JAMES BARTON - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 05/20/1954 - HFSID 55145

JAMES BARTON
The favorite vaudeville performer and television and film actor signs this letter to a writer thanking him for a mention
Autograph letter signed: "Jim Barton" 5½x3½. New Hyde Park, New York. Post stamped May 20, 1954, on his wife's personal letterhead to "My dear Louis", in full: "I cannot tell you how very grateful I am for your mention of me in your paper the other day & also of the past nice things. Nothing would make me happier than a good T.V. but seems like they never remember me as a comic- That's why I am so deeply grateful to you- May you & yours always have the best". James Barton (1890-1962) was an American vaudevillian, stage performer, and a character actor in films and television. Barton began performing in minstrel shows and burlesque houses throughout the country in 1898. His years of experience working with African American performers led to his becoming one of the first jazz dancers in America. After working with repertory companies in the South and Midwest, he made his Broadway debut in the musical revue The Passing Show of 1919. While appearing on Broadway, Barton also achieved the highest pinnacle of status in vaudeville, headlining at the Palace Theater on Broadway not once but eight times, from March 1928 through April 1932. Barton's other theatre credits include "Sweet and Low" in 1930, "Tobacco Road" in 1933, "Bright Lights" of 1944 (which ran only four performances), "The Iceman Cometh" in 1946, and "Paint Your Wagon" in 1951. Beginning in the silent film era, he appeared in a number of Paramount short subjects in 1929. On television he appeared in such shows as, The Ford Television Theatre, The Kaiser Aluminum Hour, The Rifleman, The Americans, and Frontier Circus. Toned. Corners rounded. Light surface creases. Otherwise, fine condition.