Research Guides: Theatre Research Guide: Biographical Resources

Biographical Resources

Use the general indexes, databases, Internet links, and printed reference tools listed below to find people.

Information about people may be located in general biographical indexes and directories, as well as general theater encyclopedias. You should also consult theater-specific biographical indexes and directories such as the titles listed below. There are many more biographical resources in the library's reference collection. Some people, regardless of how prominent they are in their community or in highly specialized fields, simply may not have books, articles, or directory entries written about them. Local newspapers may contain some biographical information about local performers, directors, and dramatists, especially announcements about performances.

OneSearch Manoa is an important tool for finding many biographical sources. Several broad subject terms that can be used in keyword searches for finding biographical resources are listed below:

19th Century Actors Photographs
This University of Washington database consists of over 600 photographs including cartes-de-visite and cabinet card studio portraits of entertainers, actors, and actresses who performed on the American stage in the mid- to late 1800s. Many of these actors and actresses were little known outside of the major theater centers of New York City, Philadelphia, and Boston.
American and British Theatrical Biography : a Directory (printed book)
Located in Hamilton Reference, click on title for call number.
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Printed resource. Use in library. Click on the title to see the library catalog record with the call number.
American National Biography (printed book)
Located in Hamilton Reference, click on title for call number.
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Printed resource. Use in library. Click on the title to see the library catalog record with the call number.
A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers & Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800 (printed book)
Located in Hamilton Reference, click on title for call number.
The most extensive biographical resource for Restoration and 18th-century theater..
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Printed resource. Use in library. Click on the title to see the library catalog record with the call number.
The Biographical Encyclopaedia & Who's Who of the American Theatre (printed book)
Located in Hamilton Reference, click on title for call number.
Over 3,500 biographies of persons in American theater since 1900. Credits in theater, films, and television and radio, publications and recordings. Lists of New York productions, playbills, playwrights, groups, buildings, awards, lists of biographies. The Necrology lists 9,000 people who have contributed to development of theater and film in America from earliest days through August 1964.
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Printed encyclopedia. Use in library. Click on the title to see the library catalog record with the call number.

Biography and Genealogy Master Index
A first stop index tool for learning where to look for biographical material on people from all time periods, geographical locations and fields of endeavor. Indexes nearly 12 million biographical sketches in more than 2700 volumes and editions of current and retrospective reference books..

Contemporary Theatre, Film, and Television (printed book)
Located in Hamilton Reference, click on title for call number.
Biographical and career information on more than 20,000 professionals currently working in the entertainment industry, including performers, choreographers, directors, technicians, writers, composers, producers, executives, designers, critics and more. Includes birth dates, parental and marriage information, education and professional training, affiliations, writings, recordings, awards, nominations, and memberships.
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Printed resource. Use in library. Click on the title to see the library catalog record with the call number.
Critical Survey of Drama (printed book)
Located in Hamilton Reference, click on title for call number.
The 8-volume set contains 602 essays, of which 538 discuss individual dramatists and 64 cover overview topics. The set also contains a listing of major dramatic awards, a time line of drama history, a glossary, and bibliography.
Included an extended biographical sketch that centers on the writer's development as a dramatist, and an extensive critical analysis of the writer's major dramatic works.
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Printed resource. Use in library. Click on the title to see the library catalog record with the call number.
Dramatists (printed book)
Located in Hamilton Reference, click on title for call number.
A guide to 300 living playwrights of the English language. Includes a biography, bibliography, location of manuscript collections, list of critical studies, and essay by a critic. Includes list of screen writers, radio writers, television writers, musical librettists, theaters of mixed means, theater collections.
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Printed resource. Use in library. Click on the title to see the library catalog record with the call number.
Notable Names in the American Theatre (printed book)
Located in Hamilton Reference, click on title for call number.
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Printed resource. Use in library. Click on the title to see the library catalog record with the call number.
Notable Playwrights (printed book)
Located in Hamilton Reference, click on title for call number.
This 3-volume set contains biographical sketches and critical studies of 106 of the most important and best-known dramatists from antiquity to the present day--72 are English-language writers and 34 are foreign-language writers whose works are widely studied in translation, including ancient Greek and Roman playwrights up to European, American, Asian, and African writers of the present century.
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Printed resource. Use in library. Click on the title to see the library catalog record with the call number.
Performing Arts Biography Master Index (printed book)
Located in Hamilton Reference, click on title for call number.
A consolidated index to over 270,000 biographical sketches of persons living and dead, as they appear in over 100 of the principal biographical dictionaries devoted to the performing arts.
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Printed resource. Use in library. Click on the title to see the library catalog record with the call number.
Stage Lives : a Bibliography and Index to Theatrical Biographies in English (printed book)
Located in Hamilton Reference, click on title for call number.
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Printed resource. Use in library. Click on the title to see the library catalog record with the call number.
Stage Deaths : a Biographical Guide to International Theatrical Obituaries, 1850 to 1990 (printed book)
Located in Hamilton Reference, click on title for call number.
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Printed resource. Use in library. Click on the title to see the library catalog record with the call number.
Who Was Who in the Theatre, 1912-1976 (printed book)
Located in Hamilton Reference, click on title for call number.
A biographical dictionary of actors, actresses, directors, playwrights, and producers of the English-speaking theatre.
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Printed resource. Use in library. Click on the title to see the library catalog record with the call number.