The papers span the length of Sullivan's literary and entertainment careers. Included are articles for newspapers and magazines, drafts of unpublished works, and production materials of varying quantities for his work in radio, television, and motion pictures. The collection also contains information on Sullivan's contacts with show business and political luminaries and his involvement with several charities. The papers have been organized into four series: General Subject File, Entertainment Files, Writings, and Films.
The GENERAL SUBJECT FILE contains awards, certificates, correspondence, clippings, minutes, agreements, legal records, speeches, writings, and miscellany. It is arranged alphabetically by folder title and chronologically thereunder. The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences file documents efforts to finance the telecast of their award show and reveals tension between the New York and Hollywood chapters during broadcasting negotiations. Awards consists of numerous certificates given to Sullivan for his entertainment and humanitarian efforts. Charities include a program for the world premier of the Jimmy Stewart play, Harvey, which was staged as a benefit performance, and a file on the Negro Actors Guild. The latter file mentions Sullivan's efforts to convince advertising executives to support that organization in order to prevent Communist influence on television. Correspondence contains both business and personal communications and covers various facets of the production of The Ed Sullivan Show, responses to his newspaper column, and letters from show business, political, and personal friends. (A partial index to the correspondents follows the Contents List below.) Of interest is the reaction to the 9 September 1951 Toast of the Town appearance of Lena Horne, who had been listed in “Red Channels,” a publication which reported on people who allegedly supported Communist front organizations or subversives. Although documentation is sparse, a press release and minutes of a meeting at Kenyon Eckhardt, Inc. describe the network's and advertising agency's response to some negative audience reaction and their efforts to avoid such incidents in the future. Their solution involved the submission of performers' names to the Kenyon Eckhardt program supervisor for clearance and approval. Further reflection of the hysteria of the McCarthy era is a 24 November 1952 letter from the Catholic War Veterans expressing the fear that Sullivan's role as a leading Catholic layman was being exploited to “clear” certain individuals (specifically Danny Kaye) by allowing them to perform on his show. Four letters from Don Rickles describe the tribulations of location shooting in Yugoslavia during the filming of The Warriors. In the folders relating to Sylvia Sullivan, Ed's wife, are her speeches and writings and a file relating to the U.S. Public Health Service Hospitals of the Port of New York, a charity for which she served as president. Included in the Friars' booklets are copies of photographs of some of the Club's founders and of the many celebrities who attended the Sullivan tributes.
The ENTERTAINMENT FILES include production files, contracts, scripts, budgets, and publicity and document Sullivan's work in radio, television, and motion pictures and on several wartime benefits. Radio materials consist of scripts for Summer Silver Theatre, Ed Sullivan Entertains, and Ed Sullivan's Pipeline. Coverage is most extensive for Sullivan's television career, particularly the production of The Ed Sullivan Show. Included are talent listings of the weekly guest line-up, budget reports, and rating information. Individual episode files, arranged by air date and containing varying amounts of documentation, compose the remaining program files. Television also includes a script for a Friars “roast” of Johnny Carson in which Sullivan participated. Four production files relate to wartime benefits in which Sullivan was actively involved and reveal the preparation needed to stage such shows. The Motion Picture files include a script for a proposed Warner Brothers film based on Toast of the Town and a script for The Singing Nun in which Sullivan made a cameo appearance.
WRITINGS consist of articles written for newspapers and magazines. Included are copies of “Little Old New York,” 1941-1974, a Broadway column Sullivan wrote for the New York Daily News, and miscellaneous articles in which he described his variety show. Also contained in this series are several drafts of unpublished works including the “Arnold Reuben Story,” based on the life of a New York restauranteur, and “The Lee Shubert Story,” a proposed biography of the Broadway producer and theatre proprietor. With the latter material is a small file of notes written by Shubert to aid Sullivan in writing the biography.
FILMS complete the collection. The majority of these are individual episodes or excerpts from The Ed Sullivan Show. More films are included in the unprocessed additions to this collection. These are not described in this finding aid.
