Estelle Karchmer Harman; Acting Coach, Founder of Workshop

Estelle Karchmer Harman, 72, a highly respected acting coach who founded the Estelle Harman Actors Workshop in 1957. Before she opened her acting school, now run by her daughter, Eden Bernardy, Mrs. Harman taught at UCLA, where she helped establish the department of theater arts. She also spent two years in the talent department of Universal Studios as the director of screen tests. Among performers who benefited from her tutoring are Victoria Principal, Lee Majors, Sharon Gless, Frankie Avalon and Carol Burnett. Married to the psychologist Samuel Harman, the acting teacher believed that psychology played a part in acting. Acting is “a harsh and rejecting kind of life and it takes a very resilient ego because the rejection never, never stops,” she once told The Times. Mrs. Harman was educated at Los Angeles City College, UCLA and USC. The family also owns and operates the Harman Avenue Theater. On Sunday in Hollywood of cancer.