HB Remembers: In Memoriam
George Bartenieff • Theodore S. Berger • Alexander Bernstein • Mark Blum • Donna deMatteo • Arthur French • Helen Gallagher • Rita Gardner • Richard Mawe • Robbie McCauley • Edward Morehouse • George Morfogen • Patricia O’Grady • Rochelle Oliver
Herbert Berghof
HB Studio was founded in 1945 by the Broadway actor and director Herbert Berghof. Born in Austria, Berghof was a protégé of the German realist director Max Reinhardt. He fled to New York in 1939 as a refugee of the Nazi regime, where he soon joined a community of immigrant artists and then-outsiders interested in bringing the classical training of the European theatrical tradition into practice in the still burgeoning American theater scene. Accustomed to a state theater system in which the artist was constantly engaged in practice and performance, Berghof conceived of HB Studio as a place where artists at all stages of their careers could continue to work and practice between jobs with the support and challenges of their more experienced colleagues in a space free from pressures related to commercial success. In 1947, Berghof met the celebrated actress Uta Hagen on a production of The Whole World Over, directed by Harold Clurman, and invited her to join him in teaching at the studio. The two artists married 10 years later. Together, Hagen and Berghof trained some of the most noted actors of the American theater. Their students, colleagues, and a new generation of accomplished artists continue that tradition today.
Uta Hagen
The legendary actress, teacher and author Uta Thyra Hagen was born on June 12, 1919 in Göttingen, Germany to an artistic family. Her mother was a Danish opera singer and teacher, and her father started the Handel Opera Festival in Göttingen. Six years after Hagen’s birth, the family emigrated to the United States, moving to Madison, Wisconsin. In 1937, Hagen achieved her first professional role as Ophelia in Le Gallienne’s production of Hamlet at the Cape Playhouse in Dennis, Massachusetts. When she was only 18, Hagen was cast in her first Broadway production, Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull. In the 1947 Broadway production of The Whole World Over, directed by Harold Clurman, Hagen met her co-star and future husband, Herbert Berghof. Hagen originated the role of Georgie Elgin in Clifford Odets’ The Country Girl, winning her first Tony Award in 1951.
Uta Hagen was a blazingly honest advocate for the relevance and power of theater. She defiantly told the truth to power and took personal and professional risks for the sake of great art. During the McCarthy era, Hagen was put on the Hollywood blacklist, and as a result, her film opportunities dwindled and she focused her career on teaching and New York theatre.Hagen was one of the most renowned and respected acting teachers of the 20th century. She was highly sought-after and influential among those she trained at HB Studio, where she taught for over fifty years. Notable actors that studied under Uta Hagen include Katie Finneran, Liza Minnelli, Whoopi Goldberg, Jack Lemmon, Debbie Allen, F. Murray Abraham, Rita Gardner, Steve McQueen, Amanda Peet, Marlo Thomas, Jerry Stiller, Charles Nelson Reilly, and Hal Holbrook, among many others. During her time at the acting studio, she authored multiple best-selling acting texts including the seminal Respect for Acting and the definitive A Challenge for the Actor. Both texts still enjoy worldwide distribution among university students studying drama. Her most substantial contributions to theatre pedagogy were a series of “object exercises” that remain prominent training for acting professionals. In 2001, the Uta Hagen’s Acting Class film was released, featuring Hagen in a series of master classes on her exercises.
After the death of her husband in 1990, Hagen concentrated on reorganizing HB Studio and The HB Playwrights Foundation, and continued to appear in many of the Foundation’s productions. She played the title role in Nicholas Wright’s Mrs. Klein, which won her the Obie Award. Among Hagen’s other numerous awards was her third Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1999 and the National Medal of Honor for the Arts in 2003. Uta Hagen left a remarkable and lasting legacy on the field of theatre and the dramatic arts when she passed on January 14, 2004. She is survived by her daughter, Leticia Ferrer, who continues work at her mother’s theatrical home, HB Studio, and granddaughter Teresa Teuscher and great-granddaughter Thyra Bielfeldt.
Letty Ferrer
Letty Ferrer was born into the noble theatrical family of Uta Hagen and José Ferrer. Her stage debut was at the age of four with her parents and Paul Robeson in the Theater Guild production of Othello. A few years later, she studied with Herbert Berghof at the HB Studio on 23d street in New York City. Her first assignment from Herbert was Wendy in Peter Pan. Her early credits also include appearing in José Ferrer’s historic version of Cyrano DeBergerac. After high school, she spent several years working in regional and summer stock, which included the Colorado, Oregon and Florida Shakespeare Festivals, as well as a season in Stratford, Connecticut. She then traveled to Europe and trained at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA). She returned to the USA to be part of the company of the national tour of Arthur Miller’s After the Fall. Following this she returned for another two seasons in Stratford, CT. Letty spent several years devoted to her family and raising her daughter Teresa. She continued to study and work at HB Studio, appearing in a number of productions there including with Marjorie Sigley (Siggy) and later joined the staff. She has been a member of The Workshop Theater, appearing in many productions over the last several years; including Charles E Gerber’s The Will-A-Thon. She made her musical debut in a Lab Production of 70 Girls 70 in the fall of 2016 at HB Studio. Letty is proud to continue her association with HB Studio where she is the official Studio Historian and Hagen Legacy Chair.
HB Playwrights Foundation (1964–2013)
The HB Studio was already a thriving fixture in the New York City cultural landscape when in 1965 Herbert Berghof and Uta Hagen realized their dream of establishing a producing theatre. From his work on the film Cleopatra, Berghof earned the money to purchase the one-story garage that was eventually converted into an 80-seat performance space. That building, along with the adjacent brownstone at 122 Bank Street, was renovated with the help of many unpaid friends. An anonymous donor provided professional lighting and sound systems. Among the more than 130 playwrights who have found a home at HB Playwrights Theatre are Neena Beber, Saul Bellow, Eric Bentley, Bertolt Brecht, Vincent Canby, Laura Shaine Cunningham, Donna de Matteo, Horton Foote, Marjorie Kellogg, Pavel Kohout, Romulus Linney, Kenneth Lonergan, Mark Medoff, Ed Napier, James Purdy, James Ryan, Willam Saroyan, Martin Sherman, Michael Straight, William Styron, Kathleen Tolan, Thornton Wilder, Tennessee Williams, Sherman Yellen.
The HB Playwrights Foundation & Theatre (HBPF&T) is dedicated to preserving and extending the development process of new work and is committed to supporting the long-term development of original productions, primarily of new plays. The HBPF&T is able to maintain this commitment to artistic freedom by relying on minimal budgets, the generosity of artists who donate their labor, and by charging no admission to our performances. For over fifty years, dedicated volunteers have made it possible for the HB Theatre to present over 250 full productions, countless staged readings and many other theatrical events. Professional actors, directors and designers of the highest caliber donate their time and talents for the productions. HB Theatre offers both the artistic freedom and the luxury of allowing the work to evolve at whatever pace is necessary. Actors’ Equity Association, recognizing the importance of this work, has granted HBPF a special agreement to support this extended process.