Catherine Turney Papers

This collection contains the papers of American screenwriter and writer Catherine Turney (1906-1998) chiefly dating from 1934-1985 and including manuscripts, research notes and files, correspondence, and ephemera.

There are 711 items in the manuscript section which are arranged alphabetically by author and then title. Materials without author and title are arranged alphabetically by type. Oversize materials are located in boxes 34 and 35. The manuscripts consist of various screenplays, television and movie treatments, biographies, and novels, both published and unpublished, written by Turney throughout her career (some written with co-authors such as Jerry Horwin and Stephen Longstreet). The collection includes an unproduced screenplay, written for Bette Davis titled "Angel Manager." A version of the screenplay for "Of Human Bondage" is located in the manuscripts. Also included is one of the first scripts for "Japanese War Bride," originally titled "East is East." There are materials related to Turney's first play, "Bitter Harvest," including two published copies with Turney's edits, and her most successful play, "My Dear Children." The manuscripts contain drafts of Byron's Daughter and Turney's research notes for that book. Other manuscripts include: a draft of her biography "The Patriarch," which was intended to illuminate the lives of the women in George Washington's life; a fictional trilogy regarding early California entitled "Light in the Spring," "Manifest Destiny," and "Fruit of the Vine"; and a biography of Aimée Dubuc de Rivery entitled "The Beautiful One." Research notes and materials for her biographies and novels are listed under "Note cards" and "Notes." There are reviews of Turney's biographies and novels, two interviews with Catherine Turney, and poetry written by Turney while she attended Bishop's School. Of note are seventeen drawings by the artist Stephen Longstreet. There are also manuscripts relating to the creation and early days of the Pasadena Community Playhouse and two manuscripts regarding Catherine Turney's experiences with John Barrymore in the 1930s while he played the leading role in "My Dear Children."

Correspondence consists of approximately 2,000 items arranged alphabetically by author. The majority of the correspondence is either to or from Catherine Turney. The topics range from business matters regarding her scripts and book deals to personal matters. Many of the letters to and from publishing companies are requests and permissions for the use of copyrighted material in Catherine Turney's published works. The most common topic of her business correspondence in the late 1970s was her dispute with the heirs of Lord Byron regarding her use of the book Lord Noel Byron and the Leighs. The financial and legal debates prevented her from finishing her work on George Washington for the bicentennial. Catherine Turney corresponded with many people involved in or associated with the film, literary and art worlds in both America and England. Notable participants include: L.E. Berman; Muriel Box; Shirley Burke; Virginia Scott Steele; Stephen Longstreet; John Collier; Bette Davis, Joan Crawford and Barbara Stanwyck; and Eric Portman. Also included are: Elaine Barrie Barrymore; John Barrymore; Metro- Goldwyn-Mayer; Charles Scribner, Charles Scribner's Sons; Byron Society (American Committee); CBS; KABC; KHJ-TV; Jerry Horwin; Pasadena Playhouse Association; Screen Writers' Guild; and the Writers Guild of America, West. A friend of Catherine Turney, Jeane Oldham, wrote to her about the funeral of Paul von Hindenburg and descriptions of Germany in mourning, including German reactions to Hitler's speech on the occasion. A box of correspondence was found later and added to the collection which contains letters by Lenard Kester to Catherine Turney and a letter by Arthur Schwartz.

The ephemera section consists of 938 items arranged alphabetically by type and then subject where appropriate. The ephemera includes records pertaining to both of Turney's divorces, property that she owned in Pasadena, her contracts with movie and television studios, publishing agreements for books and magazine articles, and royalty statements. There are copies of magazines which published her work, research materials for her various works, and newspaper and magazine clippings regarding her works. Research materials for "The Patriarch" include photocopies of letters from George Washington, Martha Washington, and Nathanael Greene. The Turney Family Ephemera consists of newspaper clippings regarding her mother's singing career, ephemera associated with that career and ephemera related to her father's company. The Catherine Turney Ephemera includes a wedding book from her second marriage and applications she filled out for the Producer-Writers Guild of America Pension Plan and Motion Picture and Television Country House and Hospital. Also included in this folder is a photocopy of her interview from the book Screenwriter by Lee Server. The ephemera pertaining to the Pasadena Community Playhouse consists of one brochure from 1937, three copies of the "Pasadena Playhouse Hall of Fame 1982," and two newspaper clippings regarding the 1979 fundraiser.

There are photographs of Catherine Turney and her family as well as photographs of friends, including a personalized, autographed photo of Bette Davis.

The volume section consists of five items. There is a children's book that was a gift to Turney from her father and a religious text. Seven items were transferred to the Rare Books Department. They are listed at the end of the finding aid.

Other subjects in the collection include: Abdülhamid I, Sultan of the Turks; Actresses; Hermione Baddeley; Sally Benson; Henry Blanke; Curtis Bernhardt; Daniel Boone and family; Sydney Box; California fiction; Church of the Ascension (Sierra Madre, Calif.); Bette Davis; Aimée Dubuc de Rivery; Baron Bryan Fairfax; Gerald Gardiner; Paul von Hindenburg; Arthur Raleigh Humphreys; Impressionism in California; Empress Josephine; literary agents; Mahmud II, Sultan of the Turks; Mildred Pierce (Motion picture); Motion Picture Association of America. Production Code Administration; Quarter Circle U Ranch (Mont.); Ben Raeburn; screenwriters; Selim III, Sultan of the Turks; Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley; Percy Bysshe Shelley; Sierra Madre (Calif.); Anne Strick; television writers; Warner Bros.; George and Martha Washington; Rebecca West; and World War II.