GEORGE JESSEL - MATCH BOOK SIGNED 1965 - HFSID 51187

GEORGE JESSEL. Matchbook signed: "Georgie/Jessel/65" on inside cover, 4½x1½. Ink note (unknown hand) on verso: "George Jessel/8-16-65". In the year he signed this matchbook cover, Jessel appeared on the TV series, What's My Line?, as a mystery guest. Multitalented entertainer George Jessel (1898-1981), who became known as the "Toastmaster General of the United States" for his frequent role as Master of Ceremonies at entertainment and political gatherings, appeared in vaudeville (he was a partner of Eddie Cantor at age 11) and on Broadway before having a radio show, That's My Kid. Jessel, who had done several silent films for Warner Bros., starred on Broadway in The Jazz Singer but when the studio refused to meet his salary demands for the film, the first "talkie", he turned down the movie role, which eventually went to Al Jolson. By 1945, Jessel, who was well known for his Broadway and nightclub work, was producing musicals for 20th Century-Fox. One of the original founding members of the California branch of the Friars Club (1946), Jessel also traveled widely to raise funds for various causes and entertained troops overseas as part of the U.S.O. In 1969, he was awarded the Jean Hershold Humanitarian Award, a special Oscar, for his charity work. Jessel, who was married to actress Norma Talmadge from 1934-1939, wrote two volumes of memoirs, So Help Me (1943) and This Way, Miss (1955), and also wrote eulogies for many of his Hollywood contemporaries. Lightly soiled. Staple holes near but not touching date. Overall, fine condition.