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Creator
Balderston, John L. (John Lloyd), 1889-1954
Call number
*T-MSS 1954-002
Physical description
.5 linear feet (1 box)
Preferred Citation

John L. Balderston Papers, *T-Mss 1954-002, 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

Collection contains correspondence, scripts, scenarios and notes documenting Balderston's work on plays and screenplays. Includes letters from co-authors George Moore and Jack Squire, correspondence concerning BERKELEY SQAURE and DRACULA, various scenarios for THE BROOK KERITH, a draft of CLOWN OF STRATFORD, memos and notes regarding FRANKENSTEIN, GONE WITH THE WIND, RED PLANET, and othe projects, perhaps never produced, on Andrew Johnson and August Strindberg. Also an incomplete autobiographical sketch.

Biographical/historical information

John L. Balderston was born in Philadelphia and began his newspaper career in 1912 while still a student at Columbia University as the New York correspondent for The Philadelphia Record. He was a war correspondent for the McClure Newspaper Syndicate during World War I and then director of information in England and Ireland for the U.S. Committee on Public Information. In the early 1920s he was editor of Outlook Magazine in London and then head of the London bureau for the New York World. Balderston retired from the newspaper field when The World went out of business in 1931.

Balderston had had his first success as a playwright with the 1926 London production of Berkeley Square that he wrote with Jack Squire, the editor of The London Mercury. The play was not produced in the U.S. until 1929 with Leslie Howard in the lead. He also wrote books and screenplays. Balderston often worked in collaboration and specialized in horror, fantasy and romantic adventure scripts. Scripts he worked on include Dracula, Frankenstein, Red Planet, Gone with the Wind and Gaslight.

Scope and arrangement

Collection contains correspondence, scripts, scenarios and notes documenting Balderston's work on plays and screenplays. Includes letters from co-authors, George Moore and Jack Squire; correspondence concerning Berkeley Square and Dracula; various scenarios for The Brook Kerith; a draft of Clown of Stratford; memos and notes regarding Frankenstein, Gone with the Wind, Red Planet and projects on Andrew Johnson and August Strindberg; and an incomplete autobiographical sketch.

The John L. Balderston papers are arranged in two series:

  • Correspondence
    1915-1949
    6 folders

    This series of professional correspondence includes both incoming and outgoing letters and has two folders arranged by play title: Berkeley Square and Dracula, rather than by author. Includes one letter each from David O. Selznick and Jack Squire and many letters from George Moore. Letters by Balderston are on the state of the world as World War II approaches as well as on his playwriting.

  • Writings
    ca. 1916-1950
    13 folders

    This series contains multiple varying typescripts of The Brook Kerith, about the life of Jesus, written with George Moore; a typescript and manuscript draft of Clown of Stratford, the Bacon-Shakespeare play he wrote with Jack Squire; various notes, memos, scenarios and partial scripts, mostly by Balderston, on Frankenstein, Gone with the Wind, Red Planet, Murder in the Church, She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed, and other projects, perhaps never produced, on Andrew Johnson and August Strindberg. Also contains a partial autobiographical sketch, typescript with manuscript revisions.

Administrative information

Custodial history

The collection was donated to the Billy Rose Theatre Division by Mrs. Balderston in 1954.

Source of acquisition

Papers: gift, Mrs. Balderston, 1954

Processing information

Processed by Elisabeth Elkind.

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

Photocopying prohibited.