Finding Aid to the Jim (Buddy) Ball Papers, 1959-1987 Coll2014-004
Jeff Snapp
Processing this collection has been funded by a generous grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR).
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
909 West Adams Boulevard
Los Angeles, California 90007
(213) 821-2771
askone@usc.edu
URL:
http://one.usc.edu
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
Title: Jim (Buddy) Ball papers
creator:
Ball, Jim (Buddy) (James L. Ball)
Identifier/Call Number: Coll2014-004
Physical Description:
4 Linear Feet
2 archive boxes + 1 flat archive box
Date (inclusive): 1959-1987
Abstract: James L. Ball, Ph.D., known as "Buddy" Ball, produced films, records, and videos from about 1977 to 1997 for a variety of
audiences including African American churches and other Christian groups, crafters, gay men, and horror fans. The collection
includes corporate records, personal papers, and photographs documenting his varied activities from his early career as an
educator to his involvement in motorcycle clubs to his inclusion in the banned-in-Britain "Video nasties" list.
This collection is arranged in the following series:
Series 1. Corporate records, 1961-1998
Series 2. Personal records, 1959-1997
During the years between 1960 and 2000, James L. Ball, Ph.D., (also known as Buddy Ball, Jim Ball, Jim L. Ball, Jim Lloyd
Ball, Mr. Jim L. Ball B.A., M.A., and Jimmy Ball) was active in several fields, including being the credited editor, writer
and producer of horror films and craft instructional materials for his Aldan Company, Inc. (earlier known as Aldan Producers
& Distributors of Motion Pictures). Ball also worked in the gay erotic video industry and sold Christian church supplies through
his Major Studio Productions company. He recorded alternating subjects including drug abuse counseling, fortune-telling, Christian
hymn, and teen heartthrobs with his Ball Record Company and Velvet Records. Ball's businesses operated in Southern California
out of his homes in Los Angeles and Winnetka, California as well as the French Market in West Hollywood, California.
Ball attended Baylor University and Texas Christian University. Before returning to school at the University of Southern California
for his Doctorate in Communication, the Waco resident taught "Child Expression," a course for children to learn how to deport
themselves on stage. He compared working as a student in 1957 on "I was a Teenage Werewolf" to the Andy Hardy camaraderie
of Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney urging the gang to put on a show. In 1962 Velvet Records released "No Camping" which featured
recordings of Jose Sarria performing in drag at the Black Cat Cafe in San Francisco the year before the bar was closed, and
included clandestine recordings of Hollywood fortune telling. Buddy Ball also worked with California churches, releasing record
albums of their choirs and soloists, as seen in advertisements in "The California Eagle," a long-running Los Angeles African-American
newspaper.
Jim "Buddy" Ball is best known for being the story writer and producer of the Sasquatchploitation horror film initially titled
in a 1977 script "Revenge of Bigfoot" that had a limited theatrical release in the United States between 1980–1983 through
the Aldan Company as "Night of the Demon," but was banned in several countries and was prosecuted in the United Kingdom as
a result of the Video Recordings Act 1984 as one of its "video nasties". In the late 1980's and early 1990's, Jim Ball distributed
several gay adult erotic videos through Major Studio Productions and is credited as editor on videos with adult film director
and producer Kennith Holloway. Ball is not to be confused with another Jim Ball who was a contemporary in the horror film
genre known for writing the music for 1981's "Night of Horror" and appearing in 1982 as Bill in "The Curse of the Screaming
Dead" (alternately titled "Curse of the Cannibal Confederates").
There is evidence of Buddy Ball's support of gay activism in his service as a chairperson for the Mark 40 Defense Fund which
had been organized to provide legal representation for men charged in the wake of a Los Angeles Police Department "slave auction"
raid in 1976. Buddy Ball was also conversant with many facets of the gay experience, keeping in touch with a fellow Wacoan's
updates on that city's tea house cruising scene, producing videos for men who prefer uncircumcised men, joining Southern California
motorcycle clubs, and appearing in drag as "the beautiful Sister Simple, the Chinese Firecracker" on a flyer parodying the
1993 film "Jurassic Park" in "King Kong Park, the Musical."
Source: Doctor Kiss. (2011, April 11). Does know 80's and 90's horror films received theatrical distribution? Retrieved February
24, 2015, from http://monsterkidclassichorrorforum.yuku.com/topic/37220/Does-know-80s-90s-horror-films-received-theatrical-d#.
The collection is open to researchers. Restricted access to some membership and financial records. Please consult archivist.
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the ONE Archivist. Permission
for publication is given on behalf of ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives at USC Libraries as the owner of the physical
items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Date and method of acquisition unknown.
[Box/folder #, or item name] Jim (Buddy) Ball Papers, Coll2014-004, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University
of Southern California.
Originally housed in box 103-232. Collection processed by Jeff Snapp, 2014.
Contents include financial records, mailing lists, order forms and promotional materials for the Aldan Company Inc., Ball
Record Company, Major Studio Productions, and Venice Tool Works. The collection also includes constitutional records from
the Mark 40 Defense Fund, handwritten notes, greeting cards, letters, Christian and motorcycle club materials, contact sheets,
headshots, negatives, Polaroids, slides, transparencies, scripts and screenplays for several works including "Night of the
Demon" and "Prophecy of Blood."
Separated to the ONE library periodical and performing arts collections:
Above and Beyond Tours, Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras, March 1, 1997.
Evita. Playbill [Program. June 1980] Shubert Theatre [ABC Entertainment Center. Century City]. Beverly Hills, CA.: Performing Arts.
RSVP Travel Productions, 1996-1997.
In a Changing Voice: Verses including juvenalia by Jim Kepner, 1996, both letter-sized copy and $2.75 staple-bound pamphlet; 36 p.; 22 cm.
Klondyke Kontact. v.18, no. 6, December 1996/ January 1997, R.A.W., formerly 15%.
Jim Kepner's Song and Dance, #8, March 1996.
Separated to the ONE audio visual collection:
VHS labeled “60 Minutes" video recording - Repayment of Vietnamese commandos/adoption of Ukranian babies. Spring 1997 Final:
Army plans to end sexual discrimination 9/11/1997”.
The videotape includes: a 20/20 episode with John Stossel on transgender firefighters and police; the "Escape from New York"
episode of "Wings" with a drag queen contest; "The Ambiguously Gay Duo" cartoon episode from "Saturday Night Live"; "Extra"
episode about Allen R. Schindler, Jr. gay sailor murder; "Crosstalk" episode with Pat Harvey mediating African American debate
with Reverend Peterson and Reverend Hayes, a lesbian minister about the gay rights bill; k.d. Lang on "The Tonight Show";
ABC "Primetime" news program "Boy or Girl?" Dr. Nancy Snyderman on sex reassignment of babies; CBS News Los Angeles report
on Cardinal Mahoney welcoming Catholic gays; "World News Tonight" Army sexual misconduct; and a Los Angeles Channel 9 News
Army sexual harassment report.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Gay motorcycle clubs
Gay dramatists
Gay men
Christian gay men
Scripts (documents)
Gay erotic films
Gay erotic videos
Promotional materials
Advertising fliers
Motion picture producers and directors -- Archival resources
Mail-order business
Businessmen -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archival resources
Motion picture plays
Ball, Jim (Buddy) (James L. Ball)
Ball, Jim (Buddy) (James L. Ball)
Corporate records 1961-1998
Records include applications, clippings, correspondence, customer feedback, financial records, labels, mailing lists, mock-ups,
notes, order forms, promotional materials, proofs, receipts, scripts and screenplays, stationery, tax returns, thermal faxes,
vendor and supplier information, and video brochures, representing several of Jim Ball's companies and business affiliations,
including the Aldan Company, Inc., Ball Record Company, Major Studio Productions (video and Christian supplies), and Venice
Tool Works.
Series is arranged alphabetically
Box 1, Folder 1-6
Aldan company 1981-1997
Physical Description: 6 folders
Contents include applications, clippings, correspondence, notes, receipts, thermal faxes, vendor information, and a portion
of an unidentified script as well as production-specific materials about films and projects, including a proposal and video
script for It's Sew Easy/Sew Very Easy; notes and receipts from Night of the Demon, and an illustrated synopsis from Prophecy
of Blood.
Note that Aldan is often misspelled as "Alden."
Box 1, Folder 7
Ball Record Company records 1961-1972
Includes catalogs, contracts, correspondence, invoices, and publicity materials for performances including female impersonators
and religious recordings including the A.M.E. (African Methodist Episcopal) church choir; An A.M.E. Tribute to John Fitzgerald
Kennedy; Drug Abuse and Youth order forms; and Velvet Records labels and materials about "No Camping", featuring Jose Sarria,
prostitutes, and an anonymous "Hollywood Fortune Teller." Also included are promotional materials for An Evening with A.C.
Bilbrew; Sondra Williams; and Dreams and Stories Productions' teen pop singer Sonny Padilla Jr.
Box 3, Folder 1
Box 1, Folder 8
Financial records 1978-1993
Box 2, Folder 12
Box 2, Folder 13
Box 2, Folder 14
Box 2, Folder 15
Box 2, Folder 16
Box 2, Folder 17
Box 2, Folder 18
Box 2, Folder 19-20
Box 1, Folder 20
MSP Video (Major Studio Productions) 1987-1998
Box 2, Folder 1
Box 2, Folder 2
Box 2, Folder 3
Box 2, Folder 4
Customer shipments 1996-1997
Includes FedEx, UPS and USPS shipping documents as well as packing lists for customer shipment of titles including:
Black on Black;
Centerspread 3;
Coverboys;
Crossroads;
Cutting Edge;
Favors;
Fever;
Gianfranco Delivers;
Idol Worship;
Latin Instinct;
Long and Hard of It;
Manhatten Skyline [sic];
Matinee Idol;
Mensroom;
Mirage from the XXX Files;
Nightwalk;
Puerto Rican Pickup;
Ryker Files;
Steamroom;
and Total Corruption 2.
Box 2, Folder 5
Box 2, Folder 6
Mailings and promotional materials Circa 1991-1993
Contents include customer mailings of videos including:
4-Play video promotion edited by Buddy Ball;
4-Hour/4-Skins;
Clean-cut/Uncut;
Mirage from the XXX Files;
Power Sex - 4;
Semper Erectus;
Tuff Meat;
Kennith Holloway's U.N.C.U.T., Foreskin Quarterly;
MSP Diamond, Silver, and Platinum Showcases;
mock-ups and proofs.
Box 2, Folder 7-8
MSP Video miscellenea 1987-1997
Box 2, Folder 9
Box 2, Folder 10-11
Video producers and distributors 1991-1998
Contents include promotional materials and mailings from
Axis Studios, Titan Media;
BIC Productions;
Bill & Debbie Majors Ent.;
Bon-Vue Enterprises Inc.;
Boxer Rebellion events calendar;
Brick House, Jet Set Productions;
Drummer centerfold "A Visit to the Garage," undated;
Gauntlet II, Leather Corps 1996;
Katsam Productions;
Leatherfest Los Angeles 1995;
Meatmarket gay erotic cardpack;
Orange Coast Leather Assembly, September 1998;
Pistons Long Beach;
Video 10 Distributors;
X-Pressive Video;
and The Zone New Year's 1991.
Also included are video release materials from
an unlabeled "Gay or boy/boy Flicks" mimeograph catalog of 8mm black and white or color films;
All Worlds Video; Dirk Yates Private Collections [DYPC]; European Military Alliiance;
Bacchus releasing, xtv.com;
Birlynn Productions;
Brick House Entertainment;
Camp Video;
Catalina Video;
Frat House Boys, Mardi Gras 97;
[Hot House Entertainment / Club Inferno, Pig Play Productions?] Handball Marathon III 1995 premiere at the Faultline;
Impressive Productions Inc.;
International Media Distributors, Axis Studios;
International
Studios &
Associates [I.S.A];
Leisure Time Products;
Live Video, Inc.;
Paladin Video; Studio 2000, Minotaur;
Pleasure Productions;
Primal World Talent & Management.;
Sierra Pacific;
Spur Productions; Live Video Inc.;
T.T.V.;
Thunderbolt, 4-play Video;
Tom of Finland;
VCA Labs Inc., VCA Pictures; HIS Video;
Video 10;
K O Wright The Dungeon Key;
and Xcel Video.
Box 2, Folder 21
Photographs Undated
Physical Description: [1 contact sheet, 2 negatives, 31 negative strips, 6 negative sheets, 1 photocopy, 17 photographs, 3 Polaroids, 9 publicity
stills, 5 slides, and 1 transparency]
Consists of portraits of Robert Collins, Barry Cooper, Lynn Eastman, Scott Richard Ehredt, Richard Fields, Tom Klatz , Mark
Olay, Mark Stripling, and Dix Turner; publicity stills of Beau Baumont, Rod Gurato, Frank Whitner, and "Behind the Greek Door,"
labeled "Mario Scallicci," several headshots circa 1970 including one labeled "poss: Walt Walter," nudes of Lee Jennings,
Gino Colbert, and one by Ted Tietzen; a transparency of special effects make-up probably from "Night of the Demon"; damaged
photographs of a unidentified costumed actor in Night of the Demon/Revenge of Bigfoot; and a photocopy labeled “larkin1.”
Scripts/screenplays/proposals 1977-1998
Box 1, Folder 24
Box 1, Folder 25
Box 1, Folder 28
Box 1, Folder 29
Box 1, Folder 31
Box 1, Folder 32
Box 1, Folder 33-35
Night of the Demon 1977-1981
Includes "Elements Comprising the Package of Night of the Demon" scenario by Jim L. Ball Ph. D., including a synopsis, trailer
scripts, advertising campaign, sub-title script, radio commercials, production stills, advertising "button," record album,
and television mechanicals. [see also the 1977 script for Revenge of Bigfoot]
Box 1, Folder 36
Box 1, Folder 37-38
Box 1, Folder 40
Box 1, Folder 9
Box 1, Folder 10
Box 1, Folder 11
Box 1, Folder 13-18
Letters, Personal Circa 1959-1996
Includes birthday and Christmas cards, including a Season's Greeting collage card from Matthew and Buddy of Glendale. Also
includes letters from Ball's mother; Lola Montes; friends and family; and John G. Haberkorn, as well as letters from his landlord,
lawyer, and memorial mailings, and a Popshots collage with James Ball as Eve. Also includes cruising and tea room letters
and photographs from Waco, Texas and an autograph with a drawing from Adriana Caselotti, "Snow White" from the Walt Disney
film.
Box 3, Folder 3
Box 1, Folder 12
Miscellaneous Undated
Contents include an American Board of Hypnotherapy badge;
an ACLU 1985 Bill of Rights Celebration cover autographed "Dr. Ball I'm honored! Peace + Justice! Ed Asner"; a Club Cultural
Francais menu; a flyer for a childrens' performance class entitled "Child Expression" taught by "Mr. Jim L. Ball B.A., M.A.";
a California State University Los Angeles faculty photo ID; a map to Ball's house on Lurline Avenue in Los Angeles, California;
newsclippings including items from Waco, Texas; a parody flyer for "King Kong Park, the Musical" [with portrait of James Ball
in drag?]; a signed photograph of the 80th birthday portrait of the British Queen Mother; and renter's records.
Box 3, Folder 2
Miscellaneous Circa 1986
Box 1, Folder 19
Motorcycle clubs Undated
Includes Blue Max Motorcycle Club memorial service and Bunkhouse invitations; the 1986 Buddy Motorcycle Club dissolution records,
roster, and expense report; a mailing from the California Eagles Motorcycle Club announcing a Russian River Run, a Mt. Tamapais
ride from Daddy's Bar, and a 1998 Oktoberfest at The Eagle Tavern in San Francisco;
a Gladiator M.C. honorary membership card;
a program from the 1989 Oedipus Grecian Games "Astrological Affair";
and an unattributed calligraphic program listing program participants including Buddy as 'White Savage Princess'.
Box 1, Folder 21
Box 2, Folder 22
Photographs circa 1960-1988
Physical Description: [5 negatives, 22 negative strips, 22 photographs, 5 Polaroids, and 5 slides]
Consists of images of James (Buddy) Ball, including portraits in drag; his lovers and friends including Carl Mathes, John
Haberkorn, and Peter Bromilow at formal events, graduation, St. Patrick's Day parties, and motorcycle events, including an
Oedipian Coronation and a Buddy Motorcycle Club gathering at Griff's Bar; correspondence photographs from a Foreskin Directory
ad; and images from Palm Springs and the Brown Derby.
Box 1, Folder 22
School records 1960-1996