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Finding Aid for the Dalton Trumbo Papers, 1934-1976
1554  
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Table of contents What's This?
  • Descriptive Summary
  • Administrative Information
  • Biography
  • Scope and Content
  • Indexing Terms

  • Descriptive Summary

    Title: Dalton Trumbo Papers,
    Date (inclusive): 1934-1976
    Collection number: 1554
    Creator: Trumbo, Dalton, 1905-1976
    Extent: 235 boxes (117.5 linear ft.) 4 oversize boxes 4 oversize folders
    Repository: University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections.
    Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
    Abstract: James Dalton Trumbo (1905-1976) was a screenwriter who became one of the Hollywood Ten and was blacklisted by the motion picture industry (1947). He was one of the first blacklisted writers to emerge from the underground when he received screen credit for his work on the 1960 releases of Spartacus and Exodus. The collection consists of materials related to Trumbo's career as a screen writer and novelist. The majority of material in the collection includes scripts, correspondence, manuscripts, clippings, and notes.
    Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
    Language: English.

    Administrative Information

    Restrictions on Use and Reproduction

    Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections. Literary 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.

    Restrictions on Access

    COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Advance notice required for access.

    Additional Physical Form Available

    A copy of the original version of this online finding aid is available at the UCLA Department of Special Collections for in-house consultation and may be obtained for a fee. Please contact:
    • Public Services Division
    • UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections
    • Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
    • Box 951575
    • Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
    • Telephone: 310/825-4988 (10:00 a.m. - 4:45 p.m., Pacific Time)
    • Email: spec-coll@library.ucla.edu

    Provenance/Source of Acquisition

    Gift of Cleo Trumbo, 1987.
    Gift of Barbara Case, 1992.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], Dalton Trumbo Papers (Collection 1554). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

    UCLA Catalog Record ID

    UCLA Catalog Record ID: 3222569 

    Biography

    James Dalton Trumbo was born December 9, 1905, in Montrose, Colorado; attended University of Colorado, UCLA, and USC; worked as a newpaper reporter and editor; started screenwriting in 1935; became one of the Hollywood Ten and was blacklisted by the motion picture industry (1947); served a 10-month jail sentence for contempt of Congress when he refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) for his alleged membership in the Communist Party; while serving his sentence at the Federal Penitentiary in Ashland, Kentucky, he used a pseudonym and smuggled out a script for sale underground; after his release he moved to Mexico and continued writing scripts under various pseudonyms; his story, The brave one (1956), won an Academy Award under the pseudonym, Robert Rich; Trumbo was one of the first blacklisted writers to emerge from the underground when he received screen credit for his work on the 1960 releases of Spartacus and Exodus; in the early 1970s, he directed a screen adaption of his novel, Johnny got his gun (1956), which won an award at the Cannes Film Festival; a collection of his letters from 1942-62 was published as, Additional dialogue (1970); underwent surgery for lung cancer and died of a heart attack three years later in 1976.

    Scope and Content

    Collection consists of materials related to Trumbo's career as a screen writer and novelist. Titles include: Hawaii, Johnny got his gun, Papillon, The fixer, The sandpiper, and other less publicized works. The majority of material in the collection includes scripts, correspondence, manuscripts, clippings, and notes.

    Indexing Terms

    The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
    Trumbo, Dalton, 1905-1976--Archives.
    Screenwriters--United States--Archival resources.
    Film scripts.