of the University of California at Los Angeles holds a number of Cham-
pion's personal copies of scripts, as well as legal pads on which he
mapped out strategies for different numbers. Each contains a wealth of
revisions, and often frustrated scrawlings as well. For patience and in-
valuable aid in dealing with this difficult material I would like to thank
Hilda Bohem of UCLA. The Theatre Collection of the University of
Wisconsin was also helpful in locating scripts. In connection with script
analysis, I would particularly like to thank Michael Stewart. His patience
and kindness in opening his files to me made the degree of analysis
contained here possible. It was at his kitchen table that the lion's share
of script analysis was accomplished.

The third major method of gathering information was through inter-
views. In the course of the research I spoke with persons who had
worked with Champion at the very beginning of his career as well as
those who were with him when he died. To all those who opened up
their memories to my curiosity, and often their homes and hearts as well,
I owe a debt, not only of gratitude but of friendship. If a person's real
legacy is the friends he leaves behind, Champion truly has blessed me
with wealth beyond measure.

I would like to thank Brooks McNamara for his endless patience and
expert guidance. I would also like to mention colleagues and friends
without whose expertise and support this volume would be not only
poorer but slimmer. I would like to thank Ellen Holt and the David
Merrick office for their kindness. For their help in research I am espe-
cially grateful to John Butz, Barbara Cohen-Stratynor, Don Littell, Julie
Malnig, and Tony Manzi. For constant support and friendship, I would
like to thank Pat McEnnis and Winn Blostic. And, most especially, I
would like to express my gratitude to Bob Littell, without whose patience
and perseverance this book simply would not exist at all.

Finally, I would like to thank Champion's partners. In his life and in
his career, these were his companions and collaborators. I consider it a
rare privilege to have met these remarkable women and to count them
among my friends. So, to Jeanne Tyler Estridge, Marge Champion Sagal,
and Karla Russell Champion, this book is affectionately dedicated.

David Payne-Carter

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