Roosevelt v. Comm'r

43 T.C. 77, 1964 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 26
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedOctober 22, 1964
DocketDocket No. 1580-62
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 43 T.C. 77 (Roosevelt v. Comm'r) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Tax Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Roosevelt v. Comm'r, 43 T.C. 77, 1964 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 26 (tax 1964).

Opinion

Pierce, Judge:

The respondent determined a deficiency in the income tax of the petitioners for their taxable calendar year 1958, in the amount of $88,736.61. The portion of said deficiency here in controversy is approximately $12,647.

The sole issue is whether the sum of $18,615.21 which petitioner, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr., received during the taxable year as his share of certain box office proceeds from a stage play entitled “Sunrise at Campobello” (which play was written and produced after a certain contract relating to the same had been executed by the author and by said petitioner acting on behalf of himself and certain members of his family), constitutes gross income to him under the provisions of section 61 of the 1954 Code; or whether said sum is excludable from his gross income under the provisions of section 104(a) (2) of said Code, on the grounds that it was “indemnity for invasion of right of privacy under New York law,” and hence that it falls within the ambit of the last-mentioned statute which provides an exclusion for “the amount of any damages received (whether by suit or agreement) on account of personal injuries or sickness.”

FINDINGS OF FACT

All the facts have been stipulated, except for certain facts relating to the public careers of the above-named petitioner and his father, as to which the Court has taken judicial notice in accordance with requests and stipulation of the parties. All facts stipulated are so found; and the written stipulation of facts and all exhibits referred to therein and attached thereto are incorporated herein by reference. A summary of the facts so stipulated and found is as follows.

The petitioners, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr., and Suzanne P. Roosevelt, are husband and wife who were residents of the State of New York during the taxable calendar year 1958 here involved. They filed for said year a joint Federal income tax return on the cash basis, with the district director of internal revenue for the Upper Manhattan District in New York City. The issue presented concerns only the husband, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr., whom we will hereinafter refer to as the petitioner.

Petitioner was born on August 17, 1914. He is an attorney at law. In May 1949 he was elected a Member of the House of Representatives from the 20th New York Congressional District. He was reelected to the House of Representatives from the same district in November 1950 and November 1952. In 1954 he was the Democratic Party candidate for attorney general of the State of New York but was defeated in the election therefor in November 1954.

Petitioner’s father, the late Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was Assistant Secretary of the Navy during World War I, was a candidate for Vice President of the United States in 1920, was subsequently Governor of the State of New York, and was President of the United States from 1983 to 1945. In August 1921, he contracted poliomyelitis, also known as infantile paralysis. He died on April 12, 1945. On the above-mentioned date of August 1921, petitioner was 7 years of age.

On or about March 5, 1957, Dore Schary who was an established author and producer of stage plays and motion pictures, prepared and submitted to members of the Roosevelt family, an eight-page typewritten outline of a play which he proposed to write under the title of “Sunrise at Campobello.” The outline stated, in substance and pertinent part, that the proposed play would concern itself with events in those years of the life of the late Franklin Delano Roosevelt (hereinafter referred to as F.D.R.) from August 1921 (when he contracted infantile paralysis) to the spring of 1924 (preceding the nomination by him at Madison Square Garden of Alfred E. Smith as the Democratic Party candidate for President of the United States). The outline also stated that the play would deal primarily with events immediately preceding said illness of F.D.R., his struggle to regain his health, the tensions he and his family endured during those distressing days, the events surrounding his return to activity, and finally his appearance at said 1924 Democratic Convention and his dramatic nomination of A1 Smith “which convinced the world and himself that he was a potential major figure in the realm of politics.” The outline further said that tbe characters who would “form the dramatis personae” would be F.D.R., his wife Eleanor, his mother Sara, his daughter Anna, his sons James, Elliott, John, and petitioner, his doctors, his secretary, his close friend Louis Howe, and other individuals and groups of more incidental character. And it also stated in part:

The intent of the play is to be a tribute to F.D.R. and to those who loved him and supported him. * * *
The material has been sketched, of course, in many biographies. I believe I have read most of these thoroughly. But what is needed to make it a warm, human document in play form is detail — detail that I can obtain from those close to the events. I have no intention to expose or deflate, ridicule or degrade any of those involved. Indeed, there is nothing in my heart or my pen except devotion to the man I worshipped from afar and to the members of his family, some of whom I am proud to know on a personal level.
***** * *
I want the play to ring true — ring clear — and for the future to remain an important testimonial to the Roosevelt family and tradition. Hopefully, the film that will follow will put on celluloid these same events as a permanent visual record of those days of ordeal.

And then after setting forth “a sketchy outline of the play,” it concluded:

Summing up — I believe F.D.R.’s story is a tremendous one to tell, in play and on film. I offer my talents, my devotion and my time and some considerable sacrifice of income to the creation of this work. The Roosevelt family will contribute its confidence, some of its time and its knowledge.
Among us, something good can be built.
If the Roosevelt family cannot enter into this with full cooperation and faith in me — it is futile for me to attempt this task, which, to me, would be a true labor of love.

Thereafter following approval of said outline by members of the Roosevelt family, a written agreement was executed which provided in pertinent part as follows:

Ageeement made this 10th day of July, 1957 between DORE SCHARY (herein called “Schary”) and FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT, JR. (herein called “Roosevelt”), acting on behalf of himself and his siblings, ANNA, JAMES, ELLIOTT AND JOHN ROOSEVELT (all of whom are herein collectively called the “Roosevelt Family”), at New York, N.Y.

WITNESSETH:

Whereas, Schary has expressed a desire to write a play dealing generally with the life of the late President Franklin D. Roosevelt from the period during which he contracted poliomyelitis to the general period of the 1924 Democratic National Oonvention: and
Whereas, Schary has written an eight (8) page outline of such proposed play (annexed hereto and made a part hereof), which outline has been approved by the Roosevelt Family: and

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Perez v. Commissioner
144 T.C. No. 4 (U.S. Tax Court, 2015)
Carey v. Commissioner
1997 T.C. Memo. 434 (U.S. Tax Court, 1997)
Thorpe v. Commissioner
1997 T.C. Memo. 342 (U.S. Tax Court, 1997)
Lubart v. Commissioner
1997 T.C. Memo. 343 (U.S. Tax Court, 1997)
Gajda v. Commissioner
1997 T.C. Memo. 345 (U.S. Tax Court, 1997)
Phillips v. Commissioner
1997 T.C. Memo. 336 (U.S. Tax Court, 1997)
Brennan v. Commissioner
1997 T.C. Memo. 317 (U.S. Tax Court, 1997)
Earl v. Commissioner
1997 T.C. Memo. 278 (U.S. Tax Court, 1997)
United States v. Dorothy R. Garber
589 F.2d 843 (Fifth Circuit, 1979)
Roosevelt v. Comm'r
43 T.C. 77 (U.S. Tax Court, 1964)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
43 T.C. 77, 1964 U.S. Tax Ct. LEXIS 26, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/roosevelt-v-commr-tax-1964.