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Creator
Fennelly, Parker
Call number
*T-Mss 1992-011
Physical description
6.2 linear feet (13 boxes, 6 volumes)
Preferred Citation

Parker Fennelly papers, *T-Mss 1992-011. Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library.

Repository
Billy Rose Theatre Division
Access to materials
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Parker Fennelly (1891-1988) was an actor and playwright who performed on stage, radio, film, and television. The Parker Fennelly papers, dating from 1911 to 1997, document his career through project files, photographs, letters, programs, clippings, and scrapbooks.

Biographical/historical information

Parker Fennelly (1891-1988) was an actor and playwright who performed on stage, radio, film, and television. He grew up in Maine and studied acting at the Leland Powers School in Boston. Fennelly worked in theater for much of his career, appearing in 15 Broadway plays from 1924 to 1955, including Mister Pitt (with Walter Houston), Our Town, and The Southwest Corner. Two of Fennelly's plays were produced on Broadway: Fulton of Oak Falls (co-written with George M. Cohan) in 1937, and Cuckoos on the Hearth in 1941. The latter was often performed thereafter in summer theaters around the country. Several other plays of Fennelly's were also successfully produced.

Fennelly started working in radio during the late 1920s in a comedic duo with Arthur Allen called the Stebbins Boys, appearing on the programs The Stebbins Boys of Bucksport Point and Snow Village Sketches (also known as Soconyland Sketches). Fennelly and Allen portrayed stereotypical dry New Englanders, a role Fennelly would play over and over. He later gained national fame on Fred Allen's radio program Allen's Alley in the mid-1940s, portraying Titus Moody, another version of the stock New England character.

Fennelly appeared on many live television programs of the 1950s, such as Philco Television Playhouse, Studio One, and Lux Video Theatre. Among his film credits were Alfred Hitchcock's The Trouble With Harry (1955), The Kettles On Old MacDonald's Farm (1957), Pretty Poison (1968), and Angel In My Pocket (1969). From the late 1950s to the 1980s, he was a commercial spokesman for Pepperidge Farm on radio and television, reprising the role of Titus Moody.

Scope and arrangement

The Parker Fennelly papers, dating from 1911 to 1997, document the actor's career in theater, radio, television and film through project files, photographs, letters, programs, clippings, scrapbooks, and awards. Project files, photographs, and scrapbooks comprise the bulk of the collection.

The collection was partially compiled by Fennelly's daughter Mary Fennelly Michaelsen, and some papers and scrapbooks contain her background notes. Content dating from after Parker Fennelly's death was contributed by Michaelsen.

The project files are in two sections, acting and writing. Both are arranged alphabetically by title of the project, or subject. The acting portion holds annotated scripts, letters, programs, contracts, or photographs regarding plays, radio and television programs, and films in which Fennelly appeared. These include such plays as The Southwest Corner, On Borrowed Time, Peaceful Valley, and The Sexton's Story.

Radio series documented in the acting files include The Stebbins Boys of Buckport Port, Soconyland Sketches, Allen's Alley, and Lawyer Tucker, as well as several Kate Smith programs dating from 1933 to 1935. Television projects include Wagon Train, Father Knows Best, Have Gun Will Travel, and Headmaster. Films include The Kettles on Old MacDonald's Farm; The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming; Pretty Poison; An Angel in My Pocket; and How to Frame a Figg. Two files, titled Motion Pictures and Radio Programs, have lists of productions in which Fennelly appeared. They also hold photographs.

In addition, the acting files contain published scripts annotated by Fennelly, and files regarding The Beechwood Players, a theater company he directed from 1929 to 1931 in Briarcliff Manor, New York; Finnelly's commercial work, mainly for the Pepperidge Farm bakery company and the American Red Cross; the Leland Powers School; and the time Fennelly spent performing with a Chautauqua in the 1920s.

The writing files contain scripts or story outlines by Fennelly, mostly for stage plays. Some also hold letters, clippings, or photographs. Produced plays documented in the files include Cuckoos On The Hearth, Fulton of Oak Falls, Murder Island, Old Man Greenlaw, and Yesterday's Lilacs.

The photographs hold promotional portraits or stills for radio, television, or film productions, particularly for The Stebbins Boys programs with Arthur Allen. They also include images of other performers, such as the radio singer Lanny Ross.

The scrapbooks hold photographs, clippings, programs, and letters dating from 1912 to 1997. They are in five bound books (assembled by Mary Fennelly Michaelsen), and in folders of unbound scrapbook pages. A separate folder in the acting project files holds additional programs for plays in which Fennelly appeared.

The letter files contains correspondence from theatrical agents, literary agents, and commercial employers; a recommendation letter from Leland Powers; fan letters; and letters from Zona Gale. The separately-filed clipping is a 1932 full-page newspaper article about Fennelly and his family.

The papers also contain Fennelly's personal collection of programs and clippings regarding theater and music productions in New York and Chicago. Dating from 1896 to 1932, they do not document productions in which Fennelly appeared.

Arrangement

The papers are arranged by format.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Donated by Mary Fennelly Michaelsen, 1992-2005

Processing information

Compiled by Matthew Snyder, 2014

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

The author/creator retains copyright of materials. For information on obtaining permission to publish, contact the Theatre Division at theatre@nypl.org.