Finding Aid for Oscar Homolka papers
Table of Contents
Finding aid prepared by Michaela Ullmann, 2010
Summary Information
- Repository
- USC Libraries Special Collections
- Creator
- Homolka, Oscar, 1898-1978
- Title
- Oscar Homolka papers
- Collection no.
- 0205
- Date [inclusive]
- 1935-1960
- Extent
- 1.0 Linear feet, 2 boxes
- Language
- English
- Abstract
- This collection consists of manuscripts written by Oscar Homolka during his stay in Southern California. The collections also contains some photographs and ephemera relating to Homolka.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Oscar Homolka papers, Collection no. 0205, Feuchtwanger Memorial Library, Special Collections, USC Libraries, University of Southern California.
Biographical Background Oscar Homolka
Oscar Homolka (born August 12, 1898 in Vienna, Austria, died January 27, 1978 in Sussex, England) was an Austrian-American actor.
Homolka attended the Royal Dramatic Academy in Vienna and began his career on the Austrian stage. Success there led to work in the much more prestigious German theatrical community in Munich and Berlin. His first films were Die Abenteuer eines Zehnmarkscheins (The Adventures of a Ten Mark Note, 1926), Hokuspokus (Hocuspocus, 1930), and Dreyfus (The Dreyfus Case, 1930). After the Nazi rise to power, Homolka moved to Britain in 1934 and later was one of many Jewish actors and theatrical people who fled Europe for the United States.
In 1936, he played the bomber in Alfred Hitchcock's Sabotage. Although he often played villains such as Communist spies and Soviet-bloc military officers or scientists, he was nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of the crusty, beloved uncle in I Remember Mama (1948). Homolka also acted with Ingrid Bergman in Rage in Heaven, with Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch, with Ronald Reagan in Prisoner of War, and with Katharine Hepburn in The Madwoman of Chaillot.
Homolka returned to England in the mid-1960s, to play the Soviet KGB Colonel Stok in Funeral in Berlin (1967) and Billion Dollar Brain (1968), opposite Michael Caine. His last film was the Blake Edwards romantic drama The Tamarind Seed in 1974.
Scope and Contents
Collections contains mainly manuscripts by Oscar Homolka but also a few photographs, newspaper clippings and an audio recording.
Administrative Information
Publication Information
USC Libraries Special Collections
2010
Doheny Memorial Library 206
3550 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles, California, 90089-0189
213-740-5900
specol@usc.edu
Conditions Governing Access
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. Advance notice required for access.
Conditions Governing Use
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Exile Studies Librarian at ullmann@usc.edu. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Controlled Access Headings
Genre(s)
- Audiotapes
- Ephemera
- Photographs
- Scripts
Geographic Name(s)
- California, Southern--Emigration and immigration--Archival resources
- Germany--Emigration and immigration--History--1933-1945--Archival resources
Personal Name(s)
- Homolka, Oscar, 1898-1978 -- Archives
- Reagan, Ronald
Subject(s)
- Actors--California--Los Angeles--Archival resources
- Exiles--Austria--History--20th century--Archival resources
- Exiles--Germany--History--20th century--Archival resources
- Exiles--United States--History--20th century--Archival resources
- Feature films--California--Archival resources
- Jewish refugees--California, Southern--Archival resources
- Jewish refugees--Europe--20th century--Archival resources
- Theater--Austria--20th century--Archival resources
- Theater--Germany--20th century--Archival resources
Collection Inventory
Series 1: Manuscripts |
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| Box | Folder | |||
|
"Paradies der Hoelle" 195[?] Scope and Contents noteAuthor unknown |
1 | 1 | ||
|
"The Third Ear - Drama in 3 Acts" Scope and Contents noteAuthor: Eric Frey |
1 | 2 | ||
|
"This Crazy, Lovely World" 1944 Scope and Contents noteAuthor: Ladislas Fodor |
1 | 3 | ||
|
Expose zu dem Film nach dem Roman 'Die Gefoppten" und Akt III Scope and Contents noteAuthor: Hans Juellig |
1 | 4 | ||
|
"Black Hamlet" 1949 Scope and Contents noteAuthor: John Bright |
1 | 5 | ||
|
"Einbruch in die Schoepfung" 1951 Scope and Contents noteAuthor: Kate Fabian |
1 | 6 | ||
|
"Silk Hat Harry" Scope and Contents noteAuthor: Lawrence Vincent |
1 | 7 | ||
|
"Die Stunde schlaegt" 1935 Scope and Contents noteAuthor: Claude Spaak |
1 | 8 | ||
|
"Thumbs" or "Something wicked" Scope and Contents noteAuthors: Hector Bolitho and Terence Rattigan |
1 | 9 | ||
|
"Der Unsichtbare" Scope and Contents noteAuthor: Claude Spaak |
1 | 10 | ||
|
"Smetse Sme" Scope and Contents noteAuthor: Cyril Scott |
1 | 11 | ||
|
"Noose" 1947 Scope and Contents noteAuthor: Richard Llewellyn |
1 | 12 | ||
|
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Series 2: Audio |
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| Box | Folder | |||
|
"Hollywood Profile with Ronald Reagan", audio cassette 1960 |
1 | 13 | ||
|
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Series 3: Photographs |
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| Box | Folder | |||
|
Various photographs (9) |
1 | 14 | ||
|
|
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Series 4: Ephemera |
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| Box | Folder | |||
|
Various newspaper clippings on the movie "War and Peace" |
1 | 15 | ||
|
2 photo albums filled with various newspaper clippings |
2 | 1 | ||
|
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