Edgar Brokaw Jr., 85; Taught Theater, TV and Film at UCLA

Edgar L. Brokaw Jr., 85, retired professor of theater, film and television at UCLA, died Dec. 9 at a Santa Monica nursing home. The cause of death was a heart attack, but Brokaw had also battled Alzheimer’s for some time.

Born in New York City, he served in the Army Signal Corps in India and Burma (now Myanmar). After the war, he attended UCLA on the GI Bill, earning a bachelor’s degree in 1952. He stayed on in the theater and film department as a lecturer before moving to New York City in 1954 to work for a film company. He later started his own company, Studio Films, making more than 75 shorts, documentaries and commercials. He returned to UCLA in 1961 to resume his teaching career.

“Ed’s basic ideas and philosophy of teaching were aimed at getting the individual to be free of imposed authoritative criteria, to work honestly from his or her own creative self, and to be a hands-on master of the craft,” said Will Adams, a former UCLA professor and colleague of Brokaw.

Brokaw retired in 1988 at the age of 71. In retirement, he collected rare books and traveled extensively.