Found 9 collections related to Belasco, David, 1853-1931

Paul Kester (1870-1933) was an American dramatist and author. He wrote popular novels and also plays which were produced on Broadway with well-known American and British actors. His older brother, Vaughan Kester (1869-1911) was a journalist and novelist who wrote short stories and assisted Paul with his plays. Harriet Watkins Kester was their mother and Jessie Jennings Kester was married to Vaughan Kester. Collection consists of correspondence, literary manuscripts and personal papers of Paul Kester and his brother Vaughan covering their work as dramatists and their correspondence with people in the performing arts. Harriet Watkins Kester's and Jessie Jennings Kester's personal papers are included in the collection. The bulk of Paul Kester's papers is correspondence with actors, actresses, playwrights, producers, publishers, and script writers. His personal letters, 1888-1924, are mainly to his mother, brother and sister-in-law and many of the letters refer to his daily activities as a playwright. Writings contain his working notes and drafts of some of his plays and novels. Miscellaneous papers include photographs of the Kester family and small collections of other individuals' papers. Vaughan Kester's papers contain incoming letters from colleagues; outgoing letters, 1891-1907, to his mother and to Paul Wilstach; writings; and miscellaneous papers. Papers of Harriet Watkins Kester consist of correspondence, 1874-1926, with her sons Paul and Vaughan about their careers and with her daughter-in-law Jessie; and writings, diaries and other materials. Jessie Jennings Kester's correspondence, 1899-1914, is with friends, her brother-in-law and mother-in-law, and with various members of the Kester and Watkins families. Also includes scrapbooks with press notices of Paul Kester's novels and plays. less

During her long life, Mary Ellis (1897-2003) was a successful singer and actress in opera, theatre, film, radio, and television. Working first in her native United States, then from the 1930s in her adopted home of England, she played dozens of roles and crossed paths with hundreds of theatrical personalities. This collection, which includes correspondence, personal items, production files, photographs, scrapbooks, and clippings, spans Ms. Ellis' life and documents both her career and something of the artistic environment in which it flourished. less

Actor, manager, playwright, director, producer and theater owner, David Belasco was one of the outstanding personalities of the American theater at the turn of the century. He is most notable for his exotic stage productions, famous for their lavishness and scenic realism, and his discovery and training of actors such as Mrs. Leslie Carter, Blanche Bates, David Warfield and Frances Starr. He made good use of the mechanical inventions of his day including innovations in the use of lighting, was involved in the fight against the Theatrical Syndicate, and wrote plays of his own, mostly collaborations and adaptations of sentimental melodrama. The collection contains Belasco correspondence with actors and others, 53 scrapbooks of photographs by White Studio and Byron Studio of Belasco productions [1898-1930], and 30 rolls of microfilm of scrapbooks of clippings [1898-1930] (*ZAN-*T-279). less