Rob Wagner papers, 1925-1942

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Summary

Creators:
Wagner, Rob, 1872-1942
Abstract:
Robert Leicester Wagner (1872-1942) was a illustrator for newspapers and the Encyclopedia Britannica. He also wrote for the Saturday Evening Post, Collier's, and other magazines before moving to Southern California, where he directed films for Paramount and the Hal Roach studios, and made six films with Will Rogers. In 1929, he published Rob Wagner's Script magazine. The collection consists of Wagner's correspondence, manuscripts, clippings, drawings, phonograph records, a file of Script magazine from 1929-41, ephemera, and miscellanea.
Extent:
16.5 Linear Feet (33 boxes, 3 oversize boxes)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Rob Wagner papers (Collection Number 690). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.

Background

Scope and content:

Collection consists of correspondence, manuscripts, clippings, drawings, phonograph records, a file of Script magazine from 1929-41, ephemera, and miscellanea of Rob Wagner. The manuscripts are primarily stories intended for film adaptation and are from Wagner and other writers including one manuscript each by William Saroyan and Peter Bernard Kyne. Many of the covers of Wagner's Script are illustrated by Leo Politi. Correspondents include William Saroyan, Theodore Dreiser, Upton Sinclair, Charles Chaplin, Bette Davis, Douglas Fairbanks, Tom Mix, Randolph Scott, Gloria Swanson, Joan Crawford, Cecil B. DeMille, Walt Disney, Jean Harlow, Daryl Zanuck, Edward Everett Horton, Mary Pickford, and Spencer Tracy.

Biographical / historical:

Robert Leicester Wagner was born on August 2, 1872 in Detroit, Michigan; attended University of Michigan and studied art at the Académie Julian (1903) in Paris; became an illustrator for the Detroit free press, Criterion (New York), and the Encyclopedia Britannica (London); also painted portraits; wrote for the Saturday evening post, Collier's, and other magazines; moved to Southern California, where he directed films for Paramount and the Hal Roach studios, and made six films with Will Rogers; published Rob Wagner's Script beginning in 1929; published books include Film folk (1918) and Tessie moves along (c. 1928); he died on July 20, 1942.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Les Wagner, 1960. Gift of Florence Wagner Breese, 1963.
Arrangement:

Arranged in the following series:

  1. Script magazine (Boxes 1-13).
  2. Correspondence (Boxes 14-18).
  3. Manuscripts by Wagner (Boxes 19-22).
  4. Manuscripts by others (Box 23).
  5. Ephemera, miscellaneous (Box 24).
  6. Articles clipped from Script (Box 25).
  7. Original drawings by Wagner (Box 26).
  8. Records of Wagner's radio program of Script's birthday party (Box 27).
  9. Clippings and correspondence (Boxes 28-35).

Physical location:
Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact UCLA Library Special Collections for paging information.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for research. STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact UCLA Library Special Collections for paging information.

Terms of access:

Property rights to the physical object belong to the UC Regents. 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.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Rob Wagner papers (Collection Number 690). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.

Location of this collection:
A1713 Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575, US
Contact:
(310) 825-4988
AskLSC@library.ucla.edu
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