James Lipton obit

James Lipton, Creator and Host of 'Inside the Actors Studio,' Dies at 93

He was not on the list.

Before he hosted long-running Bravo series, Lipton played the Lone Ranger's nephew on the radio and wrote TV scripts and Broadway lyrics.

James Lipton, the elegant, articulate wordsmith and theater academic whose desire to give his acting students a greater insight into their art led to the popular Bravo series Inside the Actors Studio, has died. He was 93.

Lipton passed away early Monday at his home in Manhattan from bladder cancer, his wife, Kedakai Mercedes Lipton, told The Hollywood Reporter.

"He lived each day as if it were his last," Kedakai Lipton said in a statement to THR. "His work was his passion, loved what he did and all the people he worked with. He empowered people to do their best, and hopefully his spirit, curiosity and passion will live on."

Conceived by Lipton in 1994, Inside the Actors Studio was created to serve as a thinly disguised master class for the students of the Actors Studio Drama School, a joint venture of the Actors Studio and The New School. With Paul Newman as its initial guest, each one-hour program featured a top performer in an intimate and in-depth one-on-one interview with Lipton.

Nearly 300 subjects, including many Oscar and Emmy winners, shared the secrets of their craft with Lipton and his audience of students before the TV cameras. The show became one of cable's longest-running series.

"James Lipton was a titan of the film and entertainment industry and had a profound influence on so many," Frances Berwick, president of NBCU Lifestyle Networks and home to Bravo, said in a statement on Monday. "I had the pleasure of working with Jim for 20 years on Bravo's first original series, his pride and joy Inside the Actors Studio. We all enjoyed and respected his fierce passion, contributions to the craft, comprehensive research and his ability to bring the most intimate interviews ever conducted with A-list actors across generations. Bravo and NBCUniversal send our deepest condolences to Jim's wife, Kedakai, and all of his family."

As Lipton told THR's Scott Feinberg in June 2016: "If you had put a gun to my head and said, 'I will pull the trigger unless you predict that in 23 years, Inside the Actors Studio will be viewed in 94 million homes in America on Bravo and in 125 countries around the world, that it will have received 16 Emmy nominations, making it the fifth-most-nominated series in the history of television, that it will have received an Emmy Award for outstanding informational series and that you will have received the Critics' Choice Award for best reality series host — predict it or die,' I would have said, 'Pull the trigger.' "

Lipton did all of his own research in preparation for each interview. A lover of words, he was known for his intricately crafted questions and precise manner of delivery. His style was so distinctive, it led to a number of parodies, most notably Will Ferrell's dead-on imitation in a series of Saturday Night Live sketches.

"I love it. It's very flattering," Lipton said during a 2012 CNN interview. "I think he's got me cold."

Filmography

Films

Year       Title       Role       Notes

1953      The Big Break     Marty   

2005      Bewitched           Himself                

2008      Bolt        The Director       Voice only

Igor        Himself                 Voice only

Television

Year       Title       Role       Notes

1951      Pulitzer Prize Playhouse                Himself                 Episode: "The Silver Cord

Armstrong Circle Theatre              Himself                 Episode: "Mountain Song"

1952      CBS Television Workshop              Himself                 Episode: "My Eyes Have a Cold Nose"

1952–1962          The Web              young fugitive    Episode: "The Boy in the Front Row"

You Are There    Michelangelo     Episode: "The Recognition of Michelangelo"

1953      Guiding Light      Dr. Dick Grant    3 episodes

1954      Inner Sanctum   Tony      Episode: "Guilty Secret"

The Goldbergs   Lotzi       Episode: "August 10, 1954"

1994–2018          Inside the Actors Studio                 Himself                 Creator, Writer, Executive Producer, Host

2002, 2011          The Simpsons    Himself                 2 episodes

2004–2005, 2013, 2019                 Arrested Development Warden Stefan Gentles 6 episodes

2005      Cold Squad          Uniform Cop      Episode: "Borders"

2006      Joey       Himself                 Episode: "Joey and the Actors Studio "

2008      According to Jim               Devil      Episode: "The Devil Went Down to Oak Park"

2009      Family Guy          Himself                 Episode: "Spies Reminiscent of Us"

Saturday Night Live         Himself                 Episode: "Bradley Cooper/TV on the Radio"

2012      Celebrity Apprentice       Himself                 Episode: "Getting Medieval"

Glee       Himself                 Episode: "Goodbye"

Suburgatory       Dr. Richard Rohl                Episode: "Down Time"

As producer

Year       Title       Role

1977      Jimmy Carter's Inaugural Gala     Executive producer

1978      Happy Birthday, Bob       Executive producer

1979      Bob Hope on the Road to China Producer

1981      American Dance Machine Presents a Celebration of Broadway Dance       Executive producer

1985      Mirrors                 Producer

1987      Bob Hope Salutes the U.S.A.F. 40th Anniversary Executive producer

1988      Happy Birthday, Bob: 50 Stars Salute Your 50 Years with NBC       Executive producer

1989      Bob Hope's Birthday Spectacular in Paris                Executive producer

1994–2018          Inside the Actors Studio                 Executive producer

As writer

Year       Title       Role       Notes

1952      Guiding Light      Head writer       

1956      The Edge of Night             Writer  

1960      The United States Steel Hour      Writer   Episode: "The Charlie and the Kid"

1963      The Doctors        Writer  

1965      Another World Head writer       

1970      The Best of Everything   Head writer       

1972      Return to Peyton Place Head writer       

1978      Happy Birthday, Bob       Writer  

1979      All-Star Birthday Party for Bob Hope... at Sea       Writer  

1982      All-Star Birthday Party at Annapolis          Writer  

1985      Mirrors                 Writer  

1985      Copacabana        Writer   Teleplay story and teleplay

1984–1987          Capitol Head writer       

1987      Bob Hope Salutes the U.S.A.F. 40th Anniversary Writer  

1989      Bob Hope's Birthday Spectacular in Paris                Writer  

1994–2018          Inside the Actors Studio                 Writer