TERENCE RATTIGAN - AUTOGRAPH CO-SIGNED BY: VALENTINE DYALL, HENRIETTA WATSON, WENDY TOYE, PETER YORKE, ARTHUR FERRIER - HFSID 156356

BRITISH ARTISTS: TERENCE RATTIGAN, CO-SIGNED BY: VALENTINE DYALL, ARTHUR FERRIER, WENDY TOYE, HENRIETTA WATSON and PETER YORKE
Guest book page signed by Oscar and Tony-Award play and screenwright Terence Rattigan, actors Valentine Dyall and Henrietta Watson, bandleader Peter Yorke, director and choreographer Wendy Toye and cartoonist Arthur Ferrier
Signatures: "Valentine Dyall", "Henrietta Watson" and "Terence Rattigan" and, on verso, "Wendy Toye", "Peter Yorke", and "ARTHUR FERRIER" in black, blue and purple ink. With 12 unknown signatures. Pencil notations on front and verso in unknown hand. 11¼x8¼ guest book page. British play and screenwright RATTIGAN (1911-1977) found success on both the stage and silver screen. His play Separate Tables was nominated for Best Play at the 1957 Tony Awards; the 1958 film adaptation also earned him a Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. He also received an Oscar nomination for Best Story and Screenplay for Breaking the Sound Barrier (1952). A playwright who preferred understatement to sturm und drang, Rattigan fell somewhat out of favor after John Osborne's Look Back in Anger (1956), but is now recognized as one of the best playwrights of the 20th Century. He wrote his first play in 1933. A total of 15 of his plays were produced on Broadway between 1934 and 1975; he also had over 70 writing credits, either as screenwriter or for original material, between 1936 and 1999. British character actor DYALL (1908-1985) is probably best known as the BBC Radio series Appointment With Fear's narrator, known only as the "Man in Black". However, Dyall looked more like a pillar of society than a lurking stranger (which makes it a wonder that he didn't appear in any Alfred Hitchcock movies) and was usually cast as such. He also had acting credits on a number of British sci-fi series during his later career, including the role of the Black Guardian in three 1983 Doctor Who serials. Douglas Adams fans may recognize his voice from the radio and TV adaptations of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy; he was the voice of semi-ultra-computer Deep Thought in the TV series. In all, he had 100 movie and TV shows to his credit between 1942 and 1985, including recurring roles as Dr. Livesey in Treasure Island (1951), Inspector Kellogg in The Cheaters (1960-1962), O'Toole in Freewheelers (1970) and Dr. Pascal Keldermans in Secret Army (1977-1979). British organist and bandleader YORKE (1902-1966) became a popular bandleader on British radio during from the 1940s to the 1960s after serving in World War II. He was appointed choir-master and organist of his church in his teens and, after graduating from college, Yorke worked as a pianist and arranger with a number of bandleaders in the 1920s and 1930s before hooking up Louis Levy, a music pioneer in British films in 1936. His playing style was a perfect match for Levy's lush scores. , Yorke's music was resurrected by culture vulture John Kricfalusi in the 1990s, who featured it in several episodes of his sorta-retro cartoon Ren and Stimpy (1991-1994). TOYE (1917-2010) is a British actor, dancer, choreographer and director of stage and screen. After acting and choreography in a few movies during in the 1930s and 1940s, she made her film directing debut with the short The Stranger Left No Card (1952). This film won Best Fictional Short Film honors at the 1953 Cannes Film Festival. In all, she had directing credits for 13 movies and TV shows between 1952 and 1982. British cartoonist FERRIER (1891-1973) freelanced as a newspaper cartoonist while working in Glasgow, Scotland. After moving to London, England, he started drawing cartoons for Punch and other weekly magazines. Ferrier was an English pioneer of "glamor girl" cartoons in the 1930s and 1940s, with titles like Film Fannie, Spotlight on Sally, the somewhat unflatteringly-titled Our Dumb Blonde and his one and only daily strip Eve. Ferrier was also a painter; some of his work was collected by the Imperial War Museum. British stage and screen actor WATSON (1872-1964) appeared in almost 20 movies between 1916 and 1939. Lightly toned, stained, soiled and creased. Stains touch some unknown signatures. Lightly discolored at right edge and bottom, which touches notations but not signatures. Random ink stains. Neatly torn from guest book at left edge. Otherwise, fine condition.