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A collection of family letters of the actress Beatrice Straight to her mother, Dorothy Elmhirst, with telegrams, press cuttings, playbills, and photographs.
Letters mention actors and acting, plays and play productions, and drama education in Seattle, New York, and at Dartington Hall. Other topics include news of friends and family, and travel in Europe, India, and North America. Letters also concern Straight's various relationships and her marriages to Louis Dolivet and Peter Cookson.
People mentioned include: Michael Chekhov; Blair Cutting; Deirdre Hurst du Prey; Edith Isaacs; Andrius Jilinsky; Frederick Ledebur; Richard Odlin; Helen Parkhurst; Basil Rathbone; Nancy Ross; Uday Shankar; Michael Straight; Whitney and Lady Daphne Straight; Mark Tobey; Orson Welles; and John Hay Whitney, among others.
Letters written during Straight's first marriage to Louis Dolivet mention his work as editor of Free World magazine and the campaign in America for a federal United Nations, 1941-1943.
Theatre organisations mentioned include the Chekhov Theatre Studio at Dartington Hall and at Ridgefield, Connecticut. In New York, Beatrice was a founder and director of Theatre Incorporated, a non-profit co-operative. Letters also mention Beatrice's work producing a children's radio programme for station WMCA in New York City during World War II.
These letters span the early life of Beatrice Straight, from childhood to maturity. The letters tend to be long and provide frank observations of the many people and events in her life. In addition there is a small sub-series of playbills, press cuttings, and personal memorabilia such as passports, and letters to Dorothy Elmhirst written about her daughter Beatrice.
Found with the letters were over 100 photographs of Beatrice Straight, including family snapshots, formal portraits and film stills. These have been separated to form a Beatrice Straight photograph collection.
Beatrice Straight was the daughter of Dorothy Elmhirst and her first husband Willard Straight. Beatrice was 12 years old when she came to Dartington Hall in 1926. She attended Dartington Hall School until in 1931, at the age of 16, she set off on a tour of Europe and Morocco, and lived for six months in Paris under the supervision of a governess named Miss Pritchard. In 1932 Beatrice studied drama at the Cornish School in Seattle. Whilst there she was instrumental in persuading a number of artists to join the community at Dartington; including the painter Mark Tobey; dancer Louise Soelberg; and puppeteer and actor Richard Odlin.
In 1934 while studying drama in New York with Tamara Daykarhanova and Maria Ouspenskaya, Beatrice met Michael Chekhov who was to become her mentor. Beatrice recommended to her mother that she bring Michael Chekhov to Dartington to establish a drama school. Before the Studio opened in 1935 and 1936, Beatrice travelled in Europe and India with the dancer Uday Shankar, whom she loved. From 1938, Beatrice and her parents helped to endow the Uday Shankar India Culture Centre in Almora. Also in 1938, Beatrice moved to New York and Ridgefield Connecticut, where Chekhov had established the Michael Chekhov Theatre Studio as a retreat from the coming war in Europe.
In 1942 she married Louis Dolivet, the editor of Free World magazine which advocated the establishment of the United Nations. Dolivet collaborated on several projects with Orson Welles who, with Rita Hayworth, stayed at intervals as a guest of the Dolivets at Dorothy Elmhirst's Long Island home. Beatrice separated from Louis after the War, and in 1947, he was blacklisted and forced to live in France. Later, when their only child, Willard Straight Dolivet, died tragically in 1952, Louis was refused permission to enter the United States to attend the funeral.
In 1948, while touring in a successful production of 'The Heiress', Beatrice met Peter Cookson and they were married in Carson City, Nevada in 1949. Over the next several years, Beatrice had two more sons, Gary and Tony. The latter was born in 1953, the year Beatrice won a Tony Award for her role in the first production of Arthur Miller's play, 'The Crucible'. In 1955, Beatrice discovered that she herself had been placed on the Hollywood blacklist some years earlier. It is not known to what extent this may have harmed her career. In 1966, Beatrice played the title role in Racine's 'Phedre' which ran off Broadway and had performances in London and at the Barn Theatre, Dartington Hall. In 1976, she won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in the movie 'Network'. Beatrice also had a successful career in television drama, acting in many TV plays and soap operas from 1952 to 1990. She died in 2001.
DATE: 1924-2001
LEVEL: Collection
The Archive is normally open by appointment Monday – Friday 9:30am – 12.30 pm, and 2 pm – 5 pm, apart from public holidays, which include Easter and Christmas.
We welcome enquiries by letter, fax, phone and e-mail. Please contact us via email at high.cross.house@dartington.org, telephone +44(0)1803 864114, fax +44(0)1803 867057 or send correspondence to: High Cross House, Dartington Hall, Totnes, Devon, TQ9 6ED UK
This information is copyright The Dartington Hall Trust
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The Dartington Hall Trust is a registered charity no. 279756. Company no. 1485560. Registered Office: The Elmhirst Centre, Dartington Hall, Totnes, Devon TQ9 6EL United Kingdom. Telephone 01803 847000; Fax 01803 847007;