Title: Mark Rodgers papers

Collection number: PASC.225

Contributing Institution: UCLA Library Special Collections

Language of Material: English

Physical Description: 30.0 linear ft. (60 boxes)

Date (inclusive): 1961-ca. 1990

Abstract: Mark Rodgers was a deputy sheriff turned television producer and writer. The collection consists of material related to Rodgers' television career, and includes files related to both produced and unproduced projects in which Rodgers was involved in some capacity. Additionally there is a small collection of files related to his working relationship with MGM and a small number of novel manuscripts.

Language of Materials: Materials are in English.

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.

Creator: Rodgers, Mark 1928-2006

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.

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.

[Identification of item], Mark Rodgers papers (Collection number PASC 225). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.

Mark Rodgers was born in Kansas City, Kansas on March 16, 1928. He attended Los Angeles City College in the Drama Department for two years and then Los Angeles State for four years. He may have been writing part time as early as 1947. He started work as deputy sheriff with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department in 1957. The same year he established himself as a television writer with a story he wrote for the anthology television series, Alcoa Theatre. He continued his career with the Sheriff's Department until 1963 when he left to pursue writing full time. He used this experience as a sheriff to inform his work writing television police dramas from the 1960s until the early 1990s.

Rodgers served as writer, producer, and creative consultant on a number of television projects throughout his career, including Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre, Dirty Dozen, Eischied, The Forgotten Man, Hawaii Five-O, Hill Street Blues, Ironside, Joe Forrester, Lady Blue, The Longest Drive, Longstreet, McClain's Law, The Mod Squad, The Rookies and TJ Hooker, among others. Additionally, he served as story consultant and associate producer for the television series The F.B.I. from 1965-1974, and he worked as writer, story editor, and executive story consultant for the television anthology Police Story from 1973-1977. 1972 saw the start of a long, continuous working relationship with MGM/UA where he served as a writer and a producer for projects such as the 1986 television movies, The Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission and Police Story: The Freeway Killings. Rodgers garnered Writers' Guild of America Awards (1964, 1977) for his work on the adaptation of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's One day in the life of Ivan Denisovich, which aired on the Chrysler Theatre, and The Police Story episode, Pressure Point. His feature film credits include Let's Kill Uncle, The Eddie Egan story, and Flareup. Rodgers died in Los Angeles, CA on November 5, 2006.

Collection consists of of material related to Mark Rodgers' career as a television writer and producer. Included in the collection are files related to both produced and unproduced projects in which Rodgers was involved in some capacity. The produced project files contain a mixture of script materials, production information, notes, research, and memos related to over thirty television programs including Dirty Dozen, Lady Blue, Longstreet, McClain's Law, and Police Story, among others. The unproduced project files include scripts, story pitches and ideas, notes, and research for what appears to be television and stage projects. Also included is small amount of research consisting of original and photocopied news articles, that were not identified with particular projects, and a small collection of files pertaining to his working relationship with MGM/UA Studio. Additionally, there are manuscripts for what appears to be four novels written by Rodgers.

Arranged in the following series:

1. Biographical information
2. Produced projects
3. Unproduced projects
4. MGM files
5. Novels
6. Research