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COLLECTION Identifier: MS Thr 400

Bunce family and Nugent family papers

Overview

Correspondence, documents, theatrical records, and scripts and other manuscripts from the American actors Alan Bunce, Ruth Elizabeth Nugent Bunce, J. C. (John Charles) Nugent, Elliott Nugent, Peg Lynch, and others.

Dates

  • Creation: 1891-1978

Language of Materials

Collection materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

There are no restrictions on physical access to this material. Collection is open for research.

Extent

6 linear feet (15 boxes)

Family correspondence, financial and legal records, theatrical scripts, including radio scripts from the Ethel and Albert series, photographs, and clippings concerning the professional careers of Alan Coe Bunce (1900?-1965) and Ruth Elizabeth Nugent Bunce (ca.1902-ca.1978). Also contains correspondence of the actor J. C. (John Charles) Nugent (1868-1947) and Alan Nugent Bunce (1933-2008).

Biographical / Historical

The following persons (and others) are represented in this collection:

  1. Alan Coe Bunce (1900 or 1903-1965) was born in New Jersey, graduated from high school (ca. 1918) in Melrose, Massachusetts and died in New York in 1965. He was the son of Theodore Dwight Bunce (the inventor of the "Bunceometer") and Alice Edwards Bunce who died while Alan was still a child. He worked as an actor on stage, radio, television, and film. Some of his credits include: Ethel and Albert (radio/tv sitcom); Young Dr. Malone (radio soap opera); Sunrise at Campobello (Broadway play and film); Homicidal (horror film); The last mile (film); and many others. The family of Alan Coe Bunce, (reported by his grandson Andrew Bunce, in August 2008), believes Alan Bunce's true birth date to be 1900.
  2. Alan Nugent Bunce (1933-2008) was the son of Alan Coe Bunce and Ruth Elizabeth Nugent Bunce and was born in New York and died in Massachusetts. He was a writer and editor for the Christian Science Monitor. His wife was Joyce Elaine Trautwig Bunce. Their son is Andrew Bunce, who submitted much of the family history in August of 2008.
  3. Ruth Elizabeth Nugent Bunce (ca. 1902-ca. 1978) was an actress who was born in Ohio and was the daughter of J.C. (John Charles) Nugent and Grace Mary Fertig Nugent. She was the sister of Elliott Nugent and the wife of actor Alan Coe Bunce. She was in the original cast of Kempy, a play written and directed (and acted in as well) by her brother and father.
  4. Elliott Nugent (1899-1980) was an actor, playwright, producer and stage performer who entered film with the coming of sound and became a director in 1932. He was born in Dover, Ohio in 1899, attended Ohio State University and died in New York City in 1980. He was the son of J.C. (John Charles) Nugent and Grace Mary Fertig Nugent, and the brother of Ruth Elizabeth Nugent Bunce. He was a close friend of James Thurber and wrote a play with him titled, The male animal. He was married to Norma Lee (d. 1980) and had a daughter Barbara Nugent (d. 1974).
  5. J.C. (John Charles) Nugent (1878-1947) was an stage and film actor, and a playwright and theater commentator for Variety. He was born in Niles, Ohio married to actress Grace Mary Fertig Nugent (d.1930). Some sources state he was born in 1868. Their children were Elliott Nugent and Ruth Elizabeth Nugent Bunce.
  6. Peg Lynch (b.1917-) was a writer and radio actress). She was the creator, writer, and star of the television show, Ethel and Albert.

Much of this data reported by Andrew Bunce in August 2008.

Arrangement

Organized into the following series:

  1. I. Family records
  2. ___A. Correspondence
  3. ___B. Documents
  4. II. Scripts and other compositions
  5. III. Theatrical records

Physical Location

Harvard Depository, b

Processing Information

This finding aid represents only a portion of the full collection.

Title
Bunce family and Nugent family papers, 1891-1978: Guide.
Status
completed
Author
Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
Language of description
und
EAD ID
hou01706

Repository Details

Part of the Houghton Library Repository

Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.

Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.

Contact:
Harvard Yard
Harvard University
Cambridge MA 02138 USA
(617) 495-2440