 Richard
holds an M.F.A. in Acting from New York University’s
School of the Arts and is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of UC
Berkeley’s Dramatic Art Department. His teachers include
Peter Kass, Olympia Dukakis, Joseph Chaikin and Kristin
Linklater. Upon graduation from NYU, Richard worked for
Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival, appearing on
Broadway in Michael Rudman's production of Hamlet
starring Sam Waterston.
In
Los Angeles Richard has acted in more than a dozen feature
films and over thirty network television shows including,
My Favorite Year, The Entity and CBS’
The Fugitive. In 1991 Richard appeared on the EMMY
ballot for his guest-starring performance on the show, thirtysomething.
In addition, Richard has acted off-broadway, in regional
theater and on radio. He has served as a four-time Primetime
EMMY awards Blue Ribbon Panel judge.
Richard
has written four books on acting: The Camera Smart Actor,
The Great Acting Teachers and Their Methods, Acting
Under the Circumstances; Variations on a Theme of Stanislavski
and most recently, The Actor's Wheel of Connection.
His professional affiliations include the American Federation
of Television and Radio Artists, Actors Equity Association,
and the Screen Actors Guild. Richard is also a voting member
of the Performers Branch of the Academy of Television Arts
and Sciences (EMMYS).
 In
2005 Richard acted in Bryan Reynolds' play Woof, Daddy
which toured three cities in Poland. The magazine Warsaw
Today, wrote of his performance, “As the father,
Richard Brestoff was magnificent, like a Shakespearean anti-hero
simultaneously loved and despised, he pushed the audience
off the edges of their seats.”
Also in 2005 Richard was the recipient of the Claire Trevor
School of the Arts Dean's award for Excellence in Teaching.
In
2006 Richard appeared as Leonardo DaVinci in Robert Cohen's
play, Machiavelli at the Hayworth Theater in Los
Angeles. He also served, for the fifth time, as a Blue Ribbon
Panel Judge for the EMMY awards in the following categories:
Best Drama, Best Comedy, Best Actor in a Drama and Best
Actor in a Comedy.
In
2007 Richard again served as a Blue Ribbon Panel Judge
for the Primetime EMMY Awards. He also played the father
in the Tony and Pulitzer prize winning play, Proof at
the Long Beach Playhouse. About the performance one reviewer
wrote, "Brestoff’s Robert gets better and better
until a heartbreaking second act climax results in
audible gasps."
In
March of 2007 Richard gave an invited acting seminar
at Texas State University focusing on improvisational
approaches to given circumstances and on acting for the camera.
 Richard
teaches personalization, scene study, acting for the
camera and professional preparation for the graduate students
and teaches acting for the camera for the undergraduates.
In the Spring of 2008 he will be the Showcase Director
for the graduating
MFA actors.
Curriculum Vitae
Books
available at Amazon.com
Film and TV credits available at IMDb.com
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