Jump to Content

Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Dunkel (John) Scripts and Papers
MSA.37  
View entire collection guide What's This?
Search this collection
Collection Overview
 
Table of contents What's This?
Description
John Dunkel (1915 February 21- 2001, February 22) was a radio and television writer, most prolific in the television Westerns of the 1950s and 1960s. This collection of scripts and other papers spans from 1945-1988 and includes completed scripts, stories, drafts, notes, correspondence, proposals, and plaques documenting Dunkel's television script writing career.
Background
John Dunkel was born February 21, 1915 in Springfield, Ohio and attended Wittenberg University in Springfield. Dunkel came to Southern California in the 1930s and worked as a play reader at the Pasadena Playhouse. In the 1940s, CBS Radio hired Dunkel as a story editor. From 1946 to 1949 Dunkel was the head writer at CBS Radio, in charge of all West Coast radio programming. During this time, many of the writers, directors, producers, and actors worked together on the same productions, which resulted in a sort stock company. Dunkel met Gunsmoke creator Norman Macdonnell through this working group. Macdonnell asked Dunkel to start writing for Gunsmoke, which was already a great success. Dunkel declared that he did not have the requisite knowledge to write for a Western, but he took the job anyway in 1955 and wrote twelve episodes from seasons three through seven.
Extent
23.9 Linear Feet 43 boxes, 1 rolled poster, 1 flat file folder.
Restrictions
Copyright has not been assigned to the Autry Museum of the American West. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Research Services and Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Autry Museum of the American West as the custodian of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.
Availability
Appointments to view materials are required. To make an appointment please visit https://theautry.org/research-collections/library-and-archives and fill out the Researcher Application Form.