Morrison created the George Morrison Studio , where he offered acting classes for over 20 years ; his students included Gene Hackman and Barbara Harris . ( Hackman would later thank Morrison during his acceptance speech for the Best Actor award for his role in '' The French Connection '' at the 1972 Academy Awards . ) In 1972 , Morrison became one of the founding faculty of a new Actor Training Program along with Norris Houghton and Joseph Anthony at the State University of New York at Purchase , where he taught for 18 years and was awarded the Chancellor ’s Citation for Outstanding Teaching and is now Professor Emeritus of Theater Arts . His students at Purchase included Edie Falco , Ving Rhames and Stanley Tucci . He retired in 1988 to found , with Paul Sills and Mike Nichols , his classmates from the University of Chicago , a two-year independent conservatory for professional actor training , The New Actors Workshop , in New York City where he served as the president and primary instructor of acting
1972 Academy Awards
44th Academy Awards
George Morrison (acting teacher)