Title: Moss Hart and Kitty Carlisle Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1922-1988

Creators:

• Hart, Moss, 1904-1961
• Carlisle, Kitty, 1910-2007

Call Number: U.S. Mss 13AN; Micro 1189; Audio 169A; AB 735; CA 511

Quantity: 7.0 cubic feet (17 archives boxes, 1 flat box, and 1 package), 3 reels of microfilm (35 mm), 4 tape recordings, and 2 films

Repository:

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

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

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

Abstract:

Papers of Moss Hart, a noted playwright-director and his wife, Kitty Carlisle, an actress and television personality. Their combined correspondence, 1935-1960, includes some business mail, fan letters, and personal correspondence from George Abbott, Brooks Atkinson, Bernard Baruch, Bruce Barton, Cecil Beaton, S.N. Behrman, Irving Berlin, Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Bohrod, Truman Capote, Bennett Cerf, Edward Choate, Jerome Chodorov, Claudette Colbert, Hume Cronyn, Russel Crouse, George Cukor, Edna Ferber, Judy Garland, George Gershwin, Sir John Gielgud, Mark Goodson, Oscar Hammerstein II, Rex Harrison, Leland Hayward, Lillian Hellman, George S. Kaufman, Elia Kazan, Jerome Kern, Jean Kerr, Arthur Kober, Alan J. Lerner, Sinclair Lewis, Howard Lindsay, Joshua Logan, Henry R. Luce, Sidney Lumet, Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, Fredric March, Michael Myerberg, Sir Laurence Olivier, John Osborne, Cole Porter, Anthony Quayle, Jerome Robbins, Morris Rubin, Harry Ruby, Robert E. Sherwood, Herman Shumlin, Jean Sibelius, Phil Silvers, Adlai E. Stevenson, Theodore H. White, Emlyn Williams, and other prominent individuals. Manuscript and published copies of Hart's major works, some of which were written in collaboration with George S. Kaufman and Irving Berlin, include the plays The American Way (1939), Christopher Blake (1946), The Climate of Eden (1952), George Washington Slept Here (1940), Jubilee (1935), Lady in the Dark (1941), Light Up the Sky (1948), The Man Who Came to Dinner (1939), Merrily We Roll Along (1934), Once in a Lifetime (1930), You Can't Take It With You (1936), and Winged Victory (1943); the motion pictures The Eddie Duchin Story (Columbia, 1954), Gentleman's Agreement (20th Century-Fox, 1947), and A Star is Born (Warner Brothers, 1954), and his autobiography Act One (1959). There is also a script for My Fair Lady (1956), which Hart directed on Broadway. For several of the above titles there are also notes, business records, clippings, and photographs. Of more personal interest are two diaries, the first kept by Hart during a world trip in 1935 while he wrote Jubilee, and the second a journal of his theatrical activities and personal life during 1953 and 1954. Related to Kitty Carlisle's stage and screen career are clipping scrapbooks, 1932-1946 (on microfilm), photographs, and a draft version of her autobiography Kitty (1988). On film are the Harts' appearances at the 1961 Academy Award ceremonies and on Person to Person (CBS) in 1959. The tape recordings concern a 1960 discussion of Broadway musicals between Hart and Brooks Atkinson.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-us0013an

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Moss Hart was one of the major playwrights of the American stage during the twentieth century. Best known for his collaborations with George S. Kaufman, Hart was also one of the most flamboyant theatrical personalities of his era.

Born in the Bronx in 1904, Hart began his writing career with The Beloved Bandit in 1925 under the pseudonym of Robert Arnold Conrad, but his first great success came with Once in a Lifetime (1930) written with George S. Kaufman. Other successes with Kaufman include Merrily We Roll Along (1934), You Can't Take It With You (Pulitzer Prize, 1937), The Fabulous Invalid (1938), The American Way (1939), The Man Who Came to Dinner (1939), and George Washington Slept Here (1940).

His books for musical shows include Face the Music (1932) and As Thousands Cheer (1933), both with Irving Berlin; Jubilee (1935) with Cole Porter; I'd Rather Be Right (1937) with Kaufman, Lorenz Hart, and Richard Rodgers; and Lady in the Dark (1941) with Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin. Plays written by Hart alone are Winged Victory (1943), Christopher Blake (1946), Light Up the Sky (1948), and The Climate of Eden (1952); while Gentleman's Agreement (1947), Hans Christian Anderson (1951), The Eddie Duchin Story (1954), A Star Is Born (1954), and Prince of Players (1955) indicate his talents as a screenwriter.

Also distinguishing himself as a director, Moss Hart was noted for his direction of such productions as Dear Ruth (1944) and Anniversary Waltz (1954). In 1956 he won the Antoinette Perry Award for his direction of Lerner and Loewe's record-breaking hit, My Fair Lady (1956), after which he also staged their musical, Camelot (1960).

In 1959 Hart published an autobiography of his early life and career, Act One, which was on the best seller list for almost two years and which remains one of the most important works of its kind in the history of the American theater. In addition to his writing activities, Moss Hart served as president of the Dramatists Guild of the Authors League of America.

In August 1946, Moss Hart married actress Kitty Carlisle. During her career Miss Carlisle has distinguished herself in films, night club entertaining, and on the stage (Rio Rita, Three Waltzes, and The Merry Widow). She co-starred with Bing Crosby in several films and appeared with the Marx brothers in A Night at the Opera. In 1948 she won acclaim for her portrayal of Lucretia in Benjamin Britten's opera, The Rape of Lucretia. In 1954 she played a non-singing role in Anniversary Waltz by Chodorov and Fields, directed by Moss Hart. Later she became well known for her regular appearances on the popular television quiz show, To Tell the Truth. Moss Hart and Kitty Carlisle had two children, Christopher and Cathy.

Hart died of a heart attack on December 20, 1961. Carlisle died on April 17, 2007.

The Hart and Carlisle papers consist of scripts, correspondence, a diary, non-theatrical writings, photographs, and scrapbooks. The collection covers Hart's entire career and his personal life, although the depth of the documentation varies. The documentation about Mrs. Hart is less complete. The collection is arranged as correspondence of both Harts, biographical material concern Hart, his generically-arranged writings, and Kitty Carlisle's scrapbooks and papers. Photographs received with the papers are available in the WCFTR Name and Title files.

The CORRESPONDENCE includes material pertaining to both Moss Hart and Kitty Carlisle. Correspondence from the period 1935-1945 includes personal letters to Carlisle from Irving Caesar, George Gershwin, Sinclair Lewis, George S. Kaufman, Jerome Kern, Richard Rodgers, and Kurt Weill as well as a few items received by Hart.

The correspondence, although incomplete with regard to both Hart's personal and professional life, contains letters from a virtual Who's Who of the theatre. Included are letters from such prominent individuals as George Abbott, Brooks Atkinson, Bernard Baruch, Bruce Barton, Cecil Beaton, S.N. Behrman, Irving Berlin, Leonard Bernstein, Truman Capote, Bennett Cerf, Edward Choate, Jerome Chodorov, Claudette Colbert, Hume Cronyn, Russel Crouse, George Cukor, Edna Ferber, Judy Garland, George Gershwin, Sir John Gielgud, Mark Goodson, Oscar Hammerstein II, Rex Harrison, Leland Hayward, Lillian Hellman, George S. Kaufman, Elia Kazan, Jerome Kern, Jean Kerr, Arthur Kober, Alan J. Lerner, Sinclair Lewis, Howard Lindsey, Joshua Logan, Henry R. Luce, Sidney Lumet, Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, Fredric March, Michael Myerberg, Sir Laurence Olivier, John Osborne, Cole Porter, Anthony Quayle, Jerome Robbins, Morris Rubin, Harry Ruby, Robert E. Sherwood, Herman Shumlin, Jean Sibelius, Phil Silvers, Adlai E. Stevenson, Theodore H. White, and Emlyn Williams.

The largest portion of the correspondence consists of fan mail concerning the publication of Act One in 1959. In addition to the material donated by the Harts, this section also includes letters donated by George Cukor and others (some via Kitty Carlisle), business correspondence from the late 1940s donated by Joseph Hyman, and copies of autographed photographs. A separate file here relating to Hart's reputation as an art and antique collector contains several letters from Aaron Bohrod and a catalog for the sale of antiques from the Harts' Bucks County (Pennsylvania) home. The financial miscellany contains a complete appraisal of the furnishings.

The MOSS HART BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL includes a diary, correspondence, legal and financial miscellany, biographical clippings and a scrapbook, recorded interviews and appearances, and an undated photograph album concerning family members and overseas travel. The typescript diary, which covers only the years 1953 and 1954, was undertaken by Hart as self therapy during a period when he was apparently depressed and experiencing difficulty with his writing. The diary includes frank comments about theatrical friends and associates, his theatrical work, and the Harts' social activities. Also here are miscellaneous financial papers, tributes and memorabilia, clipping scrapbooks, an extended interview about the musical stage, and films of the Harts presenting the 1961 Academy Awards and of their appearance on Person to Person in 1959. The earliest scrapbook, which is also available on microfilm, provides the only primary documentation about Hart's early work in the collection. The small clipping books filed here were photocopied in order to preserve their intellectual content and the originals returned to the donor.

The bulk of the collection consists of generically-arranged writings, primarily drafts of Broadway PLAYS. For productions from 1925 to 1952 there are handwritten drafts, edited typescripts, and published editions. Well known for his lavish spending, Hart often had his manuscripts expensively bound and many of these volumes are included. For few productions, however, is Hart's writing process fully represented. Most extensively documented are Once in a Lifetime (1930), Jubilee (1935), You Can't Take It With You (1936), Winged Victory (1943), Christopher Blake, (1946), Light Up the Sky (1948), and The Climate of Eden (1952). Also included for a few titles are photographs, clippings, playbills, financial statements, correspondence, and sheet music. The files on Jubilee include a typescript diary and a photographs album concerning the tour Hart undertook with Cole arranged writings, primarily drafts of Broadway PLAYS. For productions from 1925 to 1952 there are handwritten drafts, edited typescripts, and published editions. Well known for his lavish spending, Hart often had his manuscripts expensively bound and many of these volumes are included. For few productions, however, is Hart's writing process fully represented. Most extensively documented are Once in a Lifetime (1930), Jubilee (1935), You Can't Take It With You (1936), Winged Victory (1943), Christopher Blake, (1946), Light Up the Sky (1948), and The Climate of Eden (1952). Also included for a few titles are photographs, clippings, playbills, financial statements, correspondence, and sheet music. The files on Jubilee include a typescript diary and a photographs album concerning the tour Hart undertook with Cole Porter while working on the script. The section also includes a script used by Hart in directing My Fair Lady in 1956.

Similar, but smaller quantities of material document Hart's SCREENPLAYS and TELEVISION work. Most prominent of these are the materials for Gentleman's Agreement (1947), A Star Is Born (1953), and Camelot (1967).

NON-THEATRICAL WRITING is represented by several folders of speeches, articles, and short works and by the files on Act One. The latter includes a handwritten draft, a typed draft, the published first edition, a microfilmed clipping scrapbook of reviews, and a French translation. Correspondence received from theatrical friends and the general public in response to the book is discussed above.

KITTY CARLISLE'S PAPERS consist of an annotated draft of her autobiography, nine clipping scrapbooks concerning her career from 1932 through 1946 (available only on microfilm), a few playbills, and a photograph album.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Moss Hart and Kitty Carlisle, New York, New York, 1961-1988, and by Joseph Hyman, New York, New York, 1962. Accession Number: MCHC64-070, M89-130

U.S. Mss 13AN	Series: Correspondence
	General
Box   17 Folder   2	1935-1945
Box   1	1946-1960 March
Box   2 Folder   1-3	1960 April-1961
Box   2 Folder   4	Art correspondence, 1940-1955
Box   2 Folder   5	Autographed photographs, undated
	Series: Moss Hart Biographical Material	⇧
Box   17 Folder   1	Typescript diary, 1953-1954
Box   2 Folder   6	Legal and financial miscellany, 1946-1955
Box   2 Folder   7	Inventory of estate, 1955
	Biographical material
Box   2 Folder   8	Tributes and biographies
Map Drawer	Oversize tributes and biographies
Box   2 Folder   9	Clipping books, undated
Audio 269A	Interview with Brooks Atkinson,“Thirty-five Years of Broadway Musicals,” 1960
CA 511	Interview, Person to Person, 1959 Alternate Format: Digital access copy available.
AB 735	Hart and Carlisle at the Academy Awards, 1961 Alternate Format: Digital access copy available.
U.S. Mss 13AN Package   1	Scrapbook, 1922-1962
Micro 1189 Reel   1 Segment   1	Microfilmed version of scrapbook
WCFTR Name File	Photographs of family and overseas travel, undated
Micro 1189 Reel   2 Segment   2	Microfilmed version of album
U.S. Mss 13AN	Series: Plays	⇧
	The Beloved Bandit/Hold-Up Man/Lad O'Laughter, 1925
Box   3 Folder   1	Typescript (annotated, bound) by Robert Arnold Conrad
	Once in a Lifetime, 1930
Box   3 Folder   2	Published script by Hart and George S. Kaufman
Box   3 Folder   3	Typescript (bound)
Box   3 Folder   4	Typescript
Box   3 Folder   5	Clipping book, undated
	Face the Music, 1932
Box   3 Folder   6	Typescript (annotated, bound) by Hart and Irving Berlin
Box   3 Folder   7	Clipping book
	As Thousands Cheer (by Hart and Irving Berlin), 1933
Box   4 Folder   1	Handwritten script, undated
Box   4 Folder   2	Clipping book, undated
	The Great Waltz (by Hart), 1934
Box   4 Folder   3	Typewritten script, undated
Box   4 Folder   4	Clipping book, undated
Box   4 Folder   5	Financial papers, 1949-1953
Box   4 Folder   6	Theatre booklet (autographed) for Carlisle performance, 1949
	Merrily We Roll Along, 1934
Box   4 Folder   7	Published script by Hart and George S. Kaufman, 1934
Box   5 Folder   1	Typescript (annotated, bound), undated
	Jubilee, 1935
Box   5 Folder   2	Handwritten script (bound), undated
Box   5 Folder   3	Clipping book, undated
Box   5 Folder   3a	Typescript diary of world tour, undated
Box   18 Folder   3	Photograph album of world tour
Micro 1189 Reel   2 Segment   3	Microfilmed version of album
U.S. Mss 13AN	I'd Rather Be Right, 1937
Box   5 Folder   4	Published script by Hart and George S. Kaufman, 1937
Box   5 Folder   5	Typescript (annotated, bound), undated
Box   5 Folder   6	Clipping book, 1937
	You Can't Take It With You, 1936
Box   6 Folder   1	Published script by Hart and George S. Kaufman, 1937
Box   6 Folder   2	Typescript Dutch translation, circa 1947
Box   6 Folder   3	Typescript (annotated, bound)
	Scripts by others
Box   14 Folder   6	Screenplay by Tony Webster, undated
Box   14 Folder   7	Mimeo script by Nancy Moore for Pulitzer Prize Playhouse, 1950 October 6
Box   6 Folder   4	Clipping book
Box   6 Folder   5	Royalty statement, 1945
	The Fabulous Invalid, 1938
Box   6 Folder   6	Published script by Hart and George S. Kaufman, 1937
Box   7 Folder   1	Typescript (annotated, bound), undated
	The Man Who Came to Dinner, 1939
Box   7 Folder   2	Published script by Hart and George S. Kaufman, 1939
Box   7 Folder   3	Typescript (annotated, bound), undated
Box   7 Folder   4	Sheet music by Barnett Hart
	The American Way (by Hart and George S. Kaufman), 1939
Box   7 Folder   5	Typescript (annotated, bound), undated
Box   7 Folder   6	Financial papers, 1938-1944
	George Washington Slept Here, 1940
Box   8 Folder   1	Published script by Hart and George S. Kaufman, 1940
Box   8 Folder   2	Typescript (annotated, bound), undated
	Lady in the Dark, 1941
Box   8 Folder   3	Published script by Hart, 1941
Box   8 Folder   4	“I am Listening,” Typescript (annotated, bound), undated
	Winged Victory (Air Force show), 1943
Box   9 Folder   2	Published script by Hart, 1944 Note: Autographed by A.A. Arnold.
Box   9 Folder   3	Handwritten script (bound), undated
Box   9 Folder   4	Typescript (annotated), undated
Box   9 Folder   5	Financial papers, 1943-1945
Box   10 Folder   1-3	Correspondence, 1943-1945, undated
Box   10 Folder   4	Contracts and miscellany, 1944-1945
Box   10 Folder   5	Programs, 1943
	Christopher Blake, 1946
Box   10 Folder   6	Published script by Hart, 1946
Box   10 Folder   7	Typescript, undated
Box   10 Folder   8	Financial and legal papers, 1946-1952
Box   11 Folder   1	Handwritten script, undated
	Light Up the Sky, 1948
Box   11 Folder   2	Published script by Hart, 1948
Box   11 Folder   3	Handwritten script, undated
Box   11 Folder   4	Theatre Arts, edition, 1949
Box   11 Folder   5	Playbills, 1948
Micro 1189 Reel   2 Segment   4	Clipping scrapbook
U.S. Mss 13AN	The Climate of Eden, 1952
Box   12 Folder   1	Published script by Hart, 1953
Box   12 Folder   2	Handwritten script and notes, undated
Box   12 Folder   3	“An Untitled Play,” typescript (annotated), 1951
Box   12 Folder   4	Theatre Arts edition, 1954
	In the Pink, circa 1954
Box   12 Folder   7	Mimeo script by Hart, undated
Box   12 Folder   8	Handwritten script, undated
Box   12 Folder   9	Typescript (annotated), undated
	My Fair Lady, 1956
Box   12 Folder   5	Mimeo script (“Personal script, first draft”), by Alan J. Lerner, undated
Box   12 Folder   6	Playbills, 1956
	General material
Box   9 Folder   1	Six Plays by G.S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, 1942
Box   18 Folder   1	Photograph album regarding early plays
Micro 1189 Reel   2 Segment   4	Microfilmed version of album
U.S. Mss 13AN	Series: Screen Plays	⇧
	Winged Victory, 1944
Box   13 Folder   1	Mimeo script by Hart, 1944 February 29
	Gentleman's Agreement, 1947
Box   13 Folder   2	Mimeo script by Hart, 1947 May 14
Box   13 Folder   3	Revised mimeo script, 1947 June 11
Micro 1189 Reel   2 Segment   5	Clipping scrapbook
U.S. Mss 13AN	Hans Christian Anderson, 1951
Box   13 Folder   4	Typescript, 1951 October 51
Box   13 Folder   5	Promotional brochure, undated
	A Star Is Born, 1953
Box   13 Folder   6	Mimeo script by Hart (bound and annotated by Sid Luft and Judy Garland), 1953 April 6
	The Eddie Duchin Story, 1954
Box   13 Folder   7	Typescript (annotated) by Hart, undated
Box   13 Folder   7	Treatment by Leo Katcher, 1954 September 20
	Prince of Players, 1954
Box   14 Folder   1	Notes, undated
Box   14 Folder   2	Mimeo script by Hart, 1954 July 13
Box   14 Folder   3	Mimeo script, 1954 July 27
	Camelot, 1967
Box   14 Folder   4	Revised mimeo script (annotated) by Alan J. Lerner, 1967 March 3
	These Pretty People, undated
Box   14 Folder   5	Treatment by Hart, undated
	Series: Television	⇧
	The Nature of the Beast, 1951
Box   14 Folder   8	Handwritten script by Hart, 1951 March 11
Box   14 Folder   8	Typescript, undated
	The Man Who Came to Dinner, 1954
Box   14 Folder   9	Approval, 1954
	Series: Non-Theatrical Writing	⇧
Box   14 Folder   10	Short works, sketches, speeches, prefaces and articles, undated
	Act One
Box   14 Folder   11	Published first edition, 1959
Box   15 Folder   1	Published French translation, 1961
Box   15 Folder   2-5	Handwritten draft, 1956
	Typescript, circa 1959
Box   15 Folder   6	I
Box   16 Folder   1-4	II-V
Box   16 Folder   5	Miscellany, undated
Micro 1189 Reel   2 Segment   6	Clipping scrapbook
	Series: Kitty Carlisle Papers	⇧
	Scrapbooks
Reel   2 Segment   7	1932-1934
Reel   3 Segment   1	1935-1946
U.S. Mss 13AN	Kitty: An Autobiography, 1988
Box   16 Folder   6-8	Typescript (annotated), circa 1988
Box   16 Folder   9	Playbills
Box   18 Folder   2	Photograph album
Micro 1189 Reel   3 Segment   2	Microfilmed version of album
U.S. Mss 13AN Map Drawer	Oversize portrait