Henning (Paul) Papers, 1957-1980

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Summary

Title:
Paul Henning Papers
Dates:
1957-1980
Creators:
Henning, Paul, 1911-2005
Abstract:
The bulk of this collection consists of scripts and related production documents for 274 episodes of the television series The Beverly Hillbillies. A small portion of the collection also contains film scripts, unsold pilots by Henning, and unmade Hillbillies-related projects.
Extent:
30 linear feet (24 boxes)
Language:
Preferred citation:

Paul Henning Papers. Writers Guild Foundation Archive

Background

Scope and content:

The Paul Henning Papers contain scripts and development materials related to the television shows developed by writer Paul Henning. The bulk of the Paul Henning Papers consists of materials related to the series The Beverly Hillbillies, which Henning created and wrote for with frequent collaborators Dick Wesson, Mark Tuttle, and Buddy Atkinson. The collection contains teleplays and production materials for all 272 episodes of the show and each file contains a mix of drafts, memos from standards and practices, call sheets, cast lists, shooting schedules, music cue sheets, credits listings, and release schedules. There is also correspondence and ephemera from the development and filming of the show as well as the season 6 episodes that were filmed in London. The collection also contains materials related to Henning’s other creative endeavors which include teleplays for the final thirty-one episodes of Petticoat Junction, and screenplays for produced films and television series such as Lover, Come Back and The Andy Griffith Show. Unproduced or unsold projects represented include teleplays and storyboards for The New Beverly Hillbillies, an animated series based on Henning’s original show; pilots for new shows written for Hillbillies performers; a pilot for a series about the Special Assistant to the President of Foreign Affairs (a satire of Henry Kissinger); and And Baby Makes Two, an unproduced film script written by Henning and frequent collaborator Stanley Shapiro.

Biographical / historical:

The youngest of 10 children, Paul Henning was born on a farm near Independence, Missouri, on Sept. 16, 1911. He attended night classes at Kansas City School of Law but dropped out after two years to pursue an entertainment career. He began by singing on Kansas City radio station KMBC, where he eventually fell into writing as well. While at KMBC, he also worked as an actor, disc jockey and news announcer. There he met future wife, Ruth Barth, a radio actress. They were cast as young lovers on the station's daytime serial, "Happy Hollow." Henning got a writing job on the Chicago radio show "Fibber McGee and Molly" and after about a year, they moved to Los Angeles. In 1942, after writing for Joe E. Brown and Rudy Vallee, Henning began his 10-year stint writing for George Burns and Gracie Allen on radio and moved with them into television in 1950. Henning left the comedy couple in 1952 to produce and write "The Dennis Day Show” and later, created, produced and wrote the sitcom "The Bob Cummings Show” which ran from 1955 to 1959. For the big screen, Henning co-wrote "Lover Come Back," a 1961 romantic comedy starring Rock Hudson and Doris Day, which earned him and co-writer Stanley Shapiro an Oscar nomination. Henning and Shapiro also co-wrote "Bedtime Story," a 1964 comedy starring Marlon Brando and David Niven. Inspired in part by memories of camping trips to the Ozarks as a Boy Scout, Henning came up with a fish-out-of-water idea for a series. A "poor mountaineer" unexpectedly strikes oil and moves his newly wealthy family out of a cabin in the Ozarks into a mansion in Beverly Hills. "The Beverly Hillbillies" debuted on CBS in September 1962 and was immediately attacked by some critics who saw the show as unsophisticated. The average American TV viewer, however, took to the new show and "The Beverly Hillbillies" shot to No. 1 within three weeks of its debut. It stayed at or near No. 1 its first two seasons and continued to reside in the top 20 throughout the rest of its nine-year run. Henning produced and wrote or co-wrote most of the series’ episodes. He also wrote the lyrics and music for the show's innovative theme song, "The Ballad of Jed Clampett," with music recorded by the legendary bluegrass duo Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs and vocals by Jerry Scoggins. Henning later created and produced a spinoff titled "Petticoat Junction" and wrote many episodes. Set in the mythical Midwest farming community of Hooterville, this show starred "Hillbillies'" alumna Bea Benaderet as a widowed, small-town hotel owner with three pretty daughters, one of whom was played by Henning's daughter, Linda Kaye Henning. The series ran from 1963 to 1970. With the success of "Hillbillies" and "Petticoat Junction,” Henning had carte blanche for another series. Comedy writer Jay Sommers created "Green Acres,” with Henning serving as executive producer and helping cast and launch the new show. It ran from 1965 to 1971 and starred Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor as a successful Manhattan lawyer and his ditzy socialite wife who leave the city and move to a farm near Hooterville. In 1996, Henning received the Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award for Television from the Writers Guild of America, West, the guild's highest award for television writing. When he decided to shoot several episodes of "The Beverly Hillbillies" in Silver Dollar City, Mo., which is near Branson, Henning was taken with an unspoiled section of the mountains. He bought a large parcel, which is now the Ruth and Paul Henning State Forest. Ruth Henning died in 2002 and Paul Henning died at 93 on March 25, 2005. He is survived by his children, Carol Henning, Linda Henning Adams and Tony Henning and family.

Acquisition information:
Donated by Tony Henning and Henning Family on 8/29/2025
Processing information:

Processed in December 2025.

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid created by Writers Guild Foundation Archive staff.
Date Prepared:
1957-1980
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using Record Express for OAC5 on Jan. 23, 2026, 3:50 p.m.

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for use.

Terms of access:

The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.

Preferred citation:

Paul Henning Papers. Writers Guild Foundation Archive

Location of this collection:
7000 West Third Street
Los Angeles, CA 90048, US
Contact:
(323) 782-4680
hswett@wgfoundation.org
Website