Passing of Professor Emeritus Robert Cohen

It is with great sadness that I announce the passing of Claire Trevor Professor of Drama Emeritus Robert Cohen, a member of our founding faculty and a towering figure in the theater world. He died peacefully on Friday, November 15, with his beloved wife, Lorna, at his side. He was 86.

Professor Cohen joined UC Irvine in 1965 after earning his undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley and his D.F.A. from Yale University and studying at the Actors Studio. He played a critical role in developing the Department of Drama, serving as its founding chair for 25 years, creating the M.F.A. in Drama program and establishing the Students’ Repertory Theatre, the first of its kind in the United States. Under his stewardship, UCI’s drama program became celebrated for training pre-professional actors.

He was a director, playwright, translator, drama critic, acting theorist, and author, but first and foremost he was a teacher. He revolutionized the teaching of acting in America, inventing his own acting system which, through workshops, conferences and his books, eventually reached an international audience that embrace his avant-garde coaching techniques enthusiastically. His texts on acting – Acting One, Acting Two, Acting in Shakespeare, Shakespeare on Theatre, and Acting Power – are in wide use around the world. He also published books on directing, collaboration, and theatre history and appreciation. His plays have been performed in the U.S. and Europe.

Professor Cohen and his wife established the Robert and Lorna Cohen Endowment for Excellence in Drama in 2008 to bring world class-speakers and artists to the department and provide promotional support for marketing and publicizing drama productions.

Professor Cohen received this university’s highest honor, the UCI Medal, in 1993, the Career Achievement Award in Academic Theatre from the Association for Theatre in Higher Education in 1999, and the UCI Distinguished Faculty Award for Research in 2015, among many other honors. The Claire Trevor School of the Arts renamed the Studio Theatre the Robert Cohen Theatre in 2011 and bestowed a Claire Trevor Commemorative Star on him and his wife in 2016 in recognition of his remarkable contributions. He retired in 2015, having completed 50 years of extraordinary service to UCI and the world of theater.

We extend our condolences to Lorna Cohen, Robert Cohen’s wife and partner of five decades, his children and family, friends, colleagues, and former students during this difficult time. A celebration of his life and career will be held later this academic year.

Chancellor Howard Gillman