PAUL KELLY - AUTOGRAPHED INSCRIBED PHOTOGRAPH - HFSID 292843

PAUL KELLY
Shown in suit and tie, inscribing to noted collector Harry Wilkinson
Photograph inscribed and signed: "Harry Wilkinson/Sincerely/Paul Kelly". B/w, 7¾x9½. Paul Kelly (1899-1956, born in Brooklyn) had almost 170 movies and TV shows to his credit between 1911 and 1956. Kelly started acting on stage at age 7 and, by age 11, was acting for Vitagraph Studios. He had a total of 22 Broadway appearances between 1911 and 1951, with his first important role in Seventeen 1918. Kelly, already a veteran of many silent shorts, got his first starring movie role in The New Klondike (1926) and assured his star status the next year in Broadway Through a Keyhole (1933). Kelly's acting career was briefly interrupted in the 1920s, after he was convicted of killing fellow actor Ray Raymond... in a fistfight! Kelly served two years in prison, but it was little more than a hiccup in his acting career. He continued to receive roles until his death and even married Raymond's widow as his second wife. In Song and Dance Man, Kelly starred as the (irresponsible) dance partner of Claire Trevor. Harry Wilkinson, from Marblehead, Massachusetts, was a noted collector of autographed Hollywood photos. Surface creases seen head on. Corners and edges creased and worn. Pin size hole at bottom left corner. Ink notes (unknown hand), ink notes and paper affixed on verso. Otherwise, fine condition.