Research Catalog

Title

David Belasco papers, 1868-1967.

Author

Belasco, David, 1853-1931.

Supplementary Content

Finding Aid

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

approximately 10.5 lin ft. (55 boxes and 30 rolls of microfilm).

Summary

Collection contains Belasco's correspondence with actors and others, 53 scrapbooks of photographs of his productions [1898-1930] by White Studio and Byron Studio, both of New York, 30 rolls of microfilm of scrapbooks of clippings, reviews and programs [1898-1930], some speeches and other writings, and ephemera.

Subjects

• Belasco, David, 1853-1931
• Correspondence
• Clippings
• Printed ephemera
• Programs
• Claire, Ina, 1893-1985
• Starr, Frances
• Carter, Leslie, Mrs., 1862-1937
• Bates, Blanche, 1873-1941
• Klaw & Erlanger
• Ulric, Lenore, 1892-1970
• Theater > Production and direction
• Warfield, David, 1866-1951
• Belasco, David, 1853-1931 > Return of Peter Grimm
• Fiske, Minnie Maddern, 1865-1932
• Walker, Charlotte
• Atwill, Lionel, 1885-1946
• Photographic prints
• Daly, Arnold, 1875-1927

Genre/Form

• Photographic prints.
• Programs.
• Printed ephemera.
• Clippings.
• Correspondence.

Note

• Following then current practice, programs, photographs, scripts, and original color drawings for costume designs were removed from the Belasco Papers shortly after their 1931 acquisition and placed under production title in the appropriate Library files: Programs, Photographs, Scripts, and Originals.

Access (note)

• Collection is open to the public. Library policy on photography and photocopying will apply. Advance notice may be required.

Reproduction (note)

• are available on microfilm;
• Microfilm.

Original Location (note)

• Originals were discarded after filming.

Source (note)

• Belasco, David

Biography (note)

• Actor, manager, playwright, director, producer, and theater owner, Belasco was one of the outstanding personalities of the American theater at the turn of the century. He is most notable for his exotic stage productions, famous for their lavishness and scenic realism, and for his discovery and training of actors such as Mrs. Leslie Carter, Blanche Bates, David Warfield, and Frances Starr. He made good use of the mechanical inventions of his time including innovations in the use of lighting, was involved in the fight against Klaw and Erlanger, the Theatrical Syndicate, and wrote plays of his own, mostly collaborations and adaptations of sentimental melodrama. Some of his best known productions were THE GIRL I LEFT BEHIND ME (1893), THE HEART OF MARYLAND (1895), ZAZA (1898), MADAME BUTTERFLY (1900), THE AUCTIONEER (1901), THE MUSIC MASTER (1904), ADREA (1905), THE GIRL OF THE GOLDEN WEST (1905), A GRAND ARMY MAN (1907), and THE RETURN OF PETER GRIMM (1911).

Indexes/Finding Aids (note)

• Finding aid available in repository and on Internet.

Processing Action (note)

• Cataloged

Call Number

*T-Mss 1931-001

OCLC

NYPW94-A353

Author

Belasco, David, 1853-1931.

Title

David Belasco papers, 1868-1967.

Restricted Access

Collection is open to the public. Library policy on photography and photocopying will apply. Advance notice may be required.

Reproduction

Scrapbooks of clippings, halftones, reviews and programs [1898-1930] are available on microfilm; The Billy Rose Theatre Collection, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts; call number *ZAN-*T279 (reels 1-30).

Original Location

Originals were discarded after filming.

Reproduction

Microfilm. New York : New York Public Library. [19--]. 26 microfilm reels ; 35 mm. (MN *ZZAN-6033)

Biography

Actor, manager, playwright, director, producer, and theater owner, Belasco was one of the outstanding personalities of the American theater at the turn of the century. He is most notable for his exotic stage productions, famous for their lavishness and scenic realism, and for his discovery and training of actors such as Mrs. Leslie Carter, Blanche Bates, David Warfield, and Frances Starr. He made good use of the mechanical inventions of his time including innovations in the use of lighting, was involved in the fight against Klaw and Erlanger, the Theatrical Syndicate, and wrote plays of his own, mostly collaborations and adaptations of sentimental melodrama. Some of his best known productions were THE GIRL I LEFT BEHIND ME (1893), THE HEART OF MARYLAND (1895), ZAZA (1898), MADAME BUTTERFLY (1900), THE AUCTIONEER (1901), THE MUSIC MASTER (1904), ADREA (1905), THE GIRL OF THE GOLDEN WEST (1905), A GRAND ARMY MAN (1907), and THE RETURN OF PETER GRIMM (1911).

Indexes

Finding aid available in repository and on Internet.

Local Note

Some materials in this collection previously cataloged as MWEZ+ n.c. 1-54; 94-224; 5171; 5277.

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Finding Aid

Research Call Number

*T-Mss 1931-001