Herta Ware (June 9, 1917 – August 15, 2005) was an American actress and activist.

Herta Ware
Born
Herta Schwartz

June 9, 1917
DiedAugust 15, 2005 (aged 88)
OccupationActress
Years active1930s–? (stage)
1978–2000 (film & television)
Spouses
(m. 1934; div. 1954)
David Marshall
(m. 1954; div. 1978)
Children4, including Ellen Geer
ParentHelen Ware
RelativesWillow Geer (granddaughter)

Early life

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Ware was born Herta Schwartz in Wilmington, Delaware. Her mother, Helen Ware, was a musician and violin teacher. Her father, Laszlo Schwartz, was an actor who was born in Budapest.[1]

Her maternal uncle, Harold Ware, headed the Ware Group, the most extensive Soviet spy ring in American history.[citation needed]

Her maternal grandmother was labor organizer and socialist Ella Reeve Bloor, the co-founder of the Communist Labor Party of America, and later a member of the central committee of the Communist Party USA.[citation needed]

Her father was Jewish and her mother was Christian.[2]

Career

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Ware made her Broadway debut in Let Freedom Ring (November 6, 1935–February 1936), co-starring husband Will Geer, whom she had married in 1934. The couple appeared together in other New York plays, including Bury the Dead (1936), Prelude (1936), 200 Were Chosen (1936) and Journeyman (1938), and Six O'Clock Theatre (1948), all of which were short-lived.

She made her on-screen debut in 1978, when she appeared in the television film, A Question of Guilt. Subsequently, she appeared in her first feature film 1980, The Black Marble. Her second feature film was Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype, which featured Oliver Reed. She starred in 2010 in 1984.

She is perhaps most recognized for her performance in the classic film Ron Howard's Cocoon, and appeared in the sequel Cocoon: The Return. She appeared in Critters 2: The Main Course as "Nana". She had roles in several other well-known films such as, Species, Practical Magic, with Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, and Cruel Intentions, with Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe. Her role in the 1992 television film Crazy in Love earned her a CableACE Award for Supporting Actress in a Movie or Miniseries.

Ware made many guest appearances on classic television series including, Knots Landing, Highway to Heaven, Cagney & Lacey, The Golden Girls and ER, to name a few.

She and her daughter, Ellen Geer, both made guest appearances on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Beauty and the Beast.

Personal life

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In 1934, Ware married actor Will Geer, with whom she had three children. She and Geer were politically-minded and relocated to Los Angeles in the early 1940s[3] and settled in Santa Monica so that Geer could pursue his movie career.[citation needed]

In 1951, the passionately left-wing Geer became blacklisted by Hollywood for taking the Fifth Amendment and refusing to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee.[3]

With Geer's film career destroyed, and falling into financial difficulties, the couple lost their Los Angeles home. The pair divorced in 1954 but remained close friends.[citation needed]

Ware later married actor David Marshall, with whom she had one child, a daughter, actress Melora Marshall. They later divorced.[citation needed]

Ware and Geer reunited in 1973 and subsequently co-founded the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, which was on five acres of land that Ware purchased in Topanga Canyon for $10,000. The burgeoning theater officially opened as a summer theater in 1973.[3]

She stayed by Geer's bedside as he died of a respiratory ailment in 1978. In 2000, she published her own memoir Fantastic Journey, My Life with Will Geer.[3]

Death

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Ware died on August 15, 2005,[4] due to complications of Parkinson's disease, aged 88, in Topanga, California.[3] Her ashes and those of her ex-husband, Will Geer,[5] were scattered at their outdoor theatre.[6]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Directed by Notes
1980 The Black Marble The Grand Duchess
Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype Old Lady On Bus
1984 2010 Jessie Bowman
1985 Cocoon Rosie Lefkowitz
1987 Slam Dance Mrs. Raines
Promised Land Mrs. Higgins
Dirty Laundry Grandmother Verna
William Webb
1988 Critters 2: The Main Course Nana
Cocoon: The Return Rose Lefkowitz
Dakota Aunt Zard
Fred Holmes
1991 Soapdish Old Woman
Lonely Hearts Gran
Race Against Tomorrow
1995 Top Dog Mrs. Wilder, Jake's Mother
Species Mrs. Morris
1997 St. Patrick's Day Aunt Delia
Hope Perello
1998 Practical Magic Old Lady Wilkes
The Politics of Desire The Radio Listener
Petrie Alexandra
1999 Cruel Intentions Mrs. Sugarman
Held Up Alice
2000 Beautiful Clara
Desperate But Not Serious Grammy
Bill Fishman
(final film role)

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1983 Knots Landing Ethel Marcus Season 5, episode 14 "Secrets Cry Aloud"
1984 Highway to Heaven Grandma Season 1, episode 13 "Another Song for Christmas"
1985 Wildside Mrs. Brinkenhoff Season 1, episode 1 "Well-Known Secret" (pilot)
Scarecrow and Mrs. King Season 3, episode 3 "Over the Limit"
1986 Crossings Mrs. Emma Zimmerman Television mini-series; episode 1
Amazing Stories Grandma Helen Season 1, episode 24 "Grandpa's Ghost" (season finale)
Sidekicks Mamie Season 1, episode 12 "Grey Belts"
1987 Crime Story Old Lady Season 1, episode 19 "The Pinnacle"
Beauty and the Beast Sylvia Season 1, episode 3 "Siege"
Star Trek: The Next Generation Yvette Picard Season 1, episode 6 "Where No One Has Gone Before"
1988 Cagney & Lacey Wilma Milton Season 7, episode 10 "Old Flames"
The Golden Girls Ida Season 4, episode 8 "Brother, Can You Spare That Jacket?"
1989 Just the Ten of Us Sister Cyril Season 2, episode 10 "Song of Constance"
1990 The Munsters Today The Widow Johansen Season 2, episode 24 "That's Gratitude" (season finale)
1991 The New Adam-12 Claire Season 1, episode 20 "221 Pizza"
Eerie, Indiana Mary B. Carter Season 1, episode 8 "The Dead Letter"
1992 Civil Wars Alma Gough Season 2, episode 3 "Oboe Phobia"
1994 ER Mrs. Franks Season 1, episode 2 "Day One"
1995 Misery Loves Company Old Hildy Season 1, episode 5 "The Witches of East 6th" (unaired episode)
1996 Tracey Takes On... Ida Levitz Season 1, episode 6 "Law"
1998-2000 Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction Old Woman Season 2, episode 9 (story 3 - "The Getaway")
Season 3, episode 3 ("The Find", "The Golden Cue", "The FBI Story", "The Gravedigger's Nemesis" & "Last Rites" - all 5 stories from #3.3)

Television films

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Year Title Role Notes
1978 A Question of Guilt Miriam's Mother
1986 Child's Cry Mrs. Hartounian
1990 Miracle Landing Dorothy Hendricks
1992 Crazy in Love Pem CableAce Award for Supporting Actress in a Movie or Miniseries
1996 Alien Nation: Millennium Alana
Co-ed Call Girl Customer

Other appearances

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  • 1974 Medieval Theater: The Play of Abraham and Isaac ... Mary Pink, Mother (short documentary)
  • 1984 Woody Guthrie: Hard Travelin' (documentary)
  • 1993 When Jesus Was a Kid (video short)

References

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  1. ^ "Descendants of Henry Lewis Stephens and Charlotte Ann Wevill". Wargs.com. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
  2. ^ "Theatricum Opens a Controversy — and a New Space — With Rachel Corrie ‹ @ This Stage". Lastagetimes.com. 2011-08-29. Archived from the original on 2015-04-27. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Herta Ware, 88; Actress Helped Establish Theatricum Botanicum". Los Angeles Times. 2005-08-19. Retrieved 2020-06-04.
  4. ^ "Herta Ware". geni_family_tree. 9 June 1917. Retrieved 2020-06-04.
  5. ^ "Theatricum Botanicum". www.the-waltons.com. Retrieved 2020-06-04.
  6. ^ "Photo Essay: A Theater of Plants In the Cradle of the Canyon". Retrieved 2020-06-04.
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