Hollywood stars and public figures took to social media on Monday to pay tribute to James Lipton. The actor and theater academic died on Monday from bladder cancer. He was 93.
Lipton’s wife, Kedakai Mercedes Lipton, issued a statement to The Hollywood Reporter following his death. “He lived each day as if it were his last,” Kedakai Lipton said. “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.”
Lipton was best known for his work on Bravo’s Inside the Actors Studio, which he created to serve as a thinly disguised master class for the students of the Actors Studio Drama School. Each one-hour program featured a top performer in an intimate interview with Lipton.
With Paul Newman serving as the show’s first guest, Inside the Actors Studio featured nearly 300 subjects that 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.
Lipton stopped hosting the show in 2018 when it moved from Bravo to Ovation TV.
“James Lipton was a titan of the film and entertainment industry and had a profound influence on so many,” said Frances Berwick, president of NBCU Lifestyle Networks and home to Bravo, 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.”
(Excerpt) Read more in: The Hollywood Reporter