Restrictions on Access
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Preferred Citation
Processing Information
UCLA Catalog Record ID
Biography
Scope and Content
Organization and Arrangement
Items Removed from Collection
Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: Kenneth Macgowan papers
Creator:
Macgowan, Kenneth
Identifier/Call Number: LSC.0887
Physical Description:
44 Linear Feet
(88 boxes)
Physical Description:
3 oversize_boxes
Date (inclusive): 1915-1970
Abstract: Kenneth Macgowan (1888-1963) was a drama critic for newspapers and magazines, a publicity director, producer and director
with the Actor's Theater (1927-29), and the first department chair at the UCLA Theater Arts Department (1946-58). He was also
interested in the anthropological field of archaeology. His publications include
The theater of tomorrow (1921),
Footlights across America (1929),
Early man in the new world (1950), and
Behind the screen: the history and technique of the motion picture (1965). The collection consists of materials related to Macgowan's careers in theater, motion pictures, and academia as well
as material related to his interest in anthropology.
Physical Location: Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Language of Material: Materials are in English.
Restrictions on Access
Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other 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.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of Mrs. Kenneth Macgowan, 1965-71.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Kenneth Macgowan Papers (Collection 887). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research
Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Processing Information
Processed by Phyllis Herzog, October 1966. Revisions by Manuscripts Division staff, 1977.
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interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides
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processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.
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UCLA Catalog Record ID
Biography
Macgowan was born in Winthrop, Massachusetts, November 30, 1888; graduated Harvard, 1911; married Edna Behre, 1913; drama
critic for
Philadelphia evening ledger,
the New York globe,
Vogue,
Theatre arts magazine, and
Shadowland; publicity director for Goldwyn Pictures Corporation, 1918-19; formed an association with Eugene O'Neill and Robert Edmond
Jones at the Provincetown Playhouse; producer and director with the Actor's Theater, 1927-29; worked at RKO Studios (early
1930s-35), 20th Century Fox (1935-41), and Paramount Studios (1944-46); among his many film credits is
La Cucaracha, the first production in modern Technicolor; instructor and first department chair at the UCLA Theater Arts Department (1946-58);
studied both anthropology and archaeology; publications include
The theater of tomorrow (1921),
Footlights across America (1929),
Early man in the new world (1950),
Behind the screen: the history and technique of the motion picture (1965); he died of cancer on August 27, 1963.
Scope and Content
Collection consists of materials related to Macgowan's careers in theater, motion pictures, and academia. Also includes material
related to Macgowan's interest in anthropology and archaeology. Correspondents include Robert Edmond Jones and Lee Simonson.
Includes items related to Eugene O'Neill and the Provincetown Playhouse.
Organization and Arrangement
Arranged in the following series:
- Special projects (Boxes 1-12).
- Manuscripts (Boxes 13-22).
- Involvement with little theaters, ca. 1920-30 (Boxes 23-27).
- Motion picture production files (Boxes 28-39).
- Clippings from newspapers and periodicals, ephemera and other material (Boxes 37-53).
- Activities as an educator (Boxes 54-74).
- Additional material, June 1966 (Boxes 75-88).
- Drawing, De Emp'rer's Palace, by Cleon Throckmorton catalogued separately in the Original Works of Art on Paper (Collection
99). Available at UCLA Library Special Collections.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Theater critics -- Archives.
Theatrical producers and directors -- Archives.
Motion picture producers and directors -- Archives.
University of California, Los Angeles. Department of Theater Arts--Faculty -- Archives
Macgowan, Kenneth -- Archives