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{{short description|German-American actress and drama teacher (1919–2004)}}
<!-- Image with unknown copyright status removed: ] -->
{{Infobox person
| name = Uta Hagen
| image = Uta_Hagen_The_Other_1972_photo.jpg
| caption = Hagen in 1972
| birth_name = Uta Thyra Hagen
| birth_date = {{birth date|1919|06|12|df=y}}
| birth_place = ], ]
| death_date = {{death date and age|2004|01|14|1919|06|12|df=y}}
| death_place = ], U.S.
| education = ], ]
| occupation = Actress, Author
| years_active = 1937–2001
| spouse = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|]|1938|1948|reason=divorce}}
* {{marriage|]|1957|1990|reason=died}}
}}
| children = 1
}}


'''Uta Thyra Hagen''' (12 June 1919 – 14 January 2004) was a German-American actress and ]. She originated the role of Martha in the 1962 Broadway premiere of '']'' by ], who called her "a profoundly truthful actress." Because Hagen was on the ], in part because of her association with ], her film opportunities dwindled and she focused her career on New York theatre.
] in the ] production of '']'', which ran on ] from ] to ].]]


She later became a highly influential acting teacher at New York's ] Studio and authored best-selling acting texts, '']'', with Haskel Frankel,<ref>{{cite book |last=Hagen |first=Uta |title=Respect for Acting |year=1973 |orig-year=1960 |publisher=Wiley Publishing, Inc. |location=New York |isbn=978-0-02547-390-4 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780025473904 }}</ref> and ''A Challenge for the Actor''. Her most substantial contributions to ] were a series of "object exercises" that built on the work of ] and ].
'''Uta Thyra Hagen''' (] ] - ] ]) was a ]-born ] actress and acting teacher.


She was elected to the ] in 1981.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/03/theater/26-elected-theater-hall-fame-26-broadway-voted-into-theater-hall-fame.html |title=Elected to the Theater Hall of Fame |newspaper=] |date=3 March 1981 |access-date=14 November 2013}}</ref> She twice won the ] and received a ] for Lifetime Achievement in 1999.
Born in ], ], her family emigrated to the ] during her early childhood. She was raised in ]. She studied acting at the ].


==Life and career==
Primarily noted for stage roles, Hagen was a two-time winner of a ], first in ] for her performance in '']'' and again in 1963 for '']''. In 1981 she was elected to the ] and in ] received a "Special Lifetime Achievement Tony Award."


===Early life===
Although she appeared in some movies, because of the ], she had more limited output in film and on television, not making her cinematic debut until ]. She would later comment that being kept out of film helped her art stay pure and honest.{{fact}}She was nominated for a ] as "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series" for her performance on the television ], '']''.
Born in ], Germany,<ref name="Obit">{{cite news|title=Uta Hagen, 84; Tony Winner, Teacher at Famed Acting School |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/29226901/uta_hagen_19192004/ |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=16 January 2004 |page=164 |via = ] |access-date = 7 March 2019 }} {{Open access}}</ref> daughter of Thyra A. (née Leisner), a trained opera singer, and ],<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=up4YAAAAIAAJ&q=uta+hagen+gottingen|title=Current Biography Yearbook|date=1964|publisher=H. W. Wilson Company|access-date=14 November 2013|via=Google Books}}</ref> an art historian and musician, Hagen and her family emigrated to the United States in 1924. Uta was raised in ]; her father taught at the ].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://cdsun.library.cornell.edu/?a=d&d=CDS19300321.2.8|title=Dr. Oskar Hagen to talk on art|date=21 March 1930|work=Cornell Daily Sun|access-date=4 April 2019}}</ref> Her early years in Germany were likely affected by the growing political changes in Europe, which would have added a layer of complexity to their decision to emigrate. She appeared in productions of the ] and in summer stock productions of the Wisconsin Players. She later studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London for a brief period in 1936. She studied acting briefly at the ] in 1936.<ref>Port of New York, passenger list of the S.S. ''Westernland'', 24 December 1936, sheet 165.</ref> After spending one semester at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where her father was the head of the department of art history, she left for New York City in 1937.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/WI/WI-idx?type=article&id=WI.v46i4&did=WI.v46i4.i0008&q1=Lady%20Invincible |title=Lady Invincible |last=Miles |first=S. A. |date=Fall 2000 |journal=Wisconsin Academy Review |pages=19–23 |volume=46 |issue=4 |access-date=28 February 2019}}</ref> Her first professional role was as Ophelia opposite ] in the title role of '']'' in ], in 1936.<ref name="Obit"/>


===Career===
She married ] in ], with whom she had a daughter, Leticia Ferrer. They divorced in ] partially because of her affair with her '']'' costar ].
Hagen was cast, early on, as Ophelia by the actress-manager ]. Hagen went on to play (at age 18) the leading ] role of Nina in a Broadway production of ]'s '']'' with ] and ].<ref name="Obit"/> "The Lunts," she later stated, "were an enormous influence on my life." She admired "their passion for the theatre, and their discipline."<ref name="playbill83844">{{Cite magazine |url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/83844-STAGE-TO-SCREENS-A-Chat-with-Theresa-Rebeck-Remembering-Uta-Hagen/all |title=Stage To Screens: A Chat with Theresa Rebeck; Remembering Uta Hagen |first=Michael |last=Buckley |date=18 January 2004 |magazine=] |access-date=30 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020143817/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/83844-STAGE-TO-SCREENS-A-Chat-with-Theresa-Rebeck-Remembering-Uta-Hagen/all |archive-date=20 October 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> ''The New York Times''{{'}} critic ] hailed her Nina as "grace and aspiration incarnate."<ref name="Gussow">{{cite news |first=Mel |last=Gussow |title=Uta Hagen, Tony-Winning Broadway Star and Teacher of Actors, Dies at 84 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/15/theater/uta-hagen-tony-winning-broadway-star-and-teacher-of-actors-dies-at-84.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=15 January 2004}}</ref>


She played ]'s ''Saint Joan'' (1951) on Broadway, and ] in a production which toured. Later she acted with ] in Shakespeare's ]; her then-husband ] was Iago. She took over the role of ] in '']'' for the national tour, which was directed by ]. In '']'', she credited her discoveries with Clurman as the springboard for what she would later explore with her husband ]: "how to find a true technique of acting, how to make a character flow through me." She played Blanche (on the road and on Broadway) opposite at least four different Stanley Kowalskis, including ] and ].
She taught at ], a well-known ] acting school, starting in ], and married its co-founder, Herbert Berghof, on ], ]. After his death in 1990 she became the school's chairperson.


Primarily noted for stage roles, Hagen won her first ] in 1951 for her performance as the self-sacrificing wife Georgie in ]' '']''. She won again in 1963 for originating the role of Martha in ]'s '']''. In 1981 she was elected to the ] and in 1999 received a "Special Lifetime Achievement Tony Award."
Ms. Hagen was an influential acting teacher who taught, among others, ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ] and ]. While being profiled in ''Premiere Magazine'', actress ] said of her mentor Hagen, that she was a woman whose class you didn't want to miss.


Although she appeared in some movies after 1972, the ] limited her output in film and television. She would later comment about being blacklisted, "that fact kept me pure."<ref name="Obit"/>
She also wrote '']'' (]) and '']'' (]), which advocates ], for example through the use of ].
Hagen later stated that she "disassociated" herself from her first book, "Respect for Acting" (Interview in playbill.com). In "Challenge for the Actor" she renamed the term "substitution," calling it "transference" instead. Though Hagen wrote that the actor should "identify" the character they play with feelings and circumstances from their (the actor's) own life, she also makes clear that "Thoughts and feelings are suspended in a vacuum unless they instigate and feed the selected Actions, and IT IS THE CHARACTER'S '''''ACTIONS''''' WHICH REVEAL the true "you," as the character in the play.
''Respect for Acting'' is used as a textbook for many college acting classes.


She was nominated for a ] as "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series" for her performance on the television ] '']''.
As well, she published a ] ] entitled "''Love for Cooking''".


She taught at ], a ] acting school. She began there in 1947, and married its co-founder, ], on 25 January 1957. Hagen was an influential acting teacher who taught, among others, ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], and ]. She was a voice coach to ], teaching her a German accent for the picture '']''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fricke |first=John |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/751694891 |title=Judy: A Legendary Film Career |date=2010 |publisher=Running Press |isbn=978-0-7624-4368-0 |location=Philadelphia |oclc=751694891}}</ref> Garland's performance earned her an ] nomination.
In ], she was awarded the ] by President ] at ceremonies held at the ].

Later in life, Hagen returned to the stage, earning accolades for leading roles in '']'' (1985), '']'', and ''Mrs. Klein''. After Berghof's death in 1990, she became the school's chairperson.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hagen |first=Uta |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1361694692 |title=Respect for Acting |date=2023 |others=Haskel Frankel |isbn=978-1-119-91359-7 |edition=Expanded |location=San Francisco, CA |pages=225 |oclc=1361694692}}</ref>

She also wrote ''Respect for Acting'' (1973) and ''A Challenge for the Actor'' (1991), which advocate realistic (as opposed to "formalistic") acting. In her mode of realism, the actor puts his own psyche to use in finding identification with the role," trusting that a form will result.<ref name="Hagen 1991">Hagen, Uta 1991. ''A Challenge for the Actor''. New York: Scribner's. {{ISBN|0-684-19040-0}}</ref> In '']'', Hagen credited director ] with a turn-around in her perspective on acting:

<blockquote>In 1947, I worked in a play under the direction of Harold Clurman. He opened a new world in the professional theatre for me. He took away my 'tricks'. He imposed no line readings, no gestures, no positions on the actors. At first I floundered badly because for many years I had become accustomed to using specific outer directions as the material from which to construct the mask for my character, the mask behind which I would hide throughout the performance. Mr Clurman refused to accept a mask. He demanded ME in the role. My love of acting was slowly reawakened as I began to deal with a strange new technique of evolving in the character. I was not allowed to begin with, or concern myself at any time with, a preconceived form. I was assured that a form would result from the work we were doing.</blockquote>

Hagen later "disassociated" herself from ''Respect for Acting''.<ref name="playbill83844"/> In ''Challenge for the Actor'', she redefined a term which she had initially called "substitution," an esoteric technique for mixing elements of an actor's life with his/her character work, calling it "transference" instead. ''Respect for Acting'' was used as a textbook for many college acting classes. She also wrote a 1976 cookbook, ''Love for Cooking''. In 2002, she was awarded the ] by President ] at a ceremony held at the ].

] talks about studying under her during his ] interview in 2004.<ref name="emmytvlegends.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.emmytvlegends.org/interviews/people/harvey-korman |title=Harvey Korman |date=20 April 2004 |website=Archive of American Television |access-date=18 June 2012}}</ref> ] worked with Hagen in the Richard Alfieri play '']'', at the ] in 2001.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://variety.com/2001/legit/reviews/six-dance-lessons-in-six-weeks-1200468828/ |title=Review: 'Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks' |first=Steven |last=Oxman |date=10 June 2001 |magazine=] |access-date=29 September 2016}}</ref> Hyde Pierce spoke at her 2004 memorial at Manhattan's ].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/20/arts/uta-hagen-memorial.html |title=Uta Hagen Memorial |date=20 March 2004 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=18 June 2012}}</ref>

==Students of Uta Hagen==
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*]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://the-vu.com/2000/08/01/the-sally-kirkland-vu-from-the-land-of-the-silver-screen/ | title=The Sally Kirkland vu from the land of the silver screen | date=August 2000 }}</ref>
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*]<ref>{{cite book | title=Science Fiction Television Series, 1990-2004: Histories, Casts and Credits for 58 Shows | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pQIDAQAAQBAJ&dq=uta+hagen+michael+pare&pg=PA321 | author1=Frank Garcia | author2=Mark Phillips | date=2013 | publisher=] | isbn= 978-0-7864-2483-2 | pages=321–322}}</ref>
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*]<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thevillager.com/2004/01/uta-hagen-legendary-actor-and-teacher-dies-at-84/ |title=Uta Hagen, legendary actor and teacher, dies at 84 |first=Sylvan |last=Migdal |date=27 January 2004 |newspaper=*] |access-date=28 February 2019}}</ref>
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==Personal life==
Uta Hagen was married to ] from 1938 until 1948.<ref name="Obit"/> They had one child together, their daughter Leticia (born 15 October 1940). They divorced partly because of Hagen's long-concealed affair with ], her co-star in '']''. Hagen married ] on 25 January 1957, a union that lasted for 33 years until his death in 1990. Hagen died in ] in 2004 after suffering a stroke in 2001.<ref name="Obit"/>

===In popular culture===
In 2009, Weird Al Yankovic’s “Skipper Dan” referenced Uta Hagen in the opening verse:

<poem>
''I starred in every high school play''
''Blew every drama teacher away''
''I graduated first in my class at Juilliard''
''Took every acting workshop I could''
''And I dreamed of Hollywood''
''While I read my Uta Hagen''
''and studied the Bard''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lyrics |url=https://www.google.com/search?q=Al+Yankovic%E2%80%99s+%E2%80%9CSkipper+Dan%E2%80%9D#wptab=si:AMnBZoF7JT-QpjuFHJsQDfjWiAqMutkQWhNgI5KMjbCKYBYwkN1CXmJ9tpSg4VDHOYHSsE7LeVOq-FR1uqGRFvDV4OlDWmZPdD8lQ5XRYpr1J1LpiDEy6laH_bjsoViH2Z-Eb9WPVJb2QFWnjyFvdgQVD_6qGUVC_3Hz5wETmYchRgS1rOy5wRcITzjno8qWM0qDvTsoAg2w |website=Musixmatch}}</ref>
</poem>

====Theatre====
* Her name was in the song ] from the 1996 rock opera '']'' written and composed by ]: "To the stage, To Uta, To ], ] too."<ref name="genius.com">{{Cite web|url=https://genius.com/10141072/Original-broadway-cast-of-rent-la-vie-boheme-a/To-uta|title=To Uta|website=genius.com}}</ref>

==Work==
{{col-begin}}
{{col-break|width=40%}}


==Acting==
===Stage=== ===Stage===
*'']'' - 1938 * '']'' (1938)
*'']'' - 1939 * '']'' (1939)
*'']'' - 1939 * '']'' (1939)
*'']'' - 1942 * '']'' (1942)
*'']'' - 1943 * '']'' (1943)
*'']'' - 1947 * '']'' (1947)
*'']'' - 1947 * '']'' (1947)
*'']'' - 1950 (]) * '']'' (1950)
*'']'' - 1951 * '']'' (1951)
*'']'' - 1952 * '']'' (1952)
*'']'' - 1954 * '']'' (1954)
*'']'' - 1955 * '']'' (1955)
*'']''- 1962 -(Tony Award) * '']'' (1962)
*'']'' - 1968 * '']'' (1968)
*'']'' - 1986 * '']'' (1986)
*'']'' - 1980 * ''Charlotte'' (1980)
*'']'' * '']'' (1995)
*'']'' - 1998 * '']'' (1998)
* '']'' (2001)
{{col-break}}


===Film=== ===Film===
*'']'' - 1972 * '']'' (1972) - Ada
*'']'' - 1978 * '']'' (1978) - Frieda Maloney
*'']'' - 1984 * '']'' (1990) - Maria
*'']'' - 1990 * '']'' (2001) - Narrator
*'']'' - 2001


===Television=== ===Television===
*''Victory'' - 1945 * ''Victory'' (1945, TV Movie)
*''A Month in the Country'' - 1959 * ''A Month in the Country'' (1959) - Natalia Petrovna
*''The Day Before Sunday'' - 1970 * ''The Day Before Sunday'' (1970) - Annamae Whiteley
* '']'' (1984, TV Movie) - Mrs. Hilda Reiner
*''Seasonal Differences'' - 1987
* '']'' (1986) - Gloria (segment "The Library")
*''The Sunset Gang'' - 1991
* ''Seasonal Differences'' (1987) - Omi
*'']'' - guest appearance, 1999
* ''The Sunset Gang'' (1991) - Sophie (segment "The Home")
* '']'' (1999) - Maureen (voice)
* '']'' (1999) - Mama Rebadow
{{col-end}}

==Awards and nominations==
* 1951 ], Actress—Play, ''The Country Girl''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0153406.html |title=1951 Tony Awards |website=Infoplease.com |access-date=14 November 2013}}</ref>
* 1963 ], Actress—Play, ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?''
* Special 1999 ] for Lifetime Achievement<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hbstudio.org/classes/meetuta.htm |title=Meet Uta Hagen |website=HB Studio |access-date=28 February 2019 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100711084013/http://www.hbstudio.org/classes/meetuta.htm |archive-date=11 July 2010}}</ref>
* 1999 Fellow of the ]<ref name=AAAS>{{cite book |url=http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterH.pdf |title=Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter H |publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences |access-date=25 July 2014}}</ref>
* 2002 ]

==Quotes==
{{Expand section|date=April 2024}}
* "Once in a while, there's stuff that makes me say, 'That's what theatre's about'. It has to be a human event on the stage, and that doesn't happen very often."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/uta_hagen_324211 |title=Uta Hagen Quotes |website=BrainyQuote |access-date=14 November 2013}}</ref>
* "Awards don't really mean much."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/uta_hagen_322307 |title=Uta Hagen Quotes |website=BrainyQuote |access-date=14 November 2013}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}


==External links== ==External links==
* {{Commonscatinline}}
*{{ibdb name|id= 43654 |name= Uta Hagen }}
*{{imdb name|id= 0353467|name= Uta Hagen }} * {{IBDB name|43654}}
* {{iobdb name|3224}}
* {{IMDb name|353467}}
* {{NYPL Archives & Manuscripts|21834|the|Uta Hagen and Herbert Berghof papers, 1889–2004}}, ]


{{Navboxes
==See also==
|title = Awards for Uta Hagen
* ]
|list =
* ]
{{Distinguished Performance Award}}
* ]
{{National Medal of Arts recipients 2000s}}
* ]
{{Special Tony Award}}
{{TonyAward PlayLeadActress 1947-1975}}
}}


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Latest revision as of 11:15, 26 December 2024

German-American actress and drama teacher (1919–2004)
Uta Hagen
Hagen in 1972
BornUta Thyra Hagen
(1919-06-12)12 June 1919
Göttingen, Germany
Died14 January 2004(2004-01-14) (aged 84)
New York City, U.S.
EducationUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison, Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Occupation(s)Actress, Author
Years active1937–2001
Spouses
José Ferrer ​ ​(m. 1938; div. 1948)​
Herbert Berghof ​ ​(m. 1957; died 1990)​
Children1

Uta Thyra Hagen (12 June 1919 – 14 January 2004) was a German-American actress and theatre practitioner. She originated the role of Martha in the 1962 Broadway premiere of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee, who called her "a profoundly truthful actress." Because Hagen was on the Hollywood blacklist, in part because of her association with Paul Robeson, her film opportunities dwindled and she focused her career on New York theatre.

She later became a highly influential acting teacher at New York's Herbert Berghof Studio and authored best-selling acting texts, Respect for Acting, with Haskel Frankel, and A Challenge for the Actor. Her most substantial contributions to theatre pedagogy were a series of "object exercises" that built on the work of Konstantin Stanislavski and Yevgeny Vakhtangov.

She was elected to the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1981. She twice won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play and received a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1999.

Life and career

Early life

Born in Göttingen, Germany, daughter of Thyra A. (née Leisner), a trained opera singer, and Oskar Hagen, an art historian and musician, Hagen and her family emigrated to the United States in 1924. Uta was raised in Madison, Wisconsin; her father taught at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her early years in Germany were likely affected by the growing political changes in Europe, which would have added a layer of complexity to their decision to emigrate. She appeared in productions of the University of Wisconsin High School and in summer stock productions of the Wisconsin Players. She later studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London for a brief period in 1936. She studied acting briefly at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1936. After spending one semester at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where her father was the head of the department of art history, she left for New York City in 1937. Her first professional role was as Ophelia opposite Eva Le Gallienne in the title role of Hamlet in Dennis, Massachusetts, in 1936.

Career

Hagen was cast, early on, as Ophelia by the actress-manager Eva Le Gallienne. Hagen went on to play (at age 18) the leading ingénue role of Nina in a Broadway production of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. "The Lunts," she later stated, "were an enormous influence on my life." She admired "their passion for the theatre, and their discipline." The New York Times' critic Brooks Atkinson hailed her Nina as "grace and aspiration incarnate."

She played George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan (1951) on Broadway, and Desdemona in a production which toured. Later she acted with Paul Robeson in Shakespeare's Othello; her then-husband José Ferrer was Iago. She took over the role of Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire for the national tour, which was directed by Harold Clurman. In Respect for Acting, she credited her discoveries with Clurman as the springboard for what she would later explore with her husband Herbert Berghof: "how to find a true technique of acting, how to make a character flow through me." She played Blanche (on the road and on Broadway) opposite at least four different Stanley Kowalskis, including Anthony Quinn and Marlon Brando.

Primarily noted for stage roles, Hagen won her first Tony Award in 1951 for her performance as the self-sacrificing wife Georgie in Clifford Odets' The Country Girl. She won again in 1963 for originating the role of Martha in Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. In 1981 she was elected to the American Theater Hall of Fame and in 1999 received a "Special Lifetime Achievement Tony Award."

Although she appeared in some movies after 1972, the Hollywood blacklist limited her output in film and television. She would later comment about being blacklisted, "that fact kept me pure."

She was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award as "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series" for her performance on the television soap opera One Life to Live.

She taught at HB Studio, a New York City acting school. She began there in 1947, and married its co-founder, Herbert Berghof, on 25 January 1957. Hagen was an influential acting teacher who taught, among others, Matthew Broderick, Christine Lahti, Amanda Peet, Hope Davis, Jason Robards, Sigourney Weaver, Katie Finneran, Liza Minnelli, Whoopi Goldberg, Jack Lemmon, Charles Nelson Reilly, Manu Tupou, Debbie Allen, Herschel Savage, George Segal, Jon Stewart, and Al Pacino. She was a voice coach to Judy Garland, teaching her a German accent for the picture Judgment at Nuremberg. Garland's performance earned her an Academy Award nomination.

Later in life, Hagen returned to the stage, earning accolades for leading roles in Mrs. Warren's Profession (1985), Collected Stories, and Mrs. Klein. After Berghof's death in 1990, she became the school's chairperson.

She also wrote Respect for Acting (1973) and A Challenge for the Actor (1991), which advocate realistic (as opposed to "formalistic") acting. In her mode of realism, the actor puts his own psyche to use in finding identification with the role," trusting that a form will result. In Respect for Acting, Hagen credited director Harold Clurman with a turn-around in her perspective on acting:

In 1947, I worked in a play under the direction of Harold Clurman. He opened a new world in the professional theatre for me. He took away my 'tricks'. He imposed no line readings, no gestures, no positions on the actors. At first I floundered badly because for many years I had become accustomed to using specific outer directions as the material from which to construct the mask for my character, the mask behind which I would hide throughout the performance. Mr Clurman refused to accept a mask. He demanded ME in the role. My love of acting was slowly reawakened as I began to deal with a strange new technique of evolving in the character. I was not allowed to begin with, or concern myself at any time with, a preconceived form. I was assured that a form would result from the work we were doing.

Hagen later "disassociated" herself from Respect for Acting. In Challenge for the Actor, she redefined a term which she had initially called "substitution," an esoteric technique for mixing elements of an actor's life with his/her character work, calling it "transference" instead. Respect for Acting was used as a textbook for many college acting classes. She also wrote a 1976 cookbook, Love for Cooking. In 2002, she was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President George W. Bush at a ceremony held at the White House.

Harvey Korman talks about studying under her during his Archive of American Television interview in 2004. David Hyde Pierce worked with Hagen in the Richard Alfieri play Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks, at the Geffen Playhouse in 2001. Hyde Pierce spoke at her 2004 memorial at Manhattan's Majestic Theater.

Students of Uta Hagen

Personal life

Uta Hagen was married to José Ferrer from 1938 until 1948. They had one child together, their daughter Leticia (born 15 October 1940). They divorced partly because of Hagen's long-concealed affair with Paul Robeson, her co-star in Othello. Hagen married Herbert Berghof on 25 January 1957, a union that lasted for 33 years until his death in 1990. Hagen died in Greenwich Village in 2004 after suffering a stroke in 2001.

In popular culture

In 2009, Weird Al Yankovic’s “Skipper Dan” referenced Uta Hagen in the opening verse:

I starred in every high school play
Blew every drama teacher away
I graduated first in my class at Juilliard
Took every acting workshop I could
And I dreamed of Hollywood
While I read my Uta Hagen
and studied the Bard

Theatre

Work

Stage

Film

Television

  • Victory (1945, TV Movie)
  • A Month in the Country (1959) - Natalia Petrovna
  • The Day Before Sunday (1970) - Annamae Whiteley
  • A Doctor's Story (1984, TV Movie) - Mrs. Hilda Reiner
  • The Twilight Zone (1986) - Gloria (segment "The Library")
  • Seasonal Differences (1987) - Omi
  • The Sunset Gang (1991) - Sophie (segment "The Home")
  • King of the Hill (1999) - Maureen (voice)
  • Oz (1999) - Mama Rebadow

Awards and nominations

Quotes

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (April 2024)
  • "Once in a while, there's stuff that makes me say, 'That's what theatre's about'. It has to be a human event on the stage, and that doesn't happen very often."
  • "Awards don't really mean much."

References

  1. Hagen, Uta (1973) . Respect for Acting. New York: Wiley Publishing, Inc. ISBN 978-0-02547-390-4.
  2. "Elected to the Theater Hall of Fame". The New York Times. 3 March 1981. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
  3. ^ "Uta Hagen, 84; Tony Winner, Teacher at Famed Acting School". Los Angeles Times. 16 January 2004. p. 164. Retrieved 7 March 2019 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  4. Current Biography Yearbook. H. W. Wilson Company. 1964. Retrieved 14 November 2013 – via Google Books.
  5. "Dr. Oskar Hagen to talk on art". Cornell Daily Sun. 21 March 1930. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  6. Port of New York, passenger list of the S.S. Westernland, 24 December 1936, sheet 165.
  7. Miles, S. A. (Fall 2000). "Lady Invincible". Wisconsin Academy Review. 46 (4): 19–23. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  8. ^ Buckley, Michael (18 January 2004). "Stage To Screens: A Chat with Theresa Rebeck; Remembering Uta Hagen". Playbill. Archived from the original on 20 October 2012. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
  9. Gussow, Mel (15 January 2004). "Uta Hagen, Tony-Winning Broadway Star and Teacher of Actors, Dies at 84". The New York Times.
  10. Fricke, John (2010). Judy: A Legendary Film Career. Philadelphia: Running Press. ISBN 978-0-7624-4368-0. OCLC 751694891.
  11. Hagen, Uta (2023). Respect for Acting. Haskel Frankel (Expanded ed.). San Francisco, CA. p. 225. ISBN 978-1-119-91359-7. OCLC 1361694692.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  12. Hagen, Uta 1991. A Challenge for the Actor. New York: Scribner's. ISBN 0-684-19040-0
  13. ^ "Harvey Korman". Archive of American Television. 20 April 2004. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
  14. Oxman, Steven (10 June 2001). "Review: 'Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks'". Variety. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  15. "Uta Hagen Memorial". The New York Times. 20 March 2004. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
  16. "The Sally Kirkland vu from the land of the silver screen". August 2000.
  17. Frank Garcia; Mark Phillips (2013). Science Fiction Television Series, 1990-2004: Histories, Casts and Credits for 58 Shows. McFarland & Company, Inc. pp. 321–322. ISBN 978-0-7864-2483-2.
  18. Migdal, Sylvan (27 January 2004). "Uta Hagen, legendary actor and teacher, dies at 84". *The Villager. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  19. "Lyrics". Musixmatch.
  20. "To Uta". genius.com.
  21. "1951 Tony Awards". Infoplease.com. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
  22. "Meet Uta Hagen". HB Studio. Archived from the original on 11 July 2010. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  23. Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter H (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  24. "Uta Hagen Quotes". BrainyQuote. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
  25. "Uta Hagen Quotes". BrainyQuote. Retrieved 14 November 2013.

External links

Awards for Uta Hagen
Drama League Distinguished Performance Award
National Medal of Arts recipients (2000s)
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
Special Tony Award
1947–1975
1976–2000
2001–present
Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Play
1947–1975
1976–2000
2001–present
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