Bella Itkin papers

Finding aid updated on 9/19/2018

Dr. Bella Itkin was a Theatre School faculty member for 47 years. Born in Russia in 1920, she immigrated to the United States in 1932 with her mother and sister Israella "Iza" Itkin. Her father, David Itkin, previously a member of the Moscow Art Theatre, had already settled in Chicago and found work in the DePaul University Theatre School, then known as the Goodman School of Drama. Bella went on to study at the Goodman, receiving a Master of Fine Arts degree in 1943. She later received her doctorate from Case Western Reserve University. Bella started her career at the Goodman as her father's assistant, but soon developed her own name in the theatre community. She directed more than 200 stage productions at the Goodman/Theatre School, including "The Seagull," "The Cherry Orchard," "Romeo and Juliet," and "A Streetcar Named Desire." Affectionately known as "Dr. Bella," her students included Joe Mantegna, Lois Nettleton, Kevin Anderson, Betsy Palmer, and Geraldine Page, among many others. From 1945-1950, she also operated the Lake Zurich Playhouse, a summer theater established by Bella and colleagues and students from the Goodman School. She served as Artistic Director of Chicago Playworks (formerly known as the Goodman Children's Theatre) for 15 years. In 1967, Bella met carpenter Frank Konrath on the set of "Hamlet." The two were married until his death in 2002. Bella retired from full time teaching in 1989, but continued to teach part time until 2000. She died in 2011 at the age of 90.

The Bella Itkin papers contain director's scripts, photographs, publicity, videotaped lectures, scrapbooks, awards, notes, class materials and syllabi, and memorial materials related to Dr. Bella Itkin. Itkin's 1954 dissertation from Case Western University, "The Patterns of Verbal Imagery as Found in Ten Major Works of O'Neill," has been removed from the collection and cataloged within the Special Collections department. The call number is SpC.812.5 O58Yi1954.

The collection is organized into two series: 1. Biographical Files; 2. Career. The Biographical Files series is arranged chronologically. The Career series is further divided into subseries: 2.1 Theatre Performances; 2.2 Class Materials. See series-level arrangement notes for additional details.

• Names
  • Itkin, Bella.--Archives
  • DePaul University--Faculty--Archives
  • DePaul University.--Theatre School--History--Sources
• Subject
  • Theater--Study and teaching--Archival resources--Illinois--Chicago
  • Acting--Study and teaching--Archival resources--Illinois--Chicago
  • College theater--Archival resources--Illinois--Chicago
  • Theater--Archival resources--Illinois--Chicago

Collection on Theatre at DePaul

David Itkin papers

This collection is open for research use.

The preferred citation is: Bella Itkin papers, [Box#, Folder#], Special Collections and Archives, DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois.

Accession 1989.31; 1995.47; 2011.18

SS 1996; KEL 2003; JMC 2014