Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- Eugene Rodney papers
- Dates:
- 1949-circa 1963
- Creators:
- Rodney, Eugene
- Abstract:
- Eugene Rodney was best known as producer of the television program Father Knows Best. The bulk of the collection includes scripts and production information for the radio and television series Father Knows Best and the short lived television series Window on Main Street, featuring Robert Young.
- Extent:
- 19.0 linear feet (45 boxes), 0.25 linear feet (1 unprocessed vinyl record box), and 14 audiovisual carriers (14 unprocessed records)
- Language:
- Materials are in English.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Eugene Rodney papers (Collection PASC 163). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The collection consists of materials related to the career of television producer and director Eugene Rodney. The bulk of the collection comprises files for the radio and television versions of Father Knows Best and short lived television series, Window On Main Street. Father Knows Best radio scripts represent 1949-1954; the television files represent ca. 1955-ca. 1960 and include scripts and production material. Window on Main Street scripts and production information represent thirty-plus episodes. Additionally, there is a very small amount of Rodney's personal business files, a small number of photographs of Father Knows Best cast members, and a small number of screenplays for projects in which Rodney was involved in some capacity. Additional materials consist of vinyl records that contain recordings of music from Father Knows Best.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Eugene B. Rodney was originally a publicist for East Coast theater owners and stage producers. He moved west when a theater chain he was managing was sold. In Hollywood, he became an associate producer at Reliance Pictures and was involved in the filming of The Last of the Mohicans, The Count of Monte Cristo and Red Salute with Robert Young. Rodney went on to become the Vice-President of Production for Robert Young's production company, Cavalier Productions, Inc. and helped conceptualize and then produce the television version of Father Knows Best. Rodney died in November, 1985.
- Acquisition information:
- Gift of Mrs. Dorthea Rodney, 1986.
- Processing information:
-
Processed by UCLA Performing Arts Special Collections Staff, pre-1999.
Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.
We are committed to providing ethical, inclusive, and anti-racist description of the materials we steward, and to remediating existing description of our materials that contains language that may be offensive or cause harm. We invite you to submit feedback about how our collections are described, and how they could be described more accurately, by filling out the form located on our website: Report Problematic Content and Description in UCLA's library collections and archives.
- Arrangement:
-
Arranged in the following series:
- Radio Projects
- Telelvision Projects
- Personal Business Papers
- Unidentified Projects
- Physical / technical requirements:
-
CONTAINS UNPROCESSED AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS: Audiovisual materials are not currently available for access and will require further processing and assessment. If you have questions about this material please email AskLSC@library.ucla.edu.
- Physical location:
- Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
- Subjects:
- Television producers and directors -- Archives
- Names:
- Rodney, Eugene -- Archives
About this collection guide
- Date Encoded:
- This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2026-04-27 13:57:50 -0700 .
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Portions of collection unprocessed. Material in the Accession LSC-1986-040 backlog series is unavailable for access. Please see LSC's Access to Unprocessed Collections Policy for more information about levels of discovery and access of special collections materials and registering interest in unprocessed collections.
- Terms of access:
-
Property rights to the physical objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other 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.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Eugene Rodney papers (Collection PASC 163). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
- Location of this collection:
-
A1713 Charles E. Young Research LibraryBox 951575Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575, US
- Contact:
- (310) 825-4988