Catherine Turney Papers

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Catherine Turney Papers

1761-1998

https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8h70mm3/

There are 711 items in the manuscript section which are arranged alphabetically by author and then title. Materials without author and title are arranged alphabetically by type. Oversize materials are located in boxes 34 and 35. The manuscripts consist of various screenplays, television and movie treatments, biographies, and novels, both published and unpublished, written by Turney throughout her career (some written with co-authors such as Jerry Horwin and Stephen Longstreet). The collection includes an unproduced screenplay, written for Bette Davis titled "Angel Manager." A version of the screenplay for "Of Human Bondage" is located in the manuscripts. Also included is one of the first scripts for "Japanese War Bride," originally titled "East is East." There are materials related to Turney's first play, "Bitter Harvest," including two published copies with Turney's edits, and her most successful play, "My Dear Children." The manuscripts section also contains drafts of Byron's daughter and Turney's research notes for that book. Other manuscripts include: a draft of her biography "The Patriarch," which was intended to illuminate the lives of the women in George Washington's life; a fictional trilogy regarding early California entitled "Light in the Spring," "Manifest Destiny," and "Fruit of the Vine;" and a biography of Aimée Dubuc de Rivery entitled "The Beautiful One." Research notes and materials for her biographies and novels are listed under "Note cards" and "Notes." There are reviews of Turney's biographies and novels, two interviews with Catherine Turney, and poetry written by Turney while she attended Bishop's School. Of note are seventeen drawings by the artist Stephen Longstreet. There are also manuscripts relating to the creation and early days of the Pasadena Community Playhouse and two manuscripts regarding Catherine Turney's experiences with John Barrymore in the 1930s while he played the leading role in "My Dear Children." Correspondence consists of 1,782 items arranged alphabetically by author. The majority of the correspondence is either to or from Catherine Turney. The topics range from business matters regarding her scripts and book deals to personal matters. Many of the letters to and from publishing companies are requests and permissions for the use of copyrighted material in Catherine Turney's published works. The most common topic of her business correspondence in the late 1970s was her dispute with the heirs of Lord Byron regarding her use of the book Lord Noel Byron and the Leighs. The financial and legal debates prevented her from finishing her work on George Washington for the bicentennial. Catherine Turney corresponded with many people involved in or associated with the film, literary and art worlds in both America and England. Notable participants include: L.E. Berman; Muriel Box; Shirley Burke; Virginia Scott Steele; Stephen Longstreet; John Collier; Bette Davis, Barbara Stanwyck, and Joan Crawford; and Eric Portman. Also included are: Elaine Barrie Barrymore; John Barrymore; Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; Charles Scribner, Charles Scribner's Sons; Byron Society (American Committee); CBS; KABC; KHJ-TV; Jerry Horwin; Pasadena Playhouse Association; Screen Writers' Guild; and the Writers Guild of America, West. The ephemera section consists of 938 items arranged alphabetically by type and then subject where appropriate. The ephemera includes records pertaining to both of Turney's divorces, property that she owned in Pasadena, her contracts with movie and television studios, publishing agreements for books and magazine articles, and royalty statements. There are copies of magazines which published her work, research materials for her various works, and newspaper and magazine clippings regarding her works. Research materials for "The Patriarch" include photocopies of letters from George Washington, Martha Washington, and Nathanael Greene. The Catherine Turney Ephemera includes a wedding book from her second marriage and applications she filled out for the Producer-Writers Guild of America Pension Plan and Motion Picture and Television Country House and Hospital. Also included in this folder is a photocopy of her interview from the book Screenwriter by Lee Server. The ephemera pertaining to the Pasadena Community Playhouse consists of one brochure from 1937, three copies of the "Pasadena Playhouse Hall of Fame 1982," and two newspaper clippings regarding the 1979 fundraiser. There are photographs of Catherine Turney and her family as well as photographs of friends, including a personalized, autographed photo of Bette Davis. Subjects in this collection also include: Hermione Baddeley; Empress Josephine; Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley; Percy Shelley; George and Martha Washington; Warner Bros.; actresses; literary agents; women authors; California fiction and history.

Approximately 4,000 items in 36 boxes and 5 volumes.

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Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 7405622

Related Entities

There are 37 Entities related to this resource.

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Box, Muriel, 1905-1991

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Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822), poet, was born at Field Place, Warnham, on 4 August 1792, and attended the Sion House academy at Brentford, and then Eton. He entered University College, Oxford, in 1810, but was sent down the following year after writing the pamphlet The necessity of atheism . He eloped to Scotland with Harriet Westbrook, whom he married in Edinburgh in 1811. Shelley spent 1812 in Ireland, addressing meetings and writing pamphlets. In 1814 he left his wife and fled to the conti...

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Scribner, Charles, 1921-1995

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Washington, George, 1732-1799

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Motion picture association of America. Production code administration

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Warner bros

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Collier, John, 1901-1980

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Leigh, Augusta, 1784-1851

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Epithet: Mrs; half-sister to Lord Byron British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue : Person : Description : ark:/81055/vdc_100000000270.0x0000d5 Augusta Leigh, née Byron, half-sister of Lord Byron, the poet. From the description of Augusta Leigh manuscript material : 15 items, 1815-1848 (New York Public Library). WorldCat record id: 708268990 Half-sister of the poet. From the description of Autograph letters signed (6) : Holly Bush a...

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Charles Scribner's Sons.

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Longstreet, Stephen, 1907-2002

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