TEX RITTER - CONTRACT SIGNED 02/01/1952 - HFSID 257956

TEX RITTER
Country music star and musician Tex Ritter signed this MCA contract in 1952 to appear at a Texas VFW hall in return for $400 plus part of the gate.
Contract signed "Tex Ritter" in black ink and by a representative of Ritter's employer in blue ink and of Music Corporation of America in black ink. Black ink notations at top right corner in unknown hand. 2 pages, 8½x11, 1 sheet, front and verso, carbon copy. Feb. 1, 1952. Ritter signed this contract through MCA to have him and his seven-man band appear at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Hall in Arannas Pass, Texas on March 10, 1952. He received $400 plus 70 percent of the net door receipts after taxes. Ritter (1905-1974, born Maurice Woodward Ritter in Marvaul, Texas) was a country music star who also was successful in Westerns, appearing in 85 films. Rivaling Gene Autry in popularity at the beginning of his career, Ritter curtailed his filmmaking in the late 1940s, opting to tour in live shows with his horse, White Flash. As a singer, he became a weekly fixture at the Grand Ole Opry. The father of actor John Ritter, he is the only entertainer elected to both the Cowboy Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame. Lightly toned and creased. Signatures touch but are still legible. Discolored at top, right and bottom edges. Staple holes in top left corner. Light nick and tear at bottom right corner. Light tear and dents at top edge. Light nick at right edge. Carbon copy marks. Folded twice and unfolded. Light tear at right edge along bottom fold. Otherwise in fine condition.