Stage actress Uta Hagen dies

Stage actress Uta Hagen dies

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Award-winning stage actress and fabled acting teacher Uta Hagen, who originated the role of acid-tongued Martha in the Broadway production of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf", has died at her Manhattan home. She was 84.

Hagen, born in Gottingen, Germany, and raised in Madison, Wisconsin, was celebrated for her commanding work in classical and modern plays ranging from Shakespeare and Chekhov to Edward Albee, Tennessee Williams and Clifford Odets.

Hagen died on Wednesday after a long illness, according to Barnetta Carter, managing director of HB Studios, which the actress founded in the 1950s with her late husband, Herbert Berghof. She continued to teach at the school up to a couple of months ago.

Trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, Hagen made her Broadway debut in 1938 in "The Seagull", by Anton Chekhov.

She won her first Tony Award as best actress in the title role of Clifford Odets's "The Country Girl", in 1951. Twelve years later, she won another best actress Tony for her portrayal of Martha in Edward Albee's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf".

Stage actress Uta Hagen dies

For those of you who do not know who Uta Hagen is, she was an amazing actress that performed in numerous productions on Broadway during the 1940s and 1960s. What happened during the 1950s? She was a victim of the Senate Committee for Unamerica Activities - The McCarthy Committee. She was then put on the Black List that so many artists were victims of.

She wasn't allowed to perform until the early 1960s as a result of the black list.

She trained many modern day actors and actresses such as Matthew Broderick, Whoopi Goldberg, and other famous professionals. She was also known for her no-nonsense, no-BS approach and charged 5 dollars for each acting lesson, a bargain in those days.

She instilled in her students a respect for the art of acting. She wanted her students to define their own, unique style and demanded that they work hard to perfect it.

She wrote a book in 1973 entitled Respect for Acting[/i>. It is a book about her acting philosophy..

for all...RIP Uta Hagen.

:kick:

Had the pleasure of seeing her opposite Paul Robeson in the stage production of Othello. Jose Ferrer was also a cast member playing the part of Iago.

:kick: :-)

in her? Just curious. I actually went to some theater workshops given by her "followers" many years ago in NYC. Her legacy was wonderful. I attended classes here: Since 1947 Hagen has taught acting at the Herbert Berghof Studio.

Much "peeling of grapefruits led me to believe my talents were in other places...but it was alot of fun. :-)'s

My drama teacher was a fan of hers :loveya:

I also admired the fact that she still stood up proud after going through the McCarthy era.

Uta Hagen
Actress, Teacher, Writer...Legend

Because she has had a long, distinguished career on the stage, and because for decades she has been one of the most important acting teachers in America, and because she has written with wit and clarity about the technical craft of acting, Uta Hagen has had a profound influence on the way acting is practiced, taught, and thought about in this country.

Uta Hagen made her professional debut in 1937 at the age of eighteen as Ophelia in an Eva Le Galliene Hamlet in Dennis, Massachusetts. In 1938 she made her Broadway debut as Nina in the Lunts production of The Sea Gull. She played in twenty-two Broadway productions, including the legendary Othello with Paul Robeson and Jose Ferrer.

In 1948 she re-invented Blanche DuBois for the national tour of A Streetcar Named Desire with Anthony Quinn, and then succeeded Jessica Tandy's radically different Blanche for the Broadway run the next year. In 1950 she won her first Tony award, the Drama Critics Award, and the Donaldson Award for her creation of Georgie Elgin in Clifford Odets The Country Girl. She starred in such classics as Shaw's St. Joan and Turgenev's A Month in the Country, and in 1962 she created Martha in Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, winning her second Tony and second Drama Critics Award, as well as the London Critics Award. She has also appeared in many TV specials and several films.

Since 1947 Hagen has taught acting at the Herbert Berghof Studio. Together with her late husband, she trained generations of actors: Geraldine Page, Jason Robards, and Matthew Broderick are among the countless others who reached prominence.

As Jack Lemmon wrote, This extraordinary woman is one of the greatest actresses I have seen in my lifetime, yet she has deliberately made her acting career secondary to teaching and directing others so that they might benefit. Lord knows what exalted position she might have attained had she chosen to concentrate on her own acting career, but I guarantee that she has absolutely no regrets. Nor should she, because she has given so much to so many.
more............ttp://www.wic.org/bio/hagen.htm

on....and she deserves something......even if it's a teeny memory on Du...which will die off into archives....for one brief moment....maybe a memory of when we had true "Arts & Entertainment" in the US and not Kobe, Britany, Reality TV, and Michael all day all the time.......

:-(

This was a great woman. Shows what you can do if you are about the art.

in her case. Uta Hagen was a great human being and an example of an high caliber of living.