James Lipton, who plumbed the dramatic arts through perceptive, mostly admiring interviews with celebrity actors as host of the Bravo television series “Inside the Actors Studio,” died on Monday at his home in Manhattan. He was 93.

The cause was bladder cancer, his wife, Kedakai Mercedes Lipton, said.

Mr. Lipton was a knowledgeable interviewer who focused on craft while avoiding gossip, winning the trust of his famous guests as well as an international audience.

During his 23-season run as host — he left the show when it moved from Bravo to Ovation TV in 2019 — “Inside the Actors Studio” became a coveted stop for writers, directors and performers, who would give some of their longest and most unguarded interviews to Mr. Lipton.

His manner was sympathetic — fawning, to some, and often lampooned — but the formula worked, and among the 275 or so stars he interviewed were some of the brightest: Paul Newman, Alec Baldwin, Neil Simon, Sally Field, Dennis Hopper and Sidney Lumet, to name a few — and they came along in just the first season.