HUME CRONYN - DOCUMENT DOUBLE SIGNED 11/26/1947 - HFSID 289154

HUME CRONYN
Consent form authorizing the Motion Picture Relief Fund to reproduce Hume Cronyn's signature and likeness for a series of stamps raising money for needy film industry veterans. The form is signed twice by Cronyn, once as an autograph sample and again to grant permission. A remarkable, perfectly verified example!
Document signed twice: "Hume Cronyn", 1 page, 8½x11. No place, 1947 November 26. Hume Cronyn 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. Canadian actor Cronyn (1911-2003) entered film in 1943 and was nominated for an Oscar as Best Supporting Actor the following year for The Seventh Cross. He worked frequently with Alfred Hitchcock, adapting plays and novels for the screen and acting in both Hitchcock films and TV episodes. Married to Oscar-winning actress Jessica Tandy from 1942 until her death in 1994, Cronyn co-starred often with her. The couple was especially popular as married senior citizens in such films as Cocoon (1985), as well as stage and TV versions of The Gin Game. Cronyn remained active after Jessica's death, being mistaken for Santa Claus in Off Season (2001).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. Normal mailing folds. Slightly creased. Otherwise, fine condition.