WALLACE "WALLY" FORD - AUTOGRAPHED SIGNED CHECK 12/07/1929 - HFSID 176488

WALLACE FORD
Ford signed this $50 check in 1929, one year before he first appeared on the silver screen.
Check signed "Wallace Ford". 6¼x2¾ with perforated left edge. Dec. 7, 1929. Check no. 48 for $50, made out to "The Lambs [illegible]", possibly The Lamb's Theatre in New York City's Times Square.Drawn from Ford's account at the Bayside, Queens branch of The National Bank of Bayside in New York. This check was signed one year before Ford's film debut in the short Fore (1930). He played two shows in 1929, Gypsy and The Nut Farm, neither of which played at The Lamb's Theatre. Ford (1898-1966, born in Bolton, Lancashire, England) was an English actor with almost 160 movies and TV shows to his credit between 1930 and 1965. Ford made his show biz premiere in vaudeville and music halls at 11; he made his Broadway debut a decade later as Higgins in The Poppy God (1921). He debuted on the silver screen in 1930 and put bread on the table with wisecracking lead roles in B-movies, with an occasional foray into critical approval (The Informer, 1935, and Shadow of a Doubt, 1943). He also appeared on Broadway frequently during the 1920s, and he created the part of George, the friend of slow-witted Lennie, in the Broadway adaptation of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men (1937-1938 performing 207 times). Later in his career, he found work in middle-aged character roles, playing wistful drunks and wise good-for-nothings, ending his career with a powerful performance as Ole Pa in A Patch of Blue. Ford was orphaned while still a baby; his search for his parents in the 1930s drew worldwide attention and headlines. B-movie fans may recognize Ford from his leading role as Phroso in Tom Browning's legendary film Freaks (1932). Normal bank stamps and cancellation holes, which touch signature. Ink transference from stamps on verso, which touches handwriting but not signature. Otherwise in fine condition.