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Bosworth, Patricia.
Collection is open to the public. Library policy on photography and photocopying will apply. Advance notice may be required.
The Patricia Bosworth papers consist of manuscripts, galleys, interview notes, research materials, clippings, correspondence, and photographs mostly relating to her 1978 biography of actor Montgomery Clift, but also covering some of Bosworth's other writing projects and professional activities. The papers contain a number of manuscript drafts of the Clift biography, although they are mostly undated and do not specify the version. There are also a number of materials surrounding its publication,such as a contract with Bosworth's original publisher, Arbor House, a few financial items, and the memo outliningthe idea for the book. A number of the photographs in the collection are those used in the book. Manuscripts, notes,and research materials may be found in the papers for a number of Bosworth's other writing projects on the arts, including many articles, mostly written during the 1970s for magazines and The New York Times. There is also a small folder of material for Bosworth's second biography, Diane Arbus: A Biography, published in 1984 by Knopf. A few personal papers, including notes from Bosworth's mother and material from Sarah Lawrence College, are also included.
Biographer, journalist, editor, actress, and model, Patricia Bosworth was born April 24, 1933 in Oakland, California. After graduating from Sarah Lawrence College in 1955, Bosworth worked as a model and actress, becoming a member of the Actors Studio. She appeared in a number ofstage, film, and television productions, such as Inherit the Wind (1955), The Nun's Story (1959), and Young Dr. Malone (1958). In the mid 1960s, she left acting and became a full-time journalist. Bosworth worked as an editor at Woman's Day and went on to become senior editor at McCall's (1969-1972), managing editor of Harper's Bazaar (1972-1974), and executive editor of Viva (1974-1976). By the late 1960s, Bosworth's byline could frequently be found in the arts section of The New York Times and other national publications. After abandoning anearlier attempt at a biography of Marlon Brando, Bosworth chose Montgomery Clift as the subject of her first book. Bosworth spent five years researching Clift and interviewing some two hundred and fifty people who knew him. The book, Montgomery Clift: A Biography, was published by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich in 1978 to much critical acclaim. It became a bestseller and was publishedin several languages, and, in 1979, it was issued in paperback by Bantam. Bosworth's second biography was of photographer Diane Arbus (Diane Arbus: A Biography, Knopf,1984), for whom she had modeled as a teen. Among her otherbooks are Marlon Brando: A Biography (2001) and Anything Your Little Heart Desires: An American Family Story (1997),a family memoir.
View of the Kremlin, ca. 1790. NYPL Slavic and Baltic Collectionss.
One of 700,000 pictures in the NYPL Digital Gallery
