Biography
Uta Hagen was a German-American actress and theatre practitioner. Born in Göttingen, Germany, she moved to the United States as a child and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. She made her Broadway debut in 1938 as Nina in The Seagull.
Hagen originated the role of Martha in the 1962 Broadway production of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, winning a Tony Award. She received another Tony for The Country Girl (1950) and a Special Tony for Lifetime Achievement in 1999. She was elected to the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1981.
Owing in part to her appearance on the Hollywood blacklist, Hagen focused primarily on stage work and teaching. She co-founded and taught at New York's Herbert Berghof Studio, and wrote the acting texts Respect for Acting and A Challenge for the Actor. Her film roles include Maria in Reversal of Fortune (1990), as well as appearances in The Other (1972) and The Boys from Brazil (1978).
