REAR ADMIRAL RICHARD E. BYRD - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 02/02/1945 - HFSID 143235

RICHARD E. BYRD
Byrd signed this typed letter "Dick" to movie producer Darryl F. Zanuck, then a colonel, in 1945 on Navy letterhead.
Typed letter signed "Dick". 1 page, 8x10½, on letterhead from the United States Fleet, Headquarters of the Commander in Chief, Navy Department, Washington, D. C. Feb. 2, 1945. Addressed to Col. Darryl Zanuck, Twentieth Century Fox Film Studios, Beverly Hills, California. In full: "Dear Darryl: I am finding many occasions to congratulate you. You have certainly been doing an extraordinary job for your country. Keep it up, old fellow. I was greatly pleased to see that you had been given the Wilkie Award. Great work! I also just heard that you were the principal speaker when the Nobel prizes were last presented. The President and I were talking the other day about your next job in Europe. I could see that he was much pleased that you were going to undertake it. I am certainly proud of you, my old friend. Keep up the good work. Affectionate regards. Sincerely, R. E. Byrd ". DARRYL F. ZANUCK (1902-1979, born in Wahoo, Nebraska) was a producer and movie mogul who founded Twentieth Century Movies, which later merged with Fox Films to become 20th Century-Fox. RICHARD E. BYRD (1888-1957, born in Winchester, Virginia) made the first of his four expeditions to Antarctica between 1928 and 1930, during which time he established the "Little America" base and became the first man to fly over both the North and South Poles. Subsequent expeditions were made between 1933 and 1935 and between 1939 and 1941. Byrd detailed his adventures in books and on the lecture circuit following his returns to the U.S. Proceeds from his books and talks were used to finance additional expeditions, which continued through 1956. Byrd, who discovered Marie Byrd Land and the Edsel Ford Mountains, was given the honorary title, "Mayor of Antarctica". Lightly toned and soiled. Folded twice and unfolded. Otherwise in fine condition.