Ms. Hagen also was a dedicated teacher, writing two revered acting books and mentoring generations of aspiring actors at HB Studio, the school named after her late husband, Herbert Berghof.
Yet it was as Martha in Albee's corrosive 1962 tale of a combative marriage that she gained her biggest success. Her portrayal, opposite Arthur Hill as George, was fierce and uncompromising. The play won five Tony Awards, including acting prizes for Ms. Hagen and Hill.
In London, where he is overseeing rehearsals of his play "The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?," Albee issued a statement. "Uta Hagen was a great teacher, a great actress and a great cook. Also, she was nobody's fool and I both admired her and cared for her deeply."
In honor of Ms. Hagen, Broadway theaters dimmed their lights before last night's performances.
Ms. Hagen made few movies, the best known being "The Other" (1972), "The Boys From Brazil" (1978), and "Reversal of Fortune" (1990), and when "Virginia Woolf" was filmed, the roles of Martha and George went to Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Her real passion was the theater.
Unlike many stage performers, Ms. Hagen enjoyed staying through extended runs. "I could play 10 performances a week forever and thrive on it," Ms. Hagen told the Orange County (Calif.) Register in 2001. "I'm never bored. People who get bored don't know their craft. There's always something new to be gleaned from every performance. After two years of playing `The Cherry Orchard,' you know what I did on closing night? I cried."
Ms. Hagen was known to say exactly what she thought, sparing no one, including herself.
Among her other roles: Desdemona, opposite Paul Robeson's Othello; Georgie in Odets's "The Country Girl," winning her first best-actress Tony in 1951; and Blanche DuBois in Williams's "A Streetcar Named Desire," playing opposite Marlon Brando after Jessica Tandy left the show.
Ms. Hagen received a third Tony Award, one for lifetime achievement, in 1999 and was awarded the National Medal of the Arts in 2002.
