Vivian Nathan, Original Member of The Actors Studio, Dies at 98

Vivian Nathan, an original member of The Actors Studio who appeared in the first Broadway productions of Tennessee Williams‘ The Rose Tattoo and Camino Real, has died. She was 98.

Nathan, whose career in films included a memorable performance as Oscar-winner Jane Fonda‘s psychiatrist in Klute (1971), died April 3 at The Lillian Booth Actors Home in Englewood, N.J., her family announced.

The legendary Actors Studio was founded in 1947 by, among others, Lee Strasberg and Elia Kazan. Until 1999, Nathan served on its board of directors with Ellen Burstyn, Estelle Parsons, Paul Newman, Lee Grant and Al Pacino. She also was a session moderator and teacher who mentored the late actress Kim Stanley and others, the family noted.

A native of New York, Nathan won the John Golden auditions for new talent and made her Broadway debut in 1949 in Montserrat, written by Lillian Hellman. In 1951, she played opposite Maureen Stapleton, Eli Wallach and Martin Balsam in The Rose Tattoo and worked again with Balsam in Camino Real, directed by Kazan.

She received the 1955 Clarence Derwent Award for her portrayal of the Charwoman in Anastasia, played a Holocaust survivor in 1966’s The Investigation and appeared with Anne Bancroft in 1977’s Golda, directed by Arthur Penn.

Nathan made her film debut in Teacher’s Pet (1958) with Clark Gable. She was in The Young Savages (1961) with Burt Lancaster and played Tony Curtis‘ mother in The Outsider (1961).

On television, she was a regular on the live Studio One in Hollywood in the 1950s and appeared on Playhouse 90, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Kojak and The Equalizer.

Her husband of more than 50 years, Nathan Schwalb, died in 2000. Survivors include her nieces Diane, Vivian and Elizabeth. A memorial service will take place at 5 p.m. on Sunday at Riverside Memorial Chapel in New York.