Arthur Wagner Papers
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
Copyright 2019
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
spcoll@ucsd.edu
Descriptive Summary
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.
Biography
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
Preferred Citation
Arthur Wagner Papers. MSS 809. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Acquisition Information
Acquired 2018
Publication Rights
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
Box 1, Folder 3
Poem tribute to Wagner entitled "Renewal," by Carol
Box 1, Folder 4
Jewish Community Theatre scrapbook; notebook
1949, 1955
Box 1, Folder 5-7
Stanford University, Dept. of Speech and Drama - Essays, exams and PhD materials
1957-1962
Box 1, Folder 8
City of San Diego, certificate of appreciation
1988
Box 1, Folder 9
Retirement announcement, San Diego Union-Tribune
1991
Box 1, Folder 15
Athens Centre for the Creative Arts
Box 1, Folder 31
Hallahan, Charlie (Chuck)
Box 1, Folder 33
Hayden, Rebecca (Wadsworth Publishing Co.)
1970-1971
General note
Correspondence regarding reviews and prospectus for Wagner's manuscript,
Acting and Transactional Analysis.
Box 2, Folder 3
Lesmeister-Partington, Jean
Box 2, Folder 16
Polish ITI Centre - Symposium Training of Theatre Directors
Box 2, Folder 22
San Diego Arts Foundation
Box 2, Folder 25
Segelcke, Tore
General note
Includes photographs. Ms. Segelcke acted in
Doll's House, directed by Wagner in the late 1960s, at Rollins College; it was her first play in English.
Oversize FB-380, Folder 04
Segelcke, Tore - Photograph
Box 2, Folder 36-37
Unidentified correspondents
Box 3, Folder 2
After the Fall - Rehearsal book
undated
Box 3, Folder 3
Guys and Dolls - Times Square set design artwork
undated
Oversize FB-380, Folder 03
Guys and Dolls - Times Square set design artwork
undated
Box 3, Folder 4
The Homecoming - Rehearsal book
undated
Box 3, Folder 5
Macbeth - Rehearsal book
1960
Oversize MC-051, Folder 02
Macbeth - Costume and set design sketches
1960
Box 3, Folder 6
Skin of our Teeth - Cast list and costume sketches
undated
Box 3, Folder 7
A Streetcar Named Desire - Notes and production schedule
1978-1979
Box 3, Folder 8
McElroy, Marlene A. The Watergate Follies
1974
Box 3, Folder 9
Phelan, Anthony. Power Play
1987
Box 3, Folder 10
Pratt, F. J. and Jim Hilton. Acoustic Café (pilot script)
undated
Box 3, Folder 11
Stock, Irvin. The Flyers: A Play in Three Acts
1960
ORGANIZATIONS AND MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS
Box 4, Folder 1
Brown Brick Repertory, Rockford College. Rockford, IL
1973
Box 4, Folder 2
Contemporary versus classic play production research
1975-1981
Box 4, Folder 3
Danforth Foundation Teachers Conference
1961-1962
Oversize FB-380, Folder 04
Fairbanks, Douglas (?) - Portrait photograph by Landseer, London
undated
Box 4, Folder 4-5
League of Professional Theatre Training Programs and Task Force
1971, 1986
Box 4, Folder 6-10
National Theatre Conference
1971-1980
Box 4, Folder 11
The Rollins Players, Annie Russell Theatre, Rollins College. Winter Park, FL
ca. 1960
Box 4, Folder 13
Wagner interview of Clifford Odets - Transcript
ca. 1966
Box 5, Folder 1
UCSD theatre ephemera - Playbills, etc.
Box 5, Folder 2
Drama Development Committee - Appointment of Arthur Wagner
1972
Box 5, Folder 3
Project for Music Experiment ephemera
1972-1973
Box 5, Folder 4
Department of Drama - Wagner proposal for Regents' Faculty Fellowship and seminar outline
ca. 1977
Box 5, Folder 5
UCSD application to League of Professional Theatre Training report and response
1978, 1981
Box 5, Folder 6-7
Department of Drama - Correspondence and memoranda
1977-1988, and undated
Box 5, Folder 8
UCSD Theatre press kit
1979
Box 5, Folder 9
Graduate student faculty evaluations for A. Wagner
1981-1989