BUTTERFLY McQUEEN - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 07/25/1984 - HFSID 274129

BUTTERFLY McQUEEN
Butterfly McQueen sends an autograph letter about an upcoming interview.
Autograph Letter Signed: "Butterfly McQueen", 1½p, 5x5, front and verso. No place, 1984 July 25. On memo sheet imprinted "Fiddle-le-dee!/I'll think about it/tomorrow!" to "Dear Mr. Granat". In full: "Because this is my first autograph fair, I would like to tell Ch 5, Ch. 2 and Liz Smith of the N.Y. Daily News. I await your answer before doing so. I have not heard from Prof. [illegible] since he asked me to wait until he could co-ordinate a movie seminar for 5 'old-timers'. He said he only had Dorothy LaMour and myself for his 1st week in August '84 seminar. Best regards". Slightly creased with fold, light vertical fold at the "e" of Butterfly. Light show through of print on verso. Fine condition. Accompanied by Carbon Typed Letter, unsigned, 1p, 8½x11. No place, 1984 July 29. To Ms. Butterfly McQueen, New York, NY. In full: "The anticipation of your appearance at our Autograph Show has truly excited our [word crossed out; "membership" handwritten (probably Granat's hand)]. I know you have had all kinds of people admire you, BUT members of the UACC represent the largest autograph association in the world. We even have a member from behind the Iron Curtain. It will be our distinct pleasure to have you inform Channel 5 and 2 as well as Liz Smith of your appearance at the N.Y. Hotel Omni Sunday, August 21, 1984. Incidentally, please phone me in order to make arrangements to pick you up in the morning. We have obtained glossy photos for you to sign for our members and to make it comfortable, a table and chair are being set aside for you. Is there any special way you wish your $200.00 check made out? Please advise me. In response to my article on you members have been requesting your address. I would need your permission before giving it to them. Please advise. I'm sorry the 'Old Timers' seminar didn't work out. For your convenience I am enclosing a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Looking forward to hearing from you shortly. Sincerely". Handwritten note, probably in Granat's hand, at lower margin: "Blind copy to Darvick". Lightly creased. Slightly shaded at upper portion. Fine condition. From the collection of Jerry Granat, an autograph collector and dealer who was a member and a Director of the Universal Autograph Collectors Club (UACC). Granat had written an article in the UACC newsletter about McQueen's work with students and faculty in Paducah, Kentucky, and it was met with such positive response that Granat was asked by the club's President, Herman Darvick, to invite McQueen to appear at one of the club's shows. McQueen made her first appearance at an autograph show on Sunday, August 26, 1984 at the Hotel Omni in New York City. She was paid $200 for her appearance, at which she signed glossy photographs for UACC members. Thelma McQueen (1911-1995) was only 13 when she joined a theater group in Harlem. She was nicknamed "Butterfly" after dancing in the butterfly ballet in a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. McQueen debuted on Broadway in Brown Sugar (1937), and two years later, she played her first and most memorable movie role, that of Prissy, the young slave, in Gone With the Wind. After being typecast as a sobbing maid in several films of the 1940s, McQueen grew tired of the image and retired from films in 1947. She continued intermittent theatrical engagements and returned to the screen in the early 1970s (Amazing Grace, 1974; The Mosquito Coast,1986). In 1975, at the age of 64, she received a Bachelor's Degree in political science from the City College of New York. Two items.