- unitid
-
{"value"=>"*T-Mss 2000-026", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"21734", "type"=>"local_mss"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1938-1999", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1938/1999"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Lucille Kallen papers"}
- physdesc
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{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"21.44 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear feet"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"45 boxes", "unit"=>"containers"}]}
- 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"=>"Lucille Kallen was a published author as well as a prolific writer for radio, television, and stage. In the 1950s, she was the only female writer on the staff of Sid Caesar’s <span class=\"title\">Your Show of Shows</span> . Today she is best known as the author of the <span class=\"title\">C. B. Greenfield</span> mystery novels. This collection of personal papers, correspondence, manuscripts, television and theater scripts, and production materials provides insight into her life and work."}
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"English"}
- prefercite
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{"value"=>"<p>Lucille Kallen Papers, *T-Mss 2000-026. Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.</p>"}
- origination
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{"value"=>"Kallen, Lucille", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>Lucille Kallen was a prolific writer who helped shape the early direction of American television humor. While she wrote for radio, theater, television, and publication, and served as the only female writer on the staff of the television classic <span class=\"title\">Your Show of Shows</span>, today she is best known as the author of the <span class=\"title\">C. B. Greenfield</span>mystery novels.</p> <p>Lucille Kallen was born Lucille Eve Chernos in Los Angeles on May 28, 1922. When she was three years old, her parents moved the family to Toronto. In the 1930s, she attended the Harbord Collegiate Institute where she performed the role of one of Major General Stanley’s daughters in the school production of <span class=\"title\">Pirates of Penzance</span>.</p> <p>She was trained as a concert pianist under Naomi Yanova Adaskin and at the Toronto Conservatory of Music. In 1941, she studied at the Music School of the Henry Street Settlement in New York City. She eventually decided against a career as a solo pianist and returned to Canada. On February 19, 1943, she married Leo Allen Orenstein. By 1945, Lucille Chernos chose to utilize her mother’s maiden name, Kallen, as her professional name.</p> <p>During 1946 she wrote radio scripts for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. In 1947, she submitted a script to a contest held by the <span class=\"title\">Helen Hayes Radio Show</span>. The prize being that the winner’s script would be produced as an episode of the show. Kallen’s script was chosen and she was brought to New York for the show’s production. She later remembered that she came to New York with only two copies of her script. When both copies were lost before production, she was forced to recreate the script from memory.</p> <p> During the 1940s, Lucille Kallen and a friend, Marsha Sands, formed a small nightclub act. Kallen wrote sketches, played the piano, and introduced the sketches for a cast that included Martin Balsam. They were noticed by legendary theater producer Max Liebman and hired to join the summer cast of Liebman’s Tamiment Playhouse at Camp Tamiment in Bushkill, Pennsylvania. Lucille Kallen was hired as a writer; she subsequently worked at the Tamiment Playhouse during the summers from 1947 to 1950. One summer she roomed with comedienne Louise Hoff, another year her roommate was Barbara Cook. It was at Tamiment that Lucille Kallen first worked with Imogene Coca and Mel Tolkin. Tolkin would be her primary writing partner during her years working for Max Liebman.</p> <p> In 1949, Lucille Kallen served with Mel Tolkin as co-writer for the new television program, the <span class=\"title\">Admiral Broadway Revue</span> starring Sid Caesar as host and a cast that included Imogene Coca. When, despite great success, the Admiral Corporation discontinued its funding after one season, the show was reincarnated as Y<span class=\"title\">our Show of Shows</span>. Lucille Kallen and Mel Tolkin, with Tolkin as head writer, continued to write for a cast including Caesar, Coca, and Carl Reiner, as well as weekly guest stars. Kallen and Tolkin were joined in the writers’ room by Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner. Kallen was the only female writer during the entire run of the show and one of few women at the time to hold such a position. She was credited for creating some of her best writing in sketches concerning the bickering married couple, the “Hickenloopers” as well as material for Imogene Coca. When <span class=\"title\">Your Show of Shows</span> went off the air in 1954, Lucille Kallen was chosen as head writer for the short-lived <span class=\"title\">Imogene Coca Show</span>.</p> <p> In 1951 Kallen divorced Leo Allen Orenstein. She married Herbert Engel on August 22, 1952. The couple had two children: a son, Paul, and a daughter, Lise. The family eventually left New York City and moved to Ardsley, New York. Kallen enjoyed the summer music season at Tanglewood and often stayed at the historic Wheatleigh hotel. In later years she spent portions of the winter on Sanibel Island off of the Southwest Coast of Florida. Both of these locations served as settings for her mystery novels.</p> <p>Even when television production moved primary operations to the west coast, Lucille Kallen remained in New York. She continued to submit scripts to television series. In 1957, she served as writer for the short-lived Buddy Hackett series, <span class=\"title\">Stanley</span>. During the 1960s, she wrote forty shows for the critically praised series <span class=\"title\">The Bell Telephone Hour</span>. She also collaborated on the 1967 NBC special <span class=\"title\">We Interrupt this Season: An NBC Experiment in Television</span>. Her final television project was the 1973 talk show starring Dr. Joyce Brothers titled <span class=\"title\">Living Easy</span>.</p> <p>Lucille Kallen’s theater experience was also varied. After four years of writing for the Tamiment Playhouse, in 1950 she contributed sketches to <span class=\"title\">Tickets Please</span>, a revue starring Grace and Paul Hartman. In 1958, she collaborated with Mel Tolkin on the short-lived Broadway comedy <span class=\"title\">Maybe Tuesday</span>. In 1963, she served as script doctor on the equally short-lived musical <span class=\"title\">Sophie</span>. She also wrote the book for the film portion of the <span class=\"title\">Chrysler Show-Go-Round</span> at the 1964 World’s Fair. In 1969, she wrote the book for the first stage production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s <span class=\"title\">State Fair</span> as presented at the St. Louis Municipal Opera. In 1974, she collaborated with Mel Tolkin, Max Liebman, Sid Caesar, and Imogene Coca on <span class=\"title\">Double Take</span>, a theatrical presentation of <span class=\"title\">Your Show of Show’s</span> “Hickenlooper” sketches. In 1979, she adapted a teleplay titled <span class=\"title\">See How She Runs</span> into the book for a musical titled<span class=\"title\"> Long Way to Boston</span>. Several other plays, including 1973’s <span class=\"title\">The Jungle Gym</span> written with Brett Somers, were never produced.</p> <p>In the 1960s, Lucille Kallen began writing for publication. In 1963, <span class=\"title\">Co-ed Magazine</span> published her short story <span class=\"title\">Tangled Web</span>. In 1964, her novel <span class=\"title\">Outside There Somewhere</span> was published. This comical feminist novel about a married woman with two children attempting to balance a return to work with her family responsibilities was critically praised by the likes of Betty Friedan, but due to poor advertisement, was not a huge success. It was published in paperback in Great Britain in the 1970s as <span class=\"title\">Gentlemen Prefer Slaves</span>. In 1969, <span class=\"title\">Mademoiselle</span> published her story <span class=\"title\">Sex and the Suburbs-or, Meet Me at the A & P</span>.</p> <p> In 1979, her first detective novel <span class=\"title\">Introducing C. B. Greenfield</span> was published. This was the first of five novels involving her detective team of newspaper owner and editor C. B. Greenfield and his chief writer Maggie Rome. With this team, Lucille Kallen returned to her roots and chose to have her detectives be passionate about classical music. This is most reflected in the second <span class=\"title\">Greenfield</span> book, which she set in Tanglewood amongst her much loved summer music season.<span class=\"title\"> Introducing C. B. Greenfield</span> was nominated for the American Book Award for 1979. The <span class=\"title\">Greenfield</span> books were later published in Great Britain, France, and Italy, amongst others. Ever anxious to get the facts correct in her writings, in the 1980s she established correspondence with two men who could help her understand the police and military procedure that was central to her writings. Captain Bill Trefny of the Sanibel Island Police helped her with <span class=\"title\">C. B. Greenfield: The Piano Bird</span> and Lt. Colonel Myron Donald, USAF helped her with <span class=\"title\">C. B. Greenfield: A Little Madness</span>. Both men remained correspondents for several years.</p> <p>After the <span class=\"title\">Greenfield</span> books, Kallen worked on multiple drafts of a never completed novel titled <span class=\"title\">Sacred Bull</span>. Her final work in progress during the 1990s, <span class=\"title\">Fannie DeWitt</span>, appears to have been inspired by her hospital experiences while being treated for an illness.</p> <p>During the 1980s and into the 1990s, Kallen gave speeches and interviews at several events regarding her <span class=\"title\">Greenfield</span> books as well as her years on <span class=\"title\">Your Show of Shows</span>. She was interviewed for the Tamiment Playhouse Archives and the Archives of the Academy of Arts and Television as well as for tributes to Sid Caesar. As she looked back upon her years writing for Max Liebman, she became increasingly cynical about her previous acceptance of the past treatment of women in the workplace. She also disliked what she saw as an increased mis-remembering of history in regards to her contribution to the <span class=\"title\">Your Show of Shows</span> and the correct listing of known writers who worked with her on that show compared to those who worked on the <span class=\"title\">Sid Caesar Show</span>.</p> <p> Lucille Kallen died of cancer on January 18, 1999.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Lucille Kallen Papers consists of correspondence, personal papers, financial papers, scripts, book drafts, publication materials, clippings, scrapbooks, and some photographs. Much of the materials contained here concerns Lucille Kallen’s professional life as a writer of radio, theater, and television, and novels; however, there is some personal correspondence and personal papers included within the collection.</p> <p>The materials give insight into Lucille Kallen’s place within the history of the development of American television and comedy forms as well as into the process of working writers. Materials include original scripts for 1949s <span class=\"title\">Admiral Broadway Review</span>, 1950s <span class=\"title\">Your Show of Shows</span>, and 1960s <span class=\"title\">Bell Telephone Hour</span>, among others, as well as original contracts, programs, photographs, and clippings. Many of the scripts and textual materials are annotated. The book drafts especially, depict Kallen’s writing process of handwriting her text on yellow legal pads and then leaving the transcription and typing to a hired typist. She also edited her texts by hand.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Lucille Kallen papers are arranged in twelve series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21734#c440697'>Series I: Correspondence</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1946-1999</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>1.5 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series contains personal and professional correspondence from Kallen’s friends, fans, and business associates. It references all stages of her career from her beginnings in radio to her published novels. Notable correspondents include Imogene Coca, and Mel Tolkin. In the 1980s, Kallen frequently corresponded with Captain Bill Trefny of the Sanibel Island Police in reference to <span class=\"title\">C. B. Greenfield: The Piano Bird</span> and Lt. Colonel Myron Donald, USAF in reference to <span class=\"title\">C. B. Greenfield: A Little Madness</span>. These reference correspondents appeared to grow into lasting friendships. Several folders contain fan mail regarding her various publications. Most correspondence referencing specific projects is filed with the appropriate projects. Some folders contain correspondence from Lucille Kallen.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21734#c440740'>Series II: Personal Papers</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1938-1999</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>1 box</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series contains materials concerning aspects of Lucille Kallen’s personal and business life that did not directly interact with her writing. Materials include contracts and correspondence with individual lawyers as well as financial statements and Kallen’s divorce papers. Similar materials directly relating to specific projects have been filed with those projects.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21734#c440773'>Series III: Radio</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1945-1976</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>1.5 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series contains materials related to Lucille Kallen’s career in radio. It includes scripts and correspondence related to specific projects. Many scripts exist without documentation noting if they were ever produced.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21734#c440848'>Series IV: Television</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1949-1987</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>8 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series contains materials related to Lucille Kallen’s career in television from her start with the <span class=\"title\">Admiral Broadway Revue</span> and <span class=\"title\">Your Show of Shows</span> to her work on <span class=\"title\">The Bell Telephone Hour</span> to her final television project, Dr. Joyce Brother’s <span class=\"title\">Living Easy</span>. Materials include scripts, correspondence, contracts and publicity materials related to specific projects. Correspondence and annotation often provides insight into the direction of the creation of the project. Not all of these projects were submitted or produced.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21734#c441023'>Series V: Motion Pictures</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1977</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>0.5 box</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p> This series contains materials related to Lucille Kallen’s adaptation of Norma Klein’s novel, <span class=\"title\">Mom, the Wolfman, and Me</span>. It also contains a script for a potential film to star Imogene Coca and Sid Caesar.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21734#c441031'>Series VI: Theater</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1937-1979</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>7.5 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series contains materials pertaining to Kallen’s involvement in various theatrical presentations. These include materials produced for the Tamiment Playhouse, Broadway and regional theaters.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21734#c441194'>Series VII: Publications</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1962-1997</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>19 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>In 1963, Lucille Kallen began a career as a published author. Her first short story, <span class=\"title\">Tangled Web</span>, was published in <span class=\"title\">Co-ed</span> magazine. Her first novel, <span class=\"title\">Outside There Somewhere</span> was published in 1964. Discouraged by the lack of publicity her novel received, Kallen did not write another novel until 1979s <span class=\"title\">Introducing C. B. Greenfield</span>. This mystery, the first of five <span class=\"title\">Greenfield</span> novels, was nominated for The American Book Award for 1979. The <span class=\"title\">Greenfield</span> novels were well received by fans and critics. During the 1990s, Kallen created numerous drafts of a never published novel, <span class=\"title\">Sacred Bull</span>. Her final novel,<span class=\"title\"> Fannie DeWitt</span> was never completed. Kallen wrote her manuscripts longhand in pencil on lined paper and paid a typist to type her drafts. She kept the corrections and revisions that marked the evolution of her manuscripts from the original pages of notes to the edited printers copies.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21734#c441326'>Series VIII: Other Writings</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1969-1986</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>1 box</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series contains articles, interviews, and speeches that Lucille Kallen contributed to between 1969-1999. It also contains written sketches that do not appear to correspond to specific projects or productions.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21734#c441358'>Series IX: Clippings</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1982-1999</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>7 folders</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series contains clippings that Lucille Kallen kept which could not be filed with specific projects. This includes clippings that refer to the <span class=\"title\">C. B. Greenfield</span>series as a whole. Additional clippings concern projects of her various co-workers and friends.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21734#c441366'>Series X: Photographs</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1948-1990</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>1 box</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series contains photographs that were not contained in scrapbooks. Most are personal photos; however some concerning specific projects were filed here due to size considerations that did not allow for them to be filed with the project.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21734#c441372'>Series XI: Scrapbooks</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1939-1992</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>3 boxes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Lucille Kallen kept several scrapbooks. Most contained a combination of clippings, photographs, publicity material, and ephemera. The later scrapbooks were disassembled and arranged according to contents. The earliest scrapbooks were unable to be disassembled; instead, clippings were photocopied and filed with the pages in sequence. A reference scrapbook that contained only newspaper clippings was photocopied in entirety.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21734#c441380'>Series XII: Oversized</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1961-1964</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>1 box and 1 folder</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series consists of two items: the film shooting script for the <span class=\"title\">Chrysler Show-Go Round</span> World’s Fair Show in 1964 and a 1961 title scroll that appears to be for <span class=\"title\">The United States Steel Hour - Private Eye, Private Eye</span>.</p></div></li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
- arrangement
-
{"value"=>"<p> <ul class=\"list\"> <li>Series I: Correspondence, 1946-1999</li> <li>Series II: Personal Papers, 1938-1999</li> <li>Series III: Radio, 1945-1976 <ul class=\"list\"> <li>Sub-series 1: Produced, 1945-1946</li> <li>Sub-series 2: Unproduced, ca. 1945-1946</li> <li>Sub-series 3: Unknown, undated</li></ul></li> <li>Series IV: Television, 1979-1987 <ul class=\"list\"> <li>Sub-series 1: Produced, 1949-1977</li> <li>Sub-series 2: Unproduced, 1957-1985</li></ul></li> <li>Series V: Motion Pictures, 1977</li> <li>Series VI: Theater, 1937-1979 <ul class=\"list\"> <li>Sub-series 1: Produced, 1937-1979</li> <li>Sub-series 2: Unproduced, 1961-1974</li></ul></li> <li>Series VII: Publications, 1962-1999 <ul class=\"list\"> <li>Sub-series 1: Published, 1962-1997</li> <li>Sub-series 2: Unpublished, 1975-1997</li></ul></li> <li>Series VIII: Other Writings, 1969-1999</li> <li>Series IX: Clippings, 1982-1999</li> <li>Series X: Photographs, 1948-1990</li> <li>Series XI: Scrapbooks, 1939-1992</li> <li>Series XII: Oversized, 1961-1964</li></ul></p>", "supress_display"=>true}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Lucille Kallen Papers were donated to the Billy Rose Theatre Division in 2000 by Herb Engel.</p>"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Processed by Whitney E. Berman; Machine-readable finding aid created by Whitney E. Berman.</p>"}
- accessrestrict
-
{"value"=>"<p>Some collections held by the Dance, Music, Recorded Sound, and Theatre Divisions at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts are held off-site and must be requested in advance. Please check the collection records in the NYPL's online catalog for detailed location information. For general guidance about requesting offsite materials, please consult: https://www.nypl.org/about/locations/lpa/requesting-archival-materials Photocopying prohibited.</p>"}
- userestrict
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{"value"=>"<p>For permission to publish, contact the Curator, Billy Rose Theatre Division.</p>"}
- date_start
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1938
- keydate
-
1938
- date_end
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1999
- date_inclusive_start
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1938
- date_inclusive_end
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1999