ROBERT ALDA - DOCUMENT DOUBLE SIGNED 02/24/1947 - HFSID 288868

ROBERT ALDA
Consent form authorizing the Motion Picture Relief Fund to reproduce Alda's signature and likeness for a series of stamps raising money for needy film industry veterans. He has signed twice, once to give permission and once as an autograph sample. A remarkable, perfectly verified example!
Document signed twice : "Robert Alda", 1 page, 8½x11. Hollywood, California, 1947 February 24. Alda grants to the Motion Picture Relief Fund, Inc., its successors and assigns, the exclusive right to use is 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. It is understood that Alda shall accrue neither financial benefit nor obligation from these transactions. Actor Robert Alda (1914-1986) began his show business career in vaudeville and later appeared in burlesque as a tenor and straight man. By 1934, he was well a well-known radio star. Alda starred as George Gershwin in his first film (Rhapsody in Blue, 1945), but played villains and character roles most of his career. He won a Tony Award for creating the role of Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls (1950). Robert, the father of actor Alan Alda, appeared with his son in two episodes of TV's M*A*S*H.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. Multiple mailing folds. Lightly creased. Otherwise, fine condition.