- unitid
-
{"value"=>"*T-Mss 2003-013", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"21637", "type"=>"local_mss"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1926-1988", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1926/1988"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Florida Friebus papers"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"1.66 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear feet"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"4 boxes", "unit"=>"containers"}], "supress_display"=>true}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">The New York Public Library. Billy Rose Theatre Division.</span> <div class=\"address\"> <span class=\"addressline\">New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center</span><span class=\"addressline\">40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498</span></div>"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"The papers of Florida Friebus, a theater and television actress, consists of personal and professional materials, including personal correspondence and biographical information, and photographs, scripts, contracts, and clippings related to Friebus' various performances."}
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"English"}
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"<p>Florida Friebus Papers, *T-Mss 2003-013. Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.</p>"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Friebus, Florida, 1909-1988", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>Though she is probably best known to modern audiences as \"Dobie Gillis' mother\" from <span class=\"title\">The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis</span>, a popular TV show of the late 1950s and early 1960s, Florida Friebus (1909-1988) made her mark and found her first and most enduring love in the theater.</p> <p>Friebus hailed from an East Coast theatrical family that included her father, Theodore Friebus, a leading stage actor with Boston's Castle Square Players in the early 1900s and a minor silent-film actor, and her maternal grandmother, Georgine Flagg, who scandalized her own family in the late 19th century by venturing onstage as a player with Augustin Daly's stock company in Manhattan. Florida Friebus began her professional career on Broadway in <span class=\"title\">Triple Crossed</span> at the age of 18, in 1927, after studying at New York's Theatre Guild School. After several more roles on Broadway and in summer stock at Stockbridge, Massachusetts' Berkshire Playhouse, Friebus fell in with Eva Le Gallienne's well-regarded Civic Repertory Company. This would prove to be her big break and the beginning of a sweet obsession.</p> <p>Looking to impress the famed Ms. Le Gallienne, the teenaged Friebus presented her with an adaptation of Lewis Carroll's <span class=\"title\">Alice in Wonderland</span> after hearing that Le Gallienne had long been interested in doing something of that sort. Le Gallienne responded enthusiastically, and in 1932 she and Friebus debuted the first Broadway production of <span class=\"title\">Alice in Wonderland</span> to critical praise. A number of years went by as Friebus honed her craft, working on Broadway, in summer stock, and on touring productions, including <span class=\"title\">Pride and Prejudice</span> (Music Box Theatre), <span class=\"title\">The Primrose Path</span> (Biltmore), and <span class=\"title\">State of the Union</span> (Hudson Theater). Alice called, though, and in 1947, Friebus and Le Gallienne teamed again in a critically lauded revival of <span class=\"title\">Alice in Wonderland</span> on Broadway at the American Repertory Theatre. The newer mediums of radio and television called as well, and Friebus appeared on a number of radio shows (<span class=\"title\">Texaco Star Theatre</span>, etc.) and adapted her <span class=\"title\">Alice</span> script for TV in 1955. She worked extensively with the illustrious New Stages theater group beginning in the late 1940s as well.</p> <p>Throughout the 1950s, '60s, and '70s, Friebus worked in theater and TV, appearing notably on stage in <span class=\"title\">Absence of the Cello</span>, <span class=\"title\">Mornings at Seven</span>, and <span class=\"title\">Tea and Sympathy</span>, and on TV in <span class=\"title\">Dobie Gillis</span>, <span class=\"title\">Peyton Place</span>, <span class=\"title\">The Bob Newhart Show</span> and the children's storytelling show <span class=\"title\">Look and Listen</span>. But <span class=\"title\">Alice in Wonderland</span> came calling again in 1982 and 1983 with, respectively, a stage adaptation starring Le Gallienne and Kate Burton and a TV adaptation with Kate Burton and her father, Richard Burton.</p> <p>Friebus was socially and politically active throughout her life as well, holding several positions with Actors' Equity Association throughout the years, including chair of the committee opposing Senator Joseph McCarthy's blacklist of actors in the 1950s and as a councilor in advocating for actors' rights. She was involved with the Dramatists Guild, the Screen Actors Guild, and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. She was married for nearly 20 years, from 1934 to 1952, to fellow actor Richard Waring, who, not surprisingly, appeared in a production of <span class=\"title\">Alice in Wonderland</span> (Broadway, 1947). Friebus died in 1988 in Laguna Niguel, California, where she had resided for a number of years.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Florida Friebus Papers consist of photocopied newspaper clippings, correspondence, contracts, scripts, photographs, playbills, and various personal papers. Much of the collection consists of reviews of productions in which Friebus appeared or was involved, personal essays and other autobiographical information, and contracts and correspondence relating to various productions. The majority of the photographs in the collection derive from productions in which Friebus appeared or was involved. Interestingly, Friebus' personal correspondence was almost invariably with people she knew in a professional capacity as well, indicating a great overlap in her personal and professional lives.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Florida Friebus papers are arranged in two series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21637#c318335'>Series I: Personal Papers</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1926-1988</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>1 box</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series contains letters and other correspondence to and from friends and colleagues; autobiographical sketches and resumes; essays and other writings; and clips, pamphlets, and other ephemera dealing with Friebus' social and professional life.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21637#c318353'>Series II: Productions</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1926-1988</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>3 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>The series contains clips, contracts, photographs, playbills, telegrams, and other materials detailing and highlighting Friebus' long involvement in theater, television and radio.</p></div></li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
- arrangement
-
{"value"=>"<p> <ul class=\"list\"> <li>Series I: Personal Papers <ul class=\"list\"> <li>Sub-series 1 - Correspondence</li> <li>Sub-series 2 - Autobiographical information</li> <li>Sub-series 3 - Writings</li> <li>Sub-series 4 - Professional and Social Activities</li> <li>Sub-series 5 - Photographs</li> <li>Sub-series 6 - Scrapbooks</li></ul></li> <li>Series II: Productions <ul class=\"list\"> <li>Sub-series 1 - Theater</li> <li>Sub-series 2 - Television and Radio</li></ul></li></ul></p>", "supress_display"=>true}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>This collection was probably donated by Florida Friebus or her estate sometime before 1991.</p>"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Processed by Chris Borris; Machine-readable finding aid created by Chris Borris.</p>"}
- accessrestrict
-
{"value"=>"<p>Photocopying prohibited.</p>"}
- userestrict
-
{"value"=>"<p>For permission to publish, contact the Curator, Billy Rose Theatre Division.</p>"}
- date_start
-
1926
- keydate
-
1926
- date_end
-
1988
- date_inclusive_start
-
1926
- date_inclusive_end
-
1988
- extent_statement
-
1.66 linear feet (4 boxes)