Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Finding Aid for the True Boardman papers, 1904-1998
213
No online items
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Description
True Boardman began his career as a child actor in silent films. He went on to write for radio and television, including
Silver Theatre and
The Virginian. The collection includes script material, photographs, assorted writings, and a small amount of memorabilia, printed materials,
and family papers related to Boardman's career.
Background
True Eames Boardman was born Oct. 25, 1909 in Seattle, Washington. He received an A.B. from UCLA in 1934 and an MA from Occidental
College in 1971. He began his career as a child actor in silent films working with performers like Charlie Chaplin and Mary
Pickford. After several years of acting in film and theater, he began a radio career writing radio drama for programs including
Silver Theatre and Lux Radio Theatre. During the Red Scare in the late 1940s, Boardman worked for companies like General Electric and AT&T writing and producing
documentaries. He made the transition to television in the late 1940s and went on to write for programs including Daktari, Ironside, My Three Sons, Perry Mason, Silver Television Theatre, and The Virginian. Later in life, Boardman lectured at various academic institutions and in the late 1990s returned to acting as Ralph Waldo
Emerson in the one-man show, Apologia Pro Vita Sua. His memoir, When Hollywood and I Were Young, was published in 1995. True Boardman died on August 4, 2003.
Extent
36 boxes (17 linear ft.)6 flat boxes
Restrictions
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library,
Performing Arts Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright,
are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of
the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the
copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC
Regents do not hold the copyright.
Availability
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Library, Performing
Arts Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.