ALEXIS SMITH - DOCUMENT DOUBLE SIGNED 07/29/1946 - HFSID 288818

ALEXIS SMITH
Consent form authorizing the Motion Picture Relief Fund to reproduce Alexis Smith's signature and likeness for a series of stamps raising money for needy film industry veterans. The form is signed twice by Smith, once as an autograph sample and again to grant permission. A remarkable, perfectly verified example!
Document signed twice: "Alexis Smith", 1 page, 8½x11. Burbank, California, 1946 July 19. Alexis Smith grants to the Motion Picture Relief Fund, Inc., its successors and assigns, the exclusive right, to use her name, autograph, photographic likeness, or artist's sketch of the likeness, for reproduction on engraved, embossed or printed stamps, and in stamp albums, and in connection with the advertising and exploitation of these stamps and stamp albums for sale throughout the world. Canadian-born actress Alexis Smith (1921-1993), born Gladys Smith, trained as a dancer before being signed by Warner Bros. in 1941. Billed as "The Dynamite Girl" and "The Flame Girl", Smith starred in a number of films, including Gentleman Jim (1942), The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944), The Horn Blows at Midnight (1945), Rhapsody in Blue (1945), Night and Day (1946), Of Human Bondage (1946), Beau James (1957), The Young Philadelphians (1959) and The Age of Innocence (1993). Smith, who also appeared in made-for-TV movies and guested on several TV shows, was equally well known for her stage work. Married to actor Craig Stevens from June 18, 1944 until her death on June 9, 1993, Smith toured with her husband in such musicals as Mary, Mary, Critics Choice and Cactus Flower, and she made several appearances on Broadway, winning a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for Follies (1972). Smith, who was nominated for another Tony for Platinum (1979), also had a successful nightclub act in the 1970s.The Motion Picture Relief Fund was founded in 1921 to assist ill and needy film industry veterans, as expressed in its motto: "We take care of our own." The fund raised money through voluntary payroll deductions and celebrity events. As President of the Fund from 1939 until his death in 1956, film and radio star Jean Hersholt conceived Hollywood Star Stamps as a fundraising method. These stamps, 468 in all, were sold at dime stores after World War II in sheets of 6-12, at 10 cents per sheet, and were an immediate hit with collectors. Now called the Motion Picture and Television Fund, the non-profit organization funds its own hospital and retirement home. It confers the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award annually at the Academy Awards ceremony to "an individual in the motion picture industry whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry." Three filing holes at left edge. Staple holes at top left. Normal mailing folds. Pencil and ink marks (unknown hand). Otherwise, fine condition.