Finding Aid for the Zoë Akins Papers LSC.1088
Finding aid prepared by PB, March 1970, additions by Lilace Hatayama, January 2000; machine-readable finding aid created by
Caroline Cubé.
UCLA Library Special Collections
Online finding aid last updated 2006.
Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
Business Number: 310-825-4988
Fax Number: 310-206-1864
spec-coll@library.ucla.edu
Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: Zoë Akins papers
Creator:
Akins, Zoë
Identifier/Call Number: LSC.1088
Physical Description:
2.0 Linear Feet
(4 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1915-1958
Abstract: Zoë Akins (1886-1958) was born in Missouri and relocated to California in 1928. A playwright, Akins plays enjoyed great popularity
in the 1920s and 1930s on Broadway and in screen adaptations. The collection consists of Zoë Akins's literary manuscripts
of plays, screenplays, and stories. Also includes bibliographical material and a report of the Zoë Akins Collection at the
Huntington Library.
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.
Language of Material: Materials are in English.
Restrictions on Access
Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
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], Zoë Akins Papers (Collection 1088). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research
Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of Dorothy Arzner, 1970.
Processing Information
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processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.
Processed by PB, March 1970. Additions processed by Lilace Hatayama, January 2000.
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UCLA Catalog Record ID
Biography
Akins was born on October 30, 1886 in Humansville, Missouri; early poetry published in the St. Louis Mirror; her first play
produced in New York was
The Magical City (1919); Akins was made famous by her theatrical piece,
D?lass?, starring Ethel Barrymore; her plays enjoyed great popularity in the 1920s and 1930s; she moved to California in 1928; her
Broadway hit,
The Greeks Had a Word for It (1930) was filmed by Samuel Goldwyn in 1932; won the Pulitzer Prize with her 1935 stage adaptation of Edith Wharton's novel,
The Old Maid; collaborated with George Cukor on film,
Camille (1936), which starred Greta Garbo and Robert Taylor; died on October 29, 1958 in Los Angeles.
Scope and Content
Collection consists of the literary manuscripts of Zoë Akins, including plays, screenplays, and stories. Also includes bibliographical
material and a report of the Zoë Akins Collection at the Huntington Library (1951). Also contains one piece of correspondence.
Organization and Arrangement
Arranged in the following series:
- Bibliographical material, 1 letter, report of Akins holding at the Huntington Library (Box 1).
- Literary manuscripts arranged alphabetically by title (Boxes 1-4).
Related Material
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Screenwriters -- United States -- Archives.
Dramatists, American -- 20th century -- Archives.
Authors, American -- 20th century -- Archives.
Akins, Zoë, 1886-1958--Archives.
box 1
Biographical material.
General Physical Description note: 1 folder.
box 1
Report of Zoë Akins Collection in the Huntington Library, San Marino, California,
1951.
box 1
Correspondence.
General Physical Description note: 1 piece.
box 1
Another Darling.
General Physical Description note: A play.
box 1
An Attic in Paris.
General Physical Description note: A play.
Scope and Contents note
(
First Love) Adapted by Zoë Akins from the French play
Pile On Face, by Louis Verneuil.
box 1
Babylonian Lullaby.
General Physical Description note: A play.
box 1
The Bed.
General Physical Description note: Manuscript story.
box 1
Blood and Ink. An interview of Zoë Akins for radio broadcast.
box 1
A Bruised Reed.
General Physical Description note: Typescript story.
box 1
Cake Upon the Waters.
Scope and Contents note
Synopsis of a novel.
box 1
Careers.
Scope and Contents note
A play in three separate episodes.
box 1
Colonel Pat.
General Physical Description note: Typescript story.
box 1
A Country House Idyll.
Scope and Contents note
2 versions of the story.
box 1
Déclassé.
General Physical Description note: A play.
box 1
Did It Really Happen.
Scope and Contents note
Two copies of the play, and one copy of the adaptation by Hugo Rumbold.
box 1
The Evening Star.
General Physical Description note: Two copies of suggested treatment for screenplay.
box 2
The Florist's Shop.
General Physical Description note: Typescript story.
box 2
The Food of Love.
General Physical Description note: A Screenplay.
box 2
The Toy Wife.
General Physical Description note: A Screenplay.
General note
[out of alpha sequence]
box 2
The Furies.
General Physical Description note: A play.
box 2
The Glare.
General Physical Description note: Typescript story.
box 2
The Greeks Had a Word for It.
General Physical Description note: A play.
box 2
Green Mansions.
General Physical Description note: A treatment.
box 2
Guide Posts for Screen Writers. An interview with Zoë. Akins by Russell Bledsoe.
box 2
Hatter's Castle.
General Physical Description note: A screenplay.
box 2
Akins, Zoë, and Rumbold, Hugo.
The Human Element. (From the short story by W. Somerset Maugham.)
General Physical Description note: Two versions of the play.
box 2
I Am Different. A comedy adapted from the Hungarian of Lili Hatvany.
box 2
I Write Good Parts.
General Physical Description note: An article.
box 2
Instead of Advice.
General Physical Description note: An article.
box 2
The Little Miracle.
General Physical Description note: A play.
box 2
Lost and Found.
General Physical Description note: A synopsis and a play.
box 2
Lallah.
Scope and Contents note
A story.
box 3
The Love Duel.
General Physical Description note: A synopsis and a play.
box 3
The Love Potion.
General Physical Description note: A synopsis and a play.
box 3
The Magical City.
General Physical Description note: 3 copies.
Scope and Contents note
A one-act play in free verse.
box 3
The Magnificent Mistake.
Scope and Contents note
A story.
box 3
Major Barbara.
Scope and Contents note
A screen treatment, based on the play by Bernard Shaw.
box 3
Miss Hargreaves.
General Physical Description note: A treatment.
box 3
Morning Glory.
General Physical Description note: A play.
box 3
New York Nocturne
General Physical Description note: A play.
General note
(From the
Magical City, see above).
box 3
New Year's Day.
Scope and Contents note
Outline for a screenplay, based on the novel by Edith Wharton.
box 3
One Night In Turino.
General Physical Description note: An article.
box 3
Orchids.
Scope and Contents note
A story.
box 3
Paris In May.
Scope and Contents note
A story.
box 3
Phaëthon.
Scope and Contents note
A drama in a prologue and three acts.
box 3
Plans For Tomorrow.
General Physical Description note: A play.
box 3
The Playhouse and the Playwright.
General Physical Description note: An article.
box 3
The Portrait of Tiero.
General Physical Description note: A play.
box 3
A Preliminary Honeymoon.
General Physical Description note: Two copies of a synopsis.
box 3
Pride and Prejudice.
Scope and Contents note
A screenplay, based on the novel by Jane Austen.
box 4
The Promise To Caroline.
Scope and Contents note
A story.
box 4
The Recognition.
Scope and Contents note
A story.
box 4
The Romance of Robert and Clara Schumann.
Scope and Contents note
A screenplay.
box 4
A Royal Fandango.
General Physical Description note: A play.
box 4
Sea-Change.
General Physical Description note: An outline for a play.
box 4
The Shanghai Crowd.
General Physical Description note: A synopsis of a play.
box 4
A Secret of Sienna.
Scope and Contents note
A story.
box 4
The Singing Swans.
General Physical Description note: A play.
box 4
A Slave Is Free.
General Physical Description note: A film treatment. Two copies.
box 4
The Starling.
General Physical Description note: A play, holograph, unfinished.
box 4
Starvation On Red River.
General Physical Description note: A play.
box 4
Such a Charming Young Man.
General Physical Description note: A one-act play.
box 4
The Swallow's Nest.
Scope and Contents note
A play, based on the novel
Return Engagement, by Gwen Davenport.
box 4
The Texas Nightingale.
General Physical Description note: A treatment and a play.
box 4
The Trojan Pony.
General Physical Description note: An outline for a play and screenplay.
box 4
The Unforgettable Red Emma.
General Physical Description note: An article.
box 4
The Varying Shore.
General Physical Description note: A play.
box 4
The Wild Goose Chase.
Scope and Contents note
A story.
box 4
The Woman Who Killed Her Pearls.
Scope and Contents note
A story.
box 4
Working Girls.
Scope and Contents note
A screenplay, adapted from the play
Blind Mice, by Vera Caspary and Winifred Lenihan.
box 4
One untitled article about Irving Thalberg.
General Physical Description note: Also, three unidentified pages of typescript material.
