Research Catalog

Title

Richard Kiley papers, 1939-1999.

Author

Kiley, Richard.

Supplementary Content

Finding Aid

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

19 lin. ft. (40 boxes and 1 oversized folder)

Summary

The collection is primarily marked scripts reflecting the work of Richard Kiley on stage and screen and as a narrator of documentaries. Also includes some production materials such as memos, correspondence, schedules, call sheets and cast lists as well as photos, programs, publicity and clippings. There is not much material illustrating his early career and there is very little personal material, but his busy career from the late 1960s to the late 1990s is well covered.

Subjects

• Musical theater > United States
• Motion picture actors and actresses
• Television actors and actresses
• Musicals
• Documentary films
• Leigh, Mitch, 1928-2014 > Man of La Mancha
• Voice-overs
• National geographic
• Actors
• Scripts
• Theater > United States
• Acting

Genre/Form

Scripts.

Note

• Sheet music that came with the Richard Kiley papers was transferred to the Music Division of the New York Public Llibrary.

Access (note)

• Collection is open to the public. Library policy on photography and photocopying will apply. Advance notice may be required.

Call Number

*T-Mss 2005-014

OCLC

229372143

Author

Kiley, Richard.

Title

Richard Kiley papers, 1939-1999.

Restricted Access

Collection is open to the public. Library policy on photography and photocopying will apply. Advance notice may be required.

Biography

American stage, television and film actor, Richard Paul Kiley was best known for creating the Tony Award winning title role in Man of La Mancha in the original 1965 Broadway production. He was the first to sing and record the song, The Impossible Dream, and recreated the role in the London production, a Lincoln Center revival and a United States tour. Born in Chicago on March 31, 1922, Kiley began his career as a juvenile on radio and made his Broadway debut in Misalliance (1953) for which he won a Theatre World Award. His first musical role was in Kismet (1953); his first Tony Award was for the musical Redhead (1959) with Gwen Verdon. Other musicals were Richard Rodgers' No Strings (1962) with Diahann Carroll for which Kiley received a Tony nomination for best actor, I Had a Ball (1964) and Her First Roman (1968).

Most of Kiley's work did not make use of his strong vocal talent and rich baritone, however. He starred on Broadway in Time Limit (1956), Advise and Consent (1960), The Incomparable Max (1971), Voices (1972), Absurd Person Singular (1974), The Heiress (1976), and All My Sons (1987) for which he received a Tony nomination for best actor in a play. Kiley also won Emmy Awards and Golden Globes for his television work in The Thorn Birds, A Year in the Life and Picket Fences. His films included The Blackboard Jungle, The Little Prince, Looking for Mr. Goodbar and Endless Love.

Kiley also had an extensive career doing voiceover work as a narrator for various documentaries including National Geographic, Nova, Planet Earth, Mysteries of the Bible, etc. He also performed in many solo shows and benefit concerts. Richard Kiley was married to Mary Bell Wood with whom he had six children from 1948-1967 and to Patricia Ferrier from 1968 until his death. He died of bone marrow disease on March 5, 1999.

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Finding Aid

Occupation

Actors.

Research Call Number

*T-Mss 2005-014