John A. Bertolini, Ellis Professor Emeritus of English and Liberal Arts, who taught English and Film at Middlebury College for 44 years, died August 16. He held a B.A. from Manhattan College and M.A. and Ph.D. from Columbia University. He leaves behind his wife of 53 years, Mary Ellen Bertolini, his two daughters, Francesca Bertolini and Diana Bertolini, several close friends, and thousands of students. John loved and delighted in his family. In addition to his professional accomplishments, he will be remembered for his warmth, keen intelligence, encyclopedic knowledge of his favorite subjects, sharp wit, and sense of humor. He was intellectually exciting to talk to, always entertaining, and easy to have fun with. He was 78.

John loved teaching and did it joyfully. He inspired and was dedicated to his students, some of whom became writers, actors, and teachers, and many of whom developed life-long passions for Shakespeare, Shaw, Rattigan, Hitchcock, William Wyler, and David Lean.

An only child, John grew up in Brooklyn, New York. A first generation American on his father’s side; he spoke fluent Italian and French. John’s father, Amerigo, was a Freudian psychiatrist who introduced him to many ideas he would use as a foundation for his interpretation of literature.

His mother, Anna inspired, his lifelong love of cinema, by regularly taking him to the great movie palaces of Brooklyn and Manhattan, where he first saw many of the classic 1950s films that would become his lifelong favorites. One of his earliest memories was seeing the first cinemascope film, The Robe (1953) at the Roxy Theatre. This experience made such an impression on him that he would later name his younger daughter, Diana, after the female lead character.

Acting in productions at Brooklyn Preparatory School, Manhattan College, and the College of New Rochelle cultivated his love of great plays – many of which he would go on to teach – and formed the basis of the dynamic theatricality that he brought to the classroom. He appeared in the title role in Richard II, as Orsino in Twelfth Night, Biff in Death of a Salesman, Eddie Carbone in A View from the Bridge, starred opposite his future wife Mary Ellen in Shaw’s Arms and the Man, and directed and starred in his own productions of Hamlet and King Lear.

At Columbia University, he studied French and Italian Renaissance Drama, writing his dissertation on: “Dramaturgy in Italian and French Renaissance Tragedy.” As a graduate student, he taught at Barnard and Columbia Colleges. He began his academic career studying Renaissance Drama and became himself a Renaissance man.

In addition to his love of film and literature, he was also a fanatical collector and expert on classical music (especially opera), and musical theatre. He had a great ear for music and a beautiful natural singing voice.

During his decades at Middlebury, he chaired the English and Film Departments and the Literary Studies Program and served as a Faculty Associate for Wonacott Commons. He was an excellent mentor to his colleagues. He taught courses on Shakespeare, Chaucer, Milton, Shaw, Stoppard, Rattigan, Modern British Drama, Contemporary British Drama, Modern Irish Drama, American Drama, European Drama, British Cinema, Comedy, Alfred Hitchcock, David Lean, and William Wyler.

John published The Playwrighting Self of Bernard Shaw (1991), The Case for Terence Rattigan, Playwright (2016), and dozens of articles on Shaw, Shakespeare, Alfred Hitchcock, Luigi Pirandello, Terrance Rattigan, and Tennessee Williams. In 2009, he edited and wrote introductions for two volumes of Shaw’s plays for the Barnes and Noble Classics series, Man and Superman and Three Other Plays, and Pygmalion and Three Other Plays. He also edited Shaw and Other Playwrights, Volume 13 of SHAW: The Annual of Bernard Shaw Studies (1993). He was a founding Member and on the Advisory Council of the International Shaw Society.

Over the years, he gave multiple presentations on the works of Bernard Shaw, Terence Rattigan, Arthur Miller, and William Shakespeare, and also on French and Italian Opera, and such films as Early Spring, Sense and Sensibility, 8 ½, High Noon, Rear Window, and Poil de Carotte. Highlights of his public speaking career include lecturing at the Shaw Festival, at Oxford University’s Lincoln College, addressing the Terence Rattigan Society at the Oxford and Cambridge Club, and being chosen by Middlebury’s February Class of 1999 and the Class of 2007 to be their graduation speaker.

He studied the mechanics of great films and literature, and could explain the intention behind a word choice, a use of italics, a close-up, or a camera angle. He integrated those details into his appreciation of the work as a whole and expressed his insights brilliantly in his classes, lectures, and published writings. But he, also, connected to art on the deepest emotional level, often moved to uproarious laughter or to tears by its power and beauty. He spread his infectious joy, humor, and enthusiasm to his students, friends, and family. The great passion of his life was sharing the art he loved, and even after retiring, he never stopped teaching. Despite the progression of Parkinson’s disease, over the course of two years he gave a series of private classes on eight Shakespeare plays to his daughters, which is one of their most treasured memories.

“And gladly would he learn and gladly teach.” The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer

We ask those who wish to honor John, to donate to Porter Medical Center where he received exceptional care in the final weeks of his life. Please select the "Palliative Care/ARCH Fund."

https://www.uvmhealth.org/give-back/give-to-uvm-health/give-to-porter-medical-center

A celebration of John’s life, including a film screening, will be held in April 2027.