SONNY TUFTS - DOCUMENT DOUBLE SIGNED 06/12/1946 - HFSID 288833

SONNY TUFTS
Consent form authorizing the Motion Picture Relief Fund to reproduce Sonny Tufts's signature and likeness for a series of stamps raising money for needy film industry veterans. The form is signed twice by Tufts, once as an autograph sample and again to grant permission. A remarkable, perfectly verified example!
Document signed twice: "Sonny Tufts", 1 page, 8½x11. Hollywood, California, 1946 June 12. Sonny Tufts 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. American actor Sonny Tufts (1911-1970), born Bowen Charlton Tufts III, originally wanted to be a singer; he had operatic training and had a role in the 1939 Broadway musical revue Sing for Your Supper. He first appeared in film in 1939's Ambush. An injury kept him out of the service during World War II, when many other actors were off fighting. When he returned to movies in 1943, he was a leading man - albeit a fairly bland type who often appeared bare-chested. He was relegated to secondary roles and B-movies by the 1950s - a notable exception is his starring role as Tom MacKenzie in The Seven-Year Itch - and allegations that he bit several showgirls on the thigh further damaged his reputation. In all, he appeared over 30 movies and TV shows between 1939 and 1968. 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. Staple holes at left. Paperclip indentation at top left. Normal mailing folds. Slightly creased. Otherwise, fine condition.