SAMUEL GOLDWYN - DOCUMENT SIGNED 07/19/1944 CO-SIGNED BY: Y. FRANK FREEMAN - HFSID 258104

SAMUEL GOLDWYN, CO-SIGNED BY: Y. F. FREEMAN
Goldwyn and Freeman both signed this certificate of appreciation, written on gold leaf- illuminated vellum, in 1944 for Fred W. Beetson, a producer and founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. An incredibly beautiful document and a piece of Hollywood history.
Certificate of appreciation signed "Y. F. Freeman" and "Samuel Goldwyn" as Directors of the Academy of Motion Picture Producers, plus seven other unidentified signatures, all in brown ink. 21x15¾, on vellum. Illuminated with red, blue and green ink and gold leaf.July 19, 1944. Certificate of appreciation for Fred W. Beetson. These nine directors of the Academy of Motion Picture Directors, including Freeman and Goldwyn, signed this certificate to "express to Fred W. Beetson, their sincere regret for his illness, their hope that he may greatly improve in health, and their deep appreciation and gratitude for his twenty-one years of service to this Association, and to the Motion Picture Industry." BEETSON was a producer and a charter member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). The Academy Awards are named after AMPAS. GOLDWYN (1882-1974, born in Warsaw, Poland, then part of the Russian Empire) was one of the most influential movie men in Hollywood. He also went through more name changes than most of his stars. He was born Schmuel Gelbfisz but had changed his name to Samuel Goldfish by 1917, when he entered into a partnership with Edgar Selwyn in a company called the Goldwyn Pictures Corp. The company took its name from the first syllable of Goldfish's name and the last of Selwyn's. Goldfish himself soon adopted Goldwyn as his own legal name. Goldwyn lost control of that company in 1922, prior to its 1924 merger into MGM. He formed a new company of his own, however, and became one of Hollywood's most powerful independent producers, often collecting substantial fees for "lending" his stars to other producers, often collecting substantial fees for "lending" his stars to other producers. Seven of his films received Oscar nominations for Best Picture. After Goldwyn's death, his wife Frances earned the ire of film buffs by ordering the destruction of all Goldwyn's silent movies, which she deemed to have no value. Curiously, Frances Goldwyn is buried next to film director George Cukor at her request, reportedly in tribute to her long, unrequited love for him. FREEMAN (1890-1969, born Young Frank Freeman) was an executive for Paramount Pictures who headed the studio in the late 1950s. He helped push a transformation in Hollywood's studio system, which moved away from salaried and strictly controlled producers to the use of outside production units. These production companies were staffed by actors, directors and producers whom the studios enticed with promises of independence and profit sharing. Freeman was also the first winner of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts' Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1956. Document is on animal skin and has natural variations in color and texture. Lightly creased and rippled. Signatures are faded. Folded once. Otherwise in fine condition.