Thaw (Mort) Collection, 1956-1982

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Summary

Title:
Mort Thaw Collection
Dates:
1956-1982
Creators:
Thaw, Mort, 1921-2009
Abstract:
Extent:
2 linear feet
Language:
Preferred citation:

Mort Thaw Collection. Writers Guild Foundation Archive

Background

Scope and content:

The Mort Thaw Collection, 1956-1982, consists of numerous television scripts, as well as two versions of the feature screenplay Harrad Summer. Most of the scripts have been catalogued individually and added to the library collection. Particularly notable are Thaw's teleplays for two daytime series: the courtroom drama Day in Court and the short-lived soap opera Full Circle. Other teleplays in the collection include episodes of Bonanza, The Detectives, Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre, Emergency, Matinee Theatre, Route 66, The United States Steel Hour, and The Untouchables. The collection also includes information about the Writers Guild Playhouse, a proposed television program that the Guild was hoping to launch in 1959. Thaw wrote one of 39 scripts that were selected for the show, and the collection includes his teleplay, as well as clippings and correspondence about the show, which was never produced. The collection also includes numerous issues of the Writers Guild of America, West, Newsletter for the years 1975-1982, which have been transferred to the library's periodicals holdings.

Biographical / historical:

Mort Thaw (1921-2009) was a prolific television writer whose credits included Bonanza, The Detectives, Route 66, and The Untouchables. He also wrote the screenplay for the 1974 film Harrad Summer. Thaw was a longtime member of the Writers Guild of America, where he worked on calling attention to the issue of age discrimination.

Acquisition information:
Donated by Mort Thaw, April 1, 2003

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid created by Writers Guild Foundation Archive staff.
Date Prepared:
1956-1982
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using Record Express for OAC5 on July 14, 2025, 2:54 p.m.

Access and use

Restrictions:

Available by appointment only.

Terms of access:

The responsibility to secure copyright and publication permission rests with the researcher.

Preferred citation:

Mort Thaw Collection. 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