Research Catalog

Title

Phyllis Merrill papers, 1933-1956.

Author

Merrill, Phyllis, 1908-

Supplementary Content

Finding Aid

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Merrill, Phyllis, 1908-
• Serling, Rod, 1924-1975.

Description

17 lf. (47 boxes)

Summary

The Phyllis Merrill papers span 1933-1956 and consist of correspondence, memos, notes, commercial writings from the J. Walter Thompson agency, and scripts for radio and television.

Subjects

• Copy writers > United States
• J. Walter Thompson Company
• Television plays, American
• Hayes, Helen, 1900-1993
• Merrill, Phyllis, 1908-
• Allen, Fred, 1894-1956
• Television scripts
• Bergen, Edgar, 1903-1978
• Television adaptations
• Gleason, Jackie, 1916-1987
• Radio plays, American
• Serling, Rod, 1924-1975
• Radio comedies > United States
• Radio scripts
• Radio Corporation of America
• Scripts
• Advertising > United States
• Correspondence

Genre/Form

• Radio scripts.
• Television scripts.
• Scripts.
• Correspondence.

Access (note)

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

Source (note)

• Roberta M. Carr

Biography (note)

• Phyllis Merrill (1908-1972) was born in Franklin, New Hampshire, graduated from Mount Holyoke in 1930, and earned an M.A. from Radcliffe in 1932. In 1942, after several years as a teacher, she took a job with the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency as a copy writer. Ms. Merrill became a radio scriptwriter, adapting plays for the Helen Hayes Theater series, writing comedy sketches for Edgar Bergen, Fred Allen, and Jackie Gleason, and writing speeches for various actors, comedians, and politicians. After a series of heart attacks, Phyllis Merrill returned to New Hampshire in 1957 and resumed work as a copy writer for a small agency in Concord. She also edited the New Hampshire Education Association magazine. She died in Concord on January 23, 1972.

Processing Action (note)

• Processed

Call Number

*T-Mss 1998-004

OCLC

NYPW00-A106

Author

Merrill, Phyllis, 1908-

Title

Phyllis Merrill papers, 1933-1956.

Restricted Access

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

Biography

Phyllis Merrill (1908-1972) was born in Franklin, New Hampshire, graduated from Mount Holyoke in 1930, and earned an M.A. from Radcliffe in 1932. In 1942, after several years as a teacher, she took a job with the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency as a copy writer. Ms. Merrill became a radio scriptwriter, adapting plays for the Helen Hayes Theater series, writing comedy sketches for Edgar Bergen, Fred Allen, and Jackie Gleason, and writing speeches for various actors, comedians, and politicians. After a series of heart attacks, Phyllis Merrill returned to New Hampshire in 1957 and resumed work as a copy writer for a small agency in Concord. She also edited the New Hampshire Education Association magazine. She died in Concord on January 23, 1972.

Connect to:

Request Access to Theatre Division Special Collections material

Finding Aid

Added Author

Merrill, Phyllis, 1908-

Serling, Rod, 1924-1975.

Serling, Rod, 1924-1975. Blues for Joey Menotti.

Serling, Rod, 1924-1975. Long time till dawn.

Research Call Number

*T-Mss 1998-004