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Monroe Roger Altenberg

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Monroe Roger Altenberg

Birth
Brooklyn, Kings County, New York, USA
Death
12 Oct 2005 (aged 82)
Kihei, Maui County, Hawaii, USA
Burial
Burial Details Unknown Add to Map
Memorial ID
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Obituary

Roger Altenberg passed away unexpectedly at home in Kihei, Maui, Hawaii on Wednesday, October 12, from cardiovascular disease, at 82.

Roger Altenberg was born in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in Rockaway Beach and Manhattan and graduated from Horace Mann School in 1939. When he was in an elevator at age 5, Rachmaninoff kissed his brother Henry.

He attended Brown University from 1939 to 1941. He moved to California during the war, graduated as a Master Aviation Mechanic at Curtiss-Wright Technical Institute in 1942, and completed his Bachelors in 1944 at USC.

He completed two years of medical school at USC before deciding that theater was his true calling. He completed his Masters at Western Reserve in 1948, and began doctoral work at Stanford in 1951, completed his Ph.D. in 1964 at USC with a study of Gilmor Brown's Fairoaks Playbox, the forerunner of the Pasadena Playhouse.

In 1951-1953 he was faculty and Dean of Men at the California College of Arts and Crafts. He married Elizabeth Lee Boyd in 1954. He wrote and performed plays with her for the TV show “Church In Thy House” on KPIX in San Francisco. In 1954 he joined the faculty of California State University at Los Angeles, retiring as Professor of Theatre Arts at in 1986.

He brought some of the first performances of Black theater to Cal State, including Benito Cereno, The Dutchman, Purlie Victorious, and In White America, and directed other major plays, including The Lark, Look Homeward Angel, Pennsylvania Here I Come, Tom Jones, and The Front Page.

He began a study of psychodrama with Jacob Moreno and Lewis Yablonsky in 1966 and in 1974 got a Masters in Humanistic Psychology from Sonoma State University.

Roger was noted for his innovative work in drama therapy for which he developed several undergraduate and graduate courses during the 1970s. Although that program did not become a formal degree option, a number of students who chose it went on to professional careers in that field.

In 1979, he was a co-founder of the National Association for Drama Therapy, and served on its board for a number of years. NADT certifies drama therapists and trainers of prospective therapists, and Roger was instrumental in developing its professional standards.

After retiring he lived in Santa Barbara, Santa Rosa, Monterey, Austin, and Santa Cruz.

In 1993 he had a silent heart attack and developed congestive heart failure. He joined his son Lee at Duke University, and they moved to Maui in 1994 where the warm climate would be protective because of a rare blood disorder, cryoglobulinemia.

They lived in Nashville in 1997-1998 for his medical treatment.

On Maui he served on the Board of the Maui Community Theater, attended playwriting, poetry, Spanish, and acting classes at Maui Community College, studied harp and watercolor, and performed as Ahab in a world-premiere reading of Joyce Adler's dramatization of Moby-Dick for the 2003 Melville Conference.

His great passions were traveling, language, reading history, music, and theater, and the harp.

He delighted in his grandchildren.

In his last years he commenced a reading of the complete Dickens, a study of the Civil War and Russian Revolution, a wide foray into French literature, and completed two trips to France with his son in 2002 and 2003.

He thanks all his “angels” --- those who would just come up and offer help as he made his way through the world in his last years.

He was predeceased by his parents Leo and May Altenberg, and his brother Norman B. Altenberg.

He is survived by his brother Henry Edward Altenberg, his former wife of fourteen years Elizabeth Lee, and his two sons, Lee, born on his 34th birthday, and Wayne, Wayne's wife Jennifer, and their two sons Ray and Ross.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

ROGER ALTENBERG, Professor of Theatre Arts, 1954-1986, died on October 12, 2005 of cardiovascular disease.

He was 82 years old, and had lived in Kihei, on the island of Maui, since 1994, when he was first diagnosed with that ailment.

He lived with his son, Lee, and benefited from the warm climate.

Roger was noted for his innovative work in drama therapy, for which he developed several courses, both undergraduate and graduate, during the 1970s. Although that program did not become a formal degree option, a number of students who chose it went on to professional careers in that field.

In 1979, he was a co-founder of the National Association for Drama Therapy (NADT), and he served on its board for a number of years. NADT certifies drama therapists and trainers of prospective therapists, and Roger was instrumental in developing its professional standards.

Alumni who had taken his courses, particularly those who later earned professional certification, wrote appreciative letters on hearing of his death.

Roger was born on December 8, 1922 in Brooklyn, New York. He was educated at the Horace Mann School, a well known private school devoted to progressive education as developed by Horace Mann.

He began his undergraduate education at Brown University in 1939, and then moved to California in 1941.

At the onset of World War II, he enrolled at the Curtis Wright Technical Institute and graduated as a master aviation mechanic in 1942.

He resumed his college studies at USC and received a B.A.in 1944. He then entered the USC School of Medicine, but after two years he decided that the practice of medicine was not his primary interest. Moving east again, he earned an M.A. at Western Reserve University in Ohio in 1948 and returned to California.

Appointed to the faculty of Los Angeles State College in 1954, Roger produced major plays on campus, including the musical, Tom Jones , based on the English novel, and works of Black Theatre such as The Dutchman and Purlie Victorious, at a time when such plays were controversial and important components of emerging black consciousness. In breaking new ground, he felt that this was his contribution to the civil rights movement.

He resumed his graduate study and received a Ph.D. from USC in 1964 with a study of Gilmor Brown's Fairoaks Playbox, forerunner of the Pasadena Playhouse.

His interest in theater converged with his desire to help people heal when he discovered psychodrama, studying with its founder, Jacob Moreno, beginning in 1967.

He followed his clinical training with a second M.A. from Sonoma State University, in humanistic psychology, in 1974.

Roger retired from Cal State L.A. in 1986, but did not seek emeritus status. After several moves within California, he joined his son and they moved to Hawaii.

He worked toward his recovery and became active there, serving on the board of the Maui Community Theater and taking courses at Maui Community College.

He performed the role of Ahab in a reading of Moby Dick at the 2003 Melville Conference, his last public performance.

He also studied harp and watercolor painting, and read widely, including French literature.

He traveled to France with his son in 2003 and 2004.

Roger is survived by his brother, Henry Altenberg; his former wife, Elizabeth Lee; his two sons, Lee and Wayne; and Wayne's two sons, the grandsons that were Roger's great delight.

A memorial service was held on November 12, for which Pamela Dunne, professor of theatre arts, provided the eulogy.

The Emeritimes, Winter 2006
Obituary

Roger Altenberg passed away unexpectedly at home in Kihei, Maui, Hawaii on Wednesday, October 12, from cardiovascular disease, at 82.

Roger Altenberg was born in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in Rockaway Beach and Manhattan and graduated from Horace Mann School in 1939. When he was in an elevator at age 5, Rachmaninoff kissed his brother Henry.

He attended Brown University from 1939 to 1941. He moved to California during the war, graduated as a Master Aviation Mechanic at Curtiss-Wright Technical Institute in 1942, and completed his Bachelors in 1944 at USC.

He completed two years of medical school at USC before deciding that theater was his true calling. He completed his Masters at Western Reserve in 1948, and began doctoral work at Stanford in 1951, completed his Ph.D. in 1964 at USC with a study of Gilmor Brown's Fairoaks Playbox, the forerunner of the Pasadena Playhouse.

In 1951-1953 he was faculty and Dean of Men at the California College of Arts and Crafts. He married Elizabeth Lee Boyd in 1954. He wrote and performed plays with her for the TV show “Church In Thy House” on KPIX in San Francisco. In 1954 he joined the faculty of California State University at Los Angeles, retiring as Professor of Theatre Arts at in 1986.

He brought some of the first performances of Black theater to Cal State, including Benito Cereno, The Dutchman, Purlie Victorious, and In White America, and directed other major plays, including The Lark, Look Homeward Angel, Pennsylvania Here I Come, Tom Jones, and The Front Page.

He began a study of psychodrama with Jacob Moreno and Lewis Yablonsky in 1966 and in 1974 got a Masters in Humanistic Psychology from Sonoma State University.

Roger was noted for his innovative work in drama therapy for which he developed several undergraduate and graduate courses during the 1970s. Although that program did not become a formal degree option, a number of students who chose it went on to professional careers in that field.

In 1979, he was a co-founder of the National Association for Drama Therapy, and served on its board for a number of years. NADT certifies drama therapists and trainers of prospective therapists, and Roger was instrumental in developing its professional standards.

After retiring he lived in Santa Barbara, Santa Rosa, Monterey, Austin, and Santa Cruz.

In 1993 he had a silent heart attack and developed congestive heart failure. He joined his son Lee at Duke University, and they moved to Maui in 1994 where the warm climate would be protective because of a rare blood disorder, cryoglobulinemia.

They lived in Nashville in 1997-1998 for his medical treatment.

On Maui he served on the Board of the Maui Community Theater, attended playwriting, poetry, Spanish, and acting classes at Maui Community College, studied harp and watercolor, and performed as Ahab in a world-premiere reading of Joyce Adler's dramatization of Moby-Dick for the 2003 Melville Conference.

His great passions were traveling, language, reading history, music, and theater, and the harp.

He delighted in his grandchildren.

In his last years he commenced a reading of the complete Dickens, a study of the Civil War and Russian Revolution, a wide foray into French literature, and completed two trips to France with his son in 2002 and 2003.

He thanks all his “angels” --- those who would just come up and offer help as he made his way through the world in his last years.

He was predeceased by his parents Leo and May Altenberg, and his brother Norman B. Altenberg.

He is survived by his brother Henry Edward Altenberg, his former wife of fourteen years Elizabeth Lee, and his two sons, Lee, born on his 34th birthday, and Wayne, Wayne's wife Jennifer, and their two sons Ray and Ross.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

ROGER ALTENBERG, Professor of Theatre Arts, 1954-1986, died on October 12, 2005 of cardiovascular disease.

He was 82 years old, and had lived in Kihei, on the island of Maui, since 1994, when he was first diagnosed with that ailment.

He lived with his son, Lee, and benefited from the warm climate.

Roger was noted for his innovative work in drama therapy, for which he developed several courses, both undergraduate and graduate, during the 1970s. Although that program did not become a formal degree option, a number of students who chose it went on to professional careers in that field.

In 1979, he was a co-founder of the National Association for Drama Therapy (NADT), and he served on its board for a number of years. NADT certifies drama therapists and trainers of prospective therapists, and Roger was instrumental in developing its professional standards.

Alumni who had taken his courses, particularly those who later earned professional certification, wrote appreciative letters on hearing of his death.

Roger was born on December 8, 1922 in Brooklyn, New York. He was educated at the Horace Mann School, a well known private school devoted to progressive education as developed by Horace Mann.

He began his undergraduate education at Brown University in 1939, and then moved to California in 1941.

At the onset of World War II, he enrolled at the Curtis Wright Technical Institute and graduated as a master aviation mechanic in 1942.

He resumed his college studies at USC and received a B.A.in 1944. He then entered the USC School of Medicine, but after two years he decided that the practice of medicine was not his primary interest. Moving east again, he earned an M.A. at Western Reserve University in Ohio in 1948 and returned to California.

Appointed to the faculty of Los Angeles State College in 1954, Roger produced major plays on campus, including the musical, Tom Jones , based on the English novel, and works of Black Theatre such as The Dutchman and Purlie Victorious, at a time when such plays were controversial and important components of emerging black consciousness. In breaking new ground, he felt that this was his contribution to the civil rights movement.

He resumed his graduate study and received a Ph.D. from USC in 1964 with a study of Gilmor Brown's Fairoaks Playbox, forerunner of the Pasadena Playhouse.

His interest in theater converged with his desire to help people heal when he discovered psychodrama, studying with its founder, Jacob Moreno, beginning in 1967.

He followed his clinical training with a second M.A. from Sonoma State University, in humanistic psychology, in 1974.

Roger retired from Cal State L.A. in 1986, but did not seek emeritus status. After several moves within California, he joined his son and they moved to Hawaii.

He worked toward his recovery and became active there, serving on the board of the Maui Community Theater and taking courses at Maui Community College.

He performed the role of Ahab in a reading of Moby Dick at the 2003 Melville Conference, his last public performance.

He also studied harp and watercolor painting, and read widely, including French literature.

He traveled to France with his son in 2003 and 2004.

Roger is survived by his brother, Henry Altenberg; his former wife, Elizabeth Lee; his two sons, Lee and Wayne; and Wayne's two sons, the grandsons that were Roger's great delight.

A memorial service was held on November 12, for which Pamela Dunne, professor of theatre arts, provided the eulogy.

The Emeritimes, Winter 2006


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