1 Le Gallienne, Eva, With a Quiet Heart (New York: The Viking Press, 1953), p. 110Google Scholar.

2 Direct quotations from Hagen include three kinds of material: journals, letters, and interviews. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes are taken from her detailed journals; when there is any possible ambiguity of a source, quotes from her journals will be cited parenthetically as “Journal” followed by the relevant date; additional material taken from letters Hagen wrote to her parents will be cited “Letter” followed by the date, and letters originally written to her parents in German, which have been translated for me by Phillip Weichberger, will be cited as “German Letter,” also with the appropriate date; transcriptions from interviews will be cited “Interview” and dated.

3 Boston Herald, Boston Post, Boston Globe, and Boston Transcript, August 24, 1937.

4 Kellogg, Charlotte S., Cape Cod Colonial, August 24, 1937Google Scholar.

5 Hughes, Elinore, Boston Herald, August 24, 1937Google Scholar.

6 Cape Cod Standard Times, August 24, 1937.

7 Letters from Eva Le Gallienne to Oskar Hagen and Uta Hagen, October 22, 1937, in Hagen's private collection.

8 On December 7 Hagen wrote to her father's other theatre connection, Thornton Wilder. This was his reply: “Dear Miss Hagen—Indeed I do remember very well. I wish I could do some thing very definite for you, but all I can do is to lay your name before Mr. Harris in the company of several others who have written to me. Jed Harris is entirely self-governing in matters of casting and with my inexperience in the theatre I'm not in a position to put any weight on him. However I hope he sends for you. In the meantime I should advise you to continue calling in the office.—With all best wishes and my regards to your father—Sincerely yours, Thornton Wilder” (Quoted in a letter to her parents, December, 1937.)

Hagen took his advice but it led to nothing. She wrote to her father on December 13: “The business with Thornton Wilder pooed out. I came into [Jed Harris's] office this morning and when I came again in the afternoon as they'd told me, the walk-ons were all set!”(Letter from Uta Hagen to Oskar Hagen, in Hagen's private collection.)

9 On December 17 Dorothy Vernon fabricated a letter of introduction for Hagen to the producer, Kenyon Nicholson. “Dear Nick, This will introduce Miss Uta Hagen, a possible ‘Jewel’ and certainly a young actress you should know. I saw her play ‘Ophelia’ with Miss Le G. at Dennis and was very much impressed. She has a lovely emotional quality—has studied extensively in Germany under Kreutzman and at the R.A.D.A. in London. And at present has an offer for the Old Vic over there—but is terribly anxious to remain here. She is worthy of your consideration. All the best.” Hagen described this recommendation as “a mixture of her lies and mine and altogether lovely.” She saw Nicholson on December 20 and reported that “…he was terribly nice to me. He said I was too continental for the lead but I could probably have one of the smaller parts.” (Letters from Uta Hagen to Oskar Hagen, in Hagen's private collection.)

10 Hagen quoted Le Gallienne's recommendation in a letter to her parents on November 19, 1938: “Dear Peggy—This will introduce you to Uta Hagen, who was my Dennis ‘Ophelia’—I think very highly of her talent and do wish, if you have the occasion, that you would try her in one of your productions. She not only has great possibilities as an actress but is fortunate enough to have an invaluable background, which gives her an approach to and an understanding of her work all too rare (as we know) among young people nowadays. Do what you can for her and be nice to her. I should be very grateful.” (In Hagen's private collection.)

11 In her letter to her parents dated January 4, Hagen quoted Webster as having said: “My god you must do that scene for [Maurice] Evans. It was magnificent. Your voice, your body, everything. Christ! Congratulations. Eva was right.” (In Hagen's private collection.)

12 After the opening of The Sea Gull in the spring of 1938, Hagen was frequently interviewed and asked how she had landed the role of Nina. She always gave Lee Simonson credit for her initial introduction to Alfred Lunt. “Finally I thought of Lee Simonson of the Guild. He is a friend of my father's. I telephoned him and said I would adore meeting the Lunts. So I was introduced to Mr. Lunt—in a sort of social way—and I suggested to him that I was an actress. He told me they were having auditions in a few days and for me to come along and read something.” (Smith, H. Allen, New York World Telegram, April 2, 1938.Google Scholar)

13 Lynn Fontanne described the success of this audition process in a newspaper interview in the spring of 1938: “‘I've discovered so much young talent,’ Miss Fontanne told the News Chronicle. 'I used to find it impossible to find good actors and actresses for ingenue and juvenile parts. People that were charming off were impossible on. To spare myself the agony of interviewing them I got the idea of telling them to come along after the performance and play something—almost as if it were a first night. They couldn't be more nervous than I am on first nights, anyway. And what happened? I found just so much talent. That's how we discovered Uta Hagen, who had played just a week in repertory in Maine [sic]. She's delicious. She's got a squashy, squidgy face that looks lovely from the front and can she act! She'll be great one day. She made an enormous hit in Tchekov's ‘The Seagull.’” (London News Chronicle, May 1938.)

14 In Alan Hewitt's private collection.

15 In Hagen's private collection.