LORETTA YOUNG, IRENE DUNNE, WESLEY RUGGLES, HARRIET HOCTOR and KENNETH McELDOWNEY
Inscribed signature: "To Mr. Lopez-/In appreciation/of your very fine/music-/Sincerely/Loretta Young", "To Vincent Lopez -/with my very best wishes/ for your continued success./Wesley Ruggles", "To Vince - Just the Best!/Ken McEldowney", and on verso"To Vincent Lopez -/Greetings from/Irene Dunne and/thanks for 'Tonight is Mine', and "Greatest Admiration/from/Harriet Hoctor", 8x10 album leaf . There are two unidentified signers. LORETTA YOUNG (1913-2000) appeared in films as a child extra from age 4. Growing up in silent movies, she had become an established star by the 1930s. She won an Oscar as Best Actress for The Farmer's Daughter (1947) and was nominated for the same award for Come to the Stable (1949). Young hosted a TV teleplay, The Loretta Young Show (1953-1961); she appeared in about half of the show's episodes, winning three Emmy Awards. Cary Grant, who starred with actress IRENE DUNNE (1898-1990) in The Awful Truth (1937) and My Favorite Wife (1940), called her the finest comedienne he had ever worked with. Dunne, whose first screwball comedy was Theodora Goes Wild (1936), received Best Actress Academy Award nominations for that film and for Cimarron (1930-1931), The Awful Truth (1937), Love Affair (1939) and I Remember Mama (1948). WESLEY RUGGLES (1889-1972) played supporting roles in many comedy films of the silent era, and then turned to directing. Although best known for his romantic comedies, he won an Oscar nomination for a Western, Cimarron (1930-1931). KENNETH McELDOWNEY (1906-2004) was a successful Hollywood florist who supplied the first Academy Awards ceremony (1929) and the funerals of Hollywood stars, including Jean Harlow and Al Jolson. He was an innovative businessman, one of the first to offer flowers by wire and a drive through flower pickup. He also produced some films (The River, 1951). HARRIET HOCTOR (1905-1977) was a Broadway dancer and choreographer of the 1920s and 1930s who appeared in film musicals, including The Great Ziegfield (1936). VINCENT LOPEZ (d. 1975) led a popular dance orchestra. Among his recordings were "Tonight is Mine", which was sung by Irene Dunne in the film Stingaree (1934). Irregular left edge where page was removed from a book. Lightly soiled. Otherwise, fine condition.