Scope and Contents
The Lloyd Richards Papers document the life and work of the director, educator, and actor Lloyd Richards. The papers consist of production files, professional papers, photographs, correspondence, programs, audiovisual and printed material spanning the years 1944 to 2004.
The papers primarily document the professional life of Lloyd Richards through his production files, professional papers, and Eugene O'Neill Memorial Theater Center administrative files. Production files contain materials from all stages of production for theater, television, and radio productions directed by Richards, including those he drafted while Dean of the Yale School of Drama and Artistic Director of the Yale Repertory Theatre, and in a few instances for early plays that Richards acted in. Correspondence in the production files reveals the close professional relationship that Richards had with playwright August Wilson through directing six of Wilson's plays. Professional papers include files from Richards's service on various committees, boards, councils, and related activities; his teaching files from positions at universities and colleges; his speeches and lectures; awards and honorary degrees; clippings and printed material; and other papers related to his professional life. The Eugene O'Neill Memorial Theater Center material consists of administrative files and photographs that document his work as Artistic Director of the National Playwright Conference and his involvement in other Center activities.
The papers also include correspondence with organizations and individuals, almost entirely regarding his professional affiliation with various theater projects. Photographs in the collection provide images of Richards, productions, award and honorary degree ceremonies, and other places and people. Audiovisual materials include film, video and sound recordings and film footage of productions, interviews, and other recordings of interest to Richards. A small amount of personal papers concern Richards's service in the U.S. Army Air Corps, his citizenship, financial and medical information, and other personal matters.
The papers primarily document the professional life of Lloyd Richards through his production files, professional papers, and Eugene O'Neill Memorial Theater Center administrative files. Production files contain materials from all stages of production for theater, television, and radio productions directed by Richards, including those he drafted while Dean of the Yale School of Drama and Artistic Director of the Yale Repertory Theatre, and in a few instances for early plays that Richards acted in. Correspondence in the production files reveals the close professional relationship that Richards had with playwright August Wilson through directing six of Wilson's plays. Professional papers include files from Richards's service on various committees, boards, councils, and related activities; his teaching files from positions at universities and colleges; his speeches and lectures; awards and honorary degrees; clippings and printed material; and other papers related to his professional life. The Eugene O'Neill Memorial Theater Center material consists of administrative files and photographs that document his work as Artistic Director of the National Playwright Conference and his involvement in other Center activities.
The papers also include correspondence with organizations and individuals, almost entirely regarding his professional affiliation with various theater projects. Photographs in the collection provide images of Richards, productions, award and honorary degree ceremonies, and other places and people. Audiovisual materials include film, video and sound recordings and film footage of productions, interviews, and other recordings of interest to Richards. A small amount of personal papers concern Richards's service in the U.S. Army Air Corps, his citizenship, financial and medical information, and other personal matters.
Dates
- 1944-2004
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
Boxes 149-153 and 161-167 and 186 (audiovisual material): Restricted fragile material. Reference copies may be requested. Consult Access Services for further information.
Existence and Location of Copies
Microfilm service copies are available for Series I. Production Files, A Raisin in the Sun program and prompt book (film number 3307).
Conditions Governing Use
The Lloyd Richards Papers is the physical property of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from Lloyd Richards on the Eugene G. O'Neill Memorial Fund, 2005, and from the Estate of Lloyd Richards on the James Weldon Johnson Memorial Collection of Negro Arts and Letters Fund, 2007. Gift of Lloyd Richards, 2005.
Arrangement
Organized into seven series: I. Production Files, 1954-2003. II. Professional Papers, 1966-2002. III. Eugene O'Neill Memorial Theater Center, 1965-2001. IV. Correspondence, 1952-2002. V. Photographs, 1945-2004. VI. Personal Papers, 1944-2002. VII. Audiovisual Materials, 1962-2004.
Extent
94.50 Linear Feet ((182 boxes) + 11 broadside folders)
Language of Materials
English
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Overview
The Lloyd Richards Papers document the life and work of the director, educator, and actor Lloyd Richards. The papers consist of production files, professional papers, photographs, correspondence, programs, audiovisual and printed material spanning the years 1944 to 2004.
The papers primarily document the professional life of Lloyd Richards through his production files, professional papers, and Eugene O'Neill Memorial Theater Center administrative files. Production files contain materials from all stages of production for theater, television, and radio productions directed by Richards, including those he drafted while Dean of the Yale School of Drama and Artistic Director of the Yale Repertory Theatre, and in a few instances for early plays that Richards acted in. Correspondence in the production files reveals the close professional relationship that Richards had with playwright August Wilson through directing six of Wilson's plays. Professional papers include files from Richards's service on various committees, boards, councils, and related activities; his teaching files from positions at universities and colleges; his speeches and lectures; awards and honorary degrees; clippings and printed material; and other papers related to his professional life. The Eugene O'Neill Memorial Theater Center material consists of administrative files and photographs that document his work as Artistic Director of the National Playwright Conference and his involvement in other Center activities.
The papers also include correspondence with organizations and individuals, almost entirely regarding his professional affiliation with various theater projects. Photographs in the collection provide images of Richards, productions, award and honorary degree ceremonies, and other places and people. Audiovisual materials include film, video and sound recordings and film footage of productions, interviews, and other recordings of interest to Richards. A small amount of personal papers concern Richards's service in the U.S. Army Air Corps, his citizenship, financial and medical information, and other personal matters.
The papers primarily document the professional life of Lloyd Richards through his production files, professional papers, and Eugene O'Neill Memorial Theater Center administrative files. Production files contain materials from all stages of production for theater, television, and radio productions directed by Richards, including those he drafted while Dean of the Yale School of Drama and Artistic Director of the Yale Repertory Theatre, and in a few instances for early plays that Richards acted in. Correspondence in the production files reveals the close professional relationship that Richards had with playwright August Wilson through directing six of Wilson's plays. Professional papers include files from Richards's service on various committees, boards, councils, and related activities; his teaching files from positions at universities and colleges; his speeches and lectures; awards and honorary degrees; clippings and printed material; and other papers related to his professional life. The Eugene O'Neill Memorial Theater Center material consists of administrative files and photographs that document his work as Artistic Director of the National Playwright Conference and his involvement in other Center activities.
The papers also include correspondence with organizations and individuals, almost entirely regarding his professional affiliation with various theater projects. Photographs in the collection provide images of Richards, productions, award and honorary degree ceremonies, and other places and people. Audiovisual materials include film, video and sound recordings and film footage of productions, interviews, and other recordings of interest to Richards. A small amount of personal papers concern Richards's service in the U.S. Army Air Corps, his citizenship, financial and medical information, and other personal matters.
Lloyd Richards (1919-2006)
Lloyd George Richards was born on June 29, 1919 in Toronto, to Albert George and Rose Isabella Richards. The family immigrated to the United States after seeing a flyer sent out by Henry Ford that advertised employment in his plant and settled in Detroit in 1923. Albert Richards died of diphtheria in 1928, leaving Rose to raise Lloyd and his four siblings alone. A few years later, Mrs. Richards was struck blind and Lloyd went to work to help support his family. Despite the difficult circumstances, all of the Richards children received an education and were urged to continue on to college. Richards entered Wayne University in Detroit and originally studied pre-law but he quickly shifted his focus to theater and radio drama. After graduating, Richards began volunteer service in the U.S. Army Air Corps, training with the nation's first unit of black pilots, the Tuskegee Airmen. Richards was never in active duty and returned to Detroit in 1945. There he co-founded the These Twenty People Company and The Actor’s Company Repertory, and worked as a radio disc jockey for one year. He spent his nights and weekends working on productions and his days as a social worker.
In 1947, Richards moved to New York City to pursue an acting career. He waited tables and lived at the Y.M.C.A., focusing on auditions. At an audition for a one-man Equity Library Theater production, Richards met acting coach, actor, and director Paul Mann and studied with him until Mann asked him to become his teaching assistant for his actors’ workshops. While Richards was a good actor and acted in several popular on- and off-Broadway plays, he wasn't considered a strong character actor and eventually focused solely on his directing. Mann’s acting workshops would play an important role in Richards’s development as a director. Through Mann, Richards met dancer and writer Barbara Davenport; they married in October 1957, and had two sons. He also met actor Sidney Poitier, who urged Richards to read and direct one play in particular, Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun. Richards worked hard to rally support for the production, and in 1959 the play debuted on Broadway in New York City to a standing ovation. The plot concerns an African-American family's experiences in a Chicago neighborhood and was the first play written by an African-American woman to be produced on Broadway, as well as the first play with an African-American director on Broadway. It is considered a landmark in American theater and social history. Richards went on to have a successful and prolific career directing theater, radio, and television.
In addition to his acting and directing in New York through the 1950s and 1960s, Richards returned to Detroit to direct summer theater at the Northland Playhouse (1955-1958), worked on radio productions, and opened the Lloyd Richards Studio for Actor Training in New York. In 1966, Richards was hired as Master Teacher of Acting at the new actor training program at New York University (1966-1972). From 1972-1979, he held the position of Professor of Theater and Cinema at Hunter College. In 1979, Richards was recruited for the position of Dean of Yale School of Drama and Artistic Director of the Yale Repertory Theatre, which he held until 1991.
When Richards was asked to be Artistic Director of the annual National Playwrights Conference (NPC) in 1968 at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT, he took the opportunity to transform the conference into one of the most prestigious and intensive playwright opportunities in the world. NPC is where Richards met a young poet-turned-playwright, August Wilson. Wilson submitted work to the NPC several times and was rejected until he submitted Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom in 1982, which gained him admission. Richards went on to direct five of Wilson's premieres, often at the Yale Repertory Theatre, and all went on to Broadway (Fences, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, The Piano Lesson, Two Trains Running, and Seven Guitars). Their professional relationship changed when they stopped working on Wilson's plays together, but the two remained friends.
At NPC, Richards mentored many young playwrights who went on to have successful writing careers, including Lee Blessing and Christopher Durang. In 1999, Richards retired as Artistic Director from NPC. At Yale, Richards directed and oversaw the premiere of plays that went on to tour nationally. Among these were Lee Blessing’s Cobb, several of Athol Fugard’s plays, and all but one of August Wilson’s plays.
After retiring from Yale, Richards continued to teach in New York at the Actors Center and at the Actors Studio and occasionally directed. Throughout his teaching career, he was a visiting professor and lecturer at several universities and colleges. In honor of Richards’s retirement, Yale University School of Drama created their its permanently endowed chair, “The Lloyd Richards Professor of Theatre Chair,” and appointed him Professor Emeritus of the School of Drama. In addition to teaching, Richards gave his time and expertise to dozens of community theaters, professional committees, councils, boards, and fellowships. Richards received dozens of awards and honorary degrees throughout his career, including a Tony Award for Best Director for Fences in 1987 (he was nominated for a Tony several times) and a National Medal of Arts in 1993. He was admired as an influential director and educator, directing some of the twentieth century's most acclaimed actors.
While Richards worked and sometimes lived outside of New York City, he and Barbara considered the house on Manhattan's Upper West Side, where they lived since 1968, to be their home. Richards died in Manhattan on his 87th birthday of a heart attack.
In 1947, Richards moved to New York City to pursue an acting career. He waited tables and lived at the Y.M.C.A., focusing on auditions. At an audition for a one-man Equity Library Theater production, Richards met acting coach, actor, and director Paul Mann and studied with him until Mann asked him to become his teaching assistant for his actors’ workshops. While Richards was a good actor and acted in several popular on- and off-Broadway plays, he wasn't considered a strong character actor and eventually focused solely on his directing. Mann’s acting workshops would play an important role in Richards’s development as a director. Through Mann, Richards met dancer and writer Barbara Davenport; they married in October 1957, and had two sons. He also met actor Sidney Poitier, who urged Richards to read and direct one play in particular, Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun. Richards worked hard to rally support for the production, and in 1959 the play debuted on Broadway in New York City to a standing ovation. The plot concerns an African-American family's experiences in a Chicago neighborhood and was the first play written by an African-American woman to be produced on Broadway, as well as the first play with an African-American director on Broadway. It is considered a landmark in American theater and social history. Richards went on to have a successful and prolific career directing theater, radio, and television.
In addition to his acting and directing in New York through the 1950s and 1960s, Richards returned to Detroit to direct summer theater at the Northland Playhouse (1955-1958), worked on radio productions, and opened the Lloyd Richards Studio for Actor Training in New York. In 1966, Richards was hired as Master Teacher of Acting at the new actor training program at New York University (1966-1972). From 1972-1979, he held the position of Professor of Theater and Cinema at Hunter College. In 1979, Richards was recruited for the position of Dean of Yale School of Drama and Artistic Director of the Yale Repertory Theatre, which he held until 1991.
When Richards was asked to be Artistic Director of the annual National Playwrights Conference (NPC) in 1968 at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT, he took the opportunity to transform the conference into one of the most prestigious and intensive playwright opportunities in the world. NPC is where Richards met a young poet-turned-playwright, August Wilson. Wilson submitted work to the NPC several times and was rejected until he submitted Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom in 1982, which gained him admission. Richards went on to direct five of Wilson's premieres, often at the Yale Repertory Theatre, and all went on to Broadway (Fences, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, The Piano Lesson, Two Trains Running, and Seven Guitars). Their professional relationship changed when they stopped working on Wilson's plays together, but the two remained friends.
At NPC, Richards mentored many young playwrights who went on to have successful writing careers, including Lee Blessing and Christopher Durang. In 1999, Richards retired as Artistic Director from NPC. At Yale, Richards directed and oversaw the premiere of plays that went on to tour nationally. Among these were Lee Blessing’s Cobb, several of Athol Fugard’s plays, and all but one of August Wilson’s plays.
After retiring from Yale, Richards continued to teach in New York at the Actors Center and at the Actors Studio and occasionally directed. Throughout his teaching career, he was a visiting professor and lecturer at several universities and colleges. In honor of Richards’s retirement, Yale University School of Drama created their its permanently endowed chair, “The Lloyd Richards Professor of Theatre Chair,” and appointed him Professor Emeritus of the School of Drama. In addition to teaching, Richards gave his time and expertise to dozens of community theaters, professional committees, councils, boards, and fellowships. Richards received dozens of awards and honorary degrees throughout his career, including a Tony Award for Best Director for Fences in 1987 (he was nominated for a Tony several times) and a National Medal of Arts in 1993. He was admired as an influential director and educator, directing some of the twentieth century's most acclaimed actors.
While Richards worked and sometimes lived outside of New York City, he and Barbara considered the house on Manhattan's Upper West Side, where they lived since 1968, to be their home. Richards died in Manhattan on his 87th birthday of a heart attack.
Processing Information
This collection was identified as YCAL MSS 366 but was assigned the new call number of JWJ MSS 176.
This collection includes materials previously identified by the following call numbers: Uncat MSS 889, Uncat MSS 889a, and Uncat MSS 973.
Boxes 154-160 are unused. Original videocassettes are housed in boxes 149-153. Restricted fragile.
This collection includes materials previously identified by the following call numbers: Uncat MSS 889, Uncat MSS 889a, and Uncat MSS 973.
Boxes 154-160 are unused. Original videocassettes are housed in boxes 149-153. Restricted fragile.
- Acting teachers -- United States
- Actors
- Actors -- United States
- African Americans -- 20th Century -- Archives
- Audiovisual materials
- Directors
- Drama -- 20th Century
- Dramatists
- Dramatists, American
- Eugene O'Neill Memorial Theater Center
- Fugard, Athol, 1932-
- Motion pictures (visual works)
- National Playwrights Conference
- Photographic prints
- Richards, Lloyd, 1919-2006
- Sound recordings
- Theater -- Production and direction -- United States
- Theater -- United States
- Theater programs
- Theater scripts
- Theatrical posters
- Wilson, August, 1945-2005
- Yale Repertory Theatre
- Yale School of Drama
- Yale University -- Faculty
- Title
- Guide to the Lloyd Richards Papers
- Author
- by Molly Wheeler
- Date
- April 2010
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Part of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Repository
Location
121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Opening Hours
Access Information
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