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Rose Feinman Papers, 1938-2002

 

Summary

Creator:
Feinman, Rose, 1912-2012
Abstract:
Rose Feinman was an actress and comedienne who only began performing professionally in her 70s. After performing many stand-up comedy shows, writing plays, and working for movies and theaters, she and her husband, Jerome Saul Feinman, decided to retire and moved to Orlando from New York City. She was a member of the Screen Actors Guild (S.A.G.) and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (A.F.T.R.A.). Rose Feinman, 100, passed away at the Jewish Home on December 7, 2012. Her funeral was held at the Farone & Son Inc., Funeral Home in Syracause, New York. The collection includes family and professional photos, scripts, ephemera, correspondence, news clippings, audio and video tapes. Most of the collection is on scripts, poems, and ad music written by Feinman dating from 1938 to 2002.
Extent:
2.75 Linear Feet 4 Boxes
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Rose Feinman Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Central Florida Libraries, Orlando, Florida.

Background

Scope and content:

Rose Feinman Papers organized in four series; Series I contains personal files such as address books, correspondence, certificates, family photos, daily planners, and medical records. Series II includes her business activities such as acting photos, news clippings, publications, scripts, songs and poems. Series III contains total of five scrapbooks she created from 1978 to 1997. Series IV consists of her audio and video collection includes Accu-weather and Heinz Ketchup commmercial advertisements, stand-up comedy shows, and Channel 10: The Best Years of Rose Feinman video recording. Collection also includes three cassettee tapes, Jerry Feinman doing a radio advertisement for Queensboro Dodge dealership in New York, a sound recording from a comedy club, and another cassettee where she does a stand-up.

Biographical / historical:

Rose Feinman, daughter of Benjamin Grossman and Lina Grossman, was born on November 18, 1912. She was a successful sales woman at a chic dress shop. Feinman had a previous marriage that soon ended in divorce, but she remarried around 1949 to Jerome Saul Feinman. They had two daughters Lynne and Mindy. Since Feinman became a first time mother late in life she didn't start truly living for herself until her children left home. Feinman did volunteer work for over a decade for the Cerebral Palsy Association. She started pursuing her acting career around the age of 65, she started off by looking for small acting gigs in the New York Theater. Feinman also wrote and directed plays as well as acted in many places such as Yiddish plays at a Yiddish club. Feinman debuted on many TV commercials and Ads as well. She was a member of the Screen Actors Guild (S.A.G.) and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (A.F.T.R.A.).

Soon after moving to Orlando, Feinman wanted to test out her comedic skills on an open-mic night at a comedy club on International Drive, she had told her husband that she wished she could just go and do it; but, she was very self-critical and doubted herself. Her husband encouraged her and told her she had nothing to lose. Feinman ended up winning the open-mic contest that night. Feinman also received great reviews that night, the judges loved her and told her that she was ready to take her act on the road. Feinman later started doing stand-up comedy on cruise ships, comedy clubs, and even at some theme parks. Rose and Jerome purchased annual passes to Disney as well as a few other theme parks. A few years after she had started doing stand-up comedy her husband developed Alzheimers, which led to her giving up a lot of her free time in order to help care for him. She could no longer travel long distances for fear of something happening to him. When she finally had a chance to leave the house for a few hours she would go to the comedy club. She enjoyed going on stage; hearing the laughter made everything feel better at the time. Feinman later passed away on December 7, 2012 at the age of 100. Her funeral was held at the Farone & Son, Inc., Funeral Home in Syracuse, New York.

Acquisition information:
The collection was donated by Rose Feinman's daughter, Lynne Seid, to the University of Central Florida Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives in 2006 (CFM2006_04).
Processing information:

Collection processed by Karen J. Delacruz, Braneisha Smith, and Suphi Burak Ogreten; finding aid prepared by Suphi Burak Ogreten.

The collection was processed in 2016. Materials were arranged in chronological order and then placed in pH neutral folders and boxes. Photographs, frames, and negatives were placed in polyester sleeves. Files in Binders were put into pH neutral folders. Metal clips and staples have been removed and replaced with plastic clips. Tape on the photographs was removed. Audio and video cassettes were housed in new plastic cases.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Indexed terms

Subjects:
Jewish entertainers
Women Comedians
Places:
Florida

Access and use

Restrictions:

The entire collection is open for research.

Preferred citation:

Rose Feinman Papers, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Central Florida Libraries, Orlando, Florida.

Location of this collection:
John C. Hitt Library
12701 Pegasus Drive, Building 2
Orlando
FL
32816-8030
USA