James Lipton was an American writer, lyricist, actor, and television host.
Lipton began his television career writing for several soap operas, including Another World, The Doctors and Guiding Light, which he also starred in.
He also had a hand in numerous television specials, including Jimmy Carter’s inaugural gala, which was the first presidential concert ever televised, as well as 12 of Bob Hope birthday specials. He wrote and produced an adaptation of his dance novel, Mirrors, for NBC and wrote the story and teleplay for Copacabana, a 1985 TV movie for CBS based on the characters of Barry Manilow’s 1978 hit song.
He made his onstage Broadway debut at the Coronet Theatre in 1951 in the play The Autumn Garden. He then wrote the book and lyrics for the musicals Nowhere to Go but Up (1962) and Sherry! (1967), and also produced the play The Mighty Gents (1978) and the comedy special Monteith & Rand (1979).
He underwent intense performance training under Stella Adler at the Stella Adler Studio for Acting for more than a decade, which inspired him to start the Actors Studio Drama School in 1994.
Lipton was the creator, executive producer and longtime host of Bravo’s interview series Inside the Actors Studio. From 1994 until his retirement in 2018, Lipton interviewed over 300 actors on the Emmy-winning talk show.
Lipton died March 2, 2020, in Manhattan, New York. He was 93.
