Gallu, Samuel Papers

Writer, producer, and director; author of Give ‘em Hell, Harry! (1975).

The papers of Samuel Gallu consist of drafts of his one-man play about President Harry S. Truman, Give ‘em Hell, Harry!

Size: 2.5 linear inches (about 400 pages).
Access: Open.
Copyright: No donation of copyright was received with this collection.
Processed by: Randy Sowell (2022).

Samuel Gallu was born in Woodbine, New Jersey on March 21, 1918. He graduated from Penn State University and served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. After the war, he became a writer, producer, and director of television programs and motion pictures.

Gallu’s one-man play about President Harry S. Truman, Give ‘em Hell, Harry!, premiered at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. on April 17, 1975, before an audience that included President Gerald R. Ford and Margaret Truman Daniel. A film version of the play was released later that year. For his performance as Truman, James Whitmore was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Actor. Gallu gave the original drafts of the play to the Harry S. Truman Library in 1988.

Gallu died in Doylestown, Pennsylvania on March 27, 1991.

The papers of Samuel Gallu consist of drafts of his one-man play about President Harry S. Truman, Give ‘em Hell, Harry! The drafts are mostly typewritten, with handwritten changes and a few segments from printed sources. The papers include a first draft of the play, a second draft, and a revised version of the second draft.

The collection reflects the significant changes that Gallu made in the play from one draft to another. Give ‘em Hell, Harry! premiered on-stage in 1975, with James Whitmore portraying Truman. A film version of the play was released later that same year, and both the stage production and the movie enjoyed great popularity. Along with Merle Miller’s best-selling “oral biography” Plain Speaking, Give ‘em Hell, Harry! presented a positive view of President Truman that was very influential among the public in the years following Truman’s death in 1972.

Gallu’s papers were originally opened for research as part of the Miscellaneous Historical Documents Collection (MHDC 633).