The Orin Borsten Collection is comprised of four series: Correspondence, Literature, Film, and Photographs. The collection contains few personal items besides the correspondence, which does shed light on Orin's contributions to the industry and his hard-working character. Most of the series are comprised of materials from the Golden Age of Hollywood. Hollywood icons such as Gary Cooper, Alfred Hitchcock, Charlie Chaplin, and John Wayne are featured in the collection through movie scripts, autographed photographs, correspondence, and memorabilia. Some notable pieces in the collection are a draft of "Silence of the Lambs," a 1963 issue of "The New Yorker," rare Bessie Smith photographs, letter to Charles Chaplin from Alfred Hitchcock, letter to Orin from Goldie Hawn, John Wayne movie mugs, and an Alfred Hitchcock tie.

Orin Borsten was born on February 19th of 1912 in Lithonia, Georgia. He served in the Army Medical Corps during World War II and married a female Navy officer, Laura Rapaport. In the 1940's he started his career as the office manager for Russell Birdcall who had a column in the Los Angeles Daily News. He then worked for Erskine Johnson in the 1950's. In the 1960's he began writing scripts, one being "Angel Baby." After writing screenplays and television episodes, he moved on to work with Universal Pictures. This job lasted him until 1976, which was the year that he co-wrote "A Loving Gentleman: The Love Story of William Faulkner and Meta Carpenter" with Meta Carpenter. He spent his later years with his children, Joseph and Joan. In 2006, he died from natural causes in his home in Studio City, California. He was 94.

5 Linear Feet