just found out i had a very minor writer/director in the family, chester erskine, which was changed from eckstein. he was my great uncle. looks like the egg and i starring claudette colbert and fred macmurray was his best known work. but he also worked with spencer tracy, robert mitchum, william powell, shelley winters and groucho marx.

his papers are at the nypl.

Chester Erskine (1905-1986) was a director, writer, and producer for theater, film, and television. He was active from the late 1920s through the 1980s. In his early career, he wrote under the pseudonym Paul Leslie. The Chester Erskine papers (1870-1991, bulk 1930-1987) consist largely of scripts, outlines, and film treatments written by Erskine. Not all scripts were produced; some are annotated. Programs, clippings, contracts, and other materials are present for some productions. Productions represented in the collection include Double Murder, Satyr (a script for the original 1930 play and a later screenplay), The Seven Who Resisted, and The Spencer Tracy Legacy: A Tribute by Katharine Hepburn. A photocopy of an annotated script for Harlem (1929) is present. The collection also contains biographical material and articles about Erskine; his notes and poetry; letters to Erskine; and photographs of him and show business colleagues, including two small photographs of Spencer Tracy. One cabinet card, depicting Edwin Booth and dating to about 1870, is also present. Letters date from 1952 to 1991 and discuss Erskine's scripts as well as personal subjects. Correspondents include Robert Whitehead, Garson Kanin, Robert Parrish and his wife Kathie, Arlene Francis, Irwin Shaw, and Vivien Leigh. Some letters are addressed to Erskine's wife, Sally Erskine.