XAVIER CUGAT - DOCUMENT DOUBLE SIGNED 01/27/1947 - HFSID 288996

XAVIER CUGAT
Consent form authorizing the Motion Picture Relief Fund to reproduce Cugat's signature and likeness for a series of stamps raising money for needy film industry veterans. He has signed twice, once to authorize the deal and once as a signature example. Also signed by a studio representative. A perfectly verified example of a rare signature!
Document signed twice: "Xavier Cugat", 1 page, 8½x11. Hollywood, California 1947 January 21. Cugat 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. Also signed by a representative of Loew's, Inc. Orchestra leader Xavier Cugat (1900-1990) is best known as "The Rumba King" for introducing U. S. audiences to Latin rhythms. Born in Spain, Cugat grew up in Havana, and the teenaged violin prodigy toured with Enrico Caruso before coming to the U. S. Cugat worked as a cartoonist for the Los Angeles Times while organizing his first bands, and by 1928, he and his band were playing at the Cocoanut Grove in Hollywood. Cugat appeared in a number of feature films, usually as himself. His wives included singer Abbe Lane (1952 until their divorce in 1963) and entertainer Charo (1966 until their divorce in 1978). 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. Staple holes at top left corner. Pencil marks (unknown hand). Otherwise, fine condition.