Scope and Content Note
The papers of Ruth Gordon (1896-1985) and Garson Kanin (1912-1999) span the years 1921-1993, with the bulk of the material dating from 1940 to 1959. Gordon and Kanin were a married couple prominent in the American theater and film industry as actors and writers for half a century. They used their collaborative relationship as a model for their film Pat and Mike starring Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. The papers consist mainly of correspondence with attached and related newspaper clippings and printed ephemera. An addition to the collection includes more correspondence and miscellaneous personal files.
The correspondence contains incoming letters and copies of outgoing letters. Chief correspondents are Enid Bagnold, Cecil Beaton, Hugh (“Binkie”) Beaumont, Main R. Bocher, Maurice Chevalier, Harry Cohn, George Cukor, Edith Evans, Tyrone Guthrie, Laurence Olivier, and Dore Schary. Letters from Bagnold discuss the symbolism and characterizations in the plays The Chalk Garden and A Matter of Gravity. The correspondence from Bocher contains an inventory of Gordon's collection of haute couture designed for her by Mainbocher. The letters of Cohn and Cukor provide insight into film personalities, especially Judy Holliday and Spencer Tracy. They discuss all aspects of production for films such as The Marrying Kind, The Actress, and It Should Happen to You. Evans and Guthrie describe the state of London theater during World War II.
An addition contains further correspondence as well as contracts, insurance policies, investment material, printed matter, and Gordon's and Kanin's marriage certificate.