Edwin Duerr (February 21, 1904 – August 13, 1985) was a theater and radio director. He was director of the Little Theater at

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

when he discovered

Gregory Peck Eldred Gregory Peck (April 5, 1916 – June 12, 2003) was an American actor and one of the most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1970s. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Peck the 12th-greatest male star of Classic Hollywood ...

. He wrote the books ''The Length and Depth of Acting'' and ''Radio and Television Acting: Criticism, Theory and Practice''. According to author Sean Egan in the James Kirkwood biography ''Ponies & Rainbows'', Duerr co-wrote a play with Kirkwood called ''The Marriage Habit'' which failed to get staged. Duerr served on the faculty of

California State University, Fullerton California State University, Fullerton (CSUF or Cal State Fullerton) is a public university in Fullerton, California. With a total enrollment of more than 41,000, it has the largest student body of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) ...

as a Professor of Theater from September 1964 until June 1974, when he was granted emeritus status. While at Fullerton he became the subject of an investigation by a committee of the California State Senate because he had allowed one of his classes to stage a performance of the allegedly pornographic play ''The Beard'', by

Michael McClure Michael McClure (October 20, 1932 – May 4, 2020) was an American poet, playwright, songwriter, and novelist. After moving to San Francisco as a young man, he found fame as one of the five poets (including Allen Ginsberg) who read at the famous ...

. State Senators James E. Whetmore (R. Fulleron) and

John G. Schmitz John George Schmitz (August 12, 1930 – January 10, 2001) was a Republican Party (United States), Republican member of the United States House of Representatives and California State Senate from Orange County, California, Orange County, Californ ...

(R. Tustin) called for the firing of Duerr and also criticized the campus president,

William B. Langsdorf William B. Langsdorf (October 23, 1909 – November 18, 2002) was the founding president of California State University, Fullerton (then known as Orange County State College). Background William B. Langsdorf (1909-2002) was born in Denver, CO ...

for granting Duerr tenure. In May 1968 Duerr directed the first United States production in its entirety of the 1958 play by

Max Frisch Max Rudolf Frisch (; 15 May 1911 – 4 April 1991) was a Swiss playwright and novelist. Frisch's works focused on problems of identity, individuality, responsibility, morality, and political commitment. The use of irony is a significant featur ...

, ''

The Firebugs ''The Arsonists'' (), previously also known in English as ''The Firebugs'' or ''The Fire Raisers'', was written by the Swiss novelist and playwright Max Frisch in 1953, first as a radio play, then adapted for television and the stage (1958) as a pl ...

''.

References

Oakland High School Memorial

The Daily Californian

1904 births 1985 deaths California State University, Fullerton faculty University of California, Berkeley staff {{theat-director-stub