It was confirmed early Monday that the founder and host of “Inside the Actors Studio,” James Lipton passed away at the age of 93. Lipton’s wife, Kedakai said in a statement that the writer/actor died in his Manhattan home from bladder cancer.

James Lipton was born on September 19, 1926 in Detroit Michigan. His mother was a teacher and librarian, and his father was a journalist. As a lover of words, Lipton got his start in the industry as a teen working as a copy boy for The Detroit Times and as an actor for the Catholic Theater of Detroit.

Lipton decided to leave Detroit and move to New York to pursue a career as a performer. He got his first big break after joining the cast of the soap opera “The Guiding Light” in 1952.  He then went on to write for other soap operas and would even write for Broadway.

Throughout his career, Lipton wore multiple hats which included actor, scriptwriter, choreographer, lyricist, author, producer, and academic. He began producing TV specials in the late 1970s before creating “Inside the Actors Studio.”

The show served as a master class for students at the Actors Studio Drama School.  Top performers were featured in an intimate one-on-one interview with Lipton in front of a live studio audience of students of the Actors Studio Drama School. Lipton’s guest interviewees included Julia Roberts, Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg, Lawrence Fishburne, Steven Spielberg, and Robert De Niro.

Lipton valued his craft and was influential with the work he did. His contributions to the arts and education created a dynamic platform for past, present, and future performers.  “The night that one of my students has achieved so much that he or she comes back and sits down in that chair would be the night that I have waited for since we started this thing, “ Lipton once said.

“His work was his passion, he 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’s wife said in a statement following the announcement of his death.