CLAUDE RAINS - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED CIRCA 1957 - HFSID 280787

CLAUDE RAINS
Oscar-nominated actor Claude Rains wrote this letter to his daughter Jennifer Rains about the broadcast the 1957 TV movie The Pied Piper of Hamelin, in which he starred. It's signed "Fa Fa", what Jennifer called her father when she was young. From the estate of Claude Rains.
Autograph letter signed "Fa Fa". 2 pages, 6x8, 1 sheet, front and verso. In full: "Here you are darling - I hope you can read the books. I have been having terribell [sic] head-aches each noon - but they wear off as the day proceeds. November 26 is the date of the first showing of the Pied Piper - in color. The kids will like it but what fans I have as young to wonder what the Hell has happened to Rains. The guy's a comic. All my love". From the estate of Claude Rains. "The Pied Piper" is a reference to the 1957 TV movie The Pied Piper of Hamelin, which was broadcast in color. Rains starred as the Mayor of Hamelin... and spoke most of his lines in rhyme, as did the rest of the cast. No wonder Rains was worried about "what fans I have". And "Fa Fa"? That's what his daughter Jennifer Rains called him when she was a girl; she apparently had trouble pronouncing "Father". Of course, Jennifer was about 29 when this letter was written. Let's hope she outgrew that. Rains (1889-1967), who played the title role in The Invisible Man (1933), was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor in 1939 (as the "bought" Senator Paine in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington), 1943 (Inspector Louis Renault in Casablanca), 1944 (title role in Mr. Skeffington) and 1946 (Ingrid Bergman's Nazi husband in Notorious). Lightly toned, soiled and creased. Folded in quarters and unfolded. Lightly discolored along horizontal fold. Otherwise in fine condition.