Who was F.M. Alexander?

Fredrick Mathias Alexander was a classical stage actor born in 1869 in Tasmania, Australia. He enjoyed a successful career performing the works of Shakespeare, until he started to lose his voice-but only when he was performing. Alexander consulted doctors and vocal coaches but none of them could solve his problem. F.M. decided to take matters into his own hands. He started watching himself in mirrors to try to figure out what he was doing onstage that was causing him to lose his voice. After many years of observing himself and experimenting with different ideas, he figured out a way to solve his difficulty. The result of his work is now known as the Alexander Technique. Not only was his vocal trouble solved, but his discovery has proven to be a major contribution to the well-being of humanity.

Alexander taught his technique in England and in the United States until his death at the age of 86 in 1955. Among his students were playwright George Bernard Shaw, educator John Dewey, and noted author Aldous Huxley. Professor Nikolaas Tinbergen, acclaimed Biologist, devoted a major portion of his acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize for Physiology in 1973 to the benefits of F.M. Alexander’s work.