Research Catalog

Title

Claudia McNeil scrapbooks, 1938-1981.

Author

McNeil, Claudia.

Supplementary Content

Finding aid

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

1.2 lin. ft.

Summary

• The Claudia McNeil Scrapbooks consist of twelve scrapbooks probably compiled by McNeil throughout her career in the entertainment field from 1938 to 1981. Her early singing/dancing career is captured through reviews, telegrams, and photographs contained in scrapbooks 1 and 2. Another scrapbook contains newspaper and magazine articles, flyers, and advertisements documenting the Katherine Dunham Revue during McNeil's tour with them.
• The bulk of the scrapbooks deal with McNeil's appearance in various productions of "A Raisin in the Sun," in the United States and Europe including the film version. Other scrapbooks contain newspaper and magazine articles as well as programs for her appearances in "Greener Grass," "Simply Heavenly," "The Crucible," "Last Angry Man," and "Amen Corner."

Subjects

• Black author
• McNeil, Claudia
• Women singers > United States
• African Americans in the performing arts
• Singers > United States
• African American actresses
• African American women entertainers
• African American singers
• Actresses > United States
• Scrapbooks

Genre/Form

Scrapbooks.

Note

• Photographs transferred to Photographs and Prints Division.

Biography (note)

• Actress, singer, dancer, Claudia McNeil is best known for her contralto voice and for her portrayal of Mama, Lena Younger in both film and stage versions of "A Raisin in the Sun" by playwright, Lorraine Hansberry. Her career includes stints as a broadcaster and radio program director in Jamaica, columnist for the Amsterdam News, and model for print advertisement. McNeil began her career as a singer in cabarets. In the early 1950s she toured throughout Latin America and the Caribbean with the Katherine Dunham Revue. Upon her return to the United States in 1952, she resumed her nightclub career, and also began acting in summer stock. Her big break came when she secured a role in the Tony Award winning Broadway production of Arthur Mitchell's "The Crucible." By the late 1950s McNeil had appeared in Langston Hughes' Off-Broadway production of "Simply Heavenly," debuted in the film, "The Last Angry Man," was a guest on several television shows, and starred in the play "A Raisin in the Sun." She also toured abroad in James Baldwin's "Amen Corner" (1965). McNeil continued to perform on Broadway and Off-Broadway, and in films until her health declined in 1979.

Call Number

Sc MG 564

OCLC

• 122517224
• 122517224

Author

McNeil, Claudia.

Title

Claudia McNeil scrapbooks, 1938-1981.

Biography

Actress, singer, dancer, Claudia McNeil is best known for her contralto voice and for her portrayal of Mama, Lena Younger in both film and stage versions of "A Raisin in the Sun" by playwright, Lorraine Hansberry. Her career includes stints as a broadcaster and radio program director in Jamaica, columnist for the Amsterdam News, and model for print advertisement. McNeil began her career as a singer in cabarets. In the early 1950s she toured throughout Latin America and the Caribbean with the Katherine Dunham Revue. Upon her return to the United States in 1952, she resumed her nightclub career, and also began acting in summer stock. Her big break came when she secured a role in the Tony Award winning Broadway production of Arthur Mitchell's "The Crucible." By the late 1950s McNeil had appeared in Langston Hughes' Off-Broadway production of "Simply Heavenly," debuted in the film, "The Last Angry Man," was a guest on several television shows, and starred in the play "A Raisin in the Sun." She also toured abroad in James Baldwin's "Amen Corner" (1965). McNeil continued to perform on Broadway and Off-Broadway, and in films until her health declined in 1979.

Finding Aids

Finding aid available in repository.

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Finding aid

Local Subject

Black author.

Research Call Number

Sc MG 564