RICARDO MONTALBAN - DOCUMENT DOUBLE SIGNED 05/16/1947 - HFSID 289179

RICARDO MONTALBAN
Consent form authorizing the Motion Picture Relief Fund to reproduce Ricardo Montalban's signature and likeness for a series of stamps raising money for needy film industry veterans. The form is signed twice by Montalban, once as an autograph sample and again to grant permission. A remarkable, perfectly verified example!
Document signed twice: 'Ricardo Montalban", 1 page, 8½x11. No place, 1947 May 16. Ricardo Montalban grants to the Motion Picture Relief Fund, Inc., its successors and assigns, the exclusive right, until December 31, 1947 to use his name, autograph, photographic likeness, or artist's sketch of the likeness, for reproduction on engraved, embossed or printed stamps, and in stamp albums, and in connection with the advertising and exploitation of these stamps and stamp albums for sale throughout the world. Ricardo Montalban (1920-2009, born Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalban y Merino in Mexico City) is perhaps best known for his role as the suave, mysterious Mr. Roarke on TV's Fantasy Island (1978-1984). Montalban, who played romantic leads in feature films in the 1940s and 1950s, starred in his first "Latin lover" role opposite Cyd Charisse in Fiesta (1947). His other film credits include On An Island With You (1948), Sayonara (1959), The Singing Nun (1966), Sweet Charity (1969), two Planet of the Apes films (1971, 1972), The Train Robbers (1973), Won Ton Ton, The Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976), Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (reprising his role on the TV series) and two Spy Kids films (2002, 2003). Montalban also appeared in a number of made-for-television movies as well as on Bonanza and Mission: Impossible in addition to Star Trek. In 1976, he won an Emmy for his portrayal of a Sioux chief in How The West Was Won. The Motion Picture Relief Fund was founded in 1921 to assist ill and needy film industry veterans, as expressed in its motto: "We take care of our own." The fund raised money through voluntary payroll deductions and celebrity events. As President of the Fund from 1939 until his death in 1956, film and radio star Jean Hersholt conceived Hollywood Star Stamps as a fundraising method. These stamps, 468 in all, were sold at dime stores after World War II in sheets of 6-12, at 10 cents per sheet, and were an immediate hit with collectors. Now called the Motion Picture and Television Fund, the non-profit organization funds its own hospital and retirement home. It confers the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award annually at the Academy Awards ceremony to "an individual in the motion picture industry whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry." Three filing holes at left (lightly worn). Normal mailing folds. Ink note (unknown hand). Otherwise, fine condition.