University of Wyoming
Leo Mishkin (1907–1980) was an American film, theater, and television critic in the mid-20th century. Born in January 1907 to Herman and Rose Mishkin, he was part of a family already connected to the arts. His father was a photographer for the Metropolitan Opera from 1905 to 1932. Mishkin began his career as a publicity director for silent film director Rex Ingram before transitioning to journalism. In the 1920s, he worked for the Chicago Tribune’s Paris office, notably covering Charles Lindbergh’s arrival in Paris in 1927. By the 1930s, he shifted to criticism, joining the staff of the New York Morning Telegraph in 1934, where he reviewed film, theater, and television until his retirement in 1971. Mishkin passed away in December 1980 at the age of 73.
This collection contains correspondence with numerous celebrities, including Walter Matthau, Alfred Hitchcock and Ethel Merman, fan mail, the manuscript for an unpublished autobiography, and photographs of Mishkin in France and with several celebrities. Also included are two scrapbooks and audio recordings of two of Mishkin’s speeches.
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There are no known other archival collections created by Leo Mishkin at the date of processing.
This material was received from Leo Mishkin in 1979 and Margret Ressel in 2019.
This collection was processed by Jamie J. Greene in July 2021 and Brittany Heye in January 2025.
Item Description, Box Number, Folder Number, Collection Name, Collection Number, American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.