LEE BOWMAN - DOCUMENT SIGNED 03/01/1947 - HFSID 288886

LEE BOWMAN
Consent form authorizing the Motion Picture Relief Fund to reproduce Lee Bowman's signature and likeness for a series of stamps raising money for needy film industry veterans. The form is signed by Bowman to grant permission. A remarkable, perfectly verified example!
Document signed: "Lee Bowman", 1 page, 8½x11. No place, 1947 March 1. Lee Bowman grants to the Motion Picture Relief Fund, Inc., its successors and assigns, the exclusive right, to use his 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. Stage and screen Lee Bowman (1914-1979) was often cast as a playboy because of his good looks and dapper style, but he could play action roles too. He usually played second leads. Among his best known films were Love Affair (1939), Bataan (1943) and Smash-Up (1947). He played the title role in the TV series The Adventures of Ellery Queen (1950-1951). In 1974, Bowman formed Kingstree Media Group to advise politicians and business leaders on facing the mass media, stressing the "conversational approach" to the camera. Clients included the Republican Congressional campaign committees and Bethlehem Steel Corp. 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 soiled on verso. Slightly creased. Pencil note (unknown hand) at top left. Staple holes at top left. Otherwise, fine condition.