Julian Beck (May 31, 1925 – September 14, 1985) was an American actor, director, poet, and painter. Beck was born in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan in New York City, the son of Mabel Lucille (Blum), a teacher, and Irving Beck, a businessman. He briefly attended Yale University, but dropped out to pursue writing and art. He was an Abstract Expressionist painter in the 1940s, but his career turned upon meeting his future wife. In 1943, he met Judith Malina and quickly came to share her passion for theatre; they founded The Living Theatre in 1947.