Walter Winchell papers, 1920s-1960s

Processed by Sue Hwang with assistance from Julie Graham; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé.
UCLA Library Special Collections
Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA, 90095-1575
(310) 825-4988
spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
©2014 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.


Title: Walter Winchell papers
Collection number: 1904
Contributing Institution: UCLA Library Special Collections
Language of Material: English
Physical Description: 3.5 linear ft. (7 boxes, 1 flat box.)
Date (inclusive): 1920s-1960s
Abstract: Walter Winchell gained acclaim as a journalist through newspaper, radio, and television. Most associated with his career are his gossip columns and political commentary. The collection consists of correspondence, clippings and/or written pieces by and/or about Winchell, and a small amount of publicity stills and photographs. Additionally there is documentation regarding his television show, The Walter Winchell File.
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact UCLA Library Special Collections for paging information.
Creator: Winchell, Walter, 1897-1972

Restrictions on Access

Open for research. STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact UCLA Library Special Collections for paging information.

Restrictions on Use and Reproduction

Property rights to the physical object belong to the UC Regents. 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.

Provenance/Source of Acquisition

Gift of David Shneidman.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Walter Winchell papers (Collection 1904). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.

UCLA Catalog Record ID

UCLA Catalog Record ID: 6831694 

Biography

Walter Winchell was born on April 7, 1897 in New York City, NY. In 1910, Winchell launched a career in vaudeville and spent several years as part of the Newsboys Sextet. In 1915, Winchell teamed with Rita Greene in a song and dance act and they toured until he enlisted in the Navy in 1917. Winchell officially started his journalism career in 1922, working for the Vaudeville News. In 1924, he went to work for the Evening Graphic, as dramatic critic and was given a Broadway column. By 1929, he was with the New York Daily Mirror, where he contributed a gossip column to until 1963. He made his radio debut in 1930 on CBS's Saks on Broadway, a 15-minute program devoted to show business news. In 1932, he began hosting The Jergens Journal, a show that mixed entertainment news with matters of national importance.
Winchell gained fame as an American journalist and was the subject of frequent analysis, comment, and controversy. Despite this, his entertainment news reports and his weekly radio program brought him a huge audience and great influence from the 1930s to the 1950s. He was frequently censored for expressing his hatred of the Nazi Party in Germany and unfavorable remarks of certain Congressmen. After World War II, he was concerned with the spread of Communism and supported Senator Joseph McCarthy and the "Red Scare" investigations. Winchell also hosted The Walter Winchell Show (ABC, 1952-1960), The Walter Winchell Show (NBC, 1956), and The Walter Winchell File (1957-1958), which featured crime stories that Winchell had covered while working with the New York City Police Department. He was also the unseen narrator of the television drama series The Untouchables. Winchell died in Los Angeles, CA on February 20, 1972.

Scope and Content

The collection consists of materials related to the career of journalist, Walter Winchell. The bulk of the files comprise correspondence, much of it incoming letters from a variety of individuals. Additionally, there are clippings and /or written pieces by and/or about Winchell, and a small amount of publicity stills and photographs and documentation regarding his television show, The Walter Winchell File.
The files were purchased by the donor and are original files from Walter Winchell that were auctioned at Butterfields. Most of the file titles have been maintained; a small number of file titles were supplied by the processor.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Winchell, Walter, 1897-1972--Archives
Journalists--United States--Archival resources.

Box 6, Folder 17

ABC Photos - publicity of Walter Winchell.

Box 6, Folder 7

Adolf Berle. (1941-1943).

General note

Correspondence and telegrams.
Box 7, Folder 1

Assorted correspondence. (1924-1929).

General note

Incoming.
Box 6, Folder 6

Assorted correspondence. (1935, 1940s-1950s).

General note

Mostly incoming.
Box 7, Folder 25

Assorted correspondence. (1940s-1960s).

Box 3, Folder 10

Assorted correspondence. (1941-1963).

General note

Incoming.
Box 7, Folder 24

Assorted correspondence. (1953, 1955, 1958-1959).

Box 7, Folder 2

Assorted correspondence. (ca. 1930).

General note

Incoming.
Box 7, Folder 3

Assorted correspondence. (ca. 1931-1932).

General note

Incoming.
Box 7, Folder 4

Assorted correspondence. (ca. 1933).

General note

Incoming.
Box 7, Folder 5

Assorted correspondence. (ca. 1934).

General note

Incoming.
Box 7, Folder 6

Assorted correspondence. (ca. 1935).

General note

Incoming.
Box 7, Folder 7

Assorted correspondence. (ca. 1936).

General note

Incoming.
Box 7, Folder 8

Assorted correspondence. (ca. 1937).

General note

Incoming, with three replies.
Box 7, Folder 9

Assorted correspondence. (ca. 1938).

General note

Incoming.
Box 7, Folder 10

Assorted correspondence. (ca. 1939).

General note

Incoming.
Box 7, Folder 11

Assorted correspondence. (ca. 1940).

General note

Incoming.
Box 7, Folder 12

Assorted correspondence. (ca. 1941).

General note

Incoming.
Box 7, Folder 13

Assorted correspondence. (ca. 1942).

General note

Incoming, with one reply.
Box 7, Folder 14

Assorted correspondence. (ca. 1943).

General note

With Current Biography periodical with Winchell's entry.
Box 7, Folder 15

Assorted correspondence. (ca. 1944).

General note

Incoming, with one reply.
Box 7, Folder 16

Assorted correspondence. (ca. 1945).

Box 7, Folder 17

Assorted correspondence. (ca. 1946).

General note

Incoming, with four replies.
Box 7, Folder 18

Assorted correspondence. (ca. 1947).

General note

Incoming, with one reply.
Box 7, Folder 19

Assorted correspondence. (ca. 1948).

Box 7, Folder 20

Assorted correspondence. (ca. 1949).

Box 7, Folder 21

Assorted correspondence. (ca. 1950).

Box 7, Folder 22

Assorted correspondence. (ca. 1951).

Box 7, Folder 23

Assorted correspondence. (ca. 1952).

Box 7, Folder 26

Assorted correspondence. (no date).

Box 2, Folder 7

Awards (Walter Winchell). (1940s, 1956).

General note

With a libel notice and a radio script of broadcast Sunday, March 26, 1944.
Box 6, Folder 20

B. (1940s-1960s).

General note

Incoming correspondence, telegrams, and clippings.
Box 6, Folder 2

Bache robbery. (1962 July).

General note

Clippings relating to Winchell's aid to FBI in the Bache and Co. stock theft case.
Box 4, Folder 1

Beacon - Levand. (1942-1943, 1952).

General note

Correspondence and clippings.
Box 4, Folder 9

Contract - Radio Car. (1956-1961).

General note

Forms and permit documents. Photographs of Winchell for permit.
Box 6, Folder 1

Daily Mirror Contracts. (1937-1942).

Box 4, Folder 6

Damon Runyon Memorial Fund correspondence. (1966).

Box 4, Folder 7

Damon Runyon Memorial Fund News Clippings. (1950s-1970s).

Box 1, Folder 13

Danton Walker. (1937-1938, 1942).

General note

Correspondence and clippings.
Box 6, Folder 3

Down Memory Lane by Guy Magley - booklet.

Box 5, Folder 6

Earl Wilson.

General note

Mostly letters or notes from Wilson to Winchell and clippings.
Box 2, Folder 18

Ed Weiner. (1940s-1950s).

General note

Correspondence and clippings.
Box 6, Folder 9

Georgie Jessel. (1930s-1940s, 1960).

General note

Tearout from Esquire magazine and telegrams.
Box 6, Folder 8

Hoffman, Irving. (1937, 1947-1950, 1968).

General note

Letters to Walter.
Box 3, Folder 1

James J. Walker. (1946 Nov).

General note

Reactions to Winchell's piece about Jimmy Walker.
Box 6, Folder 11

Jergens Lotion. (1930s-1940s, 1952).

General note

Correspondence and telegrams.
Box 6, Folder 10

Jergens, Andrew. (1936-1937, 1957, 1960).

Box 5, Folder 11

John E. Rankin. (1940s).

General note

Regarding statements Rankin made about Winchell.
Box 3, Folder 11

Leland, Louis. (1941-1944).

General note

Correspondence and clippings.
Box 2, Folder 9

Letters to Walter Winchell. (1930s, 1942, 1969).

General note

Clippings and articles.
Box 8, Folder 2

Magazine tearouts written by and about Walter Winchell. (1930s, 1940s and 1960).

General note

Magazines: DAC News, Liberty, Newsweek, Photoplay, Radio Guide, The Saturday Evening Post, and Spot. The Dance Magazine, Liberty, Photoplay, and Radio Stars. The Billboard April 1933, Liberty Aug. 1942, and Radio Guide Feb. 1935 covers only -- no text.
Box 5, Folder 14

Mentions about Walter Winchell. (1930s, 1953, 1967).

General note

With photographs.
Box 2, Folder 13

Miscellaneous Stories by Winchell. (1964-1968).

Box 6, Folder 18

NBC Publicity shots of Walter Winchell.

Box 2, Folder 8

Notes to Winchell and clippings. (1969).

Box 6, Folder 5

Plain Talk. (1950 Feb).

Box 3, Folder 2

Portrait of the Father of Our Country. (1938 Feb-Mar).

General note

Reactions to Winchell's piece.
Box 5, Folder 16

President's Day. (1933).

General note

Correspondence with attachments and clippings.
Box 6, Folder 12

Quiz Kids John Lewellen. (1945 Jan-Feb, May).

General note

Correspondence.
Box 3, Folder 4

R. (1930s-1940s).

General note

Incoming correspondence.
Box 5, Folder 12

R. (1930s-1950s).

General note

Letters to Winchell, telegrams, and clippings. With a script titled Winchell Story by Sig Herzig and Arthur Eddy.
Box 3, Folder 5

R (folder 1 of 2). (1940s, 1960s).

General note

Incoming and outgoing correspondence.
Box 3, Folder 6

R (folder 2 of 2). (1940s, 1960s).

General note

Incoming and outgoing correspondence.
Box 3, Folder 12

Raft, George. (1967 Mar, June-July).

General note

Correspondence, photographs, and clippings.
Box 2, Folder 15

Readers Digest. (1960s).

General note

Winchell submissions.
Box 2, Folder 4

Recht and Co. car leasing. (1967-1971).

General note

Letters and clippings regarding car leasing advertisements.
Box 1, Folder 8

Revlon (TV). (1957-1958).

General note

Letters, press release, and telegram.
Box 2, Folder 16

Riviera Sun. (1964 Aug-Oct).

General note

Winchell submissions.
Box 5, Folder 7

Roney Plaza Hotel. (1958, 1966, 1968).

General note

Correspondence regarding Winchell's stay at the hotel.
Box 2, Folder 1

Rosemarie Productions (Danny Thomas) - AFTRA contract. (1964 Oct).

Box 1, Folder 11

Ross Danzig (Bart Ross) - Walter Winchell Show: Time of Your Life proposed series. (1959 Dec, 1960 Jan-Feb).

General note

Proposal and letters.
Box 3, Folder 7

Rowan and Martin. (1960, no date).

General note

Letter and telegram.
Box 3, Folder 8

Russia. (1940s).

General note

Letters, clippings and tearouts.
Box 6, Folder 13

Salem Methodist Church speech. (1947 Oct).

Box 2, Folder 12

Senator David Walsh. (1942 May).

General note

Regarding statements Winchell made about Senator Walsh.
Box 1, Folder 14

Sol Rosenblatt. (1957-1958).

General note

Correspondence.
Box 2, Folder 17

Stars and Headlines. (no date).

General note

Taken from various columns about people in entertainment; written by Winchell.
Box 2, Folder 10

Stories about Walter Winchell. (1938, 1940s, 1950s, 1964).

General note

With draft of one-minute speech.
Box 2, Folder 14

Stories By Walter Winchell. (1939, no dates).

Box 5, Folder 10

This Is New York. (no date).

General note

Questionnaire and photograph.
Box 1, Folder 12

Topics by Tinney. (1939 May).

General note

Transcript.
Box 5, Folder 9

U.S. Naval Reserve correspondence course. (1935).

General note

Course material (course reader?).
Box 4, Folder 4

W. (1940s-1950s).

General note

Correspondence.
Box 4, Folder 3

W. (1940s-1960s).

General note

Correspondence.
Box 5, Folder 5

W. (1942, 1960s).

General note

Incoming and outgoing correspondence and clippings.
Box 2, Folder 6

W.W. Autobiography and Pictures. (1952 Jan, 1960 Sept).

General note

Articles, postage stamps, photographs and clipping.
Box 2, Folder 3

Wake Up and Live. (1937 Apr).

General note

Telegram and inter-office correspondence.
Box 5, Folder 1

Wall Street. (1958, 1959 Jan).

General note

Appears related to pieces on stock market.
Box 4, Folder 10

Walsh and Walsh Insurance. (1967-1968).

General note

Policy information.
Box 1, Folder 3

Walter Winchell T.V. poll. (1958 Jan-Feb).

General note

Appears to be related to Walter Winchell File program.
Box 2, Folder 11

Walter Winchell Articles. (1940s).

General note

Mostly about Walter Winchell.
Box 5, Folder 13

Walter Winchell Back in Show Biz - one page ad for Variety. (1967 Sept).

Box 1, Folder 9

Walter Winchell File - clippings (folder 1 of 2). (1956-1957).

Box 1, Folder 10

Walter Winchell File - clippings (folder 2 of 2). (1958, 1960-1961).

Box 1, Folder 6

Walter Winchell File - correspondence and contracts (folder 1 of 2). (1958-1959, 1961).

Box 1, Folder 7

Walter Winchell File - correspondence and contracts (folder 2 of 2). (1957 March and no date).

General note

Two pilot scripts. One titled The Walter Winchell File; one titled The Walter Winchell Show.
Box 1, Folder 4

Walter Winchell File (The) - press releases. (1957 Dec).

Box 8, Folder 1

Walter Winchell File (The) - program. (no date).

Box 1, Folder 5

Walter Winchell File (The) - publicity material. (1957).

Box 4, Folder 5

Walter Winchell Foundation. (1960s).

General note

Balance statements and clippings.
Box 6, Folder 4

Walter Winchell in Let's Go to Press - program. (no date).

Box 2, Folder 5

Walter Winchell Music Publishing - letters. (1965 May-Jun).

Box 5, Folder 8

Walter Winchell Productions - Albert Zugsmith. (1960-1961).

General note

Correspondence from Albert Zugsmith, photograph, waivers, and forms.
Box 6, Folder 15

Walter Winchell Publicity Photos.

Box 6, Folder 16

Walter Winchell Publicity Photos.

General note

With what appears to be two childhood photographs.
Box 6, Folder 14

Walter Winchell Show - one page ads. (No dates, 1956 Oct).

General note

With Facts, Figures and Film newsletter.
Box 1, Folder 1

Walter Winchell Show (The) - script material. (1956).

Box 1, Folder 2

Walter Winchell Show (The) - ratings and correspondence. (1956-1958).

Box 5, Folder 15

Walter Winchell's Writings. (1940s).

Box 4, Folder 11

Washington Contest. (1938).

General note

Correspondence regarding beauty contest. With unrelated clippings.
Box 4, Folder 8

Wechsler, James. (1950s-1960s).

General note

Correspondence and clippings. With transcript of Novick testimony.
Box 3, Folder 3

Western Newspaper Union. (1940s).

General note

Correspondence regarding Winchell columns.
Box 3, Folder 9

Western Union. (1935, 1967).

General note

Outgoing telegrams sent by Walter Winchell.
Box 5, Folder 4

Westrick, Gerhard. (no date, 1940 Jul-Aug).

General note

Clippings.
Box 2, Folder 2

Winchell Offers. (1931 Apr, 1935 Mar).

General note

Appears to be entertainment related.
Box 4, Folder 12

Winchell Orchids. (1933 Mar-Apr).

General note

Clippings.
Box 6, Folder 19

Winchell Stock Pictures (headshots). (1959).

Box 4, Folder 2

Winrod, Gerald. (1942-1943, 1952).

General note

Correspondence and clippings.
Box 5, Folder 2

Wisdom Society. (1965 Sept, 1967 Sept; 1967 Nov-Dec).

General note

Correspondence.
Box 5, Folder 3

World Journal Tribune. (1966 Sept-Oct; 1967).

General note

Letters and clippings.