Writer in Action: The Alvin Boretz Collection

From the early 1960s until the late 1970s, Alvin Boretz continually wrote for popular television series that flourished on various networks. While he was simultaneously writing for anthology series like Armstrong Circle Theater and The Alcoa Hour, he balanced that work with writing for series like Dr. Kildare (1961-1966), The Nurses (1962-1965), N.Y.P.D. (1967-1969), Kojak (1973-1978), The Mod Squad (1968-1973), and The Wardens (1974).

Similar to his work in the anthology series, Boretz's writings for series like Dr. Kildare allowed him to intensely focus on gathering information and research surrounding his chosen subject. His most notable episode for this series was "Witch Doctor." The episode focuses on a young woman named Karen who suffered a bad fall, and after numerous visits to the hospital, she meets Dr. Kildare, who figures out that she needs brain surgery. However, due to her fear of hospitals, Karen visits Dr. Jason, an ATO therapy doctor, who lies to her about his medical practices. For this story, Boretz wrote the Department of Justice for information and received the "Law Enforcement and Medical Quackery" handbook from 1961. It details the relationship between the Criminal Division of the Justice Department and the Food and Drug Administration officials in their quest to stop medical malpractice and the companies selling fake products. One company that Boretz found promotional material for was the Atomotrone Production Company out of Lubbock, Texas. These "Atomotrones" were an "amazing new treatment" that processed water into water with the "energy in sunlight." His research on this episode demonstrates another example of Boretz's intense desire to bring current events into his storylines to create a more informed general public.

In other scripts from the late 1960s and 1970s, Boretz focused more on maintaining continuity for the characters and writing storylines that would incorporate important elements of the character's profession. For The Nurses, that meant writing storylines around the main characters, Liz Thorpe and Gail Lucas. In the episode "The Seeing Heart," the pair of nurses bring together a young boy who has recently gone blind and an old priest who has been blind for many years as a way to build a relationship based on mutual experiences. For The Warden, the script meant researching the Department of Correction and daily life in a prison. He even wrote Gerald T. Houlihen, a Public Relations Officer, to obtain a visit to a minimum security prison. He received an Inmates' Rule Book from the New York Department of Correction and, in his notes, made a list of prison slang to be able to communicate an honest account of a warden's job.

While these series gave him more stable work during this period, they also maintained more heavy oversight for Boretz's writing on the scripts. For example, his episode "The Siege" for The Warden had three pages of notes on its descriptions, locations, and Boretz's decision to make the Warden a Black man. Additionally, due to the complexities of the industry and its rapid growth in the 1970s, some of Boretz's jobs ended with the breaking of a contract. One example of this occurred in 1970 when ABC broke its contract with Boretz to write more episodes for The Mod Squad due to Boretz's distance from Hollywood on the East Coast.

The Eternal Light "Immortal Journey" Set Design Drawing

While he was writing for popular series on various networks, Boretz also took time to write for series that were aligned with his faith and told stories that would spread awareness about Jewish communities and culture. The Eternal Light series, a collaboration between NBC and the Jewish Theological Seminary, ran from 1944 until 1989 on both radio and television as part of the Sunday morning religious programming. Boretz's story, "Immortal Journey: The Story of Sojourner Truth"  (1964) was one of the televised episodes that received attention from the station, and drawings from the set design for the story are held within Boretz's collection.

In addition to his narrative scripts, Boretz's friendship with the Kennedy and Shriver families led to his job writing the bi-annual Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. International Awards presentations during the 1960s. The awards celebrated scientific research, training, and education on mental disabilities. The Foundation supported a cause that Boretz was personally invested in, so the offer to write the script for the ceremony was a major event for him. He also wrote the script for The Stars Salute, a program by the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York, that celebrates film and television stars who are involved with humanitarian causes. Stars such as Lauren Bacall, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and Dick Van Dyke were honored at these ceremonies.

Throughout all of his work during this period, Boretz was able to remain faithful to his passion for research and select jobs that would allow him to spread awareness of important current events that would help his audiences become better informed of the world.