WILLARD PARKER - DOCUMENT DOUBLE SIGNED 02/27/1947 CO-SIGNED BY: DUNCAN G. CASSELL - HFSID 288983

WILLARD PARKER
Consent form authorizing the Motion Picture Relief Fund to reproduce Ryan's signature and likeness for a series of stamps raising money for needy film industry veterans. Also signed by Columbia Pictures executive Duncan Cassell. Parker has signed twice, once as an autograph sample and again to grant permission. A remarkable, perfectly verified example of a rare signature!
Document signed twice: "Willard Parker", "Here's to you!/Willard Parker", 1 page, 8½x11. Also signed "Duncan G. Cassell" on behalf of Columbia Pictures. Hollywood, California, 1947 February 27. Parker 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. The agreement is subject to the conditions of a parallel agreement between MPRF and Columbia Pictures. Tennis pro turned actor WILLARD PARKER (1912-1996) played supporting roles in films beginning with A Slight Case of Murder (1938) and continuing through Waco (1966). He was featured on TV's Tales of the Texas Rangers (1955-1957). He was married to actress Virginia Field. DUNCAN CASSELL was secretary to Columbia Pictures mogul Harry Cohn. 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." Filing holes at left edge (worn). Notch at top left corner. Multiple mailing folds. Adhesive residue at lower edge. Staple holes at top edge. Otherwise, fine condition.