BASIL RATHBONE - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 10/09/1956 - HFSID 257225

BASIL RATHBONE
Rathbone handwrote, signed and dated this letter to Mary Sandman from New York in 1956. In it, he writes about his adopted daughter Cynthia looking for a job and a role in a "Dec. 28th T. V Spectacular in which I have 5 singing number as old Scrooge!" He also writes that his summer was quiet because he didn't like any of the summer stock plays offered to him.
Autograph letter signed "Basil Rathbone". 2 pages, 5½x8½ (folded), 1 sheet folded, front and verso. New York City, Oct. 9, 1956. In full: "Dear Miss Sandman, Thanks your yours. Cynthia had 3 wonderful months in Europe - now she is home again & shopping for a job. She is rather talented in many fields & will take her time making up her mind. She has an offer from United Nations. For summer was slow - I would not go out in Summer Stock as all the plays offered me were of a very poor quality. Like you I am now absorbed in the World Series; quite a series too! My main interest is in the preparation of my Dec. 28th T. V Spectacular in which I have 5 singing number as old Scrooge! A recording by Columbia has been made of all the number in the show twice be rehearsed late in October. Best of good wishes & good health to you. Most sincerely." Lightly toned, creased and rippled. Handwriting but not signature is lightly spotted in places but legible. Folded twice and unfolded. Otherwise in fine condition. Accompanied by: Original mailing envelope, postmarked Beverly Hills, California, Oct. 9, 1956 and addressed to "Miss Mary Sandman," Boston, Massachusetts. Lightly toned and creased. Postmark touches signature. Address is lightly smeared in places but legible. 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.