- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"simple", "value"=>"4 boxes and 4 volumes"}
- unitid
-
{"value"=>"*T-Mss 1993-050", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"21315", "type"=>"local_mss"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Walter Abel papers"}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"Billy Rose Theatre Division. The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. <div class=\"address\"> <span class=\"addressline\">40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498.</span></div>"}
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"<p>Walter Abel Papers, *T-Mss 1993-050, The Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.</p>"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Abel, Walter, 1898-1987", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>An actor on stage, film, radio, and television, Walter Abel's career spanned sixty years. He was born on June 6, 1898 in St. Paul, Minnesota to Richard Michael Abel and Christine Becker Abel and studied for the stage at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City, 1917-1918. He made his first professional appearance in the 1918 film <span class=\"title\">Out of a Clear Sky</span>, and his Broadway debut in Dorothy Donnelly's <span class=\"title\">Forbidden</span> at the Manhattan Opera House in 1919.</p> <p>His early career was on the New York stage where he was steadily employed through the 1920s and 1930s appearing in among others, William Shakespeare's <span class=\"title\">As You Like It</span> (1923), Eugene O'Neill's <span class=\"title\">Desire Under the Elms</span> (1924), William Congreve's <span class=\"title\">Love for Love</span> (1925), Channing Pollack's <span class=\"title\">The Enemy</span> (1925), Anton Chekhov's <span class=\"title\">The Seagull</span> (1929-1930), O'Neill's <span class=\"title\">Mourning Becomes Electra</span> (1932), Rachel Crother's <span class=\"title\">When Ladies Meet</span> (1932), and George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart's <span class=\"title\">Merrily We Roll Along</span> (1934). In 1929 he made his London debut in <span class=\"title\">Coquette</span> by George Abbott and Ann Preston Bridgers.</p> <p> His film career took off in 1935 when he starred as D'Artagnan in <span class=\"title\">The Three Musketeers</span>. He subsequently appeared in over sixty films, usually in supporting roles, often playing district attorneys or harrassed fathers. Films include <span class=\"title\">Fury</span>, <span class=\"title\">We Went to College</span>, <span class=\"title\">Arise My Love</span>, <span class=\"title\">Hold Back the Dawn</span>, <span class=\"title\">Beyond the Blue Horizon</span>, <span class=\"title\">Holiday Inn</span>, <span class=\"title\">Mr. Skeffington</span>, <span class=\"title\">Kiss and Tell</span>, <span class=\"title\">Skylark</span>, <span class=\"title\">So This Is Love</span>, <span class=\"title\">Raintree County</span> and others. His final picture, filmed in 1983, released in 1985, was <span class=\"title\">Grace Quigley</span> starring Katharine Hepburn and Nick Nolte.</p> <p>Following World War II, Abel returned to Broadway and was seen in John Van Druten's <span class=\"title\">The Mermaids Singing</span> (1945), William McCleery's <span class=\"title\">The Parlor Story</span> (1947), Joshua Logan's <span class=\"title\">The Wisteria Tree</span> with Helen Hayes (1952), Samuel Taylor's <span class=\"title\">The Pleasure of His Company</span>(1958) and Eduardo de Filippo's <span class=\"title\">Saturday Sunday Monday</span>(1974). He toured Europe in 1949 as Claudius in the American National Theater and Academy (ANTA)'s production of <span class=\"title\">Hamlet</span>. His final New York stage appearance was in a 1975 revival of Arthur Pinero's <span class=\"title\">Trelawny of the 'Wells'</span>.</p> <p>Beginning in the 1950s, Abel was often a concert narrator or reader. He said at the time that the two theatrical experiences he prized most were with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy in Aaron Copeland's <span class=\"title\">Portrait of Lincoln</span>(1951), and Arthur Honegger's <span class=\"title\">King David</span>(1952). He was also a reader in Dylan Thomas' <span class=\"title\">Under Milkwood</span>in 1953.</p> <p>Abel was active in many professional theatrical associations, serving as a council member of Actors' Equity, a vice president of the Screen Actors' Guild and of the Episcopal Actors Guild, a member of the board of ANTA (1961-1973), and its president (1966-1970). Through ANTA he visited colleges and universities, lecturing and acting in and directing plays.</p> <p>In 1926 Abel married Marietta Bitter, a concert harpist and daughter of the sculptor Karl Bitter. They had three sons. She died in 1979. Walter Abel died in a nursing home in Essex, Connecticut on March 26, 1987.</p>"}
- custodhist
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Walter Abel Papers were donated to the Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts by Walter Abel. They were reprocessed in 1994.</p>"}
- scopecontent
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{"value"=>"<p>The papers of Walter Abel consist primarily of correspondence, contracts, speeches and clippings documenting his work as an actor. The professional correspondence is not extensive: the bulk is single letters received from a wide variety of individuals, much of it letters of thanks. A few outgoing letters discuss proposed productions. Correspondents include John Golden, Robert Edmond Jones and Eugene Ormandy. The contracts file is incomplete. Speeches, the largest series, are for the most part lectures on Shakespeare, theater history, and the psychology of acting, but include some personal anecdotes. They reflect his tireless work promoting the theater to college students and others. The best depiction of his life in the theater can be gleaned from the box of clippings of production reviews and interviews with Abel. Production materials are mostly miscellaneous single items such as call sheets and schedules from films in which Abel appeared. Organizational work consists of minutes and correspondence pertaining to his work with ANTA, the Hollywood Victory Committee and other war service organizations. The collection also contains personal material on his family, awards, and a few scrapbooks of photographs.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Walter Abel papers are arranged in eleven series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21315#c295620'>Series I: Family papers,.</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1900-1975</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>8 folders</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Consists of letters <date>(1916-1922)</date> from his mother and his sister when Abel was away at school and just starting out in New York, papers of his brother Alfred who died in 1922 from tuberculosis contracted while serving overseas in World War I, a few legal documents, and some letters <date>(1938-1975)</date> from his wife when he was on the road. There is a small amount of correspondence to his wife and of outgoing personal letters by Walter Abel.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21315#c295629'>Series II: Correspondence,.</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1918-1975</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>27 folders</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Correspondence consists of letters concerning productions; agents; arrangements for speaking engagements and concert narrations, particularly with the Philadelphia Orchestra; work with the American National Theatre and Academy and the Hospital Committee of the American Theatre Wing; thank you letters for work in war savings campaigns in the U.S. and Canada and entertaining hospitalized veterans after the war; participation in various radio programs; fan mail, especially after his performance in <span class=\"title\">The Three Musketeers</span>; and telegrams of opening night congratulations. There are a few letters from celebrity colleagues and a small amount of outgoing correspondence mostly pertaining to proposed productions.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21315#c295657'>Series III: Contracts,.</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1921-1974</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>4 folders</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Consists of Actors' Equity Association and other contracts for some of the productions in which Abel appeared.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21315#c295662'>Series IV: Production Materials,.</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1935-1958 and n.d</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>9 folders</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Production materials are mostly miscellaneous single items such as call sheets and schedules from films in which Abel appeared. There are a few financial records and one actor's side from a play.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21315#c295672'>Series V: Organizational Work,.</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1942-1968</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>3 folders</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>A small file of minutes, correspondence and other papers from a few of the organizations with which Abel was involved: The American College Theater Festival, ANTA, the Hollywood Victory Committee, and other war service organizations during World War II.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21315#c295676'>Series VI: Speeches,.</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1944-1974</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>26 folders</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>A large file of handwritten drafts of speeches Abel gave at colleges and elsewhere, many under the auspices of ANTA, predominately in the 1960s. They are primarily on Shakespeare, theater history, and the psychology of acting, though they do contain some personal anecdotes that illuminate his life in the theater.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21315#c295703'>Series VI: Writings,.</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1929-1965</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>2 folders</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>A very small series consisting of a draft of an Equity survey of the theater, ca. 1965, and miscellaneous writings by others included with the Walter Abel Papers.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21315#c295706'>Series VIII: Clippings,.</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1924-1976</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>1 box</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>The clippings are predominately reviews of productions Abel was in. There are also general interviews with Abel, and articles about his readings, speeches, radio and theatrical promotion work. There are two Letters to the Editor by Abel and one folder of clippings and programs of his wife, the harpist Marietta Bitter.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21315#c295759'>Series IX: Awards,.</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1941-1958 and n.d</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>1 folder</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Consists of one folder of awards, mostly non-theatrical.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21315#c295761'>Series X: Ephemera,.</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1917-1967 and n.d</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>1 folder</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>One folder of miscellany.</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/the/21315#c295763'>Series XI: Scrapbooks,.</a></div>\n<div class='series-date'>1917-1955 and n.d</div>\n<div class='series-extent'>4 volumes</div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Four scrapbooks contain mainly photographs and clippings of Walter Abel.</p></div></li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
- arrangement
-
{"value"=>"<ul> <li>Series I: Family Papers</li> <li>Series II: Correspondence</li> <li>Series III: Contracts</li> <li>Series IV: Production Materials</li> <li>Series V: Organizational Work</li> <li>Series VI: Speeches</li> <li>Series VII: Writings</li> <li>Series VIII: Clippings</li> <li>Series IX: Awards</li> <li>Series X: Ephemera</li> <li>Series XI: Scrapbooks</li></ul>", "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"=>"1900-1976", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1900/1976"}
{"value"=>"1916-1975", "type"=>"bulk", "normal"=>"1916/1975"}
- date_inclusive_start
-
1900
- date_inclusive_end
-
1976
- acqinfo
-
{"materials"=>"Papers", "source"=>"Abel, Walter", "method"=>"Gift", "extent"=>"2.5 o", "value"=>"Papers: Gift, Abel, Walter"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"The papers of Walter Abel consist primarily of correspondence, contracts, speeches, and clippings documenting his work as an actor. The professional correspondence is not extensive: the bulk is single letters received from a wide variety of individuals, much of it letters of thanks. A few outgoing letters discuss proposed productions. Correspondents include John Golden, Robert Edmond Jones and Eugene Ormandy. The contracts file is incomplete. Speeches, for the most part lectures on Shakespeare, theater history, and the psychology of acting, reflect his tireless work promoting the theater to college students and others. Clippings consist of production reviews and interviews with Abel. Production materials are mostly miscellaneous single items such as call sheets and schedules from films in which Abel appeared. Organizational work consists of minutes and correspondence pertaining to his work with ANTA, the Hollywood Victory Committee and other war service organizations. The collection also contains personal material on his family, awards, and a few scrapbooks of photographs."}
- keydate
-
1900
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Processed by Elisabeth Elkind.</p>"}
- date_start
-
1900
- date_end
-
1976
- date_bulk_start
-
1916
- date_bulk_end
-
1975