Research Catalog

Details

Description

1. 4 microfilm reels.

Summary

1. Microfilm copy of the papers of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright-director, George S. Kaufman, consisting primarily of correspondence, scripts, and biographical scrapbooks. The correspondence contains letters from Fred Allen, Winthrop Ames, George Arliss, Eleanor Belmont, Walter Damrosch, Joseph E. Davies, Robert H. Davis, Theodore Dreiser, James A. Farley, Arthur Hopkins, Otto Kahn, Groucho and Harpo Marx, Adolphe Menjou, William Saroyan, Alfred E. Smith, Henry L. Stimson, John Steinbeck, Booth Tarkington, Oswald Garrison Villard, William Allen White, Alexander Woollcott, and others. There are scripts (some annotated) for seventeen produced and unproduced titles for stage, screen, and television including THE BUTTER AND EGG MAN (1925), THE LATE GEORGE APLEY (1944), THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER (1939), and several other plays on which Kaufman collaborated with Marc Connelly, Ruth Goodman Goetz, Leueen MacGrath, Morrie Ryskind, Howard Teichmann, and other playwrights.
2. The remainder of the collection consists of miscellany such as notes pertaining to OF THEE I SING (1931), and scrapbooks of clippings concerning DULCY (1921), THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER, THE SENATOR WAS DISCREET, and other productions, 1912-1939. One letter pertains to Howard Teichmann's biography of Kaufman.

Subject

1. Kaufman, George S. (George Simon), 1889-1961.
2. Allen, Fred, 1894-1956.
3. Ames, Winthrop, 1870-1937.
4. Arliss, George, 1868-1946.
5. Belmont, Eleanor Robson, 1879-1979.
6. Connelly, Marc, 1890-1980.
7. Damrosch, Walter, 1862-1950.
8. Davies, Joseph Edward.
9. Davis, Robert H.
10. Dreiser, Theodore, 1871-1945.
11. Farley, James Aloysius, 1888-
12. Goetz, Ruth.
13. Hopkins, Arthur, 1878-1950.
14. Kahn, Otto H., 1867-1934.
15. MacGrath, Leueen.
16. Marx, Groucho, 1890-1977.
17. Marx, Harpo, 1888-1964.
18. Menjou, Adolphe, 1890-1963.
19. Ryskind, Morrie, 1895-1985.
20. Saroyan, William, 1908-1981.
21. Smith, Alfred Emanuel, 1873-1944.
22. Steinbeck, John, 1902-1968.
23. Stimson, Henry L. (Henry Lewis), 1867-1950.
24. Tarkington, Booth, 1869-1946.
25. Teichmann, Howard.
26. Villard, Oswald Garrison, 1872-1949.
27. White, William Allen, 1868-1944.
28. Woollcott, Alexander, 1887-1943.
29. Butter and egg man.
30. Dulcy.
31. Late George Apley.
32. Man who came to dinner.
33. Of thee I sing.
34. Dramatists.
35. Television plays.
36. Theater.

Genre/Form

1. Motion picture plays.
2. Scripts.
3. Photoprints.
4. Correspondence.
5. Scrapbooks.

Call number

1. *ZC-264 (1-4)

Language

1. English

Reproduction (note)

1. Microfilm.

Original location (note)

1. Originals in: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Film and Photo Archive

Source (note)

1. State Historical Society of Wisconsin

Biography (note)

1. George S. Kaufman was a noted playwright and director born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on November 16, 1889. In the early years of his career, Kaufman was the drama critic for the New York Times. Later, as a playwright he collaborated with many famous writers including Marc Connelly, Edna Ferber, Moss Hart, Morrie Ryskind and Howard Teichmann. Some of his works include: DULCY (1921), THE COCOANUTS (1925), ANIMAL CRACKERS(1928), THE BAND WAGON (1931), DINNER AT EIGHT (1932), STAGE DOOR (1936), THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER (1939), GEORGE WASHINGTON SLEPT HERE (1940), and SILK STOCKINGS (1955). Two of his plays OF THEE I SING (1931), and YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU (1936) received the Pulitzer Prize for drama.
2. Kaufman also worked in Hollywood, writing both screenplays and adaptations of his work. Among these were COCOANUTS (1929), ANIMAL CRACKERS (1930), YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU (1938) and SOLID GOLD CADILLAC (1956).Kaufman died on June 2, 1961.

Indexes/finding aids (note)

1. Finding aid available online and in repository.

Processing action (note)

1. Cataloged

Reproduction

1. Microfilm. Madison, Wisconsin.: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1990. 4 microfilm reels; 35 mm.

Original location

1. Originals in: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Film and Photo Archive, Madison, Wisconsin.

Connect to:

1. Finding Aid