Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- Sam Bobrick Papers
- Dates:
- 1955-2019
- Creators:
- Bobrick, Sam
- Abstract:
- The Sam Bobrick Papers consist of screenplays, teleplays and play scripts, pitches, treatments and correspondence related to Bobrick’s produced and unproduced projects created for film, television and theater. The collection also includes manuscripts and recorded media related to Bobrick’s other creative ventures of songwriting and novel writing.
- Extent:
- 13 linear feet
- Language:
- Preferred citation:
-
Sam Bobrick Papers. Writers Guild Foundation Archive
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The Sam Bobrick Papers are divided into four series. The first comprises numerous drafts, manuscripts and correspondence pertaining to Bobrick’s career writing for film and television. The second series comprises drafts, contracts, and correspondence pertaining to Bobrick’s career as a playwright. The third series in this collection encompasses other projects and records reflecting the rest of Bobrick’s creative writing and passions, including book drafts, manuscripts and song lyrics. The third series also includes newspaper articles and other ephemera related to Bobrick’s passing. The fourth series is a collection of audio and visual media related to both produced and unproduced projects authored by Bobrick. Series 1: Film & Television contains drafts of produced television and film projects penned by Bobrick, alone and with partners. Television series prominently featured in this collection include The Andy Griffith Show, Gomer Pyle - USMC, The Kraft Music Hall, and The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. Other produced projects featured in this collection include episodes of The Hero, The Flintstones, Hey Landlord, and 90 Bristol Court: Harris Against the World, as well as an episode of Get Smart and the film adaptation of Norman, Is That You? Unproduced or unaired projects include numerous pilots such as This Week in Nemtim and an animated show Captain Cross Dresser. Feature films include an adaptation of his own play Murder at the Howard Johnson’s. Series 2: Plays contains numerous drafts of produced plays written by Bobrick, including Norman, Is That You?, Getting Sara Married, The Psychic, Flemming, An American Thriller, L.A. Deli, Murder At The Howard Johnson's and Are You Sure? A great deal of these files also includes copies of correspondence, contracts, and press reviews related to the numerous productions of Bobrick’s plays produced around the world. There is also extensive material for the musicals “Deedee and Danny” and “Rachinoff.” Series 3: Books, Creative Works and Papers comprises an assortment of formats. There are completed book manuscripts and ideas, sketches, song lyrics (many written with Norman Blagman) and legal correspondence regarding Bobrick’s copyrights. The manuscripts, clippings and promotional material for his published book Sheldon and Mrs. Levine, co-written with Julie Bobrick, is included. Lastly, there are a few files created by Bobrick while in the USAF - a few flyers with illustrations and one-liner jokes and issues of The Tribe Scribe, the humorous newspaper that Bobrick edited for the base. Series 4: Media comprises a collection of CDs, DVDs, and audiocassette tapes related to promotion for his book and produced and unproduced musical works including Deedee and Danny, Rachinoff and Captain Cross Dresser.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Sam Bobrick was born to a Jewish family in Chicago on July 24, 1932. He graduated from Benton Harbor High School in Michigan in 1950 and was enlisted in the U.S. Air Force between 1951-1955, spending a majority of that time at Clinton County Air Force Base in Ohio. He attended the University of Illinois, graduating with a degree in journalism, and then moved to New York. Bobrick began his three-decade comedy writing career on Captain Kangaroo. In 1962 he moved to Los Angeles and partnered with Bill Idelson. Together they wrote for TV series such as The Flintstones, The Andy Griffith Show, Bewitched, Gomer Pyle and Get Smart. With longtime writing partner Ron Clark, he worked on variety shows such as The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, The Kraft Music Hall and the Paul Lynde Show and more. He and Clark and Leonard Stern developed the Diana [Rigg] TV series in 1973 and Bobrick was the creator of the Disney Channel series Good Morning, Miss Bliss. This show would be retooled into the long-running Saved By the Bell for NBC after one season. In addition to writing for the screen, Bobrick was an established playwright. He began his career in theater in 1970 with Norman, Is That You?, a play he co-wrote with Ron Clark for Broadway that would run for seven years at the Ebony Showcase Theater in Los Angeles following its West Coast premiere. Bobrick would go on to collaborate with Clark on three other notable plays: No Hard Feelings, Murder at the Howard Johnson’s, and Wally’s Cafe. Bobrick fully transitioned out of writing for television and film by the 1990s and would go on to write numerous plays including Getting Sarah Married, Hamlet II (Better Than the Original), and Flemming, An American Thriller. He won the Mystery Writer of America’s coveted Edgar Award for his play The Psychic in 2011. In addition to his career as a playwright, Bobrick also co-wrote a parody book with his wife Julie Bobrick - Sheldon & Mrs. Levine - and was a noted lyricist. Some songs he wrote included The Girl of My Best Friend (which would be covered by numerous artists including Elvis Presley), and It Will Never Be Over For Me, which was recorded and performed by Los Lobos. Bobrick passed away on October 11, 2019 after suffering a stroke. He is survived by his second wife Julie and his three children.
- Acquisition information:
- Donated by Julie Bobrick on 12/18/2023
Indexed terms
About this collection guide
- Date Prepared:
- 1955-2019
- Date Encoded:
- This finding aid was produced using Record Express for OAC5 on July 14, 2025, 2:54 p.m.
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Open for research, available by appointment only.
- Terms of access:
-
The responsibility to secure copyright and publication permission rests with the researcher.
- Preferred citation:
-
Sam Bobrick Papers. Writers Guild Foundation Archive
- Location of this collection:
-
7000 West Third StreetLos Angeles, CA 90048, US
- Contact:
- (323) 782-4680