JEAN PETERS - AUTOGRAPH LETTER UNSIGNED - HFSID 289815

JEAN PETERS
Handwritten letter to her husband, Howard Hughes, apologizing for being depressed, and asking his forgiveness. Seeing him, she claims, made her "happy for the first time in weeks - or at least content and not suicidal"!
Autograph Letter, unsigned, 8¼x11. No place, no date. To "Dearest Hon", in full: "Please forgive me-I'm sorry-When I came in first from the Bowl-you seemed to have a spark in your eye-and I was happy for the first time in week-or at least content and not suicidal. I am surrounded by too many sick and dying people-Everyone I talk to has something to drag me down-So for the past 3 days, I just haven't talked on the phone. I know I will get out of this- but, I apologize for always showing you a long face. Please forgive me- I love you and tomorrow will be better." Jean Peters (1926-2000) made her film debut in 1947 opposite Tyrone Power in Captain From Castile. She made a number of films, including Viva Zapata! (1952), Niagara (1953), Three Coins in the Fountain (1954) and A Man Called Peter (1955), before marrying billionaire Howard Hughes (1905-1976) in 1957 in Tonopah, Nevada, shortly after her divorce from her first husband, Stuart Cramer III, was finalized. The couple returned to live in California, where they would spend the first nine years of their marriage - living more apart than together. While living at the Beverly Hills Hotel, Hughes occupied Bungalow 4 and Peters lived in Bungalow 9. On Hughes' birthday, the couple moved to Rancho Santa Fe before moving into a French Regency-style mansion on Bel Air Road eleven months later. Although the couple saw more of each other then, even sharing the same bed, Peters soon moved to a separate part of the house. She began visiting her husband, usually once each afternoon and for 20-30 minutes in the late evening. The couple communicated through notes. In 1971, after having lived separately throughout most of their marriage, Peters was granted a divorce. Hughes agreed to pay her between $70,000 and $140,000 a year for twenty years (the actual amount to be determined by the cost of living index) and deeded a home at 507 North Palm Drive in Beverly Hills to her. After the divorce, Peters resumed her career, appearing on the small screen in made-for-TV movies and series in the 1970s and 1980s. Light creases and wrinkles, and a thin line of soiling to right side, affecting a few letters of text. Otherwise, fine condition.