- unitid
-
{"value"=>"*T-MSS 2012-016", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"18674", "type"=>"local_mss"}
{"value"=>"b19972264", "type"=>"local_b"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1894-1975", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1894/1975"}
{"value"=>"1922-1961", "type"=>"bulk", "normal"=>"1922/1961"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Henry Myers papers"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"9.56 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear feet"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"26 boxes", "unit"=>"containers"}], "supress_display"=>true}
- repository
-
{"id"=>"THE", "value"=>"Billy Rose Theatre Division"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"Henry Myers (1893-1975) was an American writer and lyricist who wrote in many genres of fiction including plays, musicals, motion pictures, revues, and novels. Before becoming a writer, Myers was a composer and classical pianist. The Henry Myers papers (1894-1975) document his long and prolific career as a professional dramatist, lyricist, and novelist, as well as his earlier career as a pianist. The collection consists of writings, production files, scrapbooks, and a small amount of personal material. To a lesser extent, his work as a screenwriter is represented."}
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"<p>Henry Myers papers, *T-Mss 2012-016. Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library.</p>"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Myers, Henry, 1893-1975", "type"=>"persname", "role"=>"creator"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>Henry Myers (1893-1975) was an American writer and lyricist who wrote in many genres of fiction including, plays, musicals, motion pictures, revues, and novels. Before becoming a writer, Myers was a composer and classical pianist. Myers was born in Chicago but moved to New York City at the age of one and lived with his mother in Greenwich Village. At her encouragement, Myers studied piano and composition at the Damrosch Music School and under the pianist and composer Rubin Goldmark. When he was nineteen, Myers went to Berlin to continue his studies but had to leave soon after due to the outbreak of World War I.</p> <p>Upon his return to New York, Myers took a playwriting class at Columbia University. While at Columbia, he befriended lyricist Lorenz Hart, who produced Myers' first play, The First Fifty Years, at the Princess Theater in 1922. The play was moderately successful and ran for six weeks. Myers continued to write Broadway plays throughout his career including, The New Yorkers (1927), Good Boy (1928), Garrick Gaieties (1930), and Gypsy Lady (1946).</p> <p>In 1930, Myers moved to California on a two-year writing contract with Paramount Pictures. He ended up remaining in California for almost two decades and wrote numerous screenplays. Notable films he wrote include Her Wedding Night (1930), Million Dollar Legs (1932), The Black Room (1935), and Destry Rides Again (1939), with James Stewart and Marlene Dietrich. He often collaborated with screenwriter Jay Gorney. Together they wrote the films College Holiday; The Heat's On; and Hey, Rookie; the stage musicals Kris Kringle Rides Again and Mona and Lisa; and Meet the People, a popular revue that ran in Hollywood from 1939 to 1941. The revue also had a successful year on Broadway, and toured the United States and Canada. During this time, his first novel, Our Lives Have Just Begun, was also published.</p> <p>While in Hollywood, Myers was a founding member of the Screen Writers Guild and served as a board member. He was also an active member of the Hollywood chapter of the League of American Writers. These activities precipitated his departure from Hollywood in 1947 due to McCarthyism. Myers returned to New York City and focused his energy on writing historical novels. His book The Utmost Island (1951), about Leif Ericsson, became a Book-of-the-Month Club selection, and his following novels O King Live Forever (1953), The Signorina (1956), and The Winner of World War III (1966), found modest success. Myers taught novel writing at New York University's School of Continuing Education. He also delved into production, producing the play The Happiest Girl in the World in 1961.</p> <p>Myers was married twice. His first marriage, to Barbara Alexander, a political activist, was short-lived. He later married Marion Trabue, an actress whom he had first met in the 1920s. Marion's sister, Virginia Trabue, lived with the couple, and began her own relationship with Myers following Marion's death. All unions were childless. Myers died in 1975 in Los Angeles, while seeking medical treatment at the Motion Picture Country House and Lodge.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Henry Myers papers (1894-1975) document his long and prolific career as a professional dramatist, lyricist, and novelist, as well as his earlier career as a pianist. The collection consists of writings, production files, scrapbooks, and a small amount of personal material. To a lesser extent, his work as a screenwriter is represented.</p> <p>The bulk of the collection is made up of writing and production files. These files consist of typescripts, notes, correspondence, and programs regarding plays, musicals, and novels. Most of the material is undated. Also included are notebooks containing holograph notes on unidentified projects. There is a small amount of original scores, as well as royalty statements and agreements for various productions and songs.</p> <p>Produced and unproduced stage plays and musicals are represented in the papers. Plays include The 100-Yard Dash, Casta Diva, The Death of Death, The End of the Book, The First Fifty Years, Hallowe'en, What a World, With This Ring, Work is For Horses, and You. Musicals include Adrianna, The Banker's Daughter, Kris Kringle Rides Again, and Mona and Lisa, as well as the musical revue Meet the People.</p> <p> Drafts of all five of Myers' novels can be found in the collection. Additionally, there are fan letters for The Utmost Island that demonstrate the popularity of the book after it became a Book-of-the-Month Club selection. The collection also contains three unpublished novels: Tune on a Silver String, a thinly veiled account of Myers' own childhood; The Night Hath a Thousand Eyes; and The Hound of Ulster.</p> <p>Other writings include the short story 3 Cons; three comedic long poems titled A Second Childhood's Garden of Verse, Lady of the Leak, and In Search of the Great Mistake; and a memoir of Lorenz Hart called Portrait of Larry Hart. A documentary proposal by Myers, and publicity books on documentarian Eugene Jones, suggest that Myers also held an interest in documentaries. Other material includes a sketch of an unidentified set, and large format, dry-mounted photographs of a staged production.</p> <p>The collections holds nine scrapbooks that reflect the entirety of Myers' professional work, including early musical performances, his work as a playwright and lyricist, his time in Hollywood as a screenwriter, and his career as a novelist. The scrapbooks are composed of news clippings, photographs, programs, and telegrams. Personal material in the collection is fragmentary. It consists of letters Myers wrote to Virginia Trabue shortly before his death; invitations and cards addressed to Marion Trabue or Myers; two posthumous memorial speeches about Myers; and a sketchbook of Virginia Trabue's. Also included are photographs of Myers throughout his life, and photographs of various family members.</p>"}
- arrangement
-
{"value"=>"<p>The collection is arranged by document type.</p>"}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Unknown donor.</p>"}
- processinfo
-
{"type"=>"processing", "value"=>"<p>Compiled by <span class=\"name\">Susan Malsbury</span>, <span class=\"date\">2013</span>. Detailed container list created by <span class=\"name\">Valerie Wingfield</span>, <span class=\"date\">2016</span>.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p>The entire collection was foldered and rehoused. Some of the scrapbooks were removed from their bindings though they remain in their original order. The scrapbooks are fragile and care should be used when examining them.</p>"}
- userestrict
-
{"value"=>"<p>The author/creator retains copyright of materials. For information on obtaining permission to publish, contact the Theatre Division at theatrediv@nypl.org.</p>"}
- dsc_type
-
combined
- date_start
-
1894
- keydate
-
1894
- date_end
-
1975
- date_inclusive_start
-
1894
- date_inclusive_end
-
1975
- date_bulk_start
-
1922
- date_bulk_end
-
1961
- extent_statement
-
9.56 linear feet (26 boxes)