Scope and Content Note
The papers of Arnold Moss (1910-1989) span the years 1935-1987 with the bulk of the material covering the period 1953-1987. Although Moss's acting career included roles in film and on radio and television, with related work as a narrator and an announcer, the main focus of his work was on the stage. Likewise, the main focus of the Moss Papers is on his roles in the theater as an actor, director, producer, and educator. Moss gained particular acclaim for his performances in the plays of William Shakespeare. This collection of his papers consists of three series: General Correspondence, Theater File, and Subject File.
The General Correspondence series, 1954-1987, documents Moss's interests and activities primarily as they relate to his career. The major portion consists of letters received from friends and professional colleagues, although copies of letters sent are also included. Topics include efforts to gain employment as an actor, his work at colleges and universities, and his affiliation with professional organizations. Prominent correspondents include Philip Burton, Bernard Malamud, Arthur Miller, and Harold Prince.
The Theater File, 1953-1987, comprises the largest portion of the papers and reflects the range of Moss's stage work. There are lengthy files on George Bernard Shaw's play, Back to Methuselah, which Moss adapted into a shorter version and coproduced with the Theatre Guild for a tour and Broadway run in 1957-1958. Moss also acted in the production, playing Shaw. The following year Moss founded and starred in a touring repertory company called the Shakespeare Festival Players. Records relating to the company include contracts, an itinerary, financial files, and press clippings. Also documented in the file is Moss's position as an American specialist in theater for the United States Department of State. He toured countries in Central and South America and later in Africa and the Far East giving performances and lectures. Files on concert readings relate to the one-man programs of dramatic readings such as "A Goodly Heritage," "The Seven Ages of Man," and "Windows on America" that Moss performed at colleges and universities and at civic and cultural organizations from the 1950s into the 1980s. For twenty years, Moss performed annually at the Library of Congress as part of the Gertrude Clarke Whittall Poetry and Literature Series, and the related files contain correspondence, scripts, programs, and production notes. Most scripts are filed in a separate scripts section because Moss used the scripts for more than one production. The scripts are annotated, and many contain lighting and sound cues and stage diagrams.
The Subject File, 1935-1987, contains material relating to Moss's other activities, his organizational affiliations, and his academic studies. Files on film, sound recordings, and television containing information in these areas are limited, and these aspects of his career are not well documented in the collection.
In addition to his work in the performing arts, Moss created crossword puzzles appearing in the New York Times Magazine and other publications. The crossword puzzle files contain correspondence with the New York Timespuzzle editors and drafts of the puzzles. Speeches and writings files contain drafts of published and unpublished articles and speeches primarily relating to the theater. The file on New York University contains material on the doctoral degree which Moss started in the 1930s and completed in the 1970s with a dissertation on professional actors as guest artists in college and university theatrical productions.