Scope and Content Note
The Marge Champion Collection contains materials pertaining to Champion's life and career and spans the period 1897-2014, with the bulk of the materials dating between 1945 and 1995. The collection is arranged into ten series.
Personal papers consists of materials related to Marge's personal life, including: photographs of her weddings to Gower Champion and Boris Sagal; travel ephemera and documentation; notebooks and childhood schoolwork; government records such as passport photocopies; legal correspondence and financial documents; published writings by Marge and notes for speeches or remarks; and calendar appointment books spanning several decades. This series also contains significant materials on Marge's work with liturgical dance performance and programming.
The Photographs series documents Marge's life from early childhood through the first decade of the 21st century with both studio portraiture created for professional purposes and informal snapshots of family gatherings or events.
Materials such as articles, clippings, magazines, academic writing, and book excerpts documenting Marge's life and career are found in Clippings and published materials. This series also contains several publications in Japanese with interviews or information on Marge. Clippings related to specific productions or organizations are housed with those materials in subsequent series.
Ten volumes or bundles of loose scrapbook pages cover Marge's career through clippings, professional correspondence, ephemera, and photographs. The majority of the Scrapbooks series is dedicated to the first decade of Marge and Gower's partnership as a dance team.
Correspondence consists of letters and telegrams primarily written to Marge, as well as those written by her to Gower Champion and their second son Blake. The series is organized alphabetically by the author's last name and concludes with several folders of unidentified or miscellaneous correspondents organized chronologically.
Records related to Marge's professional career are discoverable under Production files, which is divided into two subseries: Stage productions and Film and television. Each subseries is organized alphabetically by production title and contains varying documentation. Materials include clippings, correspondence, legal documents, music parts and scores, photographs, programs, and scrapbooks. Under Stage productions, substantial materials can be found on the Broadway musicals Bye bye Birdie, Carnival, Hello, Dolly!, and I do! I do!. Directed and choreographed by Gower Champion, these productions also may have included creative contributions from Marge, though she is only credited with assisting on Hello, Dolly!. The subseries also holds significant material on Marge's performances in musicals 3 for tonight and Follies, as well as her work choreographing and subsequently directing the play Stepping out. Several scores and instrumental parts for individual songs used in nightclub performances are also present. The Film and television subseries holds material relevant to Marge's career on both the silver and small screen. There is significant documentation on her early work as a model for the Disney animators of Snow White and the seven dwarfs as well as her partnership with Gower in five MGM musicals made between 1951 and 1955 and the Marge and Gower Champion Show, a short-lived televised sitcom. Music scores and instrument parts for individual songs may be found within this last show's files or organized alphabetically under the heading 'televised variety shows'.
The next series concerns the life and career of Ernest Belcher, Marge's father and first dance instructor. Belcher founded the Celeste School of Dance in 1916, one year after he moved to Los Angeles from London. Born in 1883, he became known as Southern California's "Father of Ballet," and in 1922, he was the first choreographer to present dance at the Hollywood Bowl. Belcher also created pieces for Hollywood's burgeoning film industry. The series contains clippings, photographs, interviews, correspondence, academic writing, programs, and information on Belcher's dance school and students. A pair of Belcher's ballet slippers and an autographed megaphone given to Belcher are also in this series. Additional material is available through the Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division. Ernest Belcher died on February 24, 1973 in Los Angeles.
Born June 22, 1919, Gower Carlyle Champion studied dancing from an early age. At fifteen, he performed in nightclubs with Jeanne Tyler under the billing "Gower and Jeanne." Gower met young Marjorie Belcher and the two formed the dance team "Gower and Bell" until they were married in 1947 and became Marge and Gower Champion. Gower died on August 25, 1980, which also happened to be the opening day of 42nd Street, his directorial return to Broadway. Clippings, correspondence, ephemera, and photographs in this series are organized largely by material type. There is substantial research and writing for Before the parade passes by: Gower Champion and the glorious American musical, a 2005 biography by John Anthony Gilvey.
Subject files is divided into two subseries: People and Organizations. Both subseries are organized alphabetically by name and include clippings, correspondence, ephemera, notes, and photographs. Correspondence in this series relates to the specific person or organization and may not be to or from Marge Champion. For example, the George Balanchine file holds a 1945 letter to Balanchine from his longtime assistant, George Antheil. It is unclear how Marge came into possession of this letter. The People subseries collects material on Marge's sphere of friends, acquaintances, or interests, with significant documentation on Marge's sons, her husband Boris Sagal, Boris's brother Daniil Sagal, and family friends Jess Gregg, Al Hirschfeld, and his wife Louise Kerz Hirschfeld. Organizations contains considerable materials on the Mafundi Institute and Jacob's Pillow, as well as information on Marge's involvement with numerous professional associations, performance companies, colleges, and non-profits.
The collection concludes with various certificates, plaques, and other awards granted to Marge Champion.