Herbert Berghof

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Herbert Berghof (born September 13, 1909 in Vienna , † November 5, 1990 in New York City ) was an Austrian - American actor , director and acting teacher . Together with his wife Uta Hagen , he founded HB Studio , a well-known drama school in Greenwich Village , in 1945 .

actor

In addition to studying at the University of Vienna , he completed an acting training with Max Reinhardt , who finally used him both in the theater in der Josefstadt and in 1937 - at the age of only 27 - as Death in his Jedermann production at the Salzburg Festival . Berghof also made guest appearances in Berlin and Zurich, temporarily belonged to the Ensemble Literatur am Naschmarkt and played - alongside Zarah Leander - in the world premiere of Axel an der Himmelstür , an operetta by Ralph Benatzky , in the Theater an der Wien in 1936 .

Forced to emigrate to the United States in 1939, he initially earned his living as an acting teacher, but was again successful as an actor on Broadway and finally in Hollywood from the late 1940s . His first stage success in America in 1949 was the role of Bartholdi in Miss Liberty , a musical by Irving Berlin based on a script by Robert E. Sherwood with 308 performances. His first Hollywood film was Der Fall Cicero (Originally: Five Fingers ), a thriller by Joseph L. Mankiewicz in 1951 , in which he played the German captain von Richter . In the following years he was mainly engaged in TV series, but kept returning to Hollywood: 1963 in Cleopatra with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton , 1974 in Harry and Tonto by Paul Mazursky , 1980 in your lips, your eyes with Tom Hulce .

Director

Berghof dared to bring out Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot in the John Golden Theater on Broadway in 1956 - with Geoffrey Holder as Lucky , EG Marshall and later Earle Hyman as Vladimir , Rex Ingram as Pozzo , Bert Lahr and later Mantan Moreland as Tarragon . It achieved respectable success with the press and audiences alike, although the production didn't last long.

Teacher

The HB Studio in Manhattan

Berghof died of a weak heart in Manhattan in 1990 , and The New York Times recognized him as "one of the most important acting teachers in the nation". At his Herbert Berghof Studio in New York, he and his wife have been teaching numerous (later) famous actors since 1945, including Jack Lemmon , Al Pacino , Liza Minnelli , Robert De Niro , Jeff Bridges , Geraldine Page , Fritz Weaver , Anne Bancroft , John Leguizamo and Matthew Broderick .

Filmography (selection)

  • 1951: The Cicero Case (Five Fingers)
  • 1952: Courier to Trieste (Diplomatic Courier)
  • 1952: Budapest does not answer (Assignment: Paris)
  • 1958: Miss
  • 1963: Cleopatra
  • 1974: Harry and Tonto (Harry and Tonto)
  • 1976: As long as love lives ( Dark Victory ; TV movie)
  • 1979: Voices of Love (Voices)
  • 1980: Times Square - You can all see us (Times Square)
  • 1980: Your Lips, Your Eyes (Those Lips, Those Eyes)
  • 1985 Target - Target (Target)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Peter B. Flint. Herbert Berghof, Actor, Director And Eminent Acting Teacher, 81 . The New York Times . Retrieved October 27, 2007.
personal data
SURNAME Berghof, Herbert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian-American actor, director and acting teacher
DATE OF BIRTH September 13, 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH 5th November 1990
Place of death New York City