RICHARD CARLSON - DOCUMENT DOUBLE SIGNED 09/24/1946 - HFSID 288890

RICHARD CARLSON
Consent form authorizing the Motion Picture Relief Fund to reproduce his signature and likeness for a series of stamps raising money for needy film industry veterans. Carlson has signed twice, once to give his consent and again as an autograph sample. A perfectly verified example!
Document signed twice: "Richard Carlson", 1 page, 8½x11. Hollywood, California, 1946 September 24. Carlson grants to the Motion Picture Relief Fund, Inc., its successors and assigns, the exclusive right 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. Carlson signs with the understanding that he will derive no financial benefit or obligation from this enterprise. He also reserves the right to approve any likeness of him, and limits the agreement to December 31, 1947. Richard Carlson (1912-1977) was a familiar face to television viewers. He had frequent roles in 50s and 60s TV, including such Westerns as Bonanza, Rawhide and The Virginian. Carlson also starred as Herbert A. Philbrick, a real-life Boston ad executive who joined the American Communist Party while serving as an undercover FBI agent, in the popular TV series I Led Three Lives (1953-1956). He worked off camera, as well, writing and directing for TV and film and as a Broadway actor and playwright. Carlson showed up in a number of B movies in the 1950s and 1960s; Mystery Science Theatre 3000 fans may recognize him from 1960's Tormented. 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." Filing holes at left edge. Staples holes at top left corner. Creased. Multiple mailing folds. Pencil marks (unknown hand). Otherwise, fine condition.