Herbert Berghof (13 September 1909 â€" 5 November 1990) was an
American actor, director and acting teacher.Born and educated in
Vienna, Austria, he studied acting there with Max Reinhardt. After
fleeing the Nazis, he moved to New York in 1939, where he launched a
career as an actor and director on Broadway, and worked with Lee
Strasberg. Berghof became a charter member of the Actors Studio in
1947, with classmates including Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift,
Jerome Robbins, and Sidney Lumet.In 1945, he co-founded HB 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. Notable alumni included Jack
Lemmon, Al Pacino, Liza Minnelli, Robert De Niro, Geraldine Page,
Fritz Weaver, Anne Bancroft, Donna McKechnie and Matthew
Broderick.Stage appearances by Berghof included roles in Ibsen's The
Lady from the Sea (1950), The Andersonville Trial (1959). Among his
film appearances were 5 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) and Target (1985). He directed the first Broadway
production of Beckett's Waiting for Godot (1956).
American actor, director and acting teacher.Born and educated in
Vienna, Austria, he studied acting there with Max Reinhardt. After
fleeing the Nazis, he moved to New York in 1939, where he launched a
career as an actor and director on Broadway, and worked with Lee
Strasberg. Berghof became a charter member of the Actors Studio in
1947, with classmates including Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift,
Jerome Robbins, and Sidney Lumet.In 1945, he co-founded HB 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. Notable alumni included Jack
Lemmon, Al Pacino, Liza Minnelli, Robert De Niro, Geraldine Page,
Fritz Weaver, Anne Bancroft, Donna McKechnie and Matthew
Broderick.Stage appearances by Berghof included roles in Ibsen's The
Lady from the Sea (1950), The Andersonville Trial (1959). Among his
film appearances were 5 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) and Target (1985). He directed the first Broadway
production of Beckett's Waiting for Godot (1956).
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