Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
A Guide to the Noel Behn papers
M1084
M1084
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Title: Noel Behn papers
Collection number: M1084
Repository:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Languages: Languages represented in the collection:
EnglishEnglish
Collection size:
93.0 Linear feet
(183 manuscript boxes, 1 carton, 2 flat boxes)
Dates: >circa 1950-1998
Abstract: The papers feature the materials from Noel Behn's career as an author and a producer; and, include manuscripts (by him and
other authors), personal notebooks, appointment books, research materials (clippings, magazines, printouts, off-prints, related
to Hauptman-Lindbergh case and other famous criminal cases, and books by other authors, heavily annotated), annotated texts
and proofs, actors' portfolios, Writers' Guild of America documents, legal and financial papers, and Correspondence.
Physical Location: Special Collections materials are stored offsite and must be paged 36 hours in advance. For more information on paging collections,
see the department's website: http://library.stanford.edu/depts/spc/spc.html.
Creator:
Behn, Noel
Processed in 2008 by Ekaterina Fleishman.
[identification of item], Noel Behn Papers, M1084. Dept. of Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford,
Calif.
The collection was given to Stanford University, Special Collections by Tom Fontana, executor of the estate of Noel Behn,
in 1999.
Unrestricted. Except that: "Hauptmann Case Films" (May 1936) are badly damaged and are awaiting conservation; The Fra (not
for mummies): A Journal of Affirmation (Vol. 2, Oct. 1908 - March 1909) has been transferred to the Rare Book Collection.
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the
Head of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, California 94304-6064. Consent
is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission
from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner, heir(s) or assigns. See: http://library.stanford.edu/depts/spc/pubserv/permissions.html.
Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research
and educational purposes.
Series I. Personal papers
Series II. Correspondence
Series III. Writings by Noel Behn
Series IV. General files
Series V. Video and audio materials
Series VI. Works by others
Series VII. Clippings and magazines
The collection contained originally "Hauptman Case Films" (May, 1936), now in conservation; "The Fra (not for mummies). A
Journal of Affirmation," Volume 2, Oct. 1908-March 1909, now in Rare Books; a comprehensive collection of Noel Behn's published
works in various editions and translations, as well as books by other authors (most of the books went to the Green library
stacks).
Noel Behn was a novelist, screenwriter, theatrical producer, and actor who spent his whole creative life in Manhattan. A graduate
of Stanford University, class of 1950, Behn was active in the New York Theater Community for more than 50 years as the producing
director of the Cherry Lane Theater, a pioneer of the off Broadway theater movement. Among the influential works premiered
there under his direction were Sean O’Casey’s "Purple Dust" and Samuel Beckett’s "Endgame". His first novel,
The Kremlin Letter (1966), based on his experiences in the United States Counterintelligence Corps, was made into a popular film by John Huston
in 1970 which starred Orson Welles. He later wrote
The Big Stick-up at Brink’s (1977), a nonfiction account of the 1950 Brink’s Robbery in Boston, subsequently made into the film The Brink’s Job. In 1991
Noel Behn was hired as a consultant for the popular TV series,
Homocide: Life on the Street, for which he periodically wrote scripts. His latest book,
Lindbergh: The Crime (1994) is currently being developed as a feature film.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Fontana, Tom
American literature