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Creator
Jenkins, George, 1908-2007
Call number
*T-Vim 1976-002
Physical description
76.5 linear feet (79 boxes)
Preferred Citation

George Jenkins Papers and Designs, *T-VIM 1976-022. 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.

George Jenkins was a set designer, lighting designer and architect. He designed for both theater and film. His most famous theatrical designs are Sly Fox (1976), Wait Until Dark (1966), 13 Daughters (1961), The Miracle Worker (1959), The Happiest Millionaire (1956-1957), Too Late the Phalarope (1956), The Desk Set (1955-1956), and Two for the Seesaw (1954). The collection is primarily designs and production materials.

Biographical/historical information

George Clarke Jenkins was a set designer, lighting designer and architect known for his realism and attention to detail. He was born on November 19, 1908 in Baltimore, Maryland. Though originally trained as an architect, in the 1930s Jenkins began designing (and constructing) sets for summer stock and small independent theater troupes. In 1938 Jo Mielziner hired him as an assistant. Jenkins worked for him for three years - drafting and model-making, supervising the construction and painting of sets, and buying props. 1943 saw Jenkins’s independent Broadway debut as a set and lighting designer with Early to Bed at the Broadhurst Theatre. The next year his designs for I Remember Mama caught the attention of Samuel Goldwyn, who lured Jenkins to Hollywood to design for Goldwyn/RKO. His first motion picture design was for The Best Years of Our Lives, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. For many years Jenkins continued designing for Broadway as well as Hollywood, equally at ease with stage and screen.

In the 1950s Jenkins added another medium to his design roster – that of television. He worked as a color specialist at both NBC and CBS, and in 1955 married Phyllis Adams, a pioneering television producer at NBC. Jenkins worked steadily through the 1950s on productions including The Desk Set (1954), The Happiest Millionaire (1957) and Too Late the Phalarope (1956). (The sets for the latter two were both nominated for Tony awards.) In 1959 he designed the sets for the stage version of The Miracle Worker, and in 1962 he designed the sets for the film version. (His sets were meant to closely resemble the actual home of Helen Keller in Georgia.) Jenkins also designed the sets for Wait Until Dark (1966) on Broadway and then on film.

During the 1950s and 1960s Jenkins also worked as an architect, often bringing together all of his areas of expertise by designing actual theater buildings for clients like the University of Pennsylvania. In the early 1970s Jenkins moved to California to focus more exclusively on film work. His final two Broadway productions were Night Watch (1972) and Sly Fox (1976). Sly Fox was notable for its use of turntable sets, an ingenious solution that earned Jenkins a Tony nomination.

Scope and arrangement

This collection primarily documents Jenkins career as a set designer for the theater. It is rich in creative designs and technical drawings, often including everything from rough preliminary sketches to the most detailed plans. There are also production materials, programs, scripts, and scrapbooks. Annie Get Your Gun (1957-1958) and The Miracle Worker (1959-1963) are especially well represented throughout the collection. For example, in the case of The Miracle Worker (1959-1963), the collection has multiple drafts of the script, production materials, several programs, and designs and elevations for the Broadway sets as well as the touring companies. The only papers not directly related to productions are some assorted professional papers and correspondence, photographs of Jenkins, and architectural designs (of theaters). There is very little of a personal nature, and Jenkins’s papers related to his career as a motion picture and television set designer were donated to the library at UCLA.

The George Jenkins papers and designs are arranged in eight series:

  • Series I: Correspondence
    1933-1969; undated
    1 box

    This series is composed of letters not directly related to a specific production. Jenkins’s responses are filed with the other correspondents name whenever possible. Notable correspondents include the costume designer Dorothy Jeakins and Jo Mielziner.

  • Series II: Professional Papers
    ca. 1933-1976; undated
    2 boxes

    The Professional Papers series consists of items not directly related to specific productions. This includes professional biographies, a portion of a daily calendar, clippings about Jenkins that aren’t design related, general material sources, financial documents, organizations/councils to which Jenkins belonged, Philadelphia Art Alliance Awards he received, and professional photograph.

  • Series III: Scripts
    1950-1971; undated
    2 boxes

    Considering the sheer number of theater productions Jenkins designed, the collection contains few scripts. Of special interest are the multiple drafts of The Miracle Worker (1959), one of which includes the author’s notes.

  • Series IV: Production Materials
    1933-1972; undated
    11 boxes

    Production Materials are organized by production name and include items such as correspondence and notes directly related to production, photographs, receipts and cost estimates, clippings, color samples in the form of fabric and/or paint, research, rough sketches, and material sources. Both The Miracle Worker(1959-1963) and Two for the Seesaw (1954-1960) have several companies/productions and are particularly thorough, as are the materials for Annie Get Your Gun (1957) and Around the World in 80 Days (1963-1964).

  • Series VI: Programs
    1933-1972; undated
  • Series VII: Scrapbooks
    1938-1945
  • Series VIII: Designs and Plans
    1943-1972; undated
  • Series VIII: Architectural Designs
    1956-1971; undated

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

The George Jenkins Papers and Designs were donated to the Billy Rose Theatre Division in 1976 by George Jenkins.

Processing information

Processed by Jennifer L. Winters; Machine-readable finding aid created by Jennifer L. Winters.

Related Material

Arts Library Special Collections, University Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles

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.