BILL WILLIAMS - DOCUMENT DOUBLE SIGNED 09/20/1946 - HFSID 288981

BILL WILLIAMS
Consent form authorizing the Motion Picture Relief Fund to reproduce Bill Williams's signature and likeness for a series of stamps raising money for needy film industry veterans. The form is signed twice by Williams, once as an autograph sample and again to grant permission. A remarkable, perfectly verified example!
Document signed twice: "Bill Williams" at the bottom of the page he writes "The studio will select a picture for me- O.K?", 1 page, 8½x11. Hollywood, California, 1946 September 20. Bill Williams grants to the Motion Picture Relief Fund, Inc., its successors and assigns, the exclusive right, to use his 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. Bill Williams (1916-1992) began performing in aquatic shows, where he combined dance and swimming skills. After service in the US Army in World War II, he broke into film, getting his first major role as a returning GI and buddy of Robert Mitchum in Till the End of Time (1946). He met his wife of 46 years, Barbara Hale (of Perry Mason fame) on a movie set, and appeared in films with her over three decades, from 1945's West of the Pecos to The Giant Spider Invasion (1975). Stuck in second leads and B-movies, Williams found success on the small screen in the 1950s with the title role in The Adventures of Kit Carson and as Betty White's husband in Date with the Angels. Williams and Hale are the parents of actor William Katt, who looks much like his father.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." 8½x11. Filing holes (Lightly torn) at left edge. Staple holes at top edge. Mailing folds. Otherwise, fine condition.