LibGuides: Theatre Research Resources: Reference & Biographies

General Reference Tools

The Cambridge Guide to Theatre by Martin Banham, ed.
Call Number: PN2035 C363, Music & Performing Arts Reference
Information on theatre past and present in all parts of the world. Also available online to University of Illinois users.
The Dramatists Guild Resource Directory by Dramatists Guild
Call Number: 792.029573 D79d1 (Music & Performing Arts Ready Reference; Main Stacks)
The Oxford Companion to American Theatre by Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak
Call Number: PN2220 B672004 (Music & Performing Arts Reference)
Covers the American stage from its beginnings to present; includes playwrights, plays, actors, directors, producers, songwriters, famous playhouses, and dramatic movements.

Literature Resource Center
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Offers biographies, bibliographies, and critical analyses of authors from every age and literary discipline.

Biographies

American Actors and Actresses: a Guide to Information Sources by Stephen M. Archer
Call Number: PN2285 A73A4 (Music & Performing Arts Reference; also in Main Stacks and Undergrad: 016.79143 AR24A)
Lists and describes major published sources of information about American actors from the beginning of American professional theatre to 1983.
American and British Theatrical Biography by J.P. Wearing
Call Number: PN2285 W43A4 (Music & Performing Arts Reference; also in Main Reference: 792.0295 W375A)
Directory for locating biographical information about historical figures in American and British theatre.
Contemporary Dramatists by Thomas Riggs, ed.
Call Number: PN1721 C6681999 (Music & Performing Arts Ref.; also in Main Reference: Q.928.22 V78c1999)
Provides brief biographical and bibliographic information for dramatists, as well as contact information when available.
Notable Names in the American Theatre by Walter Rigdon
Call Number: PN2285 N683
Excellent source for information about theatrical figures who were famous before 1976.
Stage Deaths: a Biographical Guide to International Theatrical Obituaries, 1850-1990 by George B. Bryan
Call Number: PN2205 S734 (Music & Performing Arts Reference)
Comprehensive two-volume list of theatrical figures' birth/death dates, and where their obituaries were published.
Stage Lives: a Bibliography and Index of Theatrical Biographies in English by George B. Bryan
Call Number: Z5781 S734 (Music & Performing Arts Reference)
Lists and describes published biographies and autobiographies about notable figures in world theatre from the beginnings to 1985.
Variety Obituaries, 1905-1994
Call Number: Q.790.20922 V4272 (Main Reference)
15 volumes. Reprints of obituaries published in the entertainment trade journal Variety, arranged chronologically with indexes. (Vol. 11 is the index to all previous volumes, and subsequent volumes have their own indexes).
Who's Who in the Theatre by Ian Herbert, ed.
Call Number: PN2012 W467 (Music & Performing Arts Reference)
Biographies of notable figures in American and British theatre.
Who Was Who in the Theatre, 1912-1976
Call Number: PN2597 W469 (Music & Performing Arts Reference; also available at Oak Street: 927.92 W622)
A 4-volume biographical dictionary of actors, actresses, directors, playwrights and producers of the English-speaking theatre.

Dictionary of Literary Biography Complete Online
Call Number: Online Resource, available to University of Illinois users
Information about playwrights and bibliographies for further reading.

Online Reference Tools

See also the "Internet Links" tab of this guide.