Jack Wrather and Bonita Granville Wrather Papers. CSLA-23
THE THOMAS AND DOROTHY LEAVEY CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF LOS ANGELES RESEARCH COLLECTION
JACK AND BONITA GRANVILLE WRATHER PAPERS, 1890-1990 (CSLA-23)
COLLECTION TITLE AND NUMBER: Jack and Bonita Granville Wrather Papers, 1890-1990. CSLA-23
ACCESSION NUMBER: 2003.4; gift of Molly Dolle, Chris Wrather, and Linda Finocchiaro
COLLECTION SIZE: 105 archival document boxes, 15 oversize boxes, 6 records storage boxes, 3 flat files
PROCESSING HISTORY: Processed by Susan Jones and Clay Stalls, Department of Archives and Special Collections. Guide written by Clay Stalls and Susan Jones; edited by Clay Stalls. Date: 2003
RELATED COLLECTION: Wrather Investment Corporation Incorporation Records. CSLA-28
The Jack and Bonita Granville Wrather Papers document the considerable careers of this couple in the areas of entertainment, business, and politics. Bonita Granville (1923-1988) ranked with Mickey Rooney and Jackie Cooper as one of the more popular childhood stars in Hollywood's golden era of the 1930s. She parlayed her acumen in entertainment into a very successful career as a producer, especially of the long-running television program "Lassie." Her husband Jack (John Devereaux) Wrather, Jr., a member of Ronald Reagan's kitchen cabinet, had acquired his initial fortune in the Texas oil business, from which he expanded into the entertainment and leisure business in the entrepreneurial spirit that so characterized him. Among his many, many business interests were such resorts as the Disneyland Hotel and the Queen Mary, and the production of television properties, eg, "The Lone Ranger."
The organization and contents of the Jack and Bonita Granville Wrather Papers are explained in this on-line guide to the collection, which can be consulted by selecting the following links:
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Collection and Series descriptions: The collection description provides general information on the types, topics, and research value of the materials found in the collection. The holdings of the Wrather Family Papers have been organized into subject categories called series, which are described in the series descriptions. In turn, the series descriptions have links to box and folder lists, which index each series' folders and contents, and the boxes in which they are stored.
The Research Collection is a program of the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles. To consult the holdings of this collection on-site, please call Loyola Marymount University's Department of Archives and Special Collections at 310-338-2780 or 310-338-7478.