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Finding Aid for the Buzz Kulik papers, 1942-1994
1867  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Preferred Citation
  • UCLA Catalog Record ID
  • Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
  • Restrictions on Access
  • Provenance/Source of Acquisition
  • Processing Information
  • Biography/History
  • Scope and Content

  • Title: Buzz Kulik papers
    Collection number: 1867
    Contributing Institution: UCLA Library Special Collections
    Language of Material: English
    Physical Description: 35 linear ft. (51 record cartons, 16 oversize boxes)
    Date (bulk): Bulk, 1950-1992
    Date (inclusive): 1942-1994
    Physical Location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
    Language of Materials: Materials are primarily in English, with some materials in Italian, German, Spanish, French, Japanese and Farsi.
    Abstract: Buzz Kulik was born Seymour Kulik in Kearny, NJ in 1922. He was an American film and television director. This collection comprises a wide variety of documents and objects related to Buzz Kulik's prolific career. The majority of these items relate to films, television shows, and miniseries directed or produced by Kulik between 1950 and 1992. Additionally, the collection includes documents related to film or television projects conceived by or pitched to Kulik that never ultimately came to fruition. Finally, the collection contains a variety of personal ephemera with no direct connection to specific projects.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], Buzz Kulik Papers (Collection 1867). Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.

    UCLA Catalog Record ID

    UCLA Catalog Record ID: 7356557 

    Restrictions on Use and Reproduction

    Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

    Restrictions on Access

    COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Library Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.

    Provenance/Source of Acquisition

    Gift of Glen Kulik and Jennifer Kulik Perez, 2010.

    Processing Information

    Processed by Alessandra Amin in 2014 in the Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT) with assistance from Jasmine Jones.
    The processing of this collection was generously supported by Arcadia. 

    Biography/History

    Buzz Kulik was born Seymour Kulik in Kearny, NJ in 1922. He was an American film and television director. After serving in the US Army during World War II, Kulik took a job in the mailroom of the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency, where he saw a call for directors in the burgeoning field of TV commercials. He applied and moved up in the company, where he directed commercials for several years before moving on to direct cameras in Yankee Stadium in 1947. He then took his talent to larger projects, directing numerous TV programs during what is termed "the Golden Age of television" (ranging approximately from the late 1940s until the early 1960s).
    Kulik directed episodes of such critically acclaimed series as Playhouse 90 (1956-60) and The Twilight Zone (1960-63) before moving on to direct major motion pictures such as Riot (1969(. Kulik's most notable success came in the genre of made-for-TV movies, which emerged in the late 1960s; Kulik's Brian's Song (1971) was one of the most popular telefilms ever made, and was the first of its kind to be released on the big screen after premiering on television. Kulik also directed a number of TV miniseries, including the very first of the genre, Vanished (1970), and the popular George Washington (1984) which was nominated for 6 Emmy awards. Common themes in Kulik's work include American war stories (including From Here to Eternity, Campo 44, Women of Valor, Too Young the Hero), true crime (including Kill Me If You Can, The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case) and American sports heroes (including Babe, Brian's Song).
    Kulik's corpus includes 74 directing and producing credits, and the prolific director continued to work on both TV and film until his death of heart failure in 1999.

    Scope and Content

    This collection comprises a wide variety of documents and objects related to Buzz Kulik's prolific career. The majority of these items relate to films, television shows, and miniseries directed or produced by Kulik between 1950 and 1992. Such items include production reports, background research, casting scripts, musical scores, publicity materials, and photographs, including several of notable actors Susan Sarandon, Sandra Bullock and Alan Alda. They also include oversize materials such as blueprints and set plans, film clappers, bound musical scores, scrapbooks and awards. Additionally, the collection includes documents related to film and television projects conceived by or pitched to Kulik that never ultimately came to fruition, including scripts, correspondence, and proposed budgets. Finally, the collection contains a variety of personal ephemera with no direct connection to specific projects, including correspondence with friends and family, personal photographs, and press clippings about Kulik, as well as legal documents, contracts and resumes both sent and received by Kulik, documents related to seminars and presentations given by Kulik, and documents related to the Screen Director's Guild and the Writer's Guild of America.

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Kulik, Buzz--Archives.
    Television producers and directors--California--Los Angeles--Archival resources.