The George Kirgo Papers consist of feature film and television scripts written by Kirgo throughout his career as a screen and television writer, as well as personal and professional papers, particularly related to his time as President of the Writers Guild of America during the strike of 1988.

Screenwriter George Kirgo was born George Blumenthal in Hartford, Connecticut on March 26, 1926 and was educated at Wesleyan University. He served in the Army Air Forces in Japan and the Philippines during World War II. After the war he moved to New York, began his writing career, and adopted the surname Kirgo. He married Terry Newell, and the couple had three children. She died in 1986. In 1958, Kirgo wrote a satirical Hollywood novel called "Hercules: The Big Greek Story." The novel was not successful, but gained the attention of Jack Paar, who invited Kirgo on his show. Kirgo became a regular on The Jack Paar Show and in 1962 he moved to Hollywood, where he began writing episodic television and feature films. Kirgo co-wrote "Red Line 7000" in 1965 with director Howard Hawks. His other credits include "Spinout," an Elvis Presley comedy co-written with Theodore J. Flicker, and "Don't Make Waves," a comedy starring Tony Curtis. Kirgo wrote more than a dozen movies for television, including "Get Christie Love!," "Angel on My Shoulder" and scripts for television series such as "Adam's Rib" and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." In 1989 he married Angela Wales, who then was the executive director of the Australian Writers Guild. He served two terms as President of the Writers Guild of America west from 1987-1991, leading the union through a bitter strike in 1988, its longest ever. He was given the Writers Guild of America's Morgan Cox Award in 2001, which recognizes personal sacrifice best exemplifying the ideal of service to the guild. He died on August 22, 2004 in Santa Monica. Kirgo is survived by his second wife, Angela Wales, and the three children from his first marriage, Julie, Dinah and Nick.

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