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Bruce Geller Collection
WGF-MS-071  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Descriptive Summary
  • Access
  • Publication Rights
  • Preferred Citation
  • Acquisition Information
  • Biography/Administrative History
  • Scope and Content of Collection
  • Indexing Terms

  • Descriptive Summary

    Title: Bruce Geller Collection
    Dates: 1956-1973
    Collection Number: WGF-MS-071
    Creator/Collector: Geller, Bruce
    Extent: 2 linear feet
    Repository: Writers Guild Foundation Archive
    Los Angeles, California 90048
    Abstract: The Bruce Geller Collection consists of scripts and pilots written and produced by Geller during his television and film career, as well as a small amount of development material and correspondence.
    Language of Material: English

    Access

    Majority of materials stored off site. One week advance notice required for retrieval.

    Publication Rights

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

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item]. Bruce Geller Collection. Collection Number: WGF-MS-071. Writers Guild Foundation Archive

    Acquisition Information

    Donated by Jeannette Geller in 2005

    Biography/Administrative History

    Bruce Geller (1930-1978) was a television writer and producer. Originally from New York City, he was a Yale graduate who got his start writing for TV and musical theater. He later moved to Los Angeles and wrote for a variety of TV series. He is best remembered for creating the TV show Mission: Impossible which ran on CBS from 1966-1973. Geller was killed in a plane crash in 1978.

    Scope and Content of Collection

    The Bruce Geller Collection consists of scripts and pilots written and produced by Geller during his television and film career. Titles represented in the collection include Bronk, Dr. Kildare, the Rough Riders, The Rifleman, Mannix, Mission: Impossible, Have Gun Will Travel, the Dick Powell Show, the Westerner and Zane Grey Theatre. In addition to scripts, the collection contains development material and correspondence related to Geller's shows. His pilot The Judge aired as an episode of the Dick Powell Show and was to be the first of a new series. The collection contains scripts and correspondence related to development of that series. The Robert Taylor Show was to be produced in partnership with the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare in 1963. The show was not given permission and did not move forward. The collection includes correspondence, outlines, and proposed scripts for that show. The collection also contains a script and production information for Corky, which Geller produced. The collection contains a script and production information for the pilot of Mission Impossible and contracts and correspondence regarding Geller's intellectual property rights related to the show. Lastly, the collection includes treatments and story ideas for unproduced projects as well as tickets and programs from Emmy Awards shows he attended.

    Indexing Terms

    Television Scripts
    Mission impossible (Television program)
    Television writers
    Television producers and directors