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. He also directed the screen adaptation of Mark Medoff's When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder? 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. He had a wide range of students, including Gene Hackman, Jenna Elfman, George Clooney, Alec Baldwin, Giovanni Ribisi, Tom Selleck, Michelle Pfeiffer, Ted Danson, Tony Danza, Jeffrey Tambor, Tyne Daly, Lakshmi Manchu and Doris Roberts. 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. In his later years, Katselas became disaffected with 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. Books Katselas was the author of two books. Dreams into action : Getting what you want! (1996) Acting Class: Take a Seat (2008) Personal life Katselas was a long-time Scientologist, having been introduced to the religion in 1965, and had attained the Scientology state of Operating Thetan. While his relationship with the Church of Scientology broke down in his later years, he remained dedicated to L. Ron Hubbard to his death. Katselas died of heart failure on October 24, 2008, aged 74, at the Los Angeles hospital Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Katselas was portrayed by actor James Franco in the Sal Mineo biopic Sal, which Franco also directed. References External links Beverly Hills Playhouse 1933 births 2008 deaths American acting coaches American theatre directors American Scientologists American people of Greek descent People from Greater Los Angeles Artists from Pittsburgh Film directors from California Drama teachers American acting theorists