FREDRIC MARCH - DOCUMENT MULTI-SIGNED 11/28/1962 CO-SIGNED BY: STUART SPRAGUE - HFSID 291412

FREDRIC MARCH
Signed contract to perform in the American Pageant of the Arts, a fundraising performance for what would become the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Document signed: "Fredric March", 4 pages, 8½x11. New York, N.Y. 1962 November 28. Also signed "Stuart Sprague", as Treasurer of the National Cultural Center. Performance agreement between March and the National Cultural Center, Washington, D. C. The document stipulates, in part: "Performer shall render artistic services in connection with the rehearsal and closed circuit telecast of the program designated below and preparation in connection with the part or parts to be played. Title of program-American Pageant of the Arts; Type of Program-Closed Circuit for Fund Raising Theatre showings and Dinner Showing." Stage, screen and occasional television actor Fredric March (1897-1975, born Frederick Bickle), won the Academy Award for Best Actor for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931-1932) and The Best Years of Our Lives (1946). He was also nominated for the Best Actor Oscar for The Royal Family of Broadway (1930-1931), A Star is Born (1937) and Death of a Salesman (1951). March, whose other films include The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934), Les Misérables (1935), Inherit the Wind (1960) and Seven Days in May (1964), also won Best Actor Tony Awards for Years Ago (1947) and Long Day's Journey Into Night (1957). Since Franklin Roosevelt's Presidency, there had been proposals for a building in the nation's capital to promote and host cultural events. Finally, in 1958, Congress passed legislation to create such a center, provided that public funding was augmented by private donations. Funding proceeded slowly until President Kennedy, and especially First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, made the center a priority. March was being enlisted here in the fundraising effort, by participating in a closed circuit performance to be shown at dinners and other fundraising events nationwide. The venue chosen was significant to: a townhouse on Jackson Place. Historic Jackson Place, west of the White House, had been slated for demolition to precede construction of new federal office buildings. Jackie Kennedy was enthusiastically involved in efforts to block this plan and preserve the historic townhouses. Groundbreaking for the site now known - fittingly - as the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, was initiated by President Johnson in 1964. Staple at top left corner. Lightly toned and creased. Bottom left corners lightly creased. Otherwise, fine condition.