Scope and arrangement
The Jess Richards papers date from 1943 to 1994 and document Richards' acting career and personal life.
General files contain unsorted personal and professional records such as clippings, programs, photographs, postcards, print advertisements featuring Richards, and ephemera from shows in which Richards appeared. Richards' résumés and other summaries of his career are also held here. Richards was a uniform collector and enthusiast, and the general files hold some materials related to this interest. These include issues of Bullsheets, a publication of the American Uniform Association, an organization for gay men interested in uniforms.
Photographs mostly consist of Richards' personal photographs of his friends, family, colleagues, and behind the scenes at productions. There are also professionally-shot photographs of productions, headshots and publicity shots of Richards, and headshots of other actors (some signed). Richards created chronological albums of production photographs, documenting his acting career from high school to 1979, which are held here.
Production files date from 1961 to 1993, and primarily contain scripts and scores. The files concern both produced and unproduced shows. Some of the scripts and scores are annotated, and some are accompanied by related material such as contact lists, programs, and clippings. Productions represented in the files include Barnum, Meet Me in St. Louis, Two by Two (1970), a 1971 musical version of Gone with the Wind, the American Shakespeare Festival Theatre production of The Tempest (1971), Theatre at Sea (1978, 1983, and 1984), showcases featuring Joshua Logan, and industrial musicals such as J.C. Penney's Calico Falls. The files hold reproductions of manuscript scores of Seymour Barab's Little Red Riding Hood and of Conrad Susa's incidental music for The Tempest, as well as an original manuscript score of Susa's songs for The Tempest. A Hello, Dolly! scrapbook, given to Richards by Dorothy Lamour and containing notes from her, is present. Two scripts from the television show Roseanne are also held in the production files, along with a draft script intended for the show, possibly written by Richards.
In addition to the scores held in the production files, the collection holds unsorted scores for individual songs or unspecified productions. These scores largely date to the late 1960s and the 1970s, and include songs written by Richards. A small number of manuscript scores by Jule Styne are present.
Programs date from 1958 to 1983, and include theater programs from shows in which Richards appeared.
The collection holds audiorecordings related to various productions that Richards worked on. Inquiries regarding audio materials in the collection may be directed to the Billy Rose Theatre Division (theatre@nypl.org). Audio materials will be subject to preservation evaluation and migration prior to access.
Arrangement
The Jess Richards papers are arranged in five categories: General Files, Photographs, Production Files, Programs, and Scores. Production Files are alphabetized by production title, with two exceptions: industrial musicals are filed together, and showcases featuring Joshua Logan are filed under "Logan."