Summary Information
Shepard Traube Papers
1943-1977
U.S. Mss 185AN
0.4 c.f. (1 archives box)
Wisconsin Historical Society Archives / Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research Contact Information
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Papers of Traube, a producer-director for theater and motion pictures, primarily consisting of casting and director's notes; playbills; agreements for two theatrical productions; and correspondence related to planned television, motion picture, and stage productions. Interest in politics and the business aspects of his career are prominent and among his correspondents are Audrey Hepburn, Hubert H. Humphrey, Jacob K. Javits, Walter Matthau, Edmund Muskie, Joseph Papp, and Nelson A. Rockefeller.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-us0185an ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
Director, producer, writer Shepard Traube was born February 27, 1907 in Malden, Massachusetts. He received a bachelor's degree from New York University in 1929. During World War II he served with the U. S. Army Signal Corps where he received the Meritorious Unit Citation and Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia's Medal for Distinguished War Entertainment.
Traube's involvement with theater spans more than 50 years. His earliest jobs included being a theater press representative and later a director and actor with the Washington Square Players. In 1930 he served as assistant stage manager for Twelfth Night. The following year he co-produced Precedent and No More Frontier at the Provincetown Playhouse, and was also director of the latter production.
Other plays which Traube both produced/co-produced and directed are Angel Street (1941, 1975 revival), But Not for Love (1934), Children of the Wind (1973), The Gioconda Smile (1950), The Girl in the Pink Tights (1954), Goodbye Again (1956), The Grand Prize (1955), The Green Bay Tree (1951), Holiday for Lovers (1957), Keep Off the Grass (1973), Memo (1963), Monique (1957), The Sophisticrats (1933), The Stranger (1945), and Time Out for Ginger (1952).
Traube directed The Patriots (1943), which was voted Best Play by the New York Drama Critics Circle; The Tunnel of Love (1958, tour); Venus at Large (1963); and Winter Soldiers (1942). He also produced Bell, Book, and Candle (1951-1953, tour) and Undercover Man (1966).
His motion picture credits include Goose Step, Street of Memories, The Bride Wore Crutches and For Beauty's Sake, all of which he directed.
In addition Traube authored several works including the book So You Want to Go into the Theatre; a novel, Glory Road; and several magazine articles.
Scope and Content Note
The collection contains fragmentary documentation of Traube's career as director and producer. It has been arranged in two series: Subject File and Production File.
The most extensive portion of the SUBJECT FILE is the General Correspondence which relates to Traube's business activities and political concerns. Included is incoming correspondence from investors, actors, actresses, producers, and other individuals whom Traube hoped to interest in his productions. There is also fragmentary correspondence with several politicians which show his interest in environmental issues and in presidential politics, especially the 1968 Democratic nomination, the proposed impeachment of Richard Nixon and the related House Judiciary Committee hearings. He received many letters from prominent individuals in the fields of entertainment or politics and an index to these correspondents follows the Contents List below. Also noteworthy in the Correspondence File is a short article by Traube included as an enclosure with a Brooks Atkinson letter (October 29, 1957) and an undated eulogy for Franchot Tone also written by Traube. The remainder of the series consists of his applications to work at universities as a visiting professor or lecturer, speeches, a folder of general tax information regarding theatrical ventures, and miscellany.
The PRODUCTION FILE documents Traube's activities as a producer/director in theater, motion pictures, and television. The more extensive files can include correspondence, agreements, casting and director's notes, playbills, clippings, and miscellany and detail the general production, casting, and financing of a work. In this category are Children of the Wind and Memo, both theatrical productions. In addition the file pertaining to “A Day in the Death of Joe Egg” contains extensive correspondence between Traube, the director, and Peter Nichols, the playwright, in which they discuss the proper interpretation of the play. Finally, there is also a transcript of a 1943 radio broadcast entitled “Entertainment in Wartime.” Among the participants were Constance Bennett, Ed Sullivan, and Traube.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Placed on deposit by Shepard Traube, New York, New York, 1971-1977.
Accession Number: MCHC71-148, MCHC72-24, MCHC73-43, MCHC73-76, MCHC73-124, MCHC73-136, MCHC73-143, MCHC76-49, MCHC77-57
Processed by D. Lindner and Christine Rongone, June 1979.
Contents List
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Series: Subject File
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Box
1
Folder
1
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Applications to universities, 1965
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Correspondence
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Box
1
Folder
2-4
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General, 1943-1977, undated
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Box
1
Folder
5
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Specific, re Melvin Hasman script, 1968
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Box
1
Folder
6
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Miscellany, 1963, undated
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Box
1
Folder
7
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Speeches, 1959, undated
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Box
1
Folder
8
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Tax Advice, 1952-1953
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Series: Production File
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Theater
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Children of the Wind
: NY: Belasco, October 24, 1973
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Box
1
Folder
9
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Production file, 1973
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“A Day in the Death of Joe Egg” (Unproduced)
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Box
1
Folder
10
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Correspondence, Miscellany, 1968-1969
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Box
1
Folder
11
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Limited partnership agreements, 1968
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Memo
: Opened New Haven, CT: Shubert, February 27, 1963. Closed Boston: Wilbur, March 9, 1963
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Box
1
Folder
12
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Production file, 1962-1963
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“O Happy Me” (Unproduced)
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Box
1
Folder
13
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Production file, 1956-1957
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“With This Ring” (Unproduced)
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Box
1
Folder
14
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Correspondence, 1968
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Motion Pictures
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“Against the Wind” (Unproduced)
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Box
1
Folder
15
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Correspondence, 1969-1970
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“Today I Am a Man” (Unproduced)
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Box
1
Folder
16
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Correspondence, 1970, undated
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Television
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“Little Mary Sunshine” (Unproduced)
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Box
1
Folder
17
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Presentation, undated
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Radio
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Answering You
: New York City, BBC, March 18, 1943
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“Entertainment in Wartime”
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Box
1
Folder
18
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Transcript, 18 March 1943
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Additional Descriptive Information
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Correspondent
|
Date
|
| George Abbott |
15 December 1969 |
| |
11 December 1970 |
| Bella Abzug |
2 August 1973 |
| Carl Albert |
22 October 1971 |
| Jane Alexander |
24 May 1976 |
| Brooks Atkinson |
29 October 1957 |
| Ina Balin |
15 October 1973 |
| Abraham Beame |
6 March 1974 |
| S. N. Behrman |
4 June 1968 |
| Peter Bogdanovich |
2 December 1971 |
| |
5 January 1972 |
| Eddie Bracken |
27 May 1970 |
| James Buckley |
14 May 1974 |
| Kitty Carlisle |
8 October 1976 |
| Jimmy Carter |
17 November 1976 |
| |
14 March 1977 |
| Dick Cavett |
5 January 1971 |
| Alexander Cohen |
7 April 1973 |
| |
18 September 1974 |
| Claudette Colbert |
4 September 1965 |
| George Cukor |
29 June 1970 |
| |
15 July 1970 |
| Agnes DeMille |
6 June 1975 |
| Melvyn Douglas |
22 August 1963 |
| |
14 May 1965 |
| Mia Farrow |
21 December 1969 |
| Betty Ford |
6 September 1974 |
| Gerald Ford |
October 1974 |
| Arthur J. Goldberg |
19 October 1970 |
| |
2 November 1970 |
| Ruth Gordon |
13 December 1969 |
| Tammy Grimes |
undated |
| Ulu Grosbard |
12 November 1969 |
| Audrey Hepburn |
16 March 1966 |
| |
15 September 1968 |
| |
17 September 1974 |
| Katharine Hepburn |
21 June 1967 |
| |
9 June 1970 |
| Elizabeth Holtzman |
20 November 1974 |
| Hubert Humphrey |
24 May 1967 |
| |
9 September 1968 |
| |
1 November 1968 |
| Jules Irving |
22 October 1969 |
| Jacob Javits |
18 August 1964 |
| |
1 October 1968 |
| |
24 November 1970 |
| |
7 April 1972 |
| |
20 August 1973 |
| |
27 March 1974 |
| |
4 December 1974 |
| |
2 February 1976 |
| Elia Kazan |
25 October 1967 |
| Norman Kean |
27 September 1976 |
| Jean Kerr |
16 December 1971 |
| Theodore Kheel |
31 May 1974 |
| Howard Koch |
25 April 1970 |
| Angela Lansbury |
7 June 1975 |
| Steve Lawrence |
19 March 1973 |
| Sidney Lumet |
23 September 1969 |
| |
undated |
| Thomas MacAnna |
20 May 1970 |
| |
30 June 1970 |
| Walter Matthau |
30 September 1968 |
| |
7 November 1968 |
| |
8 November 1970 |
| Eugene McCarthy |
12 September 1968 |
| George McGovern |
9 July 1971 |
| Bess Meyerson |
10 August 1972 |
| Daniel P. Moynihan |
23 March 1977 |
| Edmund Muskie |
9 July 1970 |
| |
21 December 1970 |
| |
27 January 1975 |
| Maureen O'Sullivan |
circa December 1969 |
| Joseph Papp |
20 February 1975 |
| |
4 March 1975 |
| |
29 June 1976 |
| Arthur Penn |
24 February 1970 |
| Vincent Price |
25 March 1975 |
| Harold Prince |
8 February 1974 |
| Vanessa Redgrave |
4 January 1971 |
| |
undated |
| Martin Ritt |
19 October 1976 |
| Thelma Ritter |
3 March 1961 |
| Nelson A. Rockefeller |
2 November 1966 |
| |
21 March 1967 |
| |
19 August 1968 |
| |
21 September 1970 |
| |
4 March 1968 |
| |
27 March 1968 |
| |
7 May 1968 |
| James Roosevelt |
7 July 1947 |
| Richard Salant |
25 February 1976 |
| Peter Sellers |
17 June 1970 |
| Hugh Scott |
25 April 1973 |
| John Simon |
29 August 1970 |
| Maggie Smith |
undated |
| Joseph Stein |
20 July 1969 |
| Joanne Woodward |
7 June 1970 |
| Herman Wouk |
31 March 1970 |
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