New Zealand Actor Charged With Sexual Assault Says He Was Teaching Uta Hagen Technique

The New Zealand news website Stuff reports that Auckland District Court documents reveal that a well-known actor charged with sexually assaulting students has claimed that he was teaching them an acting technique described in a book by famed German-American acting teacher Uta Hagen.

In January of 2016, when the defendant pleaded not guilty to four counts of indecent assault and two of sexuAl Violation, Judge Russell Collins declined requests to photograph him and granted him the privilege of having his name suppressed, stating there was "no public interest" in his identity.

Stuff reports that the name suppression judgment outlined an acting technique the defendant taught, derived by Hagen.

One of the country's great classical actors, Hagen made her Broadway debut as Nina in a 1938 revival of Anton Chekhov's THE SEAGULL and is best known for originating the roles of Georgie Elgin in Clifford Odets' THE COUNTRY GIRL and Martha in Edward Albee's WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF, winning Best Actress Tony Awards for each.

In 1957 she married actor Herbert Berghof, who, in 1945, founded the acting school, HB Studios, which still operates today on Bank Street in Greenwich Village. Hagen began teaching master classes at the school, which led to the publication of her books "Respect for Acting" and "A Challenge for the Actor," both of which are still studied today. Hagen passed away in 2004 at age 84.

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