Lillian Gish letters and ephemera

Description data TOP

physdesc

{"format"=>"simple", "value"=>".42 linear feet (1 box)"}

unitid

{"value"=>"*T-Mss 1998-043", "type"=>"local_call"}

{"value"=>"21450", "type"=>"local_mss"}

unittitle

{"value"=>"Lillian Gish letters and ephemera"}

repository

{"value"=>"The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Billy Rose Theatre Division."}

prefercite

{"value"=>"<p>James Orson Belden-Lillian Gish letters and ephemera, *T-Mss 1998-043, Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.</p>"}

origination

{"value"=>"Belden, James Orson, 1914-1998", "type"=>"persname"}

bioghist

{"value"=>"<p>James Orson Belden, born in Rochester, New York on August 4, 1914, was a long time fan and friend of Lillian Gish. The friendship started when he wrote to her enclosing a copy of <span class=\"title\">The Duchess of Malfi</span>. This began a long-time friendly correspondence discussing the theater, film and literature.</p> <p>Belden's interests included silent film, literature, art, music and theater. He was mostly self-taught having attended Aquinas High School in Rochester, New York. During World War II, he worked as a clerk in the Ordinance section of the War Department and was stationed in England during that time. After the war, Belden applied for work in the Foreign Service. He was sent to Belgium in 1947 where he held the position of visa specialist. Throughout most of his career he was stationed in Western Europe having assignments in England (1953-1963) and in France (1963-1967).</p> <p>James Orson Belden retired to the United States and lived in Wilmington, Delaware where he died on August 12, 1998.</p> <p>Lillian Gish, best known as one of the earliest stars of the nascent film industry, began as a child trouper on the stage with her sister Dorothy and their mother. At the age of five, she made her first appearance in a melodrama <span class=\"title\">In Convict Stripes</span>. A chance meeting in 1912 with another child actress Gladys Smith, who became world renowned as Mary Pickford, brought her and Dorothy to the attention of D. W. Griffith, a pioneering director in silent film days. She soon became his leading star and achieved stardom in his productions of <span class=\"title\">Birth of a Nation</span> (1915), <span class=\"title\">Intolerance</span> (1916), and most notably in <span class=\"title\">Orphans of the Storm</span> (1922), playing opposite her sister Dorothy. She was the perfect Griffith heroine, revealing a strong will and intelligence under a fragile, almost ethereal exterior.</p> <p>She parted company with Griffith over a salary dispute, later joining MGM in 1925. One of the few stars to have control over story and director, Gish made only two successful movies at MGM, <span class=\"title\">La Boheme</span> and <span class=\"title\">The Scarlet Letter</span>. Overshadowed by the rising prominence of Greta Garbo, she left MGM and made a few films as an independent. She then decided to return to the Broadway stage and found the right vehicle in director Jed Harris's production of <span class=\"title\">Uncle Vanya</span> in 1930. Her success in the play led to other starring roles, among them Ophelia opposite John Gielgud in the 1936 production of <span class=\"title\">Hamlet</span>. Thereafter, she never lacked for roles on Broadway and worked steadily as a stage actress until 1973.</p> <p>In 1968, she suffered a personal blow when her sister Dorothy, with whom she was extremely close throughout her life, died. From time to time, she returned to the movies and also appeared on television from the 1950s to the 1970s, making her final appearance on screen in the movie <span class=\"title\">The Whales of August</span> in 1987. In 1970, she was awarded a special Oscar for her lifetime contributions to motion pictures. Lillian Gish died in 1993 in her hundredth year. She recorded the account of her life in <span class=\"title\">Life and Lillian Gish</span> (1932), <span class=\"title\">The Movies, Mr. Griffith and Me</span> (1969) and <span class=\"title\">Dorothy and Lillian Gish</span> (1973).</p>"}

custodhist

{"value"=>"<p>The collection was donated to the Billy Rose Theatre Division by Mrs. Thomas Francis, daughter of James Orson Belden in November of 1998.</p>"}

scopecontent

{"value"=>"<p>The collection documents both the long-time correspondence between <span class=\"persname\">James Belden</span> and <span class=\"persname\">Lillian Gish</span> and his admiration for her which is illustrated in his documentation of her career. The correspondence spans the years 1936 to 1991 and contains many of Gish's opinions and insights into the world of the theater and her tastes in literature. The clippings and articles document primarily her earlier career, becoming sketchy during Ms.Gish's middle age.</p>"}

{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Lillian Gish letters and ephemera is arranged in two series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21450#c301139'>Series I: Correspondence</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1936-1991</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>7 folders</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series contains letters written by Lillian Gish to <span class=\"persname\">James Orson Belden</span>. The letters which begin using formal address become friendly through the years. In them, Ms. Gish discusses the theater, literature, film and travel. There is a gap for the years 1945 through 1953 and 1970 through 1974.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21450#c301147'>Series II: Ephemera</a></div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series contains articles, clippings, photographs and photocopies of photographs of Lillian Gish. Ms. Gish's early career is documented more fully than her later work. Of special note is a photocopy of a photograph of <span class=\"persname\">Lillian Gish</span> and <span class=\"persname\">Paul Cadmus</span> as <span class=\"title\">Egeria and Numa Pompilius</span>.</p></div></li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}

arrangement

{"value"=>"<p> <ul> <li>Series I: Correspondence</li> <li>Series II: Ephemera</li></ul></p>", "supress_display"=>true}

accessrestrict

{"value"=>"<p>Photocopying prohibited.</p>"}

userestrict

{"value"=>"<p>For permission to publish, contact the Curator, Billy Rose Theatre Division.</p>"}

unitdate

{"value"=>"1936-1991", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1936/1991"}

date_inclusive_start

1936

date_inclusive_end

1991

acqinfo

{"accession_number"=>"THE Mss 1998-043"}

{"date"=>"11/--/1998", "source"=>"Mrs. Thomas Francis", "address"=>"See donor file", "method"=>"Gift", "extent"=>".42 o", "value"=>"Gift, Mrs. Thomas Francis, 11/--/1998"}

abstract

{"value"=>"The collection documents both the long-time correspondence between James Belden and Lillian Gish and his admiration for her which is illustrated in his documentation of her career. The correspondence spans the years 1936 to 1991 and contains many of Gish's opinions and insights into the world of the theater and her tastes in literature. The clippings and articles document primarily her earlier career, becoming sketchy during Ms. Gish's middle age."}

keydate

1936

processinfo

{"value"=>"<p>Processed by Mary Ellen Rogan.</p>"}

date_start

1936

date_end

1991

Update Collection TOP

Update from EAD XML File

Child components TOP

1. Series I: Correspondence [7/1]
2. Series II: Ephemera [5/1]