Title: Bernard Sobel Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1923-1962

Creator:

• Sobel, Bernard

Call Number: U.S. Mss 52AN

Quantity: 0.2 c.f. (1 archives box)

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:

Fragmentary papers of a theatrical historian and publicist, mainly consisting of clippings and photographs of people, places, and events, many of which appeared in his pictorial histories. Also included is a manuscript of A Pictorial History of Burlesque (1956); extracts and drafts for A Pictorial History of Vaudeville (1961); and a few related letters, clippings, and articles.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-us0052an

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Bernard Sobel, “one of the last masters of Broadway ballyhoo,” was a leading American theatrical historian and publicist. Born in 1888 in Attica, Indiana, he earned degrees at Purdue University, 1910, University of Chicago, 1910, and the University of Wisconsin, 1917.

For several years Sobel reviewed vaudeville for the Dramatic Mirror. He then turned to public relations, becoming publicity consultant for such heroes of vaudeville as Florenz Ziegfeld, Charles Dillingham, A.L. Erlanger, Walter Wanger, and Earl Carroll. He was also associated with Paramount Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Warner Brothers, and United Artists.

Sobel's years of service in and around the theater provided the material for his first book, also a first in the field, Burleycue - A History of Burlesque, 1931. He wrote six additional books, including The Theater Handbook and Digest of Plays, 1940, A Pictorial History of Burlesque, 1956, and A Pictorial History of Vaudeville, 1961. He contributed to Collier's Encyclopedia, the Oxford Companion to the Theater, the Encioclopedia dello Spettacolo, and a host of general and theater magazines. For many years he was a frequent guest on radio and television programs. An active member of the theater community, Sobel was a member of the Lambs Club and edited its magazine, the Lambs Script.

Sobel remained unmarried. He died on March 12, 1964.

The collection consists mainly of clippings and printed photographs of people, places, and events in burlesque and vaudeville, many of which appear in Sobel's two pictorial histories. Also included is the manuscript of A Pictorial History of Burlesque, and extracts and drafts for A Pictorial History of Vaudeville. Neither the manuscript nor the extracts bear dates, but articles, clippings, and one letter are dated from 1923 through 1962.

Photographs from the Sobel collection are available through the Film Archives.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Bernard Sobel, New York, New York, 1962.

Box   1 Folder   1	Reproductions and Clippings, A-Z
Box   1 Folder   2	Reproductions and Clippings of Acts, Group Pictures, Performers
Box   1 Folder   3	Manuscript, A Pictorial History of Burlesque
Box   1 Folder   4	Annotated Extracts and Drafts, A Pictorial History of Vaudeville
Box   1 Folder   5	Articles, 1961, n.d.
Box   1 Folder   6	Clippings, 1923-1962, n.d.
Box   1 Folder   7	Correspondence, 1958, n.d.
Box   1 Folder   8	Theater Programs, Posters, Clippings
Box   1 Folder   9	Ephemera