Linda Herr, Professor Emeritus of Theater
With Connecticut College: 1976-2009
Linda Herr, professor emeritus of theater, an accomplished actress and director who was highly regarded by students and colleagues, died Dec. 23, 2012.
Linda Herr transformed the theater program into a full academic department and major and then served as chair for most of her tenure. Additionally, Professor Herr was dean of academic programs from 1997 to 2000 and served for a time as chair of the Planning, Priorities and Budget Committee and chair of the Faculty Steering and Conference Committee. She was acting director of the Gender and Women's Studies Department in 1996 and co-chair of the Dance Department in the fall of 1993. Professor Herr retired from teaching at Connecticut College in June, 2009.
She received a B.A. from Michigan State University, an M.A. from Hofstra University, and attended Training in movement at the Laban Institute, New York.
An accomplished actress and director, Professor Linda Herr directed many productions at Connecticut College, including "The Waiting Room," by Lisa Loomer (1997) "Suddenly Last Summer," by Tennessee Williams (1992) and "Love of the Nightingale," by Timberlake Wertenbaker (1991).
Her courses centered around the art of stage direction, including Contemporary European Theater, American Drama, Theater and Culture, Theories of Performance and History of the Avant-Garde.
In 1999 Professor Herr was instrumental in the opening of the College's Tansill Black Box Theater, where she directed Estelle Parsons ‘49 in “Medea.”
Herr's work as an actor and director was diverse. She acted in many productions, including LadyMacbeth in "Macbeth," Maggie in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," Martha in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and Amanda in "Private Lives." Her work as a director included "All's Well that Ends Well," "Look, Angel," "Picnic", "A Doll's House" and "The Glass Menagerie." In addition, she worked on the literary staff of Primary Stages, an off-Broadway theater in New York City.
Herr worked extensively with the Eugene O'Neill Theater in New London, especially in 1988 at Collaborations Three: The Eugene O'Neill Centennial. Using a grant from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, she directed "Desire Under the Elms" using a cast composed of both professional actors from New York and students from the college. She also conducted a lecture series on Eugene O'Neill for Collaborations Three thanks to a grant from the Connecticut Humanities Council.
Herr served as the liaison between the college and the Eugene O'Neill Theater since 1976. In 1984, Herr was a planner and consultant for the Eugene O'Neill Sea Play readings and discussion series in 1984 at O'Neill's Monte Christo Cottage in New London.