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Creator
Loudon, Dorothy
Call number
*T-Mss 2005-006
Physical description
31 linear feet (82 boxes)
Language
English
Preferred Citation
Dorothy Loudon papers, *T-Mss 2005-006. Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Repository
Billy Rose Theatre Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.Restrictions apply

Dorothy Loudon (1925-2003) was a singer, comedienne and Tony Award-winning actress, who appeared in supper clubs, television shows, films, summer stock and on Broadway. The bulk of the materials in this collection are from 1940-2003. They extensively cover the personal life and professional career of Dorothy Loudon, including materials relating to stage, film and television productions, albums, nightclub performances as well as personal correspondence.

Biographical/historical information

Dorothy Loudon (1925-2003) was a singer, comedienne and Tony Award-winning actress, who appeared in supper clubs, television shows, films, summer stock and on Broadway. She was born on September 25, 1925 in Boston, Massachusetts and grew up and attended high school in Claremont, New Hampshire. Her mother was a pianist, and her grandmother taught speech and drama at a private school in New England.

After attending Syracuse University, Loudon worked in summer stock and on the national nightclub circuit for several years. She moved to Manhattan in the early 1950s, and worked as a nightclub singer, eventually headlining at such clubs as Jimmy Ryan's on 52nd Street, The Blue Angel and the Persian Room of the Plaza Hotel. She sang with Louis Armstrong and toured in concert with Ray Bolger and George Burns. Loudon honed her skills as a comedienne under the guidance of cabaret entrepreneur Julius Monk.

Loudon made her first appearance on the legitimate stage in the 1962 Off-Broadway production of The World of Jules Feiffer, directed by Mike Nichols. Her first Broadway show was the 1962 musical Nowhere to Go but Up, which was directed by Sidney Lumet and only ran for a week, but Loudon won a Theatre World Award for her performance. Later the same year Loudon garnered more attention for her debut on television's The Garry Moore Show, where whe was a regular for two seasons (1962-1964).

Loudon continued to be well-received in unsuccessful shows. She earned her first Tony nomination for her performance in the 1969 musical, The Fig Leaves are Falling, directed by George Abbott. In 1971, she played the mother of the title character in Lolita, My Love, a musical version of the famous Nabokov novel, written by Alan Jay Lerner and John Barry, which closed out of town. She also appeared on Broadway in short-lived revivals of the plays Three Men on a Horse (1969) and The Women (1973).

Loudon's big break came in 1977 when her campy performance as Miss Hannigan in the 1977 blockbuster Annie, garnered her Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards for best performance by an actress in a musical and catapulted her to stardom. This was followed by Michael Bennett's Ballroom, for which she received a Tony Award nomination. In 1980 she was chosen to succeed Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Lovett in Stephen Sondheim's Tony Award-winning musical Sweeney Todd. In 1985 she co-starred with Chita Rivera and Leslie Uggams in Jerry's Girls, a revue of Jerry Herman songs. Loudon also played Parthy in the Chicago engagement of Harold Prince's 1996 revival of Kern and Hammerstein's Show Boat.

Throughout her career, she continued to appear in straight plays as well as musicals. In 1981 Loudon co-starred with Katharine Hepburn in The West Side Waltz on Broadway and on tour and had another smash hit in Michael Frayn's farce Noises Off (1983.) Loudon starred in the national companies of Driving Miss Daisy (1989) and The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1981.) In 1991 she played Dolly Levi in an off-Broadway revival of Thornton Wilder's The Matchmaker. Her final Broadway appearance would have been as Carlotta Vance in the 2002 Lincoln Center Theater revival of Dinner at Eight, but medical problems forced her to withdraw from the show during previews.

Loudon released cabaret albums, such as Broadway Baby (1986), Saloon (1991) and Something to Remember Me By (2003) as well as recording individual tracks for compilation albums, including several editions of Ben Bagley's "Revisited" series. She had roles in such films as Garbo Talks (1984) and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997).

Concert appearances of Loudon's include A Salute to Broadway Showstoppers at the White House in 1988; tributes to George Abbott, Jerry Herman, Jule Styne, Irving Berlin, Michael Bennett, Richard Rodgers, Charles Strouse and Gwen Verdon, "Lyrics and Lyricists" at the 92nd Street Y; and the tribute, Sondheim: A Celebration at Carnegie Hall (1992).

Loudon was the recipient of several service awards, including "Woman of Achievement" from the Anti-Defamation League, "Woman of the Year" from the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation and participated in benefits for the New York City Gay Men's Chorus, Broadway Cares: Equity Fights AIDS, Lupus Research, Alzheimer's Disease Association, the Actors' Fund, Hospital Audiences Inc., the New Dramatists Guild, PBS, The New York Public Library and Museum of the City of New York, among others.

Loudon was married to composer-arranger Norman Paris, whose jazz group, The Norman Paris Trio, had frequently accompanied her in her nightclub days. After being in a relationship for several years before their marriage, Paris and Loudon were married from 1971 until his death in 1977. Loudon died in New York City on November 15, 2003.

Scope and arrangement

This collection, which ranges in date from 1885-2003, though the bulk of the materials are from 1940-2003, extensively covers the personal life and professional career of Dorothy Loudon, including materials relating to stage, film and television productions, albums, nightclub performances ans well as personal correspondence.

The personal files include correspondence with family and friends, family papers and items from Loudon's childhood and high school years, items pertaining to her husband Norman Paris and their marriage and appointment books and address books. The professional files include materials on Loudon's cabaret/nightclub engagements, awards, tributes, benefits, workshops and albums. The production files include scripts, programs, correspondence, opening night party guest books, publicity materials, contracts and notes from film, television and, primarily, stage productions in which Loudon appeared. These productions are also covered extensively in the scrapbooks Loudon maintained throughout her career. There are also scrapbooks on Loudon's career in general. In addition to the production shots in the scrapbooks there are also personal and family photos and other professional photographs, including headshots, portraits and shots of theater marquees. The sheet music and audio recordings represents Loudon's singing career, as a nightclub and recording artist. This collection also includes artifacts, such as costume pieces, framed posters, souvenir gifts from shows and awards.

Notable items in this collection include Loudon's correspondence with many notable figures in theatre, including Michael Bennett, Fred Ebb, Katharine Hepburn, John Kander, Angela Lansbury, Mike Nichols, Harold Prince and Stephen Sondheim; the production shots in Loudon's scrapbooks; the costume pieces in the artifacts series; and the rare, unreleased audio recordings of live performances in the audio visual materials series.

The Dorothy Loudon papers are arranged in seven series:

  • Series I: Personal Files
    1885-2003
  • Series II: Professional Files
    1944-2001

    This series consists of correspondence, publicity materials, programs, certificates and general files which relate to Loudon's professional life, outside of specific productions she appeared in. These files also document her cabaret/nightclub engagements, awards Loudon received, including her three Tony Award nominations, tributes and benefit concerts she performed in, a musical theatre workshop she taught and albums she recorded.

    This series also includes sound and video recordings, such as live recordings of benefits and tributes in which Loudon appeared include Night of 100 Stars, Happy Birthday Mr. Abbott, Lyrics and Lyricists at the 92nd St Y, a Mabel Mercer celebration at Town Hall, Sondheim at Carnegie Hall and Charles Strouse and Jule Styne tributes. There are recordings of commercial and non-commercial recordings of songs associated with Loudon's nightclub and cabaret career and well as from recordings, including her albums Broadway Baby, Dorothy Loudon at the Blue Angel and Saloon as well as the Alan Jay Lerner, Noel Coward and Youmans & DeSylva, Henderson & Brown editions of Ben Bagley's "Re-Visited" series, which included songs performed by Loudon. Also included are song recordings sent to Loudon by Jerry Bock, Craig Carnelia and Kander & Ebb, interviews with Loudon and Loudon's Musical Comedy Workshop.

  • Series III: Productions
    1952-2002

    This series contains materials pertaining to productions Loudon appeared in. The majority of these are theatrical productions, including Broadway productions, such as Nowhere to Go But Up (1962), Nol Coward's Sweet Potato (1968), The Fig Leaves Are Falling (1969), Three Men on a Horse (1969), The Women (1973), Annie (1977), Ballroom, (1978) Sweeney Todd (1979), The West Side Waltz (1981), Noises Off (1983), Jerry's Girls (1985), Dinner at Eight (2002), as well as off-Broadway, regional and touring productions, such as The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1963), The Apple Tree (1967), The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1971), Princess Grace and the Fazzaris (1982), Annie II: Miss Hannigan's Revenge (1989), Driving Miss Daisy (1989), Love Letters (1991), The Matchmaker (1991), Show Boat (1996), Sweet Adeline (1997), Over and Over (1999) and High Spirits. There are also a few items on Loudon's film and television appearances and various tributes and benefits she performed in. The types of items in this series include scripts and scene excerpts, programs, congratulatory opening night correspondence, opening night party guest books, clippings and reviews, publicity materials, cast lists/contact sheets, contracts, rehearsal schedules and notes.

    This series contains sound and video recordings, including recordings of live performances of stage productions, such as Annie, Annie 2, Ballroom, The Fig Leaves are Falling, It Gives Me Great Pleasure, Jerry's Girls, Lolita, My Love, Nowhere to Go But Up, Princess Grace and the Fazzaris, Sweeney Todd (starring Loudon & George Hearn), Sweet Adeline and The West Side Waltz. Also included are recordings of songs from television shows she appeared in, such as The Garry Moore Show, Dorothy, The Milton Berle Show and The Arthur Murray Show. There are also demos of such shows as, Luv, Musicale, Night of the Hunter, The Showgirl of 72nd St and The Skin of Our Teeth.

  • Series IV: Scrapbooks
    circa 1940-2000

    This series consists of meticulously-assembled bound scrapbooks documenting Loudon's career, which provide an excellent overview of Ms. Loudon's work. There are scrapbooks on her major theatre, film and televisions productions, as well as on her early career as a cabaret/nightclub singer and as a performer in summer stock, and a few on her career in general, on the solo albums she recorded and on benefits, concerts and special events she performed in. The materials in these scrapbooks are photographs, including productions shots and portraits, correspondence (mostly congratulatory telegrams and cards), clippings (interviews and reviews), as well as other publicity materials, including flyers, press releases contacts, sheet music, programs, costume sketches and other ephemera.

  • Series V: Photographs
    circa 1880-1996

    This series contains personal photographs, including many of Loudon as a child and as a young woman, many with her parents and other family members. There are also several nineteenth-century photographs of her ancestors. There are photographs of Loudon as an adult with various friends; many of them are from boat trips to Europe and other locations. There are also several signed headshots from James Kirkwood, Jr. There are also photographs of Loudon's husband, Norman Paris, including professional portraits, as well as candid photographs of Paris and Loudon, celebrating special events such as their wedding and Paris' birthday. Professional photographs include headshots, portraits and candid images of Loudon performing as well as a few production photos and photos of marquees and posters for shows Loudon appeared in. Also see Series IV: Scrapbooks, for production shots.

  • Series VI: Scores
    1905-2000

    This series includes mainly conductor/piano score and orchestra parts for arrangements of songs that Loudon performed in nightclub/cabaret acts, recordings, stage productions, benefits, and televisions shows. Some published songs are also included.

  • Series VIII: Artifacts
    1898-circa 1998

    This series constains early family and childhood books and ephemera, oversized framed posters, award plaques and statues, souvenirs from shows, opening night gifts and costume pieces, including a tiara, ballet slippers, a hat Loudon wore in Noises Off and the whistle she used in Annie.

Administrative information

Custodial history

This collection was donated in 2005 by the Dorothy Loudon Foundation, Lionel Larner, Executive Director.

Source of acquisition

Dorothy Loudon Foundation, 2005

Revision History

Extent updated and one component added by Annemarie van Roessel, Billy Rose Theatre Division. (2021-10)

Processing information

Processed by Diana Bertolini and Barbara Knowles.

The collection was processed and cataloged in 2010.

Using the collection

Location

Billy Rose Theatre Division
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center
40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498
Third Floor

Conditions Governing Use

For permission to publish, contact the Curator, Billy Rose Theatre Division.

Access restrictions

Inquiries regarding audio and video materials in the series may be directed to the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound (rha@nypl.org). Audio/visual materials will be subject to preservation evaluation and migration prior to access. Artifacts in Series VIII are available by appointment only.