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Wagner (Arthur) Papers
MSS 0809
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Table of contents
Languages:
English
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
Title: Arthur Wagner Papers
Creator:
Wagner, Arthur
Identifier/Call Number: MSS 0809
Physical Description:
1.85 Linear feet
(5 archives boxes, 1 map case folder, and 2 oversize folders)
Date (inclusive): 1949-1991
Abstract: A small collection representing a selection of the papers of Arthur Wagner, an actor, director, and professor of drama at
UC San Diego.
Scope and Content of Collection
A small collection representing a selection of the papers of Arthur Wagner, an actor, director, and professor of drama at
UC San Diego. The collection is not comprehensive, given the large breadth and scope of Wagner's professional career. The
collection includes a small amount of biographical material, including documentation from his doctoral studies at Stanford;
correspondence with colleagues and students; a very small number of rehearsal books, scripts, and other production materials;
files pertaining to professional organizations and research; and materials on administration and publicity for the performing
arts at UC San Diego. The UC San Diego files contain memoranda, correspondence, and ephemera documenting the early years of
the Department of Drama and Wagner's career within it.
Arranged in five series: 1) BIOGRAPHICAL, 2) CORRESPONDENCE, 3) PRODUCTIONS AND SCRIPTS, 4) ORGANIZATIONS AND MISCELLANEOUS
MATERIALS, and 5) UC SAN DIEGO.
Actor, director, and professor of drama Arthur Wagner (1923-2015) was born in New York City. He received a B.A. in Philosophy
from Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, and went on to receive his M.A. in Theatre Arts from Smith College in Northampton,
Massachusetts. He was involved in community theatre and was an artistic director of the Springfield Civic Theatre in Massachusetts
from 1948 to 1950. Wagner studied with renowned actor Paul Mann at The Actor's Workshop in New York City from 1953 to 1955.
He was named head of the Theatre Arts Department and director of the Annie Russell Theatre at Rollins College in Winter Park,
Fla. in 1956 and held that position for nine years, while earning his doctorate in drama from Stanford University, which was
awarded in 1962.
Throughout the 1960s, Wagner held many foundational teaching positions in the field of dramatic arts. He was a professor of
drama at Tulane University from 1965 to 1967, where he established the Graduate Actor Training Program. He then spent two
years as a faculty member and director of graduate and undergraduate actor training programs at Ohio University, then Temple
University in Philadelphia. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Wagner was a visiting professor of drama and a guest actor
for Columbia University in New York.
In 1972, Wagner was recruited to UC San Diego to become chair of the new Department of Drama (now known as the Department
of Theatre and Dance). In 1977, he became professor and head of the UC San Diego Graduate Actor Training Program, a position
he held until his retirement in 1991. Wagner was an integral part of the performing arts scene at UC San Diego, actively directing
and acting in innumerous productions, training actors, and developing the department into one of the top theatre and dance
programs in the nation. After his official retirement, he and his wife, Molli Wagner, continued to be closely involved with
the UC San Diego community: the Wagners were co-chairs of the Student Production Fund Endowment; Wagner served on the Board
of Trustees for the La Jolla Playhouse; and he participated in the Building Advisory Committee of the Mandeville Center for
the Arts, the Fourth College Planning Committee, the Advisory Committee for the Center of Music Experiment, and the Committee
on Campus Growth. The Arthur and Molli Wagner Dance Facility, completed in 1998, was named in honor of the couple and their
contributions to campus life.
Content for this note was provided by the UC San Diego obituary for Arthur Wagner:
https://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/pressrelease/arthur_wagner_founding_chair_of_uc_san_diego_theatre_and_dance_dies
Arthur Wagner Papers. MSS 809. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Acquired 2018
Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Acting teachers -- California -- San Diego -- Archives
Theater -- Production and direction -- Study and teaching
Wagner, Arthur -- Archives
University of California, San Diego. Department of Theatre and Dance -- History