Herbert Berghof | |
|---|---|
 Berghof inFive Fingers (1952) | |
| Born | (1909-09-13)September 13, 1909 |
| Died | November 5, 1990(1990-11-05) (aged 81) New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1945–1990 |
| Spouse | |
| Website | hbstudio |
Herbert Berghof (September 13, 1909 – November 5, 1990) was an American actor, director and acting teacher.[1]
Berghof was born inVienna, then part ofAustria-Hungary, to Jewish parents. He studied acting there withMax Reinhardt.[1] In 1939, he moved to New York where he launched a career as an actor and director onBroadway, and worked withLee Strasberg.[2] Berghof became a charter member of theActors Studio in 1947, with classmates includingMarlon Brando,Montgomery Clift,Jerome Robbins, andSidney Lumet.[3]
.jpg)
In 1945, he co-foundedHB Studio (the Herbert Berghof Studio) in New York City, as a place where aspiring actors could train and practice. In 1948,Uta Hagen joined the Studio as Berghof's artistic partner, and they married in 1957. They ran the studio together until his death in 1990.[2] Notable alumni includedJack Lemmon,Al Pacino,Liza Minnelli,Robert De Niro,Geraldine Page,Fritz Weaver,Anne Bancroft,Donna McKechnie andMatthew Broderick.[4][5] Despite being a charter member of the Actors Studio, he differed "with those colleagues who expoundedthe Method technique when his approach shifted to an emphasis on actions rather than thoughts and reactions."[4]
Stage appearances by Berghof included roles inIbsen'sThe Lady from the Sea (1950),The Andersonville Trial (1959). Among his film appearances were5 Fingers (1952),Red Planet Mars (1952),Fräulein (1958),Cleopatra (1963),An Affair of the Skin (1963),Harry and Tonto (1974),Voices (1979),Those Lips, Those Eyes (1980),Times Square (1980) andTarget (1985). He directed the first Broadway production ofBeckett'sWaiting for Godot (1956).[1]
Described byThe New York Times as "one of the nation's most respected acting teachers and coaches", he died of a heart ailment on 5 November 1990 at his home inManhattan.[4]
At the end of the summer, on Gadget's return from Hollywood, we settled the roster of actors for our two classes in what we called the Actors Studio – using the word 'studio' as we had when we named our workshop in the Group, the Group Theatre Studio... My group, meeting three times a week, consisted of Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, Maureen Stapleton, Eli Wallach, Mildred Dunnock, Jerome Robbins, Herbert Berghof, Tom Ewell, John Forsythe, Anne Jackson, Sidney Lumet, Kevin McCarthy, Karl Malden, E.G. Marshall, Patricia Neal, Beatrice Straight, David Wayne, and – well, I don't want to drop names, so I'll stop there. In all, there were about fifty.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
