Title: W. Ray Wilson Jr. Papers

Dates: 1925-1971, bulk 1933-1963

Collection Number: WGF-MS-139

Creator/Collector: W. Ray Wilson

Extent: 6 boxes, 7.5 feet

Repository: Writers Guild Foundation Archive

Abstract: The W. Ray Wilson Papers contains scripts, treatments, pitches, and correspondence relating to the career of radio and television writer W. Ray Wilson. The bulk of this collection consists of radio scripts, most notably the Roy Rogers Show.

Language of Material: English

Available by appointment only. Please contact the Writers Guild Foundation Archive, www.wgfoundation.org

The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.

[Identification of item]. W. Ray Wilson Jr. Papers. Collection Number: WGF-MS-139. Writers Guild Foundation Archive

Donated by family of W. Ray Wilson on November 1, 2022.

W. Ray Wilson Jr. was born in Illinois to Reverend Willis Ray Wilson and Alma Haas Wilson on February 12, 1907. He got his start as a writer and producer with the radio station WLW Cincinnati and CBS in Chicago in the 1930s, before moving to Los Angeles in the 1940s. He married dancer Marion Jones (b. 1913), stage name Marion Dixon, on April 15, 1939 in Cincinnati. They had three sons, David, Paul, and Robert Wilson. The most notable work of his career was his writing on the Roy Rogers Show, both for radio and television. Between 1948 and 1953, he wrote upwards of 150 episodes of Roy Rogers. During World War II, Wilson wrote for government-sponsored programs, such as Gene Autry’s Melody Ranch, The First Line, and The Unknown Soldier. He eventually moved back to the Midwest and continued to write through the 1950s and 1960s, working on industrial films for companies like the Jam Handy Organization and Chevrolet. Wilson died on January 16, 1963 in Detroit.

The W. Ray Wilson Papers, 1925-1971, contain scripts, treatments, pitches, and correspondence relating to the career of radio and television writer W. Ray Wilson. The collection is organized into three series. Series I: The Roy Rogers Show, 1948-1953 consists of scripts and outlines for The Roy Rogers radio show during both its Quaker Oats and General Foods sponsorships. It also contains select scripts written by W. Ray Wilson from the first three seasons of the television show, which aired on NBC. Additionally, there is correspondence between Ray Wilson and agent and producer Martin Stone regarding the transition from Roy Rogers radio show to television and film, contract negotiations, switching networks, and sales of new scripts/programs. There is a discussion of Wilson acquiring rights to Mark Twain properties from his family and a discussion of actor Gabby Hayes; Christmas cards from Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, and their children; and notes for a Roy Rogers newspaper column. Series II: Radio Shows, 1933-1952 includes radio scripts, pitches, contracts, and related professional papers. Series II is organized into three subseries. Subseries A: WLW Scripts, 1936-1939 includes radio scripts from the early part of Wilson’s career, when he worked for WLW Cincinnati. Titles include Mariondi, Man of Mars (cowritten by Pauline Hopkins), My Lucky Break, A Seat in the Gallery, and The Nation’s Playhouse. Subseries B: Western Scripts, 1936-1947, is composed of 36 episodes of Romance of the Ranchos, along with other westerns Wilson worked on prior to Roy Rogers, like Gene Autry’s Melody Ranch and All-Star Western Theatre. Subseries C: Other Radio Scripts and Materials, 1933-1952, contains all of Wilson’s other radio scripts, outlines, pitches, contracts, and other related professional papers. Significant titles include Gateway to Hollywood, The Parker Family, Scattergood Baines, and Murder Will Out. Subseries C also includes multiple writer contracts, wartime scripts, and a copy of the Radio Writers Guild Constitution. Series III: Professional and Personal Materials, 1925-1971, contains the rest of Wilson’s collection—pitches and scripts for television and film; short stories and story ideas; unproduced projects; newspaper clippings; and personal ephemera. The series is divided into three subseries. Subseries A: Ideas and Stories, 1934-1961, comprises Wilson’s (mostly unproduced) work for film and television, along with short stories and story ideas, and one unpublished satirical book titled Sing Me a Baby. Subseries B: Industrial Film, 1956-1963, includes Wilson’s non-narrative writing, such as corporate films produced by the Jam Handy Organization, and films for Chevrolet’s 1960 Product Convention. Subseries C: Personal Materials, 1925-1971, consists of newspaper clippings, correspondence with family, bills and receipts, and school certificates and commencement programs. The bulk of this subseries predates Wilson’s radio career.