Fay Wray papers
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Scope and Contents
This collection contains the papers of actress Fay Wray (1907-2004), as well as papers of her two husbands, writer John Monk Saunders (1895-1940) and screenwriter Robert Riskin (1897-1955). Materials include scrapbooks dealing with the careers of Wray and her two husbands; stills, including publicity photographs from films in which Wray appeared; 19 screenplays written by Riskin including "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town" (1936) and "You Can't Take It With You" (1938); 13 short 16mm films produced by Riskin during World War II; and miscellaneous items such as contracts, magazines, and personal photographs.
Dates
- Creation: circa 1924-1950s
Creator
- Wray, Fay, 1907-2004 (Person)
- Saunders, John Monk, 1897-1940 (Person)
- Riskin, Robert (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Advance notice required for access.
Rights Statement for Archival Description
Finding aid description and metadata are licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.
Conditions Governing Use
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Cinematic Arts Library at ctlibarc@usc.edu. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Cinematic Arts Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Biographical / Historical
Fay Wray (1907-2004) was a Canadian-American actress, most famously known for her role as Ann Darrow in "King Kong" (1933). She was married to American novelist John Monk Saunders from 1928 to 1939 and to American screenwriter Robert Riskin from 1942 to 1955.
Extent
17.17 Linear Feet (20 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
This collection contains the papers of actress Fay Wray (1907-2004), as well as papers of her two husbands, writer John Monk Saunders (1895-1940) and screenwriter Robert Riskin (1897-1955). Materials include scrapbooks dealing with the careers of Wray and her two husbands; stills, including publicity photographs from films in which Wray appeared; screenplays written by Riskin, 13 short 16mm films produced by Riskin during World War II; and miscellaneous items such as contracts, magazines, and personal photographs.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Fay Wray, December 30, 1969.
Subject
- Wray, Fay, 1907-2004 -- Archives (Person)
- Saunders, John Monk, 1897-1940 -- Archives (Person)
- Riskin, Robert -- Archives (Person)
- Title
- Finding aid for the Fay Wray papers
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Diann Benti
- Date
- 2022 September
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Revision Statements
- 2023 March: Bo Doub re-integrated and described photographs that had been separated from the collection.
Repository Details
Part of the USC Libraries Cinematic Arts Library Repository
Doheny Memorial Library G4
3550 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles California 90089-0185 United States
ctlibarc@usc.edu