CHARLES BICKFORD - DOCUMENT DOUBLE SIGNED CIRCA 1946 - HFSID 289152

CHARLES BICKFORD
Consent form authorizing the Motion Picture Relief Fund to reproduce Charles Bickford's signature and likeness for a series of stamps raising money for needy film industry veterans. The form is signed twice by Bickford, once as an autograph sample and again to grant permission. A remarkable, perfectly verified example!
Document signed twice: "Charles Bickford", 1 page, 8½x11. No place, no date. Charles Bickford grants to the Motion Picture Relief Fund, Inc., its successors and assigns, the exclusive right, until December 31, 1947 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. Charles Bickford (1891-1967) debuted on Broadway in 1919 and in movies in 1929. In 1930 he played Greta Garbo's lover in Anna Christie. His inability to get along with directors, and his mauling by a lion on the set of East of Java (1935) diminished his chances for leading man stardom, but it he remained highly successful in character roles, nominated three times for the Best Supporting Actor (The Song of Bernadette, 1943; The Farmer's Daughter, 1947; and Johnny Belinda (1948). He was a familiar face on TV from the 1950s, playing a recurring role on The Virginian until shortly before his death. 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. Paperclip indentation at top left. Normal mailing folds. Slightly creased. Otherwise, fine condition.