Description:

BASIL RATHBONE
(1892 - 1967) English stage and film actor, remembered for his superlative performance as Sherlock Holmes opposite Nigel Bruce's Dr. Watson. Lengthy A.L.S. 2pp. 4to., on letterhead of the Hotel Viking in Newport, RI, [n.d. but postmarked July 15, 1951], to Mrs. Gilbert Colgate, a family friend. In part: "...Thank you so much for the little packages received safely, also your most gracious letter about our Cynthia. That she should have made so favorable an impression is a great credit to her and of deep satisfaction to us...Cynthia has had a glorious week here with Mr. & Mrs. Power. Laurel & Helen have been so sweet to her. I have seen little of her owing to my work. Ours is a strange business, it comes in fits & starts. I play 8 performances a week of 'The Gioconda Smile' (6 nights & 2 matinees)...All my spare time is occupied learning the dialogue lyrics and music of 'Music in the Air' by Jerome Kerne [sic] & Oscar Hammerstein which I am going to do in the fall. [His wife]Ouida's play is virtually sold & will be produced in the fall with Helen Menken as the Star...I refuse to refer to 'T.V.' as anything but a necessary evil! For 2 years I have been haunted by it professionally & domestically! We shall open in N.Y. late Oct. ('Music in the Air') & you must be my guests on the opening night please...". Mrs. Colgate was the wife of Gilbert Bayard Colgate, Jr. (1899-1967), the American bobsledder who won a bronze medal in the 1936 Winter Olympics. His grandfather was the founder of what is now the Colgate-Palmolive Company. With original envelope, very good.

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January 21, 2010 10:00 AM EST
Stamford, CT, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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