Thelma White papers
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Scope and Contents
Collection consists of correspondence, memorabilia, acting files, clippings, and photographs of American actress Thelma White (1910-2005). Materials include fan mail, biographical information, and a travel scrapbook.
Dates
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1920s-1990s
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
Thelma White (1910-2005) was an American vaudeville, radio, and motion picture actress. White began performing at age 2 in her family’s circus performance show as a “living doll”, who stood in place and began cooing and wriggling on cue. She went on to perform in Vaudeville acts at age 10 and worked with the Ziegfeld Follies. She arrived in Hollywood in 1920 and appeared in her first film A Night in a Dormitory (1930). White’s best known role was as Mae in the exploitation film Reefer Madness (1936), originally titled Tell Your Children. She toured with the United Servicemen Overseas and performed as the leader of an all-woman swing band, named Thelma White and Her All-Girl Orchestra, during World War II. While performing in the Aleutian Islands, she contracted an undisclosed “crippling disease” and was bedridden for 5 years. Following her recovery White briefly returned to film, but eventually she shifted to working as an agent.
Extent
6.23 Linear Feet (6 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Collection consists of the correspondence, memorabilia, acting files, and photographs of American actress Thelma White (1910-2005).
Processing Information
Collection is unprocessed
Genre / Form
Topical
- Acting
- Actresses -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archival resources
- Actresses -- Photographs
- Actresses -- United States -- History -- 20th century -- Archival resources
- Motion picture actors and actresses -- United States -- Archival resources
- Vaudeville
- Vaudeville -- United States -- 20th century -- Archival resources
- Title
- Finding aid for the Thelma White papers
- Author
- Marissa Chavez and Sarah Jardini for History Associates Incorporated
- Date
- 2023 January
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
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