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Summary Information

Repository
Lilly Library (Indiana University, Bloomington)
Lilly Library
Indiana University
1200 E. Seventh St.
Bloomington, IN 47405-5500
Phone: 812-855-2452
Fax: 812-855-3143
Email: liblilly@indiana.edu

Creator
Preston, Robert, 1913-1987.

Collection No.
LMC 2725

Extent
120 items

Language
Materials are in English.

Abstract
The Preston, Robert mss., ca. 1930s-1980s, consist of correspondence, photographs, and memorabilia of stage and screen actor Robert Preston.

Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research.

Biographical Note

Born Robert Preston Meservey on June 8, 1918 in Newton Highlands, Massachusetts, Preston is best known for his portrayal of the charismatic con man "Professor" Harold Hill in The Music Man, for which he won a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical in 1958. He later reprised his role for the 1962 film adaptation. Preston won a second Tony Award for I Do! I Do! starring opposite Mary Martin from 1966 to 1967, in a musical which explores one couple's fifty years of married life. In 1982, he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as "Toddy," a gay nightclub entertainer, in Victor/Victoria (1982). He died on March 21, 1987, in Santa Barbara, California.

Scope and Content Note

This collection includes correspondence, programs, periodicals, newspaper clippings, a piece of sheet music from one of Preston's plays ("We Take the Town"), several photographs, and 35 mm film negatives. Correspondents include Moss Hart, Joseph Hyman, and Margot Stevenson.

Note on Indexing Term - "Motion picture film": Of interest are pieces of memorabilia related to Preston's film roles, including his early roles in Westerns and his later musical roles.

Note on Indexing Term - "Theater": Of interest are Playbills and other memorabilia related to Preston's theatre roles.

• Indexing Terms

• • Names
  • Preston, Robert, 1913-1987 --Manuscripts.
  • Preston, Robert, 1913-1987 --Correspondence.
  • Hart, Moss, 1904-1961 --Correspondence.
  • Hayman, Joe --Correspondence.
  • Stevenson, Margot --Correspondence.
• • Topics
  • Actors --United States --Manuscripts.
  • Motion picture actors and actresses --United States --Manuscripts.
  • Motion picture film
  • Music
  • Theater

Administrative Information

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Preston, Robert mss., ca. 1930s-1980s 

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Box 1 Correspondence, 1959-1964  View item(s)

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Programs, plays, 1972-1976  View item(s)

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Programs, Tony Awards, April 1969  View item(s)

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Periodicals, 1958-1968  View item(s)

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Periodicals, 1958-1984  View item(s)

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Newspaper clippings, 1954-1988  View item(s)

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Sheet Music, "We Take the Town," 1962  View item(s)

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Ephemera, 1960s-1985  View item(s)

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Photographs, personal, 1940s-1980s  View item(s)

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Photographs, personal, undated  View item(s)

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Photographs, films, 1930s-1950s  View item(s)

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Photographs, films, 1960s  View item(s)

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Photographs, films, 1970s-1980s  View item(s)

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Photographs, publicity, 1962-1967  View item(s)

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Photographs, miscellaneous, undated  View item(s)

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Photographs, various digital images of Preston, CD-ROM, undated 

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Work permits, 1980-1981  View item(s)

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Call sheets, undated  View item(s)

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Press books, undated  View item(s)

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Trophy, baseball "all-star game," 1963 

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Box 2 (Oversize) Posters, invitations, undated  View item(s)

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35 mm film negatives, personal, circa 1962-1982 

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Box 3 Roll 1 View item(s)

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Roll 2 View item(s)

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Box 4 Roll 13 View item(s)

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Roll 27 View item(s)

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Unnumbered View item(s)