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Klinger (Walter A.) papers
6044
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
German
Contributing Institution:
USC Libraries Special Collections
Title: Walter A. Klinger papers
creator:
Klinger, Walter A.
creator:
Klinger, Hertha Bley
Identifier/Call Number: 6044
Physical Description:
6.67 Linear Feet
13 boxes
Date (inclusive): c. 1631-2002
Date (bulk): bulk
Abstract: The Walter A. Klinger (1912-2003) papers consists of photographs, correspondence, clippings, and typescripts that document
the pre-war Austrian lives of Walter, his wife Hertha, and father Adolf; their emigration via Trinidad in the early 1940’s;
and from their lives in the United States. Walter A. Klinger was born May 12, 1912 in Vienna, Austria. In 1929, he began working
for Warner Bros. in Vienna, and subsequently spent his entire career working in some aspect of the film industry. He and his
family emigrated to the United States in 1940, settling in Los Angeles. He died on March 15, 2003 in Camarillo, California.
Walter A. Klinger was born May 12, 1912 in Vienna, Austria to Adolf Klinger and his wife Julia Bellak Klinger. He attended
the Academy of Commerce, followed by business school. From school age, he worked toward fluency in French and English in addition
to his native German, skills that would proved to be useful to him in his later work. Beginning in 1929, Klinger moved from
his job for Warner Bros. in Vienna to Berlin and worked for the American Film Industry, and later Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. On
1935 September 22, Klinger married Hertha Bley, daughter of Paul Bley and Josefine Koffler Bley, in Vienna. Hertha had attended
the Wiener Handelsakademie fuer Maedchen and graduated in 1930.
In about 1933, Klinger fled Berlin, which by then was under Nazi control. In a later short essay he composed about his life,
he claimed that a threatening phone call from a Nazi official caused him to leave; he traveled first to Switzerland and then
to Nice, France, where he was began writing anti-Nazi propaganda for the Ligue Contre L'Antisemitism. But because he worked
for M.G.M., they were able to transfer him to Vienna, where he worked until about 1937. At this time, he moved to a similar
position at Warner Bros., also in Vienna.
In 1938 March, Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany, and the Klingers fled in June, taking with them their only living relatives,
Walter's father (Adolf Klinger) and Hertha's mother (Josefine [Josephine] Bley). Stopping first in Amsterdam, the group eventually
made it to Trinidad, then a part of the British West Indies. While in Trinidad, Klinger used the time to continue to work
for Warner Bros. as well as to establish his own screen advertising company. He also began to learn Spanish, eventually becoming
nearly fluent. Walter and Hertha remained in Trinidad until about 1940; after the fall of France in 1940, they were declared
enemy aliens and placed in internment camps. Hertha and Walter were able to emigrate to the United States in 1941 and eventually
became citizens. Adolf and Josephine remained in Trinidad. Adolf was not able to emigrate to the U.S. until 1947.
Going by way of St. Louis, Missouri and Portland, Oregon, Walter and Hertha made it to Los Angeles by 1941 May 27. He soon
after found a position within the Foreign Department of Warner Bros. Studios. Walter worked there until 1943, when he was
drafted into the U.S. Army. A member of the 4th Armored Division Artillery, he started as a Private and rose to the rank of
Master Sergeant (Grade 1). He was also a part of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) headed by Dwight
Eisenhower. Within SHAEF, Walter worked under the Psychological Warfare Division, particularly in the Film Control and Distribution
Sections, serving in England, France and Germany. He was a part of the Office of Strategic Services (O.S.S.) and Office of
War Information (O.W.I.), the former of which eventually became the peacetime C.I.A.
After the German surrender, Walter was placed in charge of Arts in Bavaria. When his military service ended in 1946, Walter
was honorably discharged and returned again to Warner Bros. to work on pro-American propaganda being sent to Latin American
countries. After leaving Warner Bros. in 1949, he sold motion picture production equipment for twenty years before retiring.
He continued to be involved in the motion picture industry in some way or another before retiring in 1972; he was highly involved
in negotiations to bring the story of Austrian family singers the Von Trapps to the stage in 1963, in a production eventually
known as "The Sound of Music." Walter Klinger died on March 15, 2003 in Camarillo, California.
[Information about Walter Klinger's life was compiled partially through his own testimony in a short essay he wrote to account
for his immigrant status upon being drafted into the U.S. Army. Other sources for information were his official army file,
his resumes, and other documents, including birth and death certificates.]
The Walter A. Klinger (c. 1631-2002) papers consists of photographs, correspondence, clippings, and typescripts that document
the pre-war Austrian lives of Walter, his wife Hertha, and father Adolf; their emigration via Trinidad in the early 1940’s;
and from their lives in the United States. The majority of the papers are personal, and are predominantly composed of photos
of the Klingers with family and friends from the 1920s through the early 2000s. These photos range in subject from Walter
and Hertha's travels, to documentation of their personal lives from their childhood to retirement, to distant relatives sending
snapshots to keep in touch. There are also photo slide versions of many of these photo prints. For the most part, they were
found completely mixed and loose in a flatbox, and have since been organized by year in envelopes. While some photos are unidentified,
many of them have captions written on the back, often by Hertha. There are also a few professional photos and portraits from
important points in the Klingers' lives, such as upon Walter's army enlistment and their marriage. A small number of photos
are from Warner Bros. Pictures and have been organized together; they were taken professionally by a photographer working
for the company, and those retained by Klinger are related to him or his work there.
The papers also include personal correspondence between the Klingers and their family and friends and some business correspondence.
Much of the personal correspondence that has been saved is from their time in America, starting from about World War II and
on. The business correspondence also dates from this same era, and briefly tracks Walter Klinger's own entrepreneurial work
in the United States. Much of the correspondence is regarding the political and social causes of the Klingers, which includes
the WWII movement for an independent Austria and membership in an anti-slavery society.
The papers include some typescripts written by Klinger for a class he took in the 1960s regarding adult education. They range
in subject but are often creative and brief. In addition, there are articles from and full copies of publications Klinger
worked on, often about the entertainment industry in the 1940s-1960s written in English, German and Spanish. As someone with
international film experience and fluency in a number of languages, his role in these publications was often that of representative
advocate for Warner Brothers while abroad.
Within the papers, there are also a number of artifacts, starting with Walter's army insignia and other such materials from
his army service. Also in this section is a series of cassette audio tapes sent as correspondence between Walter and Hertha
Klinger and their friends Mr. and Mrs. Kurt Wittler; this seems to have been a substitution for written correspondence. On
the other hand, there is also a series of 17th century original prints of assorted French scenic and architectural landscapes
by Israel Silvestre, an artist whose work the Klingers appear to have collected.
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. Advance notice required for access.
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Manuscripts Librarian.
Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
[Box/folder no. or item name], Walter A. Klinger papers, Collection no. 6044, [Repository], Special Collections, USC Libraries,
University of Southern California
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Germany -- Emigration and immigration -- History -- 1933-1945 -- Archival resources
Immigrants -- America -- History -- 20th century -- Archival resources
Immigrants -- Trinidad and Tobago -- History -- Archival resources
Motion pictures, American -- Germany -- History -- 20th century -- Archival resources
Motion pictures and globalization -- Argentina -- Archival resources
Motion pictures -- Argentina -- Periodicals
Motion pictures -- Germany -- Periodicals
Motion pictures -- United States -- Periodicals
United States -- Armed Forces -- History -- 20th century -- Archival resources
Clippings
Correspondence
Legal documents
Typescripts
Klinger, Walter A.
Klinger, Hertha Bley
Klinger, Walter A. -- Archives
Klinger, Hertha Bley -- Archives
Warner Bros. Pictures (1923-1967) -- Archives