Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- Dee Caruso papers
- Dates:
- 1965-1979
- Creators:
- Caruso, Dee and Caruso, Sandra
- Abstract:
- Dee Caruso has written for film and television. The collection consists of files related to Caruso career representing projects such as Get Smart, and The World's Greatest Athlete, among others.
- Extent:
- 2.6 linear feet (4 boxes and 1 flat box) and 2 linear feet (2 unprocessed doc boxes, 1 unprocessed flat box)
- Language:
- Materials are in English.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Dee Caruso papers (Collection 2174). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The collection consists of script material and small amount of clippings, and publicity documenting the career of comedy writer Dee Caruso. The television writings represent produced and unproduced projects including Get Smart!, Gilligan's Island, The Monkees, and The Smothers Brothers, among others. Motion picture projects include Which Way to the Front and The World's Greatest Athelete.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Dee Caruso got his start in comedy as a writer for nightclub comedians such as Don Adams and Martin and Rossi. He and his writing partner Gerald Gardner went on to write shows for comedians likes of Jack Benny, Jerry Lewis, Don Rickles and other popular entertainers of the time. Caruso and Gardner were the head writers for the original TV series Get Smart. They also penned an unusual game show, Screen Test, which featured, Don Adams. The team created and served as head writers and producers of the television series, The Monkees. Additionally, Caruso co-produced and co-wrote a situation comedy pilot called the Pickle Brothers, starring the comedy team The Uncalled For Three. They also worked together on television movies including, How to Break Up a Happy Divorce and Break Up. His feature film credits include The World's Greatest Athlete, Which Way to the Front, and Doin' Time. Caruso received an Emmy nomination for his work on That Was the Week That Was with David Frost.
Caruso co-taught a class with his wife, Sandra Caruso, What's Funny, What's Not at UCLA Extension for 10 years and after that became a professor of screenwriting at UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television for more than 20 years. Dee Caruso died May 27, 2012, in Brentwood, CA.
- Acquisition information:
- Gift of Sandra Caruso, 2013. Additional accruals donated by Sandra Caruso, 2014 and 2016.
- Processing information:
-
Processed by Lauren Jung with assistance from Julie Graham.
Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.
We are committed to providing ethical, inclusive, and anti-racist description of the materials we steward, and to remediating existing description of our materials that contains language that may be offensive or cause harm. We invite you to submit feedback about how our collections are described, and how they could be described more accurately, by filling out the form located on our website: Report Problematic Content and Description in UCLA's library collections and archives.
- Arrangement:
-
Arranged in the following series:
- Motion Picture Projects
- Television Projects
- Unidentified Projects
- 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.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
About this collection guide
- Date Encoded:
- This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2026-04-14 10:52:56 -0700 .
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Portions of collection unprocessed. Material in the Accession LSC-2174-2014-05 backlog series is unavailable for access. Please see LSC's Access to Unprocessed Collections Policy for more information about levels of discovery and access of special collections materials and registering interest in unprocessed collections.
- Terms of access:
-
Property rights to the 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.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Dee Caruso papers (Collection 2174). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
- Location of this collection:
-
A1713 Charles E. Young Research LibraryBox 951575Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575, US
- Contact:
- (310) 825-4988