MELVYN DOUGLAS - AUTOGRAPH CO-SIGNED BY: VIRGINIA BRUCE, WALTER CONNOLLY, GILBERT ROLAND, HELEN VINSON - HFSID 19447

MELVYN DOUGLAS, VIRGINIA BRUCE, GILBERT ROLAND, HELEN VINSON & WALTER CONNOLLY
Collection of signatures on one album leaf - all signing in pencil
Signatures: "Melvyn Douglas", "Virginia Bruce" on verso "Gilbert Roland", "Helen Vinson", "Walter Connolly" . 4 ½ X6 album leaf. MELVYN DOUGLAS (1901-1981), born Melvyn Edouard Hesselberg, won Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor for Being There (1979) and for his portrayal of Paul Newman's dying father in Hud (1963). He was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar for I Never Sang for My Father (1970). Although Douglas (1901-1981) began his acting career on the stage, he would grace the big screen for 50 years after making his film debut in 1931 in the early "talkie", Tonight or Never. His long list of feature film credits include Annie Oakley (1935), Captains Courageous (1937), Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948), The Americanization of Emily (1964), The Graduate (1965), The Seduction of Joe Tynan (1979) and Being There (1979). Douglas also appeared in a number of made-for-TV films. He died at the age of 80, just before the release of his final film, Ghost Story (1981). VIRGINIA BRUCE (1910-1982), born Helen Virginia Briggs, had a long and prolific film career, appearing in some 74 films as well as making later appearances on the stage and on TV talk shows. Bruce debuted in 1929 (making six pictures that year, including The Love Parade, in which she was one of Jeanette MacDonald's "ladies in waiting"). A "Goldwyn Girl" (with Betty Grable) in Whoopee (1931), Bruce got her first "serious" role in 1934, when she played the title role in Jane Eyre. Her other notable films include The Great Ziegfeld (1936), The Invisible Woman (1941), Pardon My Sarong (1942) and Strangers When We Meet (1960). In 1932, she appeared in Downstairs, written by and co-starring her first husband, silent screen idol John Gilbert. GILBERT ROLAND (1905-1994) played dashing leading men in both silent and talking films - his movie career spanned half a century. Originally trained as a bullfighter, he was the only genuine Mexican to portray the Cisco Kid on screen (in eleven films). He received two Golden Globe nominations as Best Supporting Actor, for The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) and Cheyenne Autumn (1964). Roland appeared in more than 100 films, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) being first, and Barbarosa (1982) being the last. HELEN VINSON (1907-1999) began her film career in Jewel Robbery (1932) with William Powell. Usually playing the other woman, she starred with Gary Cooper in The Wedding Night (1935) and Cary Grant in In Name Only (1939). Her last film was in 1944. WALTER CONNOLLY (1887-1940) was a versatile actor of stage, silent film and talkies. He appeared in twenty-two Broadway productions, and more than fifty films. He also played the title character in The Adventures of Charlie Chan on NBC Radio from 1932-1938. Lightly toned. Two filing holes at top edge. One unknown signature on verso. Pencil notes (unknown hand) identifying signatures. Otherwise, fine condition.