Research Catalog

Title

Lucille Lortel papers, 1902-2000.

Author

Lortel, Lucille.

Supplementary Content

Finding Aid

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Black, Kitty, 1914-
• Cotes, Peter, 1912-
• Grew, Mary, 1902-1971.
• Halligan, Maureen.
• Wanamaker, Sam, 1919-1993.
• Wax, Emanuel.
• White, Leonard.
• Acker, Sylvia.
• Allison, Michael.
• Berman, Lois.
• Brown, Tina Tippit.
• Drake, Edith.
• Drake, Ervin.
• Farrell, Minerva.
• Hodges, Gil.
• Hodges, Lonnie.
• McConnell, Maryanna.
• Martin, Elliot.
• Montevecchi, Liliane.
• Oakie, Victoria Horne.
• Lewis, Abby.
• Seymour, John D., 1897-
• Sosenko, Anna.
• Stevenson, Isabelle, 1915-2003.
• Taylor, Robert.
• Tompkins, Robert.
• Volle, Danielle, -2000.
• Williams, Maggie.
• Albee, Edward, 1928-2016.
• Blessing, Lee.
• Dalrymple, Jean.
• Fugard, Athol.
• Havoc, June.
• Hiss, Alger.
• Kingsley, Sidney, 1906-1995.
• Lawrence, Jerome, 1915-2004.
• Lee, Robert Edwin, 1918-1994.
• Le Gallienne, Eva, 1899-1991.
• Mason, Marshall W.
• O'Casey, Eileen.
• O'Casey, Sean, 1880-1964.
• Rainer, Luise, 1910-
• Saddler, Donald.
• Strasberg, Anna.
• Strasberg, Lee.
• Wallace, Hazel Vincent, 1919-
• Curcio, Vincent.
• Eliot, Drew.
• Glenn, Robert.
• Henderson, Mary C., 1928-2012.
• Marvin, Blanche.
• Wilson, Edwin, 1927-

Description

• 49.61 lf. (121 boxes)
• Scrapbooks on 25 reels of microfilm
• Correspondence on 17 reels of microfilm

Subjects

• Theater > New York (State) > New York
• Lortel, Lucille
• Glenn, Robert > Correspondence
• Hodges, Gil > Correspondence
• Blessing, Lee > Correspondence
• Wanamaker, Sam, 1919-1993 > Correspondence
• Le Gallienne, Eva, 1899-1991 > Correspondence
• Stevenson, Isabelle, 1915-2003 > Correspondence
• Wax, Emanuel > Correspondence
• Curcio, Vincent > Correspondence
• Martin, Elliot > Correspondence
• White Barn Theatre
• Lortel, Lucille > Correspondence
• Strasberg, Anna > Correspondence
• Lortel, Lucille > Friends and associates
• Saddler, Donald > Correspondence
• O'Casey, Sean, 1880-1964 > Correspondence
• Oakie, Victoria Horne > Correspondence
• Eliot, Drew > Correspondence
• Cotes, Peter, 1912- > Correspondence
• Musical theater > United States
• Farrell, Minerva > Correspondence
• McConnell, Maryanna > Correspondence
• White, Leonard > Correspondence
• Taylor, Robert > Correspondence
• Lawrence, Jerome, 1915-2004 > Correspondence
• Marvin, Blanche > Correspondence
• Lewis, Abby > Correspondence
• Correspondence
• Off-Broadway theater
• O'Casey, Eileen > Correspondence
• Wilson, Edwin, 1927- > Correspondence
• Lee, Robert Edwin, 1918-1994 > Correspondence
• Brown, Tina Tippit > Correspondence
• Kingsley, Sidney, 1906-1995 > Correspondence
• Lucille Lortel Theatre/Theatre de Lys (New York, N.Y.)
• Wallace, Hazel Vincent, 1919- > Correspondence
• Montevecchi, Liliane > Correspondence
• Theater > New York (State) > New York > History > 20th century
• Volle, Danielle, -2000 > Correspondence
• ANTA (Organization)
• Hiss, Alger > Correspondence
• Albee, Edward, 1928-2016 > Correspondence
• Drake, Ervin > Correspondence
• Grew, Mary, 1902-1971 > Correspondence
• Havoc, June > Correspondence
• Scrapbooks
• Tompkins, Robert > Correspondence
• Strasberg, Lee > Correspondence
• Black, Kitty, 1914- > Correspondence
• Clippings
• Acker, Sylvia > Correspondence
• Sosenko, Anna > Correspondence
• Williams, Maggie > Correspondence
• Allinson, Michael > Correspondence
• Photographs
• Hodges, Lonnie > Correspondence
• Seymour, John D., 1897- > Correspondence
• Fugard, Athol > Correspondence
• Halligan, Maureen > Correspondence
• Dalrymple, Jean > Correspondence
• Mason, Marshall W > Correspondence
• Rainer, Luise, 1910- > Correspondence
• Drake, Edith > Correspondence
• Theatre de Lys
• Berman, Lois > Correspondence
• Musicals
• Henderson, Mary C., 1928-2012 > Correspondence
• Theatrical producers and directors

Genre/Form

• Correspondence.
• Clippings.
• Photographs.
• Scrapbooks.

Access (note)

• Collection is open to the public, with some materials only available on microfilm. Library policy on photography and photocopying will apply. Advance notice may be required.

Additional Formats (note)

• are also available on microfilm:

Source (note)

• Lortel, Lucille

Biography (note)

• Lucille Lortel (1900-1999) began her theatrical career as a performer, eventually turned producer, founded the White Barn Theatre in Westport, Connecticut, acquired the Theatre dy Lys in Greenwich Village, and became a seminal force in the Off-Broadway movement.

Processing Action (note)

• Cataloged

Call Number

*T-Mss 2001-006

OCLC

NYPW03-A34

Author

Lortel, Lucille.

Title

Lucille Lortel papers, 1902-2000.

Restricted Access

Collection is open to the public, with some materials only available on microfilm. Library policy on photography and photocopying will apply. Advance notice may be required.

Summary

The papers of Lucille Lortel relate the details of her life and career from teen years to her death in 1999, and include correspondence, production files, scripts, programs, production photographs, personal and family photographs, organization files, clippings, memorabilia, and scrapbooks. Lucille Lortel's life spanned the twentieth century, so in addition to providing details of her family and personal life her papers encompass many aspects of the theatrical history of her era. Lortel is credited with fostering the Off-Broadway movement and providing a forum for avant-garde and experimental work at her Theatre de Lys. Lortel's productions at the White Barn and the ANTA Matinee Series at the Theatre de Lys brought works by Jean Genet, Sean O'Casey, Athol Fugard, and others to a wider audience. Many of these productions are represented in the collection by correspondence, programs, photographs and clippings. Over the years Lortel also worked closely with several non-profit theaters as a donor and mentor. Her affiliations with Circle in the Square, Circle Repertory Company, Goodspeed Opera House, Yale Repertory Theatre, and other companies are documented in the organization files.

In addition to documentation of her theatrical enterprises, the Lucille Lortel papers also contain material concerning her family and her husband Louis Schweitzer. Louis Schweitzer's papers include some correspondence, clippings, and a few documents relating to his work with the Vera Institute of Justice. There is also material on Lortel's mother, Anna Wayo Wadler, her brothers, Seymour Wadler and Waldo Mayo, and her sister Ruth Cugat. Waldo Mayo's files contain programs, clippings, and writings which detail his early career as a violinst in the United States and Europe. Ruth Cugat and her husband, Francisco Coradal Cugat were artists, and some examples of their work can be found in the collection.

Additional Formats

Scrapbooks are also available on microfilm: The Billy Rose Theatre Collection, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts; service copy number: *ZC-606.

Biography

Lucille Lortel (1900-1999) began her theatrical career as a performer, eventually turned producer, founded the White Barn Theatre in Westport, Connecticut, acquired the Theatre dy Lys in Greenwich Village, and became a seminal force in the Off-Broadway movement. Born Lucille Wadler in New York City on December 16, 1900, Lucille Lortel studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York and with Arnold Korff in Europe. She had her first notable role in the Theatre Guild's production of Shaw's CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA with Helen Hayes in 1925. Among her motion pictures was the early talking film THE MAN WHO LAUGHED LAST (1929) opposite Sessue Hayakawa. Shortly after marrying wealthy industrialist Louis Schweitzer in 1931, Lortel retired from acting. In 1947, on the grounds of her Westport home, she established the White Barn Theatre, a summer theater which continues to operate. In 1955 Schweitzer purchased the Theatre de Lys for his wife, whose production of THE THREEPENNY OPERA ran there for almost seven years. In 1956 Lortel initiated the American National Theatre and Academy (ANTA) Matinee Series, which presented plays at her theater for twenty years. Lortel produced more than 500 shows on Broadway, Off-Broadway, at the Library of Congress, at her White Barn Theatre, and elsewhere. The Theatre de Lys was renamed the Lucille Lortel Theatre in 1981. Lucille Lortel died on April 4, 1999, at the age of 98.

Connect to:

NYPL Digital Collections

Finding Aid

Added Author

Black, Kitty, 1914-

Cotes, Peter, 1912-

Grew, Mary, 1902-1971.

Halligan, Maureen.

Wanamaker, Sam, 1919-1993.

Wax, Emanuel.

White, Leonard.

Acker, Sylvia.

Allison, Michael.

Berman, Lois.

Brown, Tina Tippit.

Drake, Edith.

Drake, Ervin.

Farrell, Minerva.

Hodges, Gil.

Hodges, Lonnie.

McConnell, Maryanna.

Martin, Elliot.

Montevecchi, Liliane.

Oakie, Victoria Horne.

Lewis, Abby.

Seymour, John D., 1897-

Sosenko, Anna.

Stevenson, Isabelle, 1915-2003.

Taylor, Robert.

Tompkins, Robert.

Volle, Danielle, -2000.

Williams, Maggie.

Albee, Edward, 1928-2016.

Blessing, Lee.

Dalrymple, Jean.

Fugard, Athol.

Havoc, June.

Hiss, Alger.

Kingsley, Sidney, 1906-1995.

Lawrence, Jerome, 1915-2004.

Lee, Robert Edwin, 1918-1994.

Le Gallienne, Eva, 1899-1991.

Mason, Marshall W.

O'Casey, Eileen.

O'Casey, Sean, 1880-1964.

Rainer, Luise, 1910-

Saddler, Donald.

Strasberg, Anna.

Strasberg, Lee.

Wallace, Hazel Vincent, 1919-

Curcio, Vincent.

Eliot, Drew.

Glenn, Robert.

Henderson, Mary C., 1928-2012.

Marvin, Blanche.

Wilson, Edwin, 1927-

Research Call Number

*T-Mss 2001-006

*ZC-606