Title: Morrie Ryskind Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1927-1978

Creator:

• Ryskind, Morrie, 1895-1985

Call Number: U.S. Mss 5AN

Quantity: 6.6 c.f. (17 archives boxes)

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society Archives / Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research
Contact Information

Archival Locations:

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

Abstract:

Papers of a playwright, lyricist, and conservative newspaper columnist for the Los Angeles Times and Washington Star syndicates. The collection primarily illustrates Ryskind's journalistic career; few theater-related materials are present. Also included are correspondence with friends, readers, and prominent politicians; and some of his newspaper columns. Correspondence includes general correspondence, 1960-1978, with friends and admiring readers of Ryskind's daily column. During this time many incidents, issues, and Ryskind's very conservative political views drew a voluminous response from readers. Ryskind's correspondence with “Very Important Persons” contains letters and telegrams from William F. Buckley, Barry Goldwater, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and others. Among the personal letters from Nixon is one announcing his intention to run for Governor of California in 1962. The theater files contain miscellaneous materials, including contracts and royalty statements, and a photocopied script of A Night at the Opera, written by Ryskind and George S. Kaufman in 1935 for the Marx Brothers.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-us0005an

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Morrie Ryskind was born in New York City on October 20, 1895, to Abraham and Ida (Etelson) Ryskind. He was educated in the New York public schools and received a bachelor of literature degree from the Columbia University School of Journalism in 1917.

Ryskind's self-proclaimed first literary love was light verse, which he began to submit to journals while he was a college student. He began his journalism career as a cub reporter for the New York World in 1917, a position he left for more lucrative work elsewhere. Four years later he published a book of light verse entitled Unaccustomed As I Am, followed by a second volume, Diary of an Ex-President, in 1932.

In 1925 Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodgers asked Ryskind to write sketches for Garrick Gaieties, the musical review which made Rodgers and Hart famous. That same year Ryskind collaborated with George S. Kaufman on The Coconuts, a screenplay for the Marx Brothers. The two continued their famous and successful collaboration for many years, with Ryskind later writing the scenarios when the plays were sold to Hollywood. Together Ryskind and Kaufman wrote Animal Crackers (1928), Strike Up the Band (1930, with George and Ira Gershwin), Of Thee I Sing (1932 winner of the Pulitzer Prize; also with the Gershwins), and Let Them Eat Cake (1933). Ryskind and Kaufman moved to Hollywood in 1936 to write the screenplay for A Night at the Opera. Ryskind subsequently wrote several screenplays alone, including My Man Godfrey (1936), Stage Door (1937), Room Service (1938), and Man About Town (1939). In 1940 he returned to New York to write the Broadway show Louisiana Purchase, for which Irving Berlin wrote the music and lyrics. The next year Ryskind was once again in Hollywood, where he wrote the screenplays for Penny Serenade (1941), Claudia (1943), Where Do We Go From Here (1943) and It's in the Bag (1945).

During the 1950's Ryskind turned to political writing and commentary. In 1955 he wrote a review for National Review and in 1960 he wrote a piece for the Los Angeles Times. The latter resulted in Ryskind's writing a daily column for the Times' syndicate until 1965 when a political difference over the content of a column resulted in his resignation. Ryskind then joined the Washington Star syndicate.

In December 1929, Ryskind married Mary House; they became the parents of Ruth and Allan House Ryskind. For many years Ryskind was a director of the Beverly Hills Republican Club and a member of American Journalists Against Communism. He died in August 1985.

The collection primarily illustrates Ryskind's career as a newspaper columnist; there are very few materials from his work as a playwright. The papers consist of Correspondence with friends, readers, prominent politicians, and “very important persons” (as selected by Ryskind), Other Papers, Ryskind's Newspaper Columns, and a few Theater Files.

CORRESPONDENCE includes general correspondence, 1960-1978, with friends and admiring readers of Ryskind's syndicated daily Los Angeles Times column. During this time several incidents, issues, and individual column topics drew a voluminous response from readers; among them were the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the 1964 election, the John Birch Society, Howard K. Smith, Alger Hiss, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and the conduct of the Vietnam War. During the 1960's and 1970's, Ryskind's very conservative political views drew letters from both supporters and foes. Also of interest is the file of Ryskind's columns with readers' delighted or irate notes penned on them. Yet, non-political topics also evoked reader response; a column on the death of Ryskind's dog, Blackie, drew a particularly large response. Ryskind's correspondence with “Very Important Persons” contains letters and telegrams from theatrical and political contemporaries, including letters from William F. Buckley, Barry Goldwater, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan. Among the personal letters from Nixon is one announcing his intention to run for Governor of California in 1962.

OTHER PAPERS include newspaper articles sent to Ryskind by admirers, and miscellaneous speeches, articles, and other items. Files of RYSKIND'S NEWSPAPER COLUMNS include near-print copy for his columns for both the Los Angeles Times (1962-1964) and Washington Star (1970-1976) syndicates. Since the Los Angeles Times is available on microfilm in the Historical Library, files of his clipped newspaper columns were discarded.

Located in the THEATER FILES are a folder of miscellaneous materials, including contracts and royalty statements; a copy of the final script of Claudia, April 24, 1943; and a photocopied script of A Night at the Opera, written by Ryskind and George S. Kaufman in 1935 for the Marx Brothers. In a letter to Julie d'Acci of the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research, dated February 1, 1974, Ryskind remarked about the latter script, “I never am sure how faithful it was to [the] screen because we occasionally inserted some new lines that occurred to us as we watched rehearsals. It is apparently the best-liked Marx Bros. film.”

Acquisition Information

Portions presented and placed on deposit by Morrie Ryskind, Beverly Hills, California, 1961-1976. Accession Number: MCHC61-081, MCHC62-062, MCHC63-017, MCHC63-087, MCHC64-028, MCHC65-001, MCHC65-048, MCHC66-001, MCHC67-015, MCHC67-033, MCHC71-019, MCHC72-046, MCHC74-044, MCHC75-132, MCHC76-105

Processing Information

Processed by Scott Breivold, Steven Ourada, Anne Steinfeldt, and Menzi Behrnd-Klodt, 1985.

	Series: Correspondence
	General
Box   1 Folder   1-16	October-December 1960; February-March, May-August, October-December 1961; January-June 1962
Box   2 Folder   1-7	July-December 1962
Box   3 Folder   1-9	January-August 1963
Box   4 Folder   1-6	September 1963-February 1964
Box   5 Folder   1-6	March-June 1964
Box   6 Folder   1-5	July-October 1964
Box   7 Folder   1-5	November-December 1964
Box   8 Folder   1-7	January-June 1965
Box   9 Folder   1-8	July-November 1965
Box   10 Folder   1-13	December 1965-December 1966
Box   11 Folder   1-6	January 1967-June 1969
Box   12 Folder   1-5	July 1969-December 1970
Box   13 Folder   1-6	January 1971-December 1973
Box   14 Folder   1-8	January 1974-1976, 1978, n.d.
Box   15 Folder   1-10	“Very Important Persons,” 1929-1976
Box   15 Folder   11	Comments and Remarks Written on Ryskind's Columns
Box   15 Folder   12	Correspondence with Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research, including Autobiographical Sketch, 1961-1967
Box   15 Folder   13	Miscellaneous Correspondence, 1961-1966
	Series: Other Papers	⇧
Box   15 Folder   14	Newspaper Articles Sent to Ryskind, and About Ryskind
Box   15 Folder   15	Miscellaneous Speeches, Articles, and Ephemera
	Series: Ryskind's Newspaper Columns	⇧
Box   16 Folder   1-4	Los Angeles Times Column Copy, 1962-1964
	Washington Star Column Copy
Box   16 Folder   5-10	1970-1973
Box   17 Folder   1-5	1974-September 1976
	Series: Theater Files	⇧
Box   17 Folder   6	Claudia, Final Script, April 24, 1943
Box   17 Folder   7	A Night at the Opera, by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind - Photocopy of Script of June 6, 1935
Box   17 Folder   8	Miscellaneous Theater Materials, 1927-1955