Scope and arrangement
The Valerie French papers date from 1916 to 1990 and document her personal and professional life through clippings, programs, correspondence, scrapbooks, photographs, and posters. The majority of the collection consists of production files that hold clippings and programs from the 1960s to the 1970s, and photograph albums that document her childhood and personal life.
Correspondence is primarily composed of fan letters and opening night greetings from friends, fans, and colleagues. The letters praise her television work in The Nurses (1966) and The Edge of the Night (1974), as well as her performance in The Mother Lover (1969). Requests for photographs or biographical information are also present. Some letters are attached to handwritten notes on French's performances. Other correspondence relates to arbitration against the Lakewood Theatre with respect to the loss of French's personal items in a fire at the theater.
The collection holds files on French's second husband, actor Thayer David. They contain headshots, production stills, resumes, clippings documenting shows he was in, his obituary, and the couple's marriage certificate. There is one publicity file on French that holds headshots, resumes, and articles.
The production files primarily document French's stage acting career from the 1960s to the 1970s. Some productions are represented more thoroughly than others, though files usually only contain newspaper reviews and programs. Broadway shows represented include Inadmissible Evidence (1965), Help Stamp Out Marriage! (1966), and The Mother Lover (1969). Off-Broadway and regional productions include Tea Party (1968), Trelawney of the Wells (1970), Sherlock Holmes (1976), and John Gabriel Borkman (1977). Jubal is represented through a third revised draft of the script with production stills in addition to reviews and advertisements.
The majority of the photographs in the collection document French's personal life and childhood. They are compiled into photograph albums and several of the pages are labeled. Images of French with her parents and sister in casual settings at home and on family trips are numerous. Her first marriage to Michael Pertwee in 1952 is represented through wedding, honeymoon, and casual photographs of friends and family. One photograph album covers French's time at Malvern Girls' College.
Two scrapbooks are present. One documents her early success as a fashionable starlet through clippings from 1953 to 1954; and the other was created by French's mother, Muriel Smith Harrison. It contains drawings, watercolors, poems, and short stories.The collection also holds posters for plays French acted in, such as The Time of the Barracudas (1963), Children! Children! (1972), and A Taste of Honey (1981).
Six videocassettes and three film reels are present. Inquiries regarding audiovisual materials in the collection may be directed to the Billy Rose Theatre Division (theatrediv@nypl.org). Audiovisual materials will be subject to preservation evaluation and migration prior to access.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged alphabetically by format or person. Production files are arranged alphabetically by title.