Loading...
Creator
Weissmuller, Donald
Call number
*T-Mss 2012-050
Physical description
2.17 linear feet (4 boxes, 1 volume)
Preferred Citation

Donald Weissmuller papers, *T-Mss 2012-050. Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library.

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

Donald Weissmuller (1922-2013) was an American actor, dancer, and choreographer who worked in theater and television. The papers (1910-1990s) consist of biographical material; correspondence; a diary; production material; photographs; and programs and news clippings that document his career as an actor, dancer, and choreographer. There is one scrapbook that predates Weissmuller and contains news clippings and photographs of dancers, some signed, from 1910 to 1920, and one file on his teaching.

Biographical/historical information

Donald Weissmuller (1922-2013) was an American actor, dancer, and choreographer who worked in theater and television. Weissmuller was born in Louisville, Kentucky on August 31, 1922 to Joseph and Kendra Weissmuller. As a young adult, he briefly studied acting and dancing. His first stage performance was when he was seventeen at St. Louis Municipal Opera. Weissmuller appeared in the Broadway shows Keep Off the Grass (1940), High Kickers (1941), Panama Hattie (1941), Count Me In (1942), What’s Up? (1943), On the Town (1944), Ziegfeld Follies (1944), High Button Shoes (1950), Pipe Dream (1955), Happy Hunting (1957), and Follies (1971). In addition to Broadway shows, he also acted and danced in off-Broadway productions and with stock companies, including the Detroit Light Opera,the Dallas Light Opera, and the Palace Hotel Garden Court. In 1953, he toured Italy in a review called Scio, Scio.

Weissmuller moved to California in 1957. He appeared on television in the Shirley Temple Show and The Real McCoys, and was a choreographer for the Hollywood Bowl, Shower of States, Martin and Lewis Show, Robert Q. Lewis Show, and the Jackie Gleason Show. He was affiliated with the Sacramento Music Circus for fourteen years where he choreographed over sixty musicals. In addition to his work in theater and television, Weissmuller taught beginner ballet, tap, and jazz classes.

Scope and arrangement

The Donald Weissmuller papers (1910-1990s) consist of biographical material; correspondence; a diary; production material; photographs; and programs and news clippings that document his career as an actor, dancer, and choreographer. There is one scrapbook that predates Weissmuller and contains news clippings and photographs of dancers, some signed, from 1910 to 1920, and one file on his teaching. A second scrapbook dates from the 1922 to 1952 and contains photographs, news clippings, and artwork documenting his childhood, and his appearances on Broadway and off-Broadway theater.

The production material is composed of cast lists, scripts, and sides for the Sacramento Music Circus, High Button Shoes, On the Town, and Follies. The correspondence consists of letters and telegrams to Weissmiller from other actors, dancers, and choreographers; and letters and postcards that Weissmuller wrote to his mother from Los Angeles and Sacramento describing his appearances on television. The diary details the Italian tour of Scio, Scio in 1953. The programs and news clippings are for regional and off-Broadway productions.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Donated by Donald Weissmuller in 1990 and Donald Smith in 2012.

Processing information

Compiled by Susan Malsbury, 2014

Related Material

Donald Weissmuller papers, 1952-1978. Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

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.