Katselas was a Scientologist and some former students have alleged that his acting classes were used as recruitment for the Church of Scientology, while others have stated Katselas never mentioned or spoke about Scientology during classes.[1]
Katselas was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Greek immigrant parents,[2] who owned a small restaurant outside the gates of a Westinghouse Electric plant. When Milton was 14 years old, his father went into the movie theater business and ran a local theater company of Greek actors. Milton Katsalas later adjusted his surname to Katselas.
After high school, he set off for Pittsburgh's Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon) to study theater. On a visit to New York, he sneaked in to watch Lee Strasberg's acting class where he also saw renowned director Elia Kazan on the street and chased him down. "I talked to him in Greek, and he talked with me"... [H]e told me, `When you finish college, come see me.'", Katselas recalled.[3] Following graduation in 1954, he began studying with Strasberg and serving as an apprentice to Kazan.
In 1983, Katselas directed a revival of Noël Coward's Private Lives, the only Broadway stage production in which Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton co-starred together. However, after the show was panned in its Boston tryout, Taylor, who was a producer, fired Katselas, yet he retained his directing credit for the Broadway run.[4] He also directed the screen adaptation of Mark Medoff's When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder?[5]
The Playhouse
In 1978, Katselas founded an acting school in Los Angeles called the Beverly Hills Playhouse, where he for 30 years gave acting classes.[6]
Some students reportedly felt alienated by the unspoken pressure to join the Church of Scientology, however. While Katselas was highly regarded as a teacher, his classes remained controversial.[9]
In his later years, Katselas became disaffected with post-Hubbard Scientology. He eventually had a break with the organisation, when a Scientologist named Grant Cardone sent an e-mail accusing Katselas of improper sexual conduct with his students. Following the incident, a number of Scientologist actors left the school.[10]
Books
Katselas was the author of two books.
Dreams into action : Getting what you want! (1996) ISBN0787104930
Katselas was a long-time Scientologist, having been introduced to the cult in 1965, and had attained the Scientology state of Operating Thetan. While his relationship with Church of Scientology management broke down in his later years, he remained dedicated to Scientology and L. Ron Hubbard to his death.[10]
