- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"simple", "value"=>"7.1 linear feet (17 boxes)"}
- unitid
-
{"value"=>"*T-Mss 1981-006", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"21603", "type"=>"local_mss"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1903-1981", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1903/1981"}
- date_inclusive_start
-
1903
- date_inclusive_end
-
1981
- keydate
-
1903
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Max Liebman papers"}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Billy Rose Theatre Division."}
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"<p>Max Liebman Papers, *T-Mss 1981-006, Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts</p>"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Liebman, Max", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>Max Liebman was one of the leading pioneers in producing, directing, and writing several highly credited television productions in the 1950s. Growing up in New York, he attended the Boys High School in Brooklyn, and got his start in entertainment, performing and writing in vaudeville. He was the producer and director of the Tamiment Theatrical Workshop in the Poconos, a summer stock playhouse, and brought the company's show to Broadway as <span class=\"title\">The Straw Hat Revue</span> in 1939. Liebman was a co-writer for Danny Kaye for several years, and was also credited as a writer for the 1945 movie-musical <span class=\"title\">Ziegfeld Follies</span>. Max Liebman Productions was incorporated in the State of New York in 1948, and in 1949 Liebman made his debut as a television producer with the production of the Admiral <span class=\"title\">Broadway Revue</span>. Liebman also launched <span class=\"title\">Your Show of Shows</span> his most celebrated and critically acclaimed television production that same year, which he produced and directed from 1949 to 1954. The show was broadcast from the International Theatre in New York City and starred Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca.</p>", "supress_display"=>true}
- custodhist
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{"value"=>"<p>The Max Liebman papers were donated to the Billy Rose Theatre Division in 1981 by his wife Sonia Liebman.</p>"}
- scopecontent
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{"value"=>"<p>The papers of Max Liebman contain correspondence, scripts, drafts of scripts and rewrites, production files, production notes, clippings, legal documents, and personal papers including bills, photographs, and artwork that document his television and theater production career from 1949 to 1977.</p> <p>The collection contains 127 scripts from <span class=\"title\">Your Show of Shows</span>, and others from such television productions as Admiral <span class=\"title\">Broadway Revue</span>, <span class=\"title\">Stanley</span> starring Buddy Hackett and co-starring Carol Burnett, and <span class=\"title\">The Jackie Gleason Show</span>. The collection also contains several scripts from his Special Series productions with NBC-TV that ran for two seasons from 1954 to 1956, and starred such entertainers as Milton Berle and Perry Como. Richard Rodgers is credited as having worked on a few productions, and the then unknown Neil Simon was a frequent co-writer for several shows. There is also significant correspondence with the William Morris Agency regarding contract negotiations for such celebrities as Frank Sinatra, Judy Holliday, and Steve Allen.</p> <p>The bulk of the collection consists of 127 scripts for the celebrated television production <span class=\"title\">Your Show of Shows</span>, that Liebman produced and directed from 1949 to 1954. Carl Reiner was featured as a regular player, and Mel Brooks was a permanent member of the writing staff with Liebman contributing on occasion. Famous personalities, such as Charlton Heston, Arlene Francis, and Eddie Albert, were featured to host the show each week.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Max Liebman papers are arranged in four series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21603#c312626'>Series I: Personal and Business Correspondence</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1952-1977</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>37 folders</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Files cover a wide range of topics regarding both Liebman's personal and business communications. Personal items include correspondence and receipts regarding charity organizations and membership affiliations, documentation on private real estate, and photographs of artwork. The majority of Series I deals with business issues, such as correspondence regarding the City Center Theatre, the Liebman Foundation, <span class=\"title\">Stanley</span>, <span class=\"title\">Ten From Your Show of Shows</span> with Joseph Siegman, Inc., and documentation concerning a legal suit brought against Max Liebman Productions et al. by Harold F. Green. Correspondence more specifically related to show productions and/or celebrities include contract negotiations with William Morris Agency, cast lists, running orders, and miscellaneous text of songs and lyrics. Notable items include an 8 x 10 color photo of Liebman, handwritten letters from Imogene Coca, correspondence between him and Carl Reiner, two issues of <span class=\"title\">TV Guide</span> dated 1950 and 1954, and an officially stamped patent order for <span class=\"title\">Your Show of Shows</span>. A notable item in the series not directly connected to Max Liebman is a telegram to Buddy Hackett from Sammy Davis, Jr. inviting him to a civil rights rally in New Jersey with Martin Luther King, Jr.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21603#c312662'>Series II: Televison Scripts</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1949-1966</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>11 boxes 3 folders</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Television scripts primarily consist of episodes for the television program <span class=\"title\">Your Show of Shows</span>. There are also individual scripts from a variety of other television programs.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21603#c312815'>Series III: Unproduced Works</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1954-1965; undated</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>10 folders</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Contains correspondence, scripts, treatments, outlines, and lyrics of theater and television shows either conceived by or submitted to Max Liebman from external sources. None of the text appears to have gone into production for theater or television broadcast.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21603#c312826'>Series IV: Financial Ledgers</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1949-1960</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>5 ledgers</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Ledgers contain payroll information and general transfer journal entries for subject areas such as cash received, check disbursements, assets, and capital, for theater and television productions produced by Max Liebman Productions, Inc. and Stan Productions, Inc. The ledgers were originally cataloged as MWEZ.</p></div></li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
- arrangement
-
{"value"=>"<p> <ul> <li>Series I: Personal and Business Correspondence</li> <li>Series II: Television Scripts <ul> <li>Sub-series 1 - <span class=\"title\">Your Show of Shows</span></li> <li>Sub-series 2 - Other Televison Scripts</li></ul></li> <li>Series III: Unproduced Works</li> <li>Series IV: Financial Ledger</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>"}
- relatedmaterial
-
{"value"=>"<p>Additional scripts and tapes for Liebman productions <span class=\"title\">Admiral Broadway Review</span> and <span class=\"title\">Your Show of Shows</span> can be found at The Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago, IL, the Library of American Broadcasting at the University of Maryland Libraries, and the Library of Congress.</p>"}
- note
-
{"value"=>"Photographs - Billy Rose Theatre Division Photographs include a color negative of Puppet Chorus Line, entertainment headshot images of Richard Higgs, John Fowler, The Sylte Sisters, and one unidentified man, and (8) black and white photographs with (8) corresponding color negatives of staged puppet figures."}
- acqinfo
-
{"accession_number"=>"THE 1981-006"}
{"date"=>"1981", "source"=>"Liebman, Sonia", "method"=>"Gift", "extent"=>"7.1 o", "value"=>"Gift, Liebman, Sonia, 1981"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Processed by Archival Staff.</p>"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"Max Liebman was one of the leading pioneers in producing, directing, and writing several highly credited television productions in the 1950s. Growing up in New York, he attended the Boys High School in Brooklyn, and got his start in entertainment, performing and writing in vaudeville. He was the producer and director of the Tamiment Theatrical Workshop in the Poconos, a summer stock playhouse, and brought the company's show to Broadway as <span class=\"title\">The Straw Hat Revue</span> in 1939. Liebman was a co-writer for Danny Kaye for several years, and was also credited as a writer for the 1945 movie-musical <span class=\"title\">Ziegfeld Follies</span>. Max Liebman Productions was incorporated in the State of New York in 1948, and in 1949 Liebman made his debut as a television producer with the production of the Admiral <span class=\"title\">Broadway Revue</span>. Liebman also launched <span class=\"title\">Your Show of Shows</span> his most celebrated and critically acclaimed television production that same year, which he produced and directed from 1949 to 1954. The show was broadcast from the International Theatre in New York City and starred Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca. The papers of Max Liebman contain correspondence, scripts, drafts of scripts and rewrites, production files, production notes, clippings, legal documents, and personal papers including bills, photographs, and artwork that document his television and theater production career from 1949 to 1977.", "generated"=>true}
- date_start
-
1903
- date_end
-
1981