BASIL RATHBONE - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 09/10/1954 - HFSID 257224

BASIL RATHBONE
Rathbone handwrote and signed this letter to Mary Sandman in 1954. In it, he talks about how his play has been disrupted by a hurricane - "We had such splendid review & were hoping for a profitable review" - and how he's rooting for Milwaukee to take the World Series.
Autograph letter signed "Basil Rathbone". 2 pages, 5¼x6¾ (folded), 1 sheet folded, front and verso, on stationery from the Ritz-Carlton in Boston, Massachusetts. Dated "Friday". In full: "Dear Mary, thanks you're your gracious gift. our play has been badly hurt by the hurricane & bad weather. We had such splendid review & were hoping for a profitable review. I have a new play which I want to try out somewhere. Probably on the Coast. The Yankees need re-building especially their pitching - I am rooting for Milwaukee to take the jackpot - wonderful team of youngsters Than you so much, as always for your good thoughts Best wishes, as well Cordially". Lightly toned and creased. Handwriting but not signature is lightly smeared, but still legible. Folded once and unfolded. Otherwise in fine condition. Accompanied by: Original mailing envelope on stationery from the Ritz-Carlton, postmarked Boston, Massachusetts, Sept. 10, 1954 and addressed to "Miss Mary Sandman," Roxbury, Massachusetts. Lightly toned and creased. Postmark touches signature. Blue ink heart in upper left corner in unknown hand. Torn open at top edge. Otherwise in fine condition. Rathbone (1892-1967, born Philip St. John Basil Rathbone in Johannesburg, South Africa), who appeared on Broadway 23 times and won the 1948 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play (The Heiress), is also known for his film work in period costume dramas. He was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor for playing Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet (1936) and King Louis XVI in If I Were King (1938). Rathbone also appeared as Murdstone in David Copperfield (1934), Evremonde in Tale of Two Cities (1935), Pontius Pilate in The Last Days of Pompeii (1936), Karenin in Anna Karenina (1936) and Guy of Gisbourne in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). In 1939, he was cast as Sherlock Holmes in The Hound of the Baskervilles, the first of 14 screen appearances as Conan Doyle's master detective. Rathbone also played Holmes on radio from 1939 to 1946.