Title: Gloria Goldsmith Papers

Dates: 1960-2015 [bulk 1970-1995]

Collection Number: WGF-MS-137

Creator/Collector: Goldsmith, Gloria

Extent: 16 boxes, 20 linear feet

Repository: Writers Guild Foundation Archive

Abstract: These papers represent the professional and activist work of playwright and screenwriter Gloria Goldsmith. A founding member of Women in Film and two-term President of the organization, she spent decades working to increase professional opportunities for women in the entertainment industry. Her overlapping personal, professional, and creative interests are represented in these papers, including scripts, correspondence, and administrative documents from various organizations.

Language of Material: English

Open for research. Available by appointment only.

The responsibility to secure copyright and publication permission rests with the patron.

[Identification of item]. Gloria Goldsmith Papers. Collection Number: WGF-MS-137. Writers Guild Foundation Archive

Donated January 4, 2019 by daughter Glynnis Golden-Ortiz.

Gloria Goldsmith was born in 1926 in New York City and grew up in a Jewish family with parents who were active in left wing politics. Seeing them, and especially her mother, stand up for their beliefs influenced Goldsmith’s creative and activist work as an adult. She graduated from the Carnegie Mellon drama program (then called Carnegie Tech), and then returned to New York City. Working as a teacher to make ends meet, her true passion was writing, and she was a member of the Actor’s Studio Writer and Director’s Unit and the New Dramatists Guild. The recipient of both a Rockefeller Grant for playwriting and a Ford Foundation Grant, in 1960 her play Friday Dinner on Middleneck Road was chosen to be part of the CBS Repertoire Workshop. Soon after, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film and television, while also continuing to work as a playwright. In addition to writing, Goldsmith dedicated her time to feminist and political causes. A founding member of Women in Film, established in 1973, Goldsmith also served two terms as President of the organization from 1978 to 1980. Under her leadership she expanded membership to include women in New York and internationally. In later years she helped found the Women in Film Foundation and the Women in Film Festival. Her commitment to these, and other feminist organizations was ongoing, and included participating in the Writer’s Guild of America Women’s Committee, The Institute for the Study of Women and Men, The Women’s Cinema Group, and others. Throughout her life she also contributed her time to political and community groups, including the West Hollywood Fine Arts Commission, the National Endowment for the Humanities Media Arts Committee, and Southern California Americans for Democratic Action. Goldsmith was married to Allen Golden as a young woman in New York and had two daughters before divorcing. In 1984 she and her daughter, artist Gera Golden, were hit in their car by a drunk driver. Golden was killed and Goldsmith suffered physical injuries as well as mental and emotional trauma. This affected her ability to work for many years and influenced her writing and activist work. She lived in West Hollywood until her death in 2018 and was survived by a daughter and grandson.

Series 1: Produced scripts and related artifacts (1961-2007) includes scripts for television, film, and theater performed throughout the United States. This series contains multiple script revisions as well as production documents, play programs, correspondence, and research. Subseries A: Plays: Includes The Compensation Factor, Don Juan on West Fourth Street, Forgiving, Friday Dinner on Middleneck Road (aka Pursue the Horizon), Invitation to a Happening, The Marriage Contract (aka Renewals), My Mother, My Daughters and Me, The Teacher, and Womanspeak, as well as many one-act plays. Subseries B: Film and Television: Includes Girls on the Road (aka Hot Summer Week), 1972, McMillan & Wife, “Terror Times Two,” 1972, Medical Center, “The Invisible Wife,” 1974, The Streets of San Francisco, “One Last Trick,” 1977, The Secret Life of Kathy McCormick, 1988, and Riyadh Nightlights, performed as part of Carnegie Mellon's Drama Department TV program in 1993. Series 2: Unproduced scripts and related artifacts (1965-2015) includes scripts, outlines, and treatments for a variety of plays, film, and television. Documents include multiple drafts, correspondence, news clippings and other research materials. Many projects include coauthors, including Roberta Haynes, Theodore Apstein, Nita Schroeder, Booker Bradshaw, Carla Singer, Judith Merians, Doris Quinlan, Gary Goldberg, and Anthony Terpiloff. Subseries A: Plays - Includes research, correspondence and multiple drafts of Ladies of the Left Bank, in addition to other unproduced titles. Subseries B: Film and Television - Includes feature and television scripts, treatments, outlines, and proposals for different projects. Notable titles include A Celebration of Women, Family Ties, I Believe in Miracles: The Kathryn Kuhlman Story, Imminent Danger, Right On, Martha (Martha Mitchell biopic), This Time for All Time, Three Friends, and Women Rebel. Series 3: Unpublished book manuscripts (1972-1974) - Goldsmith wrote two manuscripts, and this series includes drafts, correspondence, and research materials related to each. Subseries A: The Benefit, a novel, first presented to publishers in 1972. Goldsmith continued to revise it, and also attempted to turn it into a feature film screenplay in the 1970s. Later, she used the characters from the novel in one of her unproduced feature scripts, This Time for All Time. Subseries B: Rape, is nonfiction written in 1974 about rape, including statistics, psychology, and first person testimonies. Series 4: Political and Professional Organizations (1960-2006) - This series includes documents related to organizations in which Goldsmith was active. Subseries A: Women in Film (including WIF Foundation and WIF Festival) - (1972 - 2006, bulk 1978-1980) Includes documents and meeting notes detailing the creation of the organization and how they would decide membership. This subseries also contains many meeting minutes, newsletters, awards planning and programs, film festival planning materials, articles of incorporation, and other documents related to the running of Women in Film and the Women in Film Foundation. Subseries B: Women, Men & Media (also, Institute for the Study of Women and Men) - (1986-1995) This subseries includes documents from conferences and other events put on by the research organization at the University of Southern California founded by Betty Friedan. The organization did research and created reports on treatment and representation of women in the media. Subseries C: National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) - (1971-1989) Goldsmith served as a panel member for the NEH Media Committee. This subseries includes correspondence and conference documents related to Goldsmith’s participation in NEH activities. Subseries D: West Hollywood Fine Arts Advisory Board - (1991-2004) This subseries includes meeting minutes, proposals for public art projects, and documents related to the West Hollywood City Council. As a West Hollywood resident for most of her life, Goldsmith was involved in local politics and was a member of the Arts Commission for many years. Subseries E: New Dramatists and theater companies - (1960 - 1993) Includes contact lists, correspondence, and other documents related to the New Dramatists and Theatre West. Subseries F: Southern California Americans for Democratic Action (SCADA) - (1989 - 1992) Goldsmith supported left wing causes and the Democratic party throughout her life. She served as Vice-Chair of SCADA. This subseries includes correspondence related to the organization, and documents for The President’s Weak-End, a 1992 play performance that served as a fundraising event. Documents include scripts, notes, invitations, and promotional materials. Subseries G: Other Political Activism - (1973 - 2001) Includes other documents related to Goldsmith’s political activism and organizations in which she was involved.. Series 5: Personal and Professional correspondence and artifacts - (1960-2015) Subseries A: Professional Papers - (1968 - 2009) Includes documents, contact lists, press clippings, certificates, production documents, research for projects. Subseries B: Personal Papers - (1965 - 2000) Includes documents relating to daughter, Gera Golden, events, and other personal papers. Subseries C: Personal and Professional Correspondence (1960 - 2015) Subseries D: VHS Tapes (1983 - 2002) Includes tapings of Goldsmith’s work, including The Secret Life of Kathy McCormick (1988, NBC), and performances of Riyadh Nightlights (1994), Loving (1996), and Just Pimples (N.D.). Also included are recordings of Goldsmith’s appearances on public access television, an episode of KCET Journal (1985) with a segment about Goldsmith and Golden’s car accident and Golden’s death, and recordings of television interviews with Golden about her “Fallout Fashion” art piece.