From Berlin to Whoville

by Paul A. Schons

Originally published by the Germanic-American Institute in May, 2002

Do you remember the film or the TV series, Fame? Who was Professor Benjamin Shorofsky in the film and in the series? Who was the psychiatrist in the film Space Jam staring Bugs Bunny and Michael Jordan? Do you remember the charming music in the original film of Dr. Suess’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the original cartoon version prior to Jim Carrey)?

Albert Hague is the common element. He played the roles above and wrote the music for the Grinch. His original name was Albert Marcuse. He was born in Berlin on October 13, 1920 and pursued his early education in music in that city. His father, who had been a Berlin psychiatrist, died during Albert’s youth. The young man would later take the name of his stepfather, an eye surgeon, Dr. Elliott Hague.

In 1937 Hague came upon a flyer promoting a new film school in Mussolini’s Italy which included a department of film music, which at that point in his life looked very attractive. He thus left Germany for Rome. But, as he told the story in an interview with Gregory Bossler, when he arrived in Rome he found only an empty pasture with a sign indicating that a new film and music school was planned for that site at some time in the future.

Alone in Rome without a school, he faced the first crisis of his desired career in music. After some effort, he was able to arrange an audition for admission to the Santa Cedilia Conservatory of music. Through 1938 and into 1939 events were building toward a future in Europe which was less and less promising for a young man. His mother had been busy during recent months contacting and aunt who lived in the United States in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio. His aunt was able to arrange admission to the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music.

In 1939 Hague was able to book passage to the United States from Italy. He arrived in his new homeland without knowing a word of English. He recalls that he took exclusively music classes during the first two years while he developed his ability in English and enrolled in the classes which required greater fluency in English during the second two years. When he graduated in 1942, the United states was involved in World War II. He enlisted and served in the U.S. special services band for two years.

At the end of the war he settled in New York City. By 1948 he had written the score for Reluctant Lady which was produced in Cleveland. The female lead in the musical play was Renée Orin. They fell in love, married, and would work together until Orin’s death in Marina del Rey, California in 2001.

Reluctant Lady never left Cleveland, but Hague did. During the next 20 years he was successful as a composer on Broadway, adding such productions to his credit as The Mad woman of Challot, Dance Me a Song, Coney Island, U.S.A, The Mercer Girls, All Summer Long, Plain and Fancy and Redhead.

His music would become most widely known, however, in the film version of Dr. Suess’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The Grinch first aired on CBS in 1966. The music he composed carried all the “Whos” in “Whoville” through the threat of the evil green Grinch. At age 46, his career then went into a quite phase until he made his debut as an actor in 1980 in a film which would carry him later into a role in the film and then the 7 year TV series, Fame, as Professor Benjamin Shorofsky. In describing his new career as an actor he said, “As an actor I was out of work for 59 years.”

Having converted from a career as a composer to that of an actor Hague appeared during the next 20 years in a variety of Hollywood films including Space Jam in 1996 in which he costarred with Bugs Bunny and Michael Jordan. He appeared in a number of other films including The Story of Us in 1999, Playing Dangerous in 1996 and Nightmares in 1983. He also made guest appearances in Beauty and the Beast in 1987, Amazing Stories in 1986 and in the television series Tales From the Darkside.

Albert (Marcuse) Hague died at age 81 at his home in California. In the movie, Fame he had played a very gruff teacher with a somewhat threatening German accent. Debbie Allen, who had played with him in Fame, said of him “He was such a wise, young old soul. Such a gentle, jovial person.”

Hague’s wife and performance partner, Renée Orin had died of lymphoma a year before him. She had appeared in a number of his musicals and the two had continued working together until she died. They had appeared in a cabaret act at Carnegie Hall less than a year before Orin’s death.