MAURICE CHEVALIER - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 04/12/1961 - HFSID 251707

MAURICE CHEVALIER
The actor and singer wrote this letter from Sicily in 1961, during the shooting of Jessica, to Ken Murray about a car accident that he once had. Accompanied by original envelope, addressed in Chevalier's hand
Autograph Letter signed: "Maurice", blue ink, 1p, 7½x10¾. On stationery of Algergo Mediterraneo, Taormina, Sicily, Italy. Sicily, Italy, 1961 April 12. To "Dear Ken". In full: "I will be very happy to be among the oldtimers who will appear in your Hollywood inti mate [sic] story. At the time of the black sling, I had a broken collarbone. It had happened one night when returning to Hollywood after an important review out of town - and my car, met by another car, made a summersault [sic] with the lucky result of being just slightly hurt. I am here, finishing a picture called 'Jessica' with Jean Negu lesco [sic]. Will be home beginning of May. Am a bit homesick for Hollywood and long to be there again. Remember me to your wife [sic] and attractive Marie Wilson. Sincerely".Accompanied by: Original mailing envelope, addressed in Chevalier's hand in blue ink on Algergo Mediterraneo stationery. Postmarked Taormina, Sicily, Italy, April 12, 1961. Addressed to Ken Murray, Beverly Hills, California. One green-and-white Italian stamp affixed. Jessica wasn't released until 1962. He had only one movie credit in 1961, a starring role in Fanny, KEN MURRAY (1903-1988, born in New York City) was an actor and vaudeville entertainer who hosted a TV variety show on CBS, The Ken Murray Show (1950-1953), as well as the TV series Where Were You?(1954-1957). During World War II, he hosted another variety show, Ken Murray's Blackouts, in Los Angeles. This show featured risqué humor, starlets, music and novelty acts; it ran for seven years and 3,844 appearances. In the late 1920s he began filming home movies of Hollywood personalities; these have great documentary value today. Legendary French entertainer MAURICE CHEVALIER (1888-1972, born Maurice Auguste Chevalier in Paris, France), was nominated for Best Actor Academy Awards in 1929-1930 for The Big Pond and The Love Parade. He won an Honorary Oscar in 1958 "for his contributions to the world of entertainment for more than half a century". Over his long career, Chevalier appeared in a number of feature films, including The Merry Widow (1934), Folies Bergère de Paris (1935), Gigi (1958), Pepe (1960), Can-Can (1960), Fanny (1961), In Search of the Castaways (1962) and I'd Rather Be Rich (1964). Chevalier was also a singer. Known as "the French Al Jolson", he often sang in his movies. Classic Chevalier songs include movie songs You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me from Big Pond(1930), Mimi and Isn't It Romantic from Love Me Tonight(1932) and Thank Heaven for Little Girls and I Remember It Well from Gigi(1958). Envelope: Lightly stained and creased. Torn open at top and right edge. Otherwise, fine condition. Letter: Lightly stained and creased. Light tears at right edge and light nicks at left edge. Folded once vertically and twice horizontally and unfolded. Otherwise, fine condition.