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18 Aug 05 - 08:03 PM (#1545260) Subject: Obit: Herta Ware RIP From: Mary Katherine Herta Ware, 1917-2005 Actress and activist Herta Ware, who was married to blacklisted actor Will Geer (best known as TV's Grandpa Walton) and helped to form The Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga, California, has died at the age of 88. Ms. Ware was born June 9, 1917 in Wilmington, Delaware. A singer/songwriter and classical actress, she married Will Geer in 1934 and first performed in Broadway shows such as the original productions of "The Cradle Will Rock" and "Let Freedom Ring" with Geer. Aside from her loving classical repertory work onstage at the Theatricum Botanicum (her roles over the years range from Amanda in Tennessee Williams' "The Glass Menagerie" to the soothsayer in "Skin of Our Teeth" by Thornton Wilder, to her annual performance accompanied by her own dog Willie in Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream"), Herta's work in the film world includes notable appearances in MGM's "2010," "Cocoon,""Slam Dance," "Species" "Top Dog" and "Cruel Intentions." Among her many television credits are roles on "Amazing Stories," "Knots Landing," "Scarecrow and Mrs. King," "Golden Girls," "Cagney and Lacey" and "Star Trek: The Next Generation"; she received an ACE award for "Crazy in Love," a TNT movie special, and starred in a memorable episode of "ER" with family friend John Randolph. In 2000 she released a self-titled CD of her own songs. Ware and Will Geer lent their talents and efforts to the Labor Movement in the '30s and '40s (Ware's grandmother was union activist Ella Reeve Bloor), helping to form unions and taking their children to workers' rallies, teaching them union songs which the family performed at fundraisers. The lifelong relationship between Woody Guthrie and the Geer family began in the late 1930s when Guthrie, Geer and Ware performed together at labor rallies and immigrant camps in California . When Will Geer got a job on Broadway in a production of "Tobacco Road," Guthrie joined the family in New York where they met up with Pete Seeger and others who would forever be at the center of the family's musical and political activities. In 1951 Will Geer was one of the actors victimized by the McCarthy Era Blacklisting which was supported by the Screen Actors' Guild, then headed by Ronald Reagan. The couple lost their home and, after a short period of travelling around the country, moved to the property in Topanga which is now the Theatricum Botanicum. Will and his family opened a theatre for blacklisted actors and folk singers, and until the blackslist was broken in 1961, the family earned a living selling vegetables, fruit and herbs and theatre. The Theatricum Botanicum was formed in 1973, and since Will Geer's death in 1978 has been run by daughter Ellen Geer and family members. After the theatre renovated its amphitheatre in 1997, at a celebration honoring her 80th birthday, Ware remarked, "This has been a tremendous effort, but it's our way of giving to the community and to our audiences who every summer seem to grow and come from everywhere-the young couples, the elderly, the kids . . . and if anyone can rescue us in this Country, it's the kids! It's so exciting for me, Ellen and the whole family, that now there's really nothing stopping us." Herta Ware died at 12:00 pm on August 15, 2005 at her home surrounded by family members in Topanga, California. She is survived by daughters Ellen Geer, Kate Geer and Melora Marshall (by late actor David Marshall), one son Thad Geer, nine grandchildren and one great-grandson. Public Memorial Services are scheduled for September 10th from 10:00am - 2:00pm at The Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum. All are welcome, The Geer family asks that if you have a story to share about Herta, please bring it with you. for further information call 310/455-2322. In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to the Theatricum, designated for "Herta's Young Actor Fund": P.O. Box 1222, Topanga, CA 90290. |
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19 Aug 05 - 04:57 PM (#1545951) Subject: RE: Obit: Herta Ware RIP (Aug 2005) From: alanabit I had not heard of her before, which is obviously my loss. That is one fine life she led. Thanks for posting MK. |
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19 Aug 05 - 06:18 PM (#1546016) Subject: RE: Obit: Herta Ware RIP (Aug 2005) From: Mary Katherine The obit didn't mention Will and Herta's wonderful garden, which (I think) is still being tended by the family on their land in Topanga. They decided to plant a "Shakespeare Garden," in which grows at least one of every plant, shrub, tree and flower mentioned anywhere in any of Shakespeare's plays. "Here's rosemary, that's for remembrance..." |
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19 Aug 05 - 11:09 PM (#1546191) Subject: RE: Obit: Herta Ware RIP (Aug 2005) From: John on the Sunset Coast Thank you for that obit, MK. I read it in the LA Times this AM. I'm not sure many folks, outside of SoCal, really know who she was...more's the pity. But they do now. P.S. I really miss you on the radio. |