STEPHEN "MICHAEL" DUNNE - DOCUMENT DOUBLE SIGNED 06/26/1946 CO-SIGNED BY: JEAN HERSHOLT - HFSID 289295

STEPHEN DUNNE and JEAN HERSHOLT
Consent form authorizing the Motion Picture Relief Fund to reproduce Dunne's signature and likeness for a series of stamps raising money for needy film industry veterans. Also signed by a studio representative, and by Fund President Jean Hersholt. A perfectly verified example of a rare signature. Dunne only went by Michael through 1947!
Document Fragment signed twice: "Michael Dunne", 1 page, 8½x11. Also signed "Jean Hersholt" as President of the Fund and by a representative of Twentieth Century-Fox Film [name illegible]. Hollywood, California, 1946 June 26. Only the third and final page, the signature page, is present. Dunne 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. A representative of Loew's, Inc., also signs to certify that this agreement is compatible with a parallel agreement between that studio and the MPRF. STEVEN DUNNE (1918-1977) used the screen name of Michael Dunne in his early films, beginning with Shock (1946). Beginning the following year, he switched to use of his birth name. Dunne was the radio voice of detective Sam Spade (1950-1951), and co-starred as another detective on TV's The Brothers Brannagan a decade later. He appeared in feature films through 1971, when he was cast in Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. His TV guest spots included repeat appearance on Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1959-1961) and Batman (1966). 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, film and radio star JEAN HERSHOLT (1886-1956) 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." On screen, Hersholt may be best remembered in the title role of The Country Doctor (1936). Filing holes at left edge. Staple holes at top left corner. Lightly toned. Minor ink smears. Otherwise, fine condition.