Fred Fehl was born in Vienna but fled from the Nazis in 1938 and arrived in New York in 1939. He worked as a children's photographer to support himself while he pursued his love of theater by taking live shots of theater productions. He showed his prints to press agents and soon had a thriving career as a theater, dance, and music photographer.

The Fred Fehl Theater Collection consists predominantly of photographs of theater productions and personalities, 1935-1970. Also present are related theater programs, clippings, and scrapbooks, as well as correspondence and manuscripts for (1978), a career retrospective co-written by Fehl with University of Texas professor William Stott. The collection is arranged in series as follows: I. Photographs, 1935-1970, undated, II. Programs, 1940-1971, undated, III. , 1975-1983, and IV. Scrapbooks and Clippings, 1940-1976.

Approximately 8,000 photographs document stagings of plays, primarily on Broadway, including about 450 premiere productions, revivals, and stagings of classics. Images of numerous noted actors in performance are present, as well as a small group of "personality" shots. The great majority of the photographs are 5 × 7″ prints, along with some 8 × 10″ and 11 × 14″ prints. The 5 × 7″ prints are located in Containers 1-27, with larger prints located in Containers 28-30. In addition to the prints, there are slides related to four productions. The folder list that follows, however, collocates all prints, regardless of size, into a single alphabetical listing by show title.

The programs, which remain chronologically organized as Fehl kept them, are mainly from the plays that Fehl photographed, with a few other plays and opera performances represented as well. There is a separate title listing of the programs that can be used in conjunction with this finding aid.

The series concerning the creation of the book, , consists of correspondence, five versions of the manuscript, a prospectus, and other materials that were used in the production of the book. The correspondence is primarily between Fred Fehl and his collaborator, William Stott, although other correspondents appear as well.

The scrapbooks and clippings represent Fehl's work as published in newspapers and magazines, although a few programs were also placed in the scrapbooks. Some of the pieces are autographed by performers. Generally the items concern theater productions, but clippings about opera and classical music performances are also present, with some clippings of dance productions interspersed in the scrapbooks.

In 2006, new material, previously uncataloged, was added to the original inventory. While these additional materials are physically located in Containers 42-44, the folder descriptions have been integrated into the listing of the earlier materials. The Ransom Center Performing Arts Collection also holds the Fred Fehl Dance Collection, which documents Fehl's photography of ballet and dance performances.