W. C. FIELDS - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED - HFSID 179355
Sale Price $1,350.00
Reg. $1,600.00
W. C. FIELDS
Signing as "The great man/Continental Claude", he pens a letter to
his mistress Carlotta in New York
Autograph Letter signed: "The great man/Continental Claude",
1p, 8½x10¼. On lightweight airmail paper. No place, no date, but with
original envelope postmarked Los Angeles, Hollywood, December 27, 1939.
Addressed by Fields to Miss C. Douglas [Carlotta Monti], Hotel Marie
Antoinette, Broadway at 66 St., New York City. Torn flap. Creased, soiled and
worn. Unrelated notes on verso (unknown hand). In full: "Something or
other was at ah La Cava's Morales you know her and she enquired about you. I
told her you were making the grade in N.Y. That you had been on here to attend
your case but returned. She expressed regrets she had not seen you. She made La
Cava a sweater. I think I admired the sweater and she suggested making me one.
Being continental and never forgetting the days of chivalry I accepted
graciously. She evidently knows Margo and they are coming some afternoon to
measure me. Do you think I should order a pair if drawers too? This thing is
running into a book, so will saw off. Keep well- and think for pastime. Always
my best and most important wishes. M.M. sends Love." Creased, folds, lightly
nicked edges. W.C. Fields (1879-1946) began entertaining as an
amusement park juggler at the age of fourteen. He was a vaudeville headliner
before he was twenty and toured Europe in 1901, giving a command performance at
Buckingham Palace. His Broadway debut in The Ham Tree (1905) was
followed by appearances in the Ziegfeld Follies (1915-1921) and in
George White's Scandals (1933). Fields starred in Poppy on
Broadway (1923) and the next year made his first film, Janice Meredith
(1924). Fields' style, verbal rather than visual, and irascible con-man
philosophy made him a favorite, especially with the advent of sound, where
his raspy voice provided the final touch to his comedy. He starred in movies
including My Little Chickadee (1940) and Never Give a Sucker an Even
Break (1941). Fields' mistress from 1932 until his death was starlet
Carlotta Monti, who often performed under the name of Carlotta Douglas, as
shown here. Her tell-all memoir, W. C. Fields and Me, was the basis for
the 1976 film. Fields was never divorced from his wife, Harriet "Hattie" Hughes,
though they were permanently separated in 1904. Consequently, Monti was passed
over in the settlement of Fields' estate. Fields often referred to himself
ironically as "The Great Man", and his character is called that in a later film,
Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941). Two
items.
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