- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"5.85 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear feet"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"3 boxes and 5 scrapbooks", "unit"=>"containers"}], "supress_display"=>true}
- unitid
-
{"value"=>"*T-Mss 2004-021", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"21761", "type"=>"local_mss"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1945-2003", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1945/2003"}
- date_inclusive_start
-
1945
- date_inclusive_end
-
2003
- keydate
-
1945
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Richard Seff papers"}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. <span class=\"subarea\">Billy Rose Theatre Division.</span></span> New York, New York"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"In the course of his career, Richard Seff worked as an actor, agent, and playwright. The correspondence, photographs, scrapbooks, and clippings in this collection document his professional career and his friendship with many notable names of show business."}
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"<p>Richard Seff Papers, *T-Mss 2004-021. Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.</p>"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Seff, Richard, 1927-", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>Actor, agent and playwright Richard Seff was born September 27, 1927 in Brooklyn, New York. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from New York University and studied acting with Stella Adler in the early 1950's.</p> <p>Seff's performing career began on radio. As a character actor, Seff appeared on stage and screen. Credits from his early acting career include the 1951 Broadway production of <span class=\"title\">Darkness at Noon</span>by Sidney Kingsley, and the television show <span class=\"title\">Charade Quiz</span>. Mr. Seff continued acting until 1952 when he left the profession to pursue a career as an agent.</p> <p>Seff started at the Liebling-Wood Agency in the television department and later became a vice president at MCA (Music Corporation of America). In 1962, with Stark Hesseltine and Leo Bookman, Seff formed HBS, which merged with CMA (Creative Management Associates, Inc.) in 1969. Over the course of his twenty years as an agent, Mr. Seff represented such legends as composers John Kander and Fred Ebb, choreographer Ron Field, and performers Linda Lavin and Chita Rivera.</p> <p>In 1975, Seff decided to return to the creative end of the business; he resumed acting and started writing for theatre. Film and television credits from the latter part of his acting career include: <span class=\"title\">Quiz Show</span>, <span class=\"title\">Kane & Abel</span>, <span class=\"title\">Being There</span>, <span class=\"title\">The Onion Field</span>, <span class=\"title\">Where the Buffalo Roam</span>, <span class=\"title\">Rage of Angels</span> and <span class=\"title\">Betrayal</span>. Broadway credits include <span class=\"title\">End of the World</span>, <span class=\"title\">Herzl</span>, <span class=\"title\">The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940</span>, and, as assistant director to Eric Thompson, Alan Ayckbourn's trilogy <span class=\"title\">The Norman Conquests</span>. As a playwright, Seff wrote <span class=\"title\">Spotlight</span>, <span class=\"title\">The Whole Ninth Floor</span>, <span class=\"title\">Paris Is Out</span> and <span class=\"title\">Shine!</span> In 1970, <span class=\"title\">Paris Is Out</span> played at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre with Molly Picon and Sam Levine, followed by a national tour with Pat O'Brien and his wife Eloise. <span class=\"title\">Shine!</span> is a Horatio Alger inspired musical for which Mr. Seff wrote the libretto, collaborating with Roger Anderson (music) and Lee Goldsmith (lyrics).</p> <p>In 2003, Mr. Seff endowed the Richard Seff Award through the Actors' Equity Foundation to honor one character actor and one character actress per year for best performance in a Broadway or Off-Broadway production.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Richard Seff Papers contain correspondence, contracts, photographs, programs, clippings and scrapbooks.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Richard Seff papers are arranged in five series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21761#c452925'>Series I: Correspondence</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1976-2003</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>44 folders</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>The correspondence series contains material of both a personal and professional nature, with two subseries: one for general correspondence and the second for correspondence relating to production of the musical <span class=\"title\">Shine!</span></p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21761#c452972'>Series II: Contracts</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1950-1986</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>15 folders</div>\n<div class='series-description'></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21761#c452991'>Series III: Photographs</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1948-1996 and undated</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>1 box</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Seff named the collection of his portraits \"An Actor's Life: Head Shots of Richard Seff 1948-1996.\" The portraits of other actors were given to Seff by various colleagues; some of these are signed. Images that span Seff's career through theatre, television, film and print advertisements are also included.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21761#c452995'>Series IV: Programs and Clippings</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1966-2003</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>32 folders</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series contains the programs and clippings of plays in which Mr. Seff was involved, both as playwright and actor. Also included is publicity regarding the Richard Seff Award, given each year to one character actor and one character actress, over the age of fifty, for best performance in a Broadway or Off-Broadway production.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21761#c453028'>Series V: Scrapbooks</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1945-2001</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>5 scrapbooks</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series contains five volumes.</p></div></li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
- arrangement
-
{"value"=>"<p> <ul> <li>Series I: Correspondence</li> <li>Series II: Contracts</li> <li>Series III: Photographs</li> <li>Series IV: Programs and Clippings</li> <li>Series V: Scrapbooks</li></ul></p>", "supress_display"=>true}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Papers were donated by Richard Seff in 2004.</p>"}
- accessrestrict
-
{"value"=>"<p>Library policies on photocopying apply.</p>"}
- userestrict
-
{"value"=>"<p>For permission to publish, contact the Curator, Billy Rose Theatre Division.</p>"}
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"English"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Processed by: Bonnie Marie Sauer; Machine-readable finding aid created by: Bonnie Marie Sauer.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p>Processed by Bonnie Marie Sauer; Machine-readable finding aid created by Bonnie Marie Sauer.</p>"}
- extent_statement
-
5.85 linear feet (3 boxes and 5 scrapbooks)
- date_start
-
1945
- date_end
-
2003