In 1971, the Foundation “Civic Actor Museum and Library of the Teatro Stabile di Genova” was established; the Founding members are the Municipality of Genoa, the Province of Genoa, the Chamber of Commerce of Genoa, and the Teatro Stabile di Genova.
In 1976, with a presidential decree, the legal personality of the Entity was recognized. In 1982, the new headquarters of the Foundation at Villetta Serra, specially renovated by the Municipality of Genoa, was inaugurated in the presence of the mayor. In 1994, the Liguria region recognized the Actor Museum and Library as a “Cultural institution of regional interest.” Known and appreciated at a national level in all sectors of theatrical culture, the Civic Actor Museum and Library is a foundation aimed at the historical and critical study of theater, scenic art, and the conditions of the Italian actor from the early 18th century onwards.
This purpose is pursued through a Library specialized in dramatic theater and cinema, which currently holds approximately 40,000 volumes and an archive preserving about 72,000 autographs; 69,000 photographs; 1,300 scripts; 4,000 sketches, costumes designs, caricatures, original drawings, posters, playbills; 62,000 press clippings; 7,000 playbills. The CMBA also owns a collection of costumes worn by actors such as Adelaide Ristori, Ermete Zacconi, Iamberto Picasso, Sergio Tofano, Lilla Brignone and others. The most valuable are the work of Worth and Tirelli.
Among the museum’s precious collections is also an 19th-century marionette theater, the Rissone Little Theater, which since March 2006 has been exhibited at the Sant’Agostino Museum in Genoa. Also preserved in the same museum is the study of Gilberto Govi, with the actor’s archive.
The Archive, with its collections, plays a great role in the creation of theses and studies on theater, which attracts students and scholars from all parts of Italy and abroad. Preferred contacts for study and research activities are professors of theater and performing arts disciplines, both from the University of Genoa and from all Italian universities and DAMS (Disciplines of Arts, Music, and Show).
The CMBA organizes and collaborates in the creation of exhibitions, meetings, guided tours, book presentations and publishes studies related to the preserved material.
 was born in 1966 as a department of the Teatro Stabile di Genova, then directed by Ivo Chiesa and Luigi Squarzina, to host the papers, books, and theatrical memorabilia of the Salvini "artistic family" (Giuseppe, Tommaso, Celso, Guido); in 1967, the vast Adelaide Ristori Collection was donated by heir Giuliano Capranica del Grillo.){kind=link}