Ronald L. Davis Oral History Collection

Fred Astaire Interview
by Ronald L. Davis [excerpt]

Yul Brynner Interview
by Ronald L. Davis [excerpt]

Rosemary Clooney Interview
by Ronald L. Davis [excerpt]

Edith Head Interview
by Ann Burk [excerpt]

Gregory Peck Interview
by Ronald L. Davis
[Part III excerpt]

Maria Tallchief Interview
by Ann Burk [excerpt]

About the Collection

Holding library: DeGolyer Library

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Overview

The Ronald L. Davis Oral History Collection comprises more than 500 oral history interviews that were transcribed from taped interviews conducted in the 1970s and 1980s. The interviewees are from all branches of the performing arts, but the emphasis is on motion pictures and popular music. Many interviewees give detailed accounts of personal experience and reflections from their professional career. The interviews were conducted primarily by Ronald L. Davis (1933-2022), Professor of History at Southern Methodist University (1965-2001), under the formerly named “Southern Methodist University Oral History Program.” Davis was the originator of this collection while in the History Department. Upon his retirement from SMU after 35 years of teaching, the collection was named in his honor.

As described by Dr. Davis in 1988, “The Southern Methodist University Oral History Program was begun in 1972 [as] a part of the University's DeGolyer Institute for American Studies. The goal of the program was to gather primary source material for future writers and cultural historians on all branches of the performing arts - opera, ballet, the concert stage, theater, films, radio, television, burlesque, vaudeville, popular music, jazz, the circus, and miscellaneous amateur and local productions. The Collection is particularly strong, however, in the areas of motion pictures and popular music and includes interviews with celebrated performers as well as a wide variety of behind-the-scenes personnel, several of whom are now deceased. Most interviews are biographical in nature, although some are focused exclusively on a single topic of historical importance. 

“The Program aims at balancing national developments with examples from local history. Interviews with members of the Dallas Little Theater, therefore, serve to illustrate a nation-wide movement, while film exhibition across the country is exemplified by the Interstate Theater Circuit of Texas. The interviews have all been conducted by trained historians, who attempt to view artistic achievements against a broad social and cultural backdrop. Many of the persons interviewed, because of educational limitations or various extenuating circumstances, would never write down their experiences, and therefore valuable information on our nation's cultural heritage would be lost were it not for the S.M.U. Oral History Program.”

The level of access to each interview is determined by the terms of its corresponding consent form, signed by the interviewee, as well as copyright law. This digital collection makes available excerpts of the interviews; some restrictions allow only the metadata to be viewed. Please cite DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University when citing the collection. For more information, contact degolyer@smu.edu.

Digital Collection Highlights

• Maria Tallchief Interview by Ann Burk [excerpt], June 5-6, 1974
• Robert Thiele Interview by Ronald L. Davis [excerpt], August 3, 1974
• “Mississippi” Sam Chatmon Interview by Stephen R. Tucker [excerpt], April 19, 1974
• Gregory Peck Interview by Ronald L. Davis [excerpt], six parts, 1974-1980
• Rosemary Clooney Interview by Ronald L. Davis [excerpt], January 25, 1975
• Adolph Zukor Interview by Ronald L. Davis [excerpt], July 29, 1975
• Herbert Greene Interview by Ann Burk [excerpt], August 10, 1976
• Carolyn Jones Interview by Ronald L. Davis [excerpt], August 3, 1976
• Yul Brynner Interview by Ronald L. Davis [excerpt], August 1, 1975
• Fred Astaire Interview by Ronald L. Davis [excerpt], July 31, 1976
• Edith Head Interview by Ann Burk [excerpt], July 29, 1975

Ron Davis Oral History Interview

Pam Lange interviewed Ron Davis, Professor of History, on March 28, 2003, as part of the SMU Video Archive Series. In the interview, SMU History Professor and oral historian Ron Davis discussed his career at SMU, which began in 1965 and spanned three decades. He described how he transitioned from a traditional history background to become an oral historian specializing in the performing arts.