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Title and statement of responsibility area
Title proper
William Weintraub fonds
General material designation
Moving images
Multiple media
Textual record
Parallel title
Other title information
Title statements of responsibility
Title notes
- Source of title proper: Title based on creator of the fonds.
Level of description
Fonds
Repository
Reference code
CA RBD MSG 1177
Edition area
Edition statement
Edition statement of responsibility
Class of material specific details area
Statement of scale (cartographic)
Statement of projection (cartographic)
Statement of coordinates (cartographic)
Statement of scale (architectural)
Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)
Dates of creation area
Date(s)
-
between approximately 1932 and 2010 (Creation)
- Creator
- Weintraub, William, 1926-2017
Physical description area
Physical description
32 containers
Publisher's series area
Title proper of publisher's series
Parallel titles of publisher's series
Other title information of publisher's series
Statement of responsibility relating to publisher's series
Numbering within publisher's series
Note on publisher's series
Archival description area
Name of creator
(1926-2017)
Biographical history
William Weintraub was born in Montreal on February 19, 1926, and was educated at McGill University. He was a film producer, script writer, novelist, and journalist. He joined the Montreal Gazette as a reporter in the 1950s and later Weekend Magazine. He worked for the National Film Board for over twenty years. His interest in Canadian history is testified by films such as: Turn of the Century, Between Two Wars, Salute to Fight, and Struggle for a Border. In 1955 he was part of the Canadian delegation in the UNESCO Conference on Films and Television in Tangier, Morocco. In 1973 he was a member of the jury at the Cracow Film Festival, Poland. He also served on the pre-selection jury for the Cannes Film Festival and the Quebec Society for the Promotion of English-Language Literature awards jury. From 1976 to1978, he was Director of English Programming at the National Film Board and during that time he visited the film industry in China. He lectured extensively. His satire Why Rock the Boat? became a best-seller and he is also famous for The Underdogs, reflecting his interest in the political situation of Quebec, and his most recent work Crazy about Lily which pictures life in Montreal in the 1940s. In 2004 he was made Officer of the Order of Canada. William Weintraub died in Montreal in 2017.
Custodial history
Scope and content
The William Weintraub fonds documents Weintraub's career in documentary film and literature covering the period between approximately 1950 to 2000. The fonds falls into four series: (1) literary correspondence, (2) literary activities, (3) documentary filmmaking, and (4) biographical materials, personal correspondence, and career ephemera, documenting Weintraub's early life as well as theatre programs, pamphlets, and other collected material. Weintraub's career as a documentary film maker both as a freelance and with the NFB (1965-1986) with some 150 films to his credit is well documented including his work in Africa. The material includes scripts, research notes and correspondence. In some cases copies of the films are included. Material related to the NFB also includes newsletters, office files, and correspondence. The material documenting Weintraub's literary career includes drafts, proofs, correspondence and reviews for his two novels Why Rock the Boat? (1961) and The Underdogs (1979). In addition, the former was made into a film and extensive files relate to this. The latter novel was adapted for the stage and drafts, publicity and material relating to the controversy it aroused are included. Weintraub's book on Montreal in 1940s and 1950s City Unique (1996) is documented with extensive research files, drafts, reviews and correspondence. The literary correspondence with Mavis Gallant (127 letters), Brian Moore (603 letters) and Mordecai Richler (210 letters) constitutes a major source for the study of three prominent Canadian writers in the last half of the twentieth century. In addition, there are copies of 280 letters from Weintraub to Moore and 123 copies of letters from Weintraub to Richler. While the Gallant correspondence dates primarily from the 1980s with only 8 letters from 1950-1951, the Moore and Richler correspondence is continuous from the 1950s. This latter correspondence reveals the close involvement of Weintraub in the development of the work of both Moore and Richler.
Notes area
Physical condition
Immediate source of acquisition
Acquired from William Weintraub in two accruals, 2002 and 2010.
Arrangement
Language of material
English
Script of material
Location of originals
Availability of other formats
Restrictions on access
Materials in Box R-1177-01 (Mavis Gallant correspondence) are closed until 2025.
Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication
Finding aids
Box list available.
Fonds is also described in the McGill Library catalogue.
Associated materials
Accruals
Alternative identifier(s)
Standard number
Standard number
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- National Film Board of Canada (Subject)