SMILEY (LESTER) BURNETTE - AUTOGRAPH NOTE SIGNED CO-SIGNED BY: CARL COHEN - HFSID 289953

SMILEY BURNETTE and CARL COHEN
The actor and the Las Vegas hotel manager sign opposite sides of a 4¾x6½ album leaf
Autograph Note signed: "Smiley/Burnette/To Roberta Lee/Howdy" and "To/Roberta Lee/Best Wishes/Carl Cohen", 4¾x6½ album leaf. Actor, singer and songwriter Smiley Burnette (1911-1967), born Lester Alvin Burnette, appeared on vaudeville before joining his friend, Gene Autry, on the radio show, The National Barn Dance. Burnette and Autry broke into films together in 1934 (In Old Santa Fe), and they went on to appear in over 80 Westerns. Burnette, who played Autry's sidekick, Frog Milhouse, also provided comic relief for other Western stars, including Sunset Carson and Charles "Durango Kid" Starrett. A talented musician who played over 100 instruments, Burnette wrote over 300 Western songs, some of which he sang in his films. After retiring from the big screen in 1953, Burnette debuted on the small screen in 1958, appearing as a regular on the TV series, Ranch Party. His best known TV role was as Charley Pratt (1963-1967) on the TV sitcom, Petticoat Junction. Carl Cohen was an actor and Las Vegas casino manager and executive. He is best remembered for punching Frank Sinatra in the face in 1967 at the Sands Hotel. The dispute began after Sinatra was denied casino credit, he began to yell and threaten Cohen, to which Cohen replied with a punch. Sinatra and the "Rat Pack" had called the sands home, but moved their show to Caesars Palace soon after the incident. Cohen later became vice-president of the Sands and MGM Grand hotels. He appeared in an un-credited role as a craps cashier in the 1947 film The Invisible Wall. He is the father of actor Corey Allen and filmmaker Stephen Cohen. Two filing holes at top (reinforced). Lightly creased. Light show through of signatures on verso (barely visible head on). Otherwise, fine condition.