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Creator
Friedman-Abeles (Firm)
Call number
*T-Vim 1992-013
Physical description
192.08 linear feet (461 boxes)
Language
English
Preferred Citation
Friedman-Abeles photographs, *T-Vim 1992-013. Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Sponsor
The Friedman-Abeles photographs have been preserved, cataloged, and digitized through the generosity of Nancy Abeles Marks and the Joseph S. and Diane H. Steinberg Charitable Trust.
Repository
Billy Rose Theatre Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.
Portions of this collection have been digitized and are available online.

The Friedman-Abeles photographs contain photographic work from the partnership of Leo Friedman, Joseph Abeles, and Sy Friedman, together the pre-eminent photography studio documenting Broadway theatrical productions. The collection consists primarily of photographs, negatives, contact sheets, proofs, slides, and oversized prints, spanning the partnership, which lasted from 1954 to 1970, with additional examples of earlier and later work.

Biographical/historical information

The Friedman-Abeles Studio was the pre-eminent firm documenting Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regional theatre performance in the post-World War II period. In many respects, theatrical photography came of age with the work of the Friedman-Abeles Studio, which operated between 1954 and 1970. While Leo Friedman took the on-stage and site-specific rehearsal, performance and candid shots, Joseph Abeles was responsible for the studio portraits, and Sy Friedman also photographed productions for the firm. Together, they created a body of work in which tens of thousands of photographs artfully captured the illusion of theatrical reality on still film.

The Friedman-Abeles Studio photographs archive is a landmark record of its age, covering more than 800 theatrical productions--including Barefoot in the Park, Cabaret, Camelot, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Company, Fiddler on the Roof, Grease, Gypsy, Hello Dolly!, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, The King and I, Man of La Mancha, My Fair Lady, The Music Man, Oliver!, Promises, Promises, A Raisin in the Sun, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, The Sound of Music, West Side Story, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and dozens of productions by the American Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Conn., the New York Shakespeare Festival, and at New York City Center, to name but a few. Many images, such as the photograph of Carol Lawrence and Larry Kert running down a New York City sidewalk in a still for West Side Story, are instantly recognizable and are iconic documents of Broadway history.

Moreover, while Friedman-Abeles was hired to provide publicity photographs of the shows themselves, producers and publicists began to understand the potential uses of non-production photographs, hence the wealth of back-stage or documentary images from the many productions. Friedman-Abeles captured the process and performers behind the scenes, from auditions, to first rehearsals, to an actress posing with her new dog, as well as candid opening night and after-party celebrations.

Moving away from the large-format cameras favored by earlier theatre photographers such as White Studio and Florence Vandamm, the Friedman-Abeles firm used hand-held Rolleiflex cameras in the early years, which produced 2 1/4" negatives on a 12-frame roll, and then transitioned to 35mm cameras by the late 1950s, which allowed 36 negatives per roll. For performance shots, they often used specialized 35mm camera technology to capture a rapid sequence, or "burst," of images within just a few seconds, capturing action that can be viewed as a type of early animation. These techniques and technologies—now commonplace but revolutionary for the period—freed the photographers to move about the theater to best capture ephemeral theatrical moments.

Leo Friedman was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1919. He learned photography while working as an assistant to theatre and film producer Mike Todd in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Friedman enlisted in the Army Signal Corps in 1942, serving in Europe until the end of World War II. Returning to New York, he worked as a freelance photographer until he partnered with photographer Joseph Abeles in 1954, opening a studio at 351 West 54th Street.

Joseph Abeles was born in New York City in 1906, and founded his portrait photography business, Talbot Studios, in 1935, photographing Broadway and Off-Broadway performers and other subjects. During World War II, he served in the Army in East Asia and Southeast Asia.

Seymour (Sy) Friedman (no relation to Leo) was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1919 and enlisted in the Army in 1943, contributing photographs to Yank magazine. Sy began working for NBC in 1945 and joined the Friedman-Abeles firm in 1961.

The Friedman-Abeles partnership ended circa 1970 when Leo Friedman moved to Los Angeles. Abeles continued photography as Joseph Abeles Studio until he retired in the late 1970s. In about 1978, the Friedman-Abeles archive was sold to New York City investment firm Carl Marks & Co., which later donated the collection to the Billy Rose Theatre Division. Sy Friedman worked with Joseph Abeles as a Broadway, Off-Broadway, and commercial photographer, often shooting for Joseph Papp's Public Theater, and then photographed under his own Zodiac imprint after Abeles' retirement. Sy retired from photography in about 1981.

Sy Friedman died in Manatee, Florida, in 1985. Abeles died in New York City in 1991. Leo Friedman died in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2011.

Scope and arrangement

The Friedman-Abeles photographs consist primarily of photographic prints, negatives, contact sheets, proofs, slides, and transparencies spanning the partnership of Leo and Sy Friedman and Joseph Abeles. While the partnership lasted from 1954 to 1970, the collection does contain photographs from before and after this date range; these photographs are generally marked as being from Talbot Studio, the studio Abeles founded before his partnership with the Friedmans, or the Joseph Abeles Studio, his studio after the partnership ended.

Almost all of the images are in black and white, but color negatives, transparencies, and slides are noted when present.

Images from theatrical productions comprise the vast majority of the collection, with most Broadway (and many off-Broadway) shows from 1954 to 1970 represented. The collection also contains images from events around New York City, including luncheons, award shows, and commercial sittings. Additionally, there are studio portraits of actors, actresses, producers, authors, and other individuals involved in theater, as well as business records for the Joseph Abeles Studio.

The Friedman-Abeles photographs are arranged in five series:

  • Business Records
    1978-1980

    Series I dates from 1978 to 1980 and holds paperwork and correspondence related to various projects, sales, reports, and bills for the Joseph Abeles Studio by Carl Marks & Co. There are files on a book project, publication jobs, and weekly reports. A significant portion of the business records concern the publication of the 1980 Broadway Musical Calendar.

  • Productions
    1940-1991

    This series, by far the largest in the collection, contains images of theater productions from 1940 to 1991, with most images dating from 1954 to 1970 when the Friedman-Abeles Studio existed. The majority of Broadway (and many Off-Broadway) productions from this time period are represented. Some have hundreds or even thousands of images. Series II is arranged alphabetically by production name.

    Prints, contact sheets, negatives, slides, and transparencies make up this series. Images cover various stages of production, particularly rehearsal and performance, and also set construction, costume design, backstage visits, and parties. Publicity images are present as well. Images for each production are generally grouped by format, or else by format and subject together when the subject is identified. For instance, productions may have files titled "Prints," "Contact sheets," and "Negatives"; or "Rehearsal prints," "Rehearsal contact sheets," and "Rehearsal negatives."

    In addition to Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, there are images of town engagements throughout the northeast, as well as dozens of productions performed at the New York Shakespeare Festival in Central Park and the American Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Connecticut. The series also features images of events, television shows, and performance groups such as the Tony Awards, The Bell Telephone Hour, and Second City. Additionally, there are files on productions performed at the City Center Opera during the 1950s.

    Dates listed for each production usually comprise the full run of the show.

    Many of the best-known theater productions from 1954 to 1970 contain numerous images. These include Applause, Baker Street, Barefoot in the Park, Bye Bye Birdie, Cabaret, Camelot, Come Blow Your Horn, Destiny Rides Again, Fiddler on the Roof, Flower Drum Song, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Greenwillow, Gypsy, Half a Sixpence, Hamlet (with Richard Burton), Hello, Dolly!, How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying, Jamaica, The King and I, La Plume de Ma Tante, L'il Abner, Little Me, Luv, Mame, Man of La Mancha, Mary, Mary, My Fair Lady, Never Too Late, Promises, Promises, A Raisin in the Sun, A Shot in the Dark, The Sound of Music, Sweet Charity, West Side Story, and Zorba.

  • Personalities
    1934-1975

    Series III contains images of actors, actresses, producers, authors, and other individuals involved in theater. It dates from 1934 to 1975, with most images dating from the 1950s and 1960s. Series III is arranged alphabetically by last name.

    As with Series II, types of images are indicated in the container list. This series mostly contains prints, but negatives, slides, and transparencies are also present.

    Images are chiefly studio portraits. Many portraits here were taken in conjunction with the opening of a theater production. Other images are candid shots, and photographs of people at formal events and backstage during performances.

    Well-known individuals depicted in this series include Julie Andrews, John Barrymore, Warren Beatty, Barbara Bel Geddes, Gertrude Berg, Ray Bolger, Marlon Brando, Richard Burton, Carol Channing, Maurice Chevalier, Alex Cohen, Allen Funt, Judy Garland, Jack Gilford, Robert Goulet, Joan Hackett, Rita Hayworth, Katharine Hepburn, Lena Horne, Kim Hunter, Elia Kazan, Carol Lawrence, Sidney Lumet, Mary Martin, Johnny Mathis, Walter Matthau, Lee Meredith, Phyllis Newman, Laurence Olivier, Tyrone Power, Arthur Rubinstein, Gwen Verdon, and Tennessee Williams.

  • Events and Miscellaneous Subjects
    1958-1975

    This series contains images of theater-related events and locations photographed by the Friedman-Abeles Studio, arranged alphabetically by subject. Included here are images of the American Shakespeare Festival, fashion shows, galas, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the Metropolitan Opera House, the Public Theater, Sardi's, the Theater in Education organization, and various marquees.

  • Unidentified
    1962-1969

    Unidentified prints, contact sheets, negatives, and proofs comprise this series. The images are listed in no order; most are undated, but some dates are identified. Images are mostly of productions and individuals involved in theater.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Donated by Carl Marks & Co., Inc. in 1992.

Revision History

Revised and expanded by Suzanne Lipkin and Annemarie van Roessel. (2021-06)

Revised and expanded by Annemarie van Roessel to include additional prints for A Little Night Music and to update the documented dates for that production. (2022-01)

93 boxes processed and finding aid revised by Nathan Evans. (2024)

Processing information

Processed by Carrie Smith in 2012.

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