In this insightful memoir, Oscarwinning actor Alan Arkin reflects back on finding his place as an actor and what theaterspecifically improvhas taught him about the craft and life. Arkin knew he was going to be an actor from the age of five. From this early age, he recognized that every film I saw, every play, every piece of music fed an unquenchable need to turn myself into something other than what I was. An Improvised Life is Arkins wise and unpretentious recollection of the process, artistic and personal, of becoming an actor and a revealing look into the creative mind of one of the best practitioners on the stage and screen. Arkin, in a direct, down-to-earth, accessible, and articulate manner, reveals not just insights about himself (and his audience and students) but truths for the rest of us about our sense of self, our work, and our relationships with others.