HARRY RICHMAN - AUTOGRAPHED INSCRIBED PHOTOGRAPH 1945 - HFSID 54399

HARRY RICHMAN
Sepia publicity photograph of Harry Richman wearing a tuxedo and a top hat.
Photograph inscribed and signed: "To 'Donnie'/My best always/Harry Richman/1945". Sepia, 8x10. Photo by Maurice Seymour of Chicago. Harry Richman (1895-1972) was a multi-talented vaudevillian and performer. He had a few movie appearances, including in 1930's Puttin' on the Ritz, featuring the Irving Berlin song. However, most of Richman's experience was on the stage. He began as a piano accompanist for stars like Mae West and Nora Bayes, but was a singer, dancer, comedian, songwriter, and bandleader in his own right. Richman had a total of 10 Broadway appearances between 1920 and 1935, most of them revues and including George White's Scandals (1928-1929) and Ziegfield Follies of 1931 (1931). Richman was also an amateur aviator. In 1936, entertainer Harry Richman, aviation enthusiast and part-time pilot, sponsored a flight between New York and London. He chose Dick Merrill, chief pilot of Eastern Airlines, to pilot the plane, a single engine Vultee VI called Lady Peace. Their journey began at Floyd Bennett field in Brooklyn, N.Y. on September 2nd. They were forced to land at Llwyncelyn, Carmarthenshine, Wales the next day. The return flight departed from Southport, England and ended in a crash-landing at Musgrave Harbour, Newfoundland, Canada. The flight was successful and Merrill and Richman made the first roundtrip nonstop crossing of the North Atlantic. Lightly worn at corners. Fine condition.
.