JACK LA RUE - AUTOGRAPH CIRCA 1937 - HFSID 165353

JACK LA RUE
LaRue signs a "Ask Myrus" card in pencil
Signature: "Jack La Rue" in pencil, 4x5 lined card. Circa 1937. Imprinted at upper margin: "The/College Inn/Sherman Hotel Chicago/Ask MYRUS". Photograph of Myrus, who was billed as "The Wizard of Mental Telepathy", on verso. Actor Jack La Rue (1900-1984), who was also known as Gaspare Biondolillo, had been brought to Hollywood in 1930 by Howard Hawks to co-star opposite Paul Muni in Scarface, but Hawks changed his mind and cast the then unknown George Raft in place of La Rue. La Rue, who made his film debut in 1930, would appear in scores of films over the next five decades. Usually cast in villainous roles, such as a gangster or a thug, but equally menacing in period pictures, such as Westerns (To the Last Man, 1933; Wild Horse Stampede, 1943) and swashbucklers (The Sea Hawk, 1940; The Spanish Main, 1945), La Rue become one of film's most recognized "heavies". His other film credits include A Farewell to Arms (1932), The Story of Temple Drake (1933), 42nd Street (1933), Captain's Courageous (1937), Road to Utopia (1946), No Orchids for Miss Blandish (1948), 40 Pounds of Trouble (1963), Robin and the Seven Hoods (1964) and Won Ton Ton, The Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976, his last film). La Rue also appeared on television in the 1950s and 1960s, appearing as a guest star on such series as Cheyenne (1957), Perry Mason (1965) and Love, American Style (1969). This autograph is from the personal collection of Elsee Myrus, the wife of the mental telepathist, who collected the autographs of celebrities attending her husband's show. Lightly creased at upper left margin and upper and lower left blank corners. Slightly soiled at margins. Fine condition.