The Alexander Knox papers span the years 1940 to 1996 and encompass five linear feet. The collection consists of production files (produced and unproduced), television files, stage files, correspondence, subject files, and oversize material. Material in the collection covers Knox’s career as an actor and writer for film, television, and the theater.

The production files (produced) document 18 films in which Knox appeared and span his work in Hollywood as well as the British and international productions that dominated much of his later career. The series consists primarily of script material for such films as DAVY (1957), THE DIVIDED HEART (1954), THE MAN IN THE MIDDLE (1964), THE NIGHT MY NUMBER CAME UP (1955), OVER 21 (1945), PUPPET ON A CHAIN (1972), REACH FOR THE SKY (1956), and SHALAKO (1968). Also included are scripts for THE JUDGE STEPS OUT (1949) and SISTER KENNY (1946), both co-written by Knox. Material for WILSON (1944), his best-known role, includes a script, clippings, Knox’s Academy Award nomination certificate, and correspondence from Darryl F. Zanuck, Samuel Goldwyn, Ginger Rogers, and Preston Sturges, among others. The production files (unproduced) consist entirely of correspondence and research for an unproduced film about scientist Frederick Banting.

The television files cover several series and mini-series, primarily for British television. There are scripts for the first four episodes of the mini-series THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH as well as a script and a small amount of production material for Knox’s two-episode guest appearance on the series LOVEJOY. There is a script for one episode of the mini-series OPPENHEIMER, cast lists for the television movie SUEZ 1956, and a script and miscellaneous material for the mini-series TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY. Of interest is a letter from John Irvin, TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY’s director, about Knox’s character Control. There is only a small amount of material on the lost series THE HIDDEN TRUTH, which aired in 1964 and on which Knox played the lead.

The stage files consist primarily of playscripts and correspondence for produced and unproduced stage productions involving Knox. Of interest are the playscripts for THE MASK OF GREEDOCRACY, MR. AND MRS. HARMON, OLD MASTER, and THE CLOSING DOOR, all written by Knox. For the latter, there are also clippings and a program for the 1949 stage production starring Knox, his wife, Doris Nolan, Jo Van Fleet, and Martin Balsam, as well as reviews for a 1964 production featuring Patrick Stewart. There is no material covering his stage work in Boston or London before he began his film career, and nothing regarding Laurence Olivier’s 1940 production of ROMEO AND JULIET in which Knox acted as Friar Laurence. Much of the correspondence in this series concerns unproduced plays and includes letters from Olivier, Tyrone Guthrie, Joseph Losey, John Houseman, and José Ferrer, among others.

The largest series in the collection is the correspondence series. Notable correspondents include Lindsay Anderson, Alan Arkin, Dirk Bogarde, Ingrid Bergman, Kenneth Branagh, Gladys Cooper, Tom Courtenay, Norman Corwin, Constance Cummings and Benn Levy, Robertson Davies, Michael Douglas, Judi Dench, Albert Finney, Edward Fox, Lillian Gish, Alec Guinness, Jack Higgins, Wendy Hiller and Ronald Gow, Sam Jaffe, Stanley Kramer, Michael Kanin, Howard Koch, Elsa Maxwell, Norman Lloyd, Hortense Powdermaker, Ralph Richardson, Flora Robson, Michael Redgrave, Wells Root, Sam Spiegel, John Steinbeck, Robert Wise, Teresa Wright, and Darryl F. Zanuck. There is also correspondence throughout with fellow victims of the blacklist, such as Jules Dassin, Abraham Polonsky, Carl Foreman, Sol Kaplan, Ring Lardner Jr., and Joseph Losey. The most extensive correspondence comes from Philip and Amanda Dunne and includes a letter from Philip Dunne about Ronald Reagan being an informant for the FBI. The subject files include clippings, contracts, material on the Screen Actors Guild and the SAG strike of 1946, material on his wife, Doris Nolan, and essays and speeches written by Knox, including many on acting. There is also a substantial amount of material for his autobiography, much of it in the form of notes. Of interest is the file on the blacklist containing correspondence between Knox and MCA and Knox and Philip Dunne regarding why he had been blacklisted.
The oversize series consists of publicity material and scrapbooks. There is a “Life Magazine” feature on Doris Nolan’s appearance in the stage production DOUGHGIRLS as well as a brochure for Knox’s adventure novel “Night of the White Bear.” The scrapbooks cover Knox’s career in the 1940s in such films as OVER 21, SISTER KENNY, and WILSON. Of interest is a letter from President Woodrow Wilson to the Postmaster of New York City from 1918.

Alexander Knox was a Canadian-born actor and writer of both stage and screen active from 1929 to 1986. He graduated from the University of Western Ontario with a degree in English and soon after moved to Boston, where he made his first appearance on stage in 1929. He spent much of the 1930s in London, England and acted in his first films, including a bit part in THE FOUR FEATHERS (1939).

Knox returned to the United States in 1940 and appeared on Broadway in Laurence Olivier’s production of “Romeo and Juliet.” His appearance in THE SEA WOLF in 1941 marked the beginning of a prolific film career, which included such films as THIS ABOVE ALL (1942), NONE SHALL ESCAPE (1944), SISTER KENNY (1946), and THE JUDGE STEPS OUT (1949), the latter two co-written by Knox. Although he often appeared in supporting roles, Knox starred as President Woodrow Wilson in WILSON (1944) and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. That same year he married the actress Doris Nolan. He also continued his theater work throughout the decade. He acted in Chekov’s “The Three Sisters” opposite Katharine Cornell, Judith Anderson, and Ruth Gordon in 1942. In 1949 he wrote and starred in “The Closing Door” opposite Nolan in a production staged by Lee Strasberg.

Despite his success, Knox was compelled to move to England in the 1950s to avoid the Hollywood Blacklist, in part because of his association with such groups as the Committee for the First Amendment and Progressive Citizens of America, among others. He was able to continue acting in a small number of Hollywood productions, such as HIDDEN FEAR (1957), THE VIKINGS (1958), and THE LONGEST DAY (1962), because they were filmed throughout Europe. He also appeared opposite Ingrid Bergman in Roberto Rossellini’s EUROPA ’51 (1952). However, he largely worked in British film and television for the remainder of his life. His credits during this period include DIVIDED HEART (1954), THE NIGHT MY NUMBER CAME UP (1955), REACH FOR THE SKY (1956), SHALAKO (1968), and PUPPET ON A CHAIN (1972). He also performed the role of “Control” in the mini-series TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY (1979).