Series 8: Jenny Hecht Materials, 1943-1973
Scope and Contents note
Paintings, drawings, sketches, writings, correspondence, personal papers, diaries and notebooks, scrapbooks, and documents relating to the acting career of Jenny Hecht (prompt books, notes, publicity, reviews, etc.) Includes information about roles performed when Jenny was still a child (such as Midsummer, Simone, The Diary of Anne Frank, and Concerning a Woman of Sin), as well as her involvement as an adult actor in The Living Theatre. Artwork ranges from her drawings and paintings she did as a child, to a notebook of beautiful drawings of windows she drew while travelling around Europe, to her homemade deck of Tarot cards, which she consulted daily. Correspondence is from fellow actors and friends of her parents', as well as her friends Carol Fegte and Gerry Jedd (who died in 1962.) All of the scrapbooks were compiled by Jenny except the first, which is a keepsake scrapbook about Jenny's birth, filled with congratulatory letters, family photographs, and original poetry by both Ben Hecht and Carl Sandburg.
Dates
- Creation: 1943-1973
Creator
- From the Collection: Hecht, Ben, 1894-1964 (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
The Ben Hecht papers are open for research in the Special Collections Reading Room; 5 folders at a time maximum (Priority II).
Biographical/Historical note
Jenny Hecht was born to Ben and Rose Hecht on July 30, 1943. Her stage debut was on the Ed Sullivan Show, playing Helen Hayes in The Helen Hayes Story. She studied at the American Academy of Dramatic art, as well as in schools in London, Paris, and Rome. As a child and teenager, she performed on stage, in movies, and on television, alongside prominent actors such as Eddie Albert, Geraldine Page, Helen Hayes, and Billie Burke. In 1963, Jenny joined an experimental theater group called The Living Theatre, which was based in New York but moved to Europe after the theater was shut down by the IRS for nonpayment of taxes. The Living Theatre was highly experimental and improvisational, and it was with them that Jenny met her boyfriend Steve, who was also a member of the group, and who her mother Rose referred to as "The Blob" and "Nowhere Man." Jenny moved to Los Angeles in 1971 to take a small role in the biker film The Jesus Trip, and after completing this movie she was found dead in her hotel room of a drug overdose; whether the overdose was accidental or suicide was not determined.
Arrangement note
Arranged alphabetically by type or subject of document, with large-size scrapbooks at the end of the series.
Repository Details
Part of the The Newberry Library - Modern Manuscripts and Archives Repository
60 West Walton Street
Chicago Illinois 60610 United States
312-255-3512
reference@newberry.org