JANET BLAIR - DOCUMENT DOUBLE SIGNED 02/24/1947 - HFSID 289242

JANET BLAIR
Consent form authorizing the Motion Picture Relief Fund to reproduce Janet Blair's signature and likeness for a series of stamps raising money for needy film industry veterans. The form is signed twice by Blair, once as an autograph sample and again to grant permission. A remarkable, perfectly verified example!
Document signed twice: "Janet Blair", 1 page, 8½x11. No place, 1947 February 24. Janet Blair grants to the Motion Picture Relief Fund, Inc., its successors and assigns, the exclusive right, until December 31, 1947 to use her 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. Talented singer and stage, screen and television actress Janet Blair (1921-2007) was singing with Hal Kemp's band at the Coconut Grove in Los Angeles when she was discovered by a Columbia Pictures talent scout in 1941. She was featured in one film (Three Girls About Town) that year, and Blair appeared in three more films before starring in her "breakout role" - Eileen Sherwood in My Sister Eileen (1942). Going on to appear in films until 1976 (Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood), her credits include The Fabulous Dorseys (1947), The Fuller Brush Man (1948), Boys' Night Out (1962) and The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band (1968). Blair, who left Hollywood for Broadway in 1950, is best known for her role as Ensign Nellie Forbush in South Pacific, in which she toured for many years, appearing in the role more times than any other actress. Blair also enjoyed a successful television career, appearing on early TV anthologies from 1948 (The Ford Theatre Hour) and guest starring on a number of TV series and game shows. 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 (worn). Normal mailing folds. Staple holes at top left. Red ink x's next to date and signatures. Pencil check next to autograph sample. Slightly creased. Otherwise, fine condition.