BELITA - DOCUMENT DOUBLE SIGNED CIRCA 1946 - HFSID 289252

BELITA
Consent form authorizing the Motion Picture Relief Fund to Belita's signature and likeness for a series of stamps raising money for needy film industry veterans. The form is signed twice by Belita, once as an autograph sample and again to grant permission. A remarkable, perfectly verified example!
Document signed twice: "Belita", 1 page, 8½x11. Los Angeles, California, no date but circa 1946. Belita grants to the Motion Picture Relief Fund, Inc., its successors and assigns, the exclusive right, until December 31, 1947 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. British dancer and figure skater Belita (1923-2005), born Maria Belita Jepson-Turner, originally trained as a ballerina before becoming a figure skater. In 1936, Belita skated for the United Kingdom in the Olympics at the age of 12, and she turned professional two years later. Belita made her film debut in 1941's Ice Capades, and she would go on to showcase her many talents (which also included swimming - she is credited as the first to do an underwater ballet, fencing and playing the violin as well as skating and dancing) in several feature films, including The Ice Maiden (her nickname), Silver Skates (1945) and Silk Stockings (1957). 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. Staple holes at top left. Slightly creased. Pencil note (unknown hand). Otherwise, fine condition.