whether he is working with kids ("Hardball," "All That"), stand-up comics (Louis C.K., Lewis Black, John Pinette, Jimmy Fallon, Greg Geraldo, Jim Norton, and others) or actors (Reba McEntire, Josh Duhamel, Eden Espinosa, Antonique Smith, Milena Govich, and many more), he does so with what Emmy Award Winning director Michael Lembeck has called "the most passionate, kindest, and brightest approach I've seen." He has had his own acting studio in NYC since 1996, teaching on a regular basis there while maintaining a schedule coaching on set in Los Angeles.
Writing and directing
For many years, Krakower was a theatre director, producing and/or directing over 100 plays around the country, a majority of them new works by American authors. As he moved into film & television, his coaching work evolved into directing assignments, including stints on What I Like About You (starring Amanda Bynes and Jennie Garth), Reba (starring Reba McEntire) and “I Say Nay, Nay” a concert starring comedian John Pinette. Over the years, he has written several plays that have been published and performed around the country. These include “Mixed Emotions,” “No-Win Situation,” and “4a.m. (Open All Night), which was made into a film starring Tate Donovan and Wendy Makkena, directed by J. Miller Tobin. His script “Bobby Z” (written with partner Allen Lawrence) was directed by John Herzfeld, and starred Paul Walker, Laurence Fishburne, and Olivia Wilde. Currently in development (also with Mr. Lawrence) are “Ramblin’ Man: Woody Guthrie” and “Any Rough Times.”

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