The Spotlight: Katharine Ross in ‘Judgment at Nuremberg’ at the Santa Monica Playhouse

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

“The Graduate,” “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” “The Stepford Wives”-- actress Katharine Ross has appeared in a slew of boomer-defining classics. Her latest role may surprise longtime fans: the widow of a German general in “Judgment at Nuremberg,” directed by Diane Namm at the Santa Monica Playhouse.

Set in 1947, Abby Mann’s courtroom drama puts four German judges on trial for their complicity in the Nazi war machine. Stanley Kramer’s 1961 film, which United Artists feared would be a flop, was nominated for 11 Oscars and won two, including one for Mann’s screenplay. It was staged on Broadway in 2001.

What was your interest in this play?

I’m always looking for something to do, but I have a lot of other things going on. I got the part sitting next to Diane at the hairdresser’s. We had never met before.

In 1961, “Judgment” was groundbreaking. But after “Schindler’s List” and so many other Holocaust stories, are audiences jaded?

No. They get really quiet. They’re in the grip of this. It’s a period piece, but so pertinent. There are still genocides. There is Libya. Even what’s happening in this country now is relevant. During the trial, the prosecuting attorney shows a reel with images from Buchenwald. It’s hard to watch, but it brings home the play’s question: What is an individual’s true moral responsibility, regardless of what is legitimized by a government? You can’t help but ask yourself, What would I do in that situation?

Your character, Frau Bertolt, doesn’t want to accept her husband’s — or her own — part in the Holocaust. How did you find your way into the role?

She married a military man. For her, there’s a great deal of pride and honor associated with that. She also came from what was considered the nobility. She values beauty, culture. She represents an old way of life. Her husband wanted the dignity of a firing squad, but he was lumped in with political leaders and hanged. She really wants someone — it has to be the American judge — to acknowledge that it was wrong for her husband to be executed in that way. She wants that recognition. She’s trying to live her life like it was before the war. And it will never be that way again.

A number of your films have achieved iconic status. Is there a certain role you feel particularly close to?

I don’t have a favorite part. My current part is my favorite part. And when I do the next thing, that will be my favorite part.

What’s your next gig?

I’m not sure yet, but I want to do comedy! Katharine Hepburn-Spencer Tracy style.

Casting directors take note.

--Charlotte Stoudt

At the Santa Monica Playhouse through April 3.

Above: Actress Katharine Ross says her current role is always her favorite. Credit: Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times