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Daniel Taradash papers, 1907-1987

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Taradash, Daniel, 1913-
Title
Daniel Taradash papers
Dates
1907-1987 (inclusive)
Quantity
52.33 cubic ft. (111 document boxes, 1 F17 box, 1 F41 box)
Collection Number
09822
Summary
The Daniel Taradash papers contain information about his life, the offices he held in professional organizations, and his career. Included are files pertaining to his work with Columbia Pictures, the Writers Guild of America, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Large amounts of material relate to the films and plays he wrote including correspondence, contracts, outlines, drafts, notes, publicity, and research and production files. Finally, there are files pertaining to his service with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, including plans for Academy Award shows and many photographs of the events connected with the honorary award given to Charlie Chaplin in 1972.
Repository
American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming
American Heritage Center
University of Wyoming
1000 E. University Ave.
Dept. 3924
Laramie, WY
82071
Telephone: 3077663756
ahcref@uwyo.edu
Access Restrictions
Access Restrictions

There are no access restrictions on the materials for research purposes, and the collection is open to the public.

Languages
English
Sponsor
The creation of the EAD-version of this finding aid was made possible through a grant from the National Historic Publications and Records Commission.
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Historical Note

Daniel Taradash was a screenwriter and playwright. He was born in 1913 and attended primary and secondary schools in Miami Beach, Florida. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1933 and a L.L.B. degree in 1936 from Harvard College and passed the New York Bar in 1937. He won a national playwriting contest in 1938 for his play Thy Mercy. Also in 1938 he was brought to Hollywood by Rouben Mamoulian to write the screenplay of Golden Boy for Columbia Pictures, and he stayed to write screenplays for Universal Pictures, including For the Love of Money and A Little Bit of Heaven.

Taradash entered the United States Army in 1941 and transferred to the signal corps in 1942. While in the army he wrote many incentive and morale films. He also wrote industrial training films. He left the army in 1946 and returned to Hollywood where he wrote screenplays and plays. His motion pictures include Knock on Any Door, Rancho Notorious, Don’t Bother to Knock, From Here to Eternity (Academy Award 1953), Desiree, Storm Center (Chevalier de la Barre Award, Cannes Film Festival 1957), Picnic, Bell, Book and Candle, Morituri, Hawaii, Castle Keep, Doctors’ Wives, and The Other Side of Midnight.

Taradash was a member of the Writers Guild of America council from 1954 to 1965. He served as president of the screenwriting branch from 1955-1956 and vice president of Writers Guild of America, West from 1956-1959. He was a founding member of the Producers-Writers Guild Pension Plan and a trustee from 1960 to 1973. He was very active in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in the 1960s and 1970s. He was a founding member of the American Film Institute and served on its board from 1967 to 1969. He was also a member of the public media panel of the National Endowment for the Arts from 1975 to 1985 and in 1992.

Daniel Taradash received many awards for his writing: the Valentine Davies Award, 1971, the Morgan Cox Award, 1988, the Writers Guild of America Edmund H. North Award, 1991, as well as the guild’s Laurel Award, 1992, and a retrospective and tribute from the University of Southern California, 1992.

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Content Description

The Daniel Taradash collection, 1907-1987, contains information about his life, the offices he held in professional organizations and his career. There are personal correspondence files, dated 1929-1981, and memorabilia files, dated 1907-1987, which contain photographs, programs, awards, and school records. There are a few files about the Columbia Pictures Corporation, primarily story synopses and files about the grant funding process of the National Endowment for the Arts. There are workbooks and planning meeting files for their general public media programs, dated 1974-1979.

There is a large amount of information about the motion pictures and plays that Daniel Taradash wrote. There are outlines, treatments, drafts of plays and screenplays, notes, publicity, and research and production files. There are also a few movie posters for the films he wrote.

There is extensive information about the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, its board of governors, programs, scholarship committee, the planning of Academy Award shows, and its membership. There are many photographs of the events connected with the honorary award given to Charlie Chaplin in 1972.

There are many files regarding the Writers Guild of America, West. The files contain correspondence, producer-writers guild contracts, and information about the guild’s policies and association with the motion picture industry. Since Daniel Taradash was a founding member of the first board of trustees of the American Film Institute, the file about the institute contains information about its inception, programs, and applications to the National Endowment for the Arts for funding.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Copyright Information

The researcher assumes full responsibility for observing all copyright, property, and libel laws as they apply.

Preferred Citation

Preferred Citation

Item Description, Box Number, Folder Number, Daniel Taradash papers, 1907-1987, Collection Number 09822, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

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Administrative Information

Related Materials

Related Materials

There are no other known archival collections created by Daniel Taradash at the date of processing.

Acquisition Information

Acquisition Information

The Daniel Taradash papers were deposited with the American Heritage Center in three shipments, one each in 1981, 1982, and 1983. The papers were received in good condition and in good order.

Processing Note

Processing Information

The collection was processed by Loreley Moore in June 2000.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Container List

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Academy awards (Motion pictures).
  • Motion picture authorship.
  • Playwriting.

Corporate Names

  • Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
  • American Film Institute.
  • Columbia Pictures Corporation.
  • National Endowment for the Arts.
  • Writers Guild of America.

Form or Genre Terms

  • Photographs.

Occupations

  • Screenwriters.

Other Creators

  • Personal Names

    • Chaplin, Charlie 1889-1977.

Processed by Loreley Moore
2006

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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