Loading...
Creator
Marinoff, Fania
Call number
*T-Mss 2012-018
Physical description
1.9 linear feet (1 box, 7 volumes)
Preferred Citation

Fania Marinoff papers, *T-Mss 2012-018. Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library.

Repository
Billy Rose Theatre Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.

The Fania Marinoff papers date from 1900 to 1959 and document the career and interests of American actress Fania Marinoff.

Biographical/historical information

Fania Marinoff (1890-1971) was an American actress. She was born in Odessa (present day Ukraine) and moved to the United States as a child, settling in Denver, Colorado. She began acting at the Tabor Grand School of Acting at the age of ten, making her stage debut in Henrietta Crosman's Mistress Nell (1900). Other early productions include Janice Meredith and La Madeline, both presented by Ben Stern. She made her Broadway debut in 1903 in A Japanese Nightingale. In addition to Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regional theater productions, Marinoff acted in silent and short films. From 1914 to 1917, she appeared on screen in The Unsuspected Isles, The Lure of Mammon, Nedra, and The Rise of Jenny Crushing.

Marinoff was married to American writer and photographer Carl Van Vechten from 1914 until his death in 1964. She died in 1971 in New Jersey.

Scope and arrangement

The Fania Marinoff papers date from 1900 to 1959 and contain scrapbooks and professional files. The scrapbooks contain newspaper clippings, play and movie reviews, show announcements, and biographical articles relating to Marinoff's acting career. One scrapbook dating from 1900 to 1914 contains original sketches and portraits of Marinoff, two by unknown artists, and a small comic by newspaper illustrator T.S. Allen. One of the scrapbooks contains materials that do not directly relate to Marinoff's acting career. It is primarily undated, with one item from 1940, and holds poems and short stories written by others, some of which are handwritten by Marinoff; and images of artwork from magazines and newspapers.

Professional files contain correspondence, contracts, articles, clippings, photographs, programs, and other printed materials relating to Marinoff's career. Correspondence primarily documents Marinoff's investments in Theatre Guild productions, such as Oklahoma!, The Burning Glass Company, and Home is the Hero. Investment reports for these productions are also present.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Unknown donor, unknown date.

Processing information

Compiled by Robyn Hjermstad, 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.