Betty Corwin

Betty L. Corwin (November 19, 1920 – September 10, 2019) was an American theater archivist, known for her creation in 1970 of what would become the Theater on Film and Tape Archive of the New York Library for the Performing Arts.[1] Corwin proposed the idea of the archive to the library, volunteering her services for the first four years.[2][3][4] She would go on to direct the archive for 31 years,[5][6] retiring from the position in 2000.[7]

Betty Corwin
Born
Betty Linkoff

(1920-11-19)November 19, 1920
New York City, U.S.
DiedSeptember 10, 2019(2019-09-10) (aged 98)
Weston, Connecticut, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
OccupationTheater archivist
Spouse
Henry Corwin
​
(m. 1943)​
AwardsTony Award (2001)
League of Professional Theater Women, Lifetime Achievement Award (2017)

Life and career

Corwin was born as Betty Linkoff in New York City to James Linkoff, a bookmaker, and Mae (née Rosenberg) Linkoff, a homemaker, but grew up in Manhattan. While working as a script reader in a theatrical office, she met Henry Corwin, a dermatologist. She married him in 1943 and then moved with him first to Westport and then finally settling in Weston, Connecticut. While living in Weston, she established and managed a bookstore in Westport while volunteering at the psychiatric emergency department of Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx, New York.[2]

She died September 10, 2019, in Weston, Connecticut.[2]

Awards

She received a special Tony Award in 2001 for her efforts to archive theater performances.[3] In 2017 she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the League of Professional Theater Women.[8][9]

References
  1. Stam, David H. (2016). International Dictionary of Library Histories. p. 131. ISBN 9781136777851.
  2. Collins-Hughes, Laura (September 17, 2019). "Betty Corwin, Who Preserved Theater's Legacy, Dies at 98". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 18, 2019. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  3. Clement, Olivia; Peikert, Mark (September 17, 2019). "Betty Corwin, Creator of the Theater on Film and Tape Archive, Dies at 98". Playbill. Archived from the original on September 18, 2019. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  4. "New York". June 2001. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  5. Greene, Alexis (September 18, 2004). Lucille Lortel: The Queen of Off Broadway. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 307. ISBN 9780879103026.
  6. "Thanks to Betty Corwin, Broadway's Best Live on in Film". The New York Observer. November 17, 2017. Archived from the original on August 12, 2018. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  7. American Theatre. Vol. 17. 2000.
  8. "Betty Corwin to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award". AMERICAN THEATRE. October 27, 2017. Archived from the original on December 31, 2017. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  9. "Betty Corwin Awarded for Archiving Thousands of Theater Performances on Video". HuffPost. November 15, 2017. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
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