1930
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He asked a Mrs. Bertha Mann to open a professional school for performers, a prep school which would schedule its classes to accommodate the young stars' work hours. And so, the Hollywood Professional School came into being, offering classes to grades K through 12.
In 1944 the school was purchased by Bertha Keller Mann and it ceased teaching the arts and became solely a private school teaching traditional academic subjects in grades K-12 to mostly children working in the entertainment business or competitive athletics in Los Angeles.
Bertha Keller Mann was the driving force behind Hollywood Professional School for most of its life. She brought formidable credentials to the enterprise. She was born September 8, 1899, in Chicago, Illinois, daughter of Joseph and Fannie Kestlinger Keller.
Mann was born in Atlanta, Georgia. [1] She trained as a dancer in childhood, but soon found that drama was a better fit for her talents. [2]
In 1944 the school was purchased by Bertha Keller Mann and it ceased teaching the arts and became solely a private school teaching traditional academic subjects in grades K-12 to mostly children working in the entertainment business or competitive athletics in Los Angeles.
Bertha Mann owned the Hollywood Professional School until her death in October, 1984. Her family ran the school thereafter until it closed in 1985. Captain Larry Stuppy began helping Mrs. Mann when he returned from Viet Nam in April 1972.
Somehow I talked him into it, and Daddy called the school and set up an appointment for an interview with Bertha Mann, the executive director and owner of the famous school. Bertha Keller Mann. I still remember the day my dad took me to HPS to register.
