JEFF DONNELL - DOCUMENT DOUBLE SIGNED 03/04/1947 - HFSID 289311

JEFF DONNELL
Consent form authorizing the Motion Picture Relief Fund to reproduce Jeff Donnell's signature and likeness for a series of stamps raising money for needy film industry veterans. The form is signed twice by Donnell, once as an autograph sample and again to grant permission. A remarkable, perfectly verified example!
Document signed twice: "Jeff Donnell" she writes "Thank You!" at the bottom of the page.1 page, 8½x11. No place, 1947 March 4. Jeff Donnell 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. Screen and television actress Jean Marie "Jeff" Donnell (1921-1988) made her film debut in 1942's My Sister Eileen. She appeared in a long list of feature films, including The Thief of Damascus (1952) and Tora, Tora, Tora (as a flying instructor, 1970). She is best known, however, for her television work, playing Alice, the wife of George Gobel, on The George Gobel Show (1954-1958), and Ethel the secretary on Matt Helm (1975-1976. She was Stella Fields on General Hospital (1980-1988). Donnell's second husband (1954-1956) was actor Aldo Ray. 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. Normal mailing folds. Lightly creased. Slightly soiled. Red ink marks (unknown hand). Otherwise, fine condition.