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Finding Aid for the Collection of Scripts for Death Valley Days, 1960-1969
250
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Title: Collection of Scripts for Death Valley Days,
Date (inclusive): 1960-1969
Collection number: 250
Extent: 6 boxes (3 linear ft.)
Abstract: Death Valley Days was one of a few western anthology series as well as the longest-running series on television (1952-1970
and 1975). The collection consists of scripts for 130-plus episodes, spanning 1960-1969.
Language: Finding aid is written in English.
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library, UCLA Library
Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Library, UCLA
Library Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library,
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], Collection of Scripts for Death Valley Days (PASC Collection number 250). UCLA Library Special Collections,
Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.
Death Valley Days was one of a few western anthology series as well as the longest-running series on television (1952-1970
and 1975). It started on radio in the 1930s and was created by Ruth Woodman, a New York advertising script writer, as a way
to promote the products of sponsor 20 Mule Team Borax. Woodman wrote scripts for the program from its inception and into the
transition to television. The only regular character on the series was the host, named
The Old Ranger, who introduced each episode.
In the 1950s, when the show made the transition to television, Stanley Andrews took the role of the Old Ranger, a position
he held through the early 1960s. Other hosts that followed over the years included Ronald Reagan and Robert Taylor, who both
also acted in some of the episodes, Dale Robertson, and country singer Merle Haggard. Many of the nearly 600 episodes were
filmed on location in Death Valley, CA and were based on factual western events and western legends. The story lines were
often human-interest tales that ranged from serious drama to comedy. There were a number of well-known actors and actresses
who appeared on program, among them Angie Dickinson, James Coburn, Clint Eastwood, Fess Parker, June Lockhart, Tom Skerritt
and James Caan.
Re-runs of the program have appeared under other titles, featuring various hosts, including Call of the West (hosted by John
Payne), Frontier Adventure (hosted by Dale Robertson), The Pioneers (hosted by Will Rogers, Jr.), Trails West (hosted by Ray
Milland), and Western Star Theatre (hosted by Rory Calhoun).
The collection consists of scripts for the television series, Death Valley Days. Included are scripts for 130-plus episodes
from the series, spanning 1960-1969. Among the scripts are writings by Stephen Lord, Harold E. Noble, Willard Davis, Jr.,
and Herb Purdum among many others. Additionally there are story synopses for several of the episodes in the collection and
list of color episodes.
The scripts are arranged alphabetically by script title.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Death Valley Days (Television program)
Television production and direction -- Archival resources.
television scripts