Scope and arrangement
The collection dates from 1929 to 1960 and contains actor biography files, fan club publications and articles, letters, and autograph books.
Biography files make up the bulk of the collection and contain publicity biographies, questionnaires, and articles. The files are arranged alphabetically by name and date from 1934 to 1960. The publicity biographies were primarily created by film studios, such as Universal Studios (Universal-International), 20th Century-Fox, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Columbia Studios, and RKO Radio Pictures. The questionnaires, created by Soeurt, are fully or partially completed, sometimes in the actor's hand. Among the actors and actresses represented are Bing Crosby, Ruth Hampton, Susan Hayward, Edward Everett Horton, J. Carrol Naish, Rita Hayworth, Leo Carrillo, Bob Hope, Greta Garbo, Boris Karloff, Mary Pickford, Florence Reed, Cesar Romero, Norma Shearer, James Stewart, and Lyle Talbot.
Fan club publications date from 1929 to 1942 and include The Betty Bronson Club News, The Andrew Beranger Booster, and Guildgrams, the quarterly publication of The Movie and Radio Club Guild. There are multiple annotated typescripts of Soeurt's column, "Flickers and Flashes," which discussed current events in film and entertainment. Also present are drafts of "Among Our Honoraries," a column written by Soeurt for Ye Club Dope Sheet, the monthly magazine of the William Collier, Jr. Fan Club.
Letters and cards are personal responses from actors thanking Soeurt for sending articles, notes, or questionnaires. Included are letters from Regis Toomey, Louise Dresser Gardner, Douglas Montgomery, Agnes Moorehead, and Joe E. Brown. Among the letters are three autographed photographs of actress Lina Basquette.
Autograph books date from 1934 to 1938 and contain autographs from actors such as Henry Armetta, Lina Basquette, Claire Windsor, Maurice St. Clair, Lyle Talbot, and Charles King. The collection also contains a souvenir boomerang from Stanley Kramer's On the Beach.