Clifford odets biography 1963

Grayson died unexpectedly inleaving Odets to raise their two children, Nora and Walt Whitman. He and the children moved back to Los Angeles in He died in August before he was able to see two of his own scripts, Big Mitch and The Mafia Manproduced for the series. The Odets collection contains approximately 30, items covering the years and is both personal and business in nature.

There is extensive correspondence with theatre and film personalities, literary and political figures, and family. Several of the diaries give detailed accounts of day-to-day events particularly those written during his time with the Group Theatre. Other items pertaining to the Group Theatre include scripts, photographs, playbills and stills.

Scripts and production materials relating to his other plays and films are also present. Research cliffords odets biography 1963 include notes and ideas for future scripts and for character development, although there are numerous notes on family members as well. Personal papers include information on his collections of artwork, books and stamps, miscellaneous papers relating to his two wives and children, and real estate and automobile documents.

There are photographs of Odets and his family as well as photographs and stills from various productions of his plays and films. The business and financial section is comprised of correspondence, contracts and royalty statements with his publishers, production companies and agents, items concerning investment ventures, cancelled checks, receipts, account books, bank statements, ledgers, insurance and tax papers.

Several disc and wire recordings, films, and Odets's death mask complete the collection. Note on Indexing Term - "Labor unions and socialism": Regarded as one of the most gifted of the American social-protest dramatists of the s. Odets is known for his "Waiting for Lefty", a drama about the awakening of the impoverished working classes. Included is some material from when Odets was investigated by the House Committee on Un-American Activities for his alleged Communist connections.

The collection is organized into the following series: I. Correspondence; II. Diaries and Calendars; III. Group Theatre; IV. Plays and Films; VI. Television; VII. Personal; IX. Photographs; X. Bound and Oversize. Many collections are housed offsite; retrieval requires advance notice. Please make an appointment a minimum of one week in advance of your visit.

Photography and digitization may be restricted for some collections. Copyright restrictions may apply. Before publishing, researchers are responsible for securing permission from all applicable rights holders, then filling out the Permission to Publish form. Scope and Contents: Includes typed and handwritten notes, printed material and clippings collected by Odets on various subjects and for future projects.

Scope and Contents: Contains scripts and production materials for projects either written by Odets or with which he was associated. Includes scripts and revisions, notes, production materials, photographs, printed items, etc. Arrangement: Play and film titles are interfiled and arranged alphabetically. Scope and Contents: Actual playing script n.

Scope and Contents: Production material, contracts, programs, royalty statements, clippings. Scope and Contents: Clippings, agreement, production costs, television settlement statements. Scope and Contents: Eight scripts includes one in Swedishcharacter scripts, box office statements, program, contract, rehearsal schedule. Scope and Contents: Six scripts includes one in Dutchpublished script 2 copiespublished version in Theatre Arts magazine.

Scope and Contents: Balance sheets, box office statements, contracts, ad, clippings, program Finnish productionand various materials concerning British production. Scope and Contents: Film treatment 3 copiesnotes, drafts of film treatment, clippings.

Clifford odets biography 1963: Clifford Odets (July 18, –

Scope and Contents: Estimating script, two copies of final script, notes, memo, synopsis. Scope and Contents: Fifteen Doves in Flight film. Synopsis, treatments, clippings. Scope and Contents: Two scripts, revisions, notes, box office statements, contracts, photographs, program, production costs, clippings. Scope and Contents: Three scripts, including one in French and published version, production notes, box office statements, contracts.

Scope and Contents: Photographs, programs, cast lists, production costs, clipping. Scope and Contents: Script, published version, program, photographs, clippings. Scope and Contents: Revisions, notes, script conference notes, clippings. Scope and Contents: Script, printed script, illustration by John Groth. Scope and Contents: Two scripts, revisions, notes, photographs, contracts, cast list, clippings.

Scope and Contents: Two scripts, notes, set continuity, copyright agreement, Odets's testimony for Rita Hayworth Haymes vs. Columbia Pictures Corporation. Scope and Contents: German scriptnotes, schedule, production costs, contracts, clippings. Other hallmarks of Odets's style are his humanistic point of view, and his way of dropping the audience right into the conflict with little or no introduction.

Often character is more important than plot, reflecting the influence of Anton Chekhov. The House Committee was investigating possible subversive communist influences in Hollywood and inevitably subpoenaed Odets in April He first testified in executive session, and on May 19 and 20 he again testified, this time in public hearing. Odets had belonged to the Communist Party for less than a year, between and[ 41 ] but continued to sponsor many left-wing, progressive groups, some of which were suspected communist fronts.

He cooperated with HUAC to the extent that he responded to their questions and reiterated names of Communist Party members who had been previously cited by his friend and former Group colleague Elia Kazan. Before Kazan's final testimony in Aprilthey agreed to name each other. He also found it increasingly difficult to garner clifford odets biography 1963 assignments.

The negative reactions to his testimony confused him as he did not consider himself a cooperative witness. Odets was tormented by public reaction to his testimony for the rest of his life. In the early s, Odets contracted to write four of a proposed total of 13 teleplays for The Richard Boone ShowNBC's new dramatic anthology born of a plan for televised repertory theater.

He also acted as script supervisor. He died before the project came to fruition. Playwright William Gibson, a former student of Odets's when he taught at the Actors Studio, completed the play's book. Though many obituaries lamented his work in Hollywood and considered him someone who had not lived up to his promise, Kazan understood it differently.

They'd be, he assured me, the best plays of his life Cliff wasn't 'shot. The mind and talent were alive in the man. Odets married actress Luise Rainer in Januaryjust months before she won her first of two consecutive Academy Awards for Best Actress. Odets had long suffered from gastrointestinal distress and on July 23,was admitted to Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles to undergo treatment for stomach ulcers.

During surgery, doctors discovered that he had metastatic stomach cancer. Odets is regarded as one of the American theater's most important playwrights. According to Arthur Miller, "An Odets play was awaited like news hot off the press, as though through him we would know what to think of ourselves and our prospects. Golden Boy was made into a film and became the basis for a musical of the same name.

Odets's screenplay for Sweet Smell of Success became the basis for the musical of the same name starring John Lithgow. Lincoln Center celebrated the centennial of Odets's birth with their production of Awake and Sing! It opened on December 5,to enthusiastic reviews, subsequently garnering 8 Tony Award nominations. Odets's early, more left-wing plays, such as Waiting for LeftyAwake and Sing!

Performed in a small downtown theatre space in New York's Soho area, the limited run played to sold-out houses. According to New York Times reviewer Anita Gates, "the production easily makes the point that ethnicity is transcended by the humanity of frightened, imperfect people facing unpleasant realities. Joel and Ethan Coen's film Barton Fink contains a number of indirect visual and historical references to Odets's personal appearance, background and career.

Odets is a character in NamesMark Kemble's play about former Group Theatre members' struggles in the blacklist era. It was one component of an umbrella project Brenman-Gibson undertook on the subject of creativity. The biography was intended to be a three-volume work, with the second and third volumes to cover the final 23 years of Odets's life.

Clifford odets biography 1963: Clifford Odets (born July 18,

Brenman-Gibson died inleaving the project unfinished. A full-length biography of Odets is in progress with the cooperation of the Odets Estate, to be published by Random House Doubleday Knopf. Apart from Brenman-Gibson's work, six critical biographies have appeared: by R. Herr Odets was named a member of the American Theater Hall of Fame. Contents move to sidebar hide.

Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikiquote Wikidata item. American writer and actor — PhiladelphiaPennsylvania, U. Luise Rainer. Bette Grayson. Early life [ edit ]. Career [ edit ]. While in Hollywood, he wrote several unsuccessful films, then returned to Broadway and the Group, recharged with engery for stage production.

His next play, Golden Boybecame his biggest commercial success. When the Group Theatre disbanded inOdets returned to Hollywood. Back in the film industry, Odets tried once more at directing, filming his own script of Richard Llewelyn's novel None But the Lonely Heart. Nevertheless, Odets became filled with self-loathing, and found it very difficult to write.

He only completed one more play, The Flowering Peach The Flowering Peach became the basis for the musical Two by Two. Odets's romantic dalliances did not prevent him from writing.

Clifford odets biography 1963: Clifford Odets was an American playwright,

It turned out they would need it, as the ensemble was hemorrhaging money and decided to take on Hollywood actors as a last-ditch resort to attract audiences. Nevertheless, it dissolved inbut not before Odets was able to put on "Rocket to the Moon""Night Music"and the group's last production, "Clash By Night" However, Odets maintained that he was never directly influenced by the American Communist Party, but that his plays stemmed from his sympathy with the working class.

Not blacklisted like many of his fellow Communist artists, Odets wrote more screenplays, including the adaptation of the novel "The Sweet Smell of Success," a classic investigation into the cutthroat world of fame. Odets died from cancer on Aug.