Research Catalog

Details

Additional authors

1. Micheaux, Oscar, 1884-1951.
2. Yordan, Philip.
3. Brewster, Townsend, 1924-
4. Mason, Cliff.

Description

1. 2.5 lin. ft. (3 boxes)

Summary

1. The Kenn Freeman Papers, 1930-1988 document Freeman's life as an actor, singer/dancer, writer/director, and costume and set designer. The collection consists of three series; Personal Papers, Professional Papers, and Family Papers, and include correspondence, programs, flyers, contracts, writings, scripts, sheet music, scrapbooks, and autograph albums. Correspondence between Kenn and Bea Freeman forms an important part of both the Personal Papers and Family Papers series. The letters show the close personal and professional relationship between mother and son. The bulk of the correspondence covers the years, 1937 to 1950, and was written primarily during the years Kenn was in the United States Navy or in England or when either of them was on tour with a production.

Donor/Sponsor

1. Schomburg NEH Blacks on Stage: African-American Theater Arts Collections Project.

Subject

1. African American singers
2. African American entertainers
3. Television actors and actresses > United States
4. Theatrical producers and directors > United States
5. African American actresses
6. African American motion picture actors and actresses
7. Freeman, Kenn, 1917-1991
8. African American actors
9. African Americans in the performing arts
10. Scrapbooks
11. Freeman, Bee

Call number

1. Sc MG 262

Note

1. Photographs transferred to the Photographs and Prints Division.
2. Phonograph records transferred to the Moving Images and Recorded Sound Division.

Source (note)

1. Kenn Freeman

Biography (note)

1. Kenn (Kenneth) Freeman (1917-1991) was a versatile performing artist during the 1940s and 1950s. In addition to his acting career, he was a singer/dancer, writer, director, and also designed costumes and sets. His exposure to the theatre occurred when, as a young boy, he toured with his mother, the actress, Bee Freeman.

Indexes/finding aids (note)

1. Finding aid available.

Provenance (note)

1. Kenn Freeman.

Processing action (note)

1. Processed
2. Cataloged

Author

1. Freeman, Kenn, 1917-1991.

Title

1. Kenn Freeman papers, 1930-1988.

Biography

1. Kenn (Kenneth) Freeman (1917-1991) was a versatile performing artist during the 1940s and 1950s. In addition to his acting career, he was a singer/dancer, writer, director, and also designed costumes and sets. His exposure to the theatre occurred when, as a young boy, he toured with his mother, the actress, Bee Freeman.
2. Kenn Freeman began performing in high school, and in the early 1940s secured his first professional acting roles in a number of theatrical productions, including "Hell's Half Acre." After World War II, he appeared in the Broadway and British productions of "Anna Lucasta," and during the 1950's he directed several productions of "Anna Lucasta" in Great Britain. He also appeared in off-Broadway and off-off Broadway productions, including "Because I Am Black," a play performed by the Birmingham Repertory Company in England. In the 1950s Freeman began his directorial career and worked with the Carib Singers, the New Lafayette Players, and the Stanley Woolf Players. Freeman's career also included roles in films and television.
3. In addition to acting and directing, Freeman wrote several dramatic plays and sketches including: "Tis Cricket," "Imoinda," "Calypso Carnival," "Blessed Are the Fruits," and also designed the scenery and costumes for his own plays as well as others. In later years, he became the drama critic and theatre columnist for the "West Indian American" newspaper, and was the historian for the Negro Actors Guild. In the 1980s due to ill health, Freeman became a resident of the Actors Fund Nursing Home in New Jersey, where he died in January 1991.

Indexes

1. Finding aid available.

Provenance

1. Kenn Freeman.

Processing action

1. Processed 200104 2.5 lin. ft.
2. Cataloged 20020404

Source

1. SCM88-62
2. Kenn Freeman Gift 198810

Connect to:

1. Finding Aid

Occupation

1. Scrapbooks.

Added author

1. Micheaux, Oscar, 1884-1951. Lying lips.
2. Yordan, Philip. Anna Lucasta.
3. Brewster, Townsend, 1924- Rudens.
4. Mason, Cliff. Sister Sadie and the sons of Sam.

Research call number

1. Sc MG 262