VICTOR MATURE - DOCUMENT SIGNED 06/26/1946 - HFSID 289014

VICTOR MATURE
Consent form authorizing the Motion Picture Relief Fund to reproduce Victor Mature's signature and likeness for a series of stamps raising money for needy film industry veterans. The form is signed twice by Mature, once as an autograph sample and again to grant permission. A remarkable, perfectly verified example!
Document signed twice: "Victor Mature", 2 pages, 8½x11. No place, 1946 June 26. Victor Mature 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. Handsome leading man Victor Mature (1913-1999), who was known as "Beautiful Hunk of Man" or simply "The Hunk", made his film debut in 1939 in The Housekeeper's Daughter. He is best known for his roles in biblical or epic films, such as Samson and Delilah (1949), The Robe (1953), Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954) and The Egyptian (1954), although he showed his range with acclaimed performances in such films as My Darling Clementine (1946) and Kiss of Death (1947). After making the made-for-TV movie, Samson and Delilah (a remake of his 1949 feature film), 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 top left. Slightly soiled. Slightly creased. Otherwise, fine condition.