Frances Farmer Signed Letter. ...

Description

Frances Farmer Signed Letter. A remarkably lyrical letter from legendary actress Frances Farmer (1913-1970), written in black fountain ink on three sides of 8.5" x 11" beige stationery and signed Frances; the accompanying original air mail envelope is postmarked Los Angeles, November 12, 1935. Farmer, who had signed with Paramount Studios, writes in part: "dear dick, 'as if a wind should call and an empty echo answer'...i had forgotten you.....heat and hatred, a living and a dying, pieces of paper signed, grand central, and in the end, hollywood...i had forgotten you -- as one forgets the memory of a dream...oh, dick, your letter has stirred ashes -- and I feel old and lost. do you understand me, then? we are both a bit sad, because at last and eventually, we shall conform. Frances."
Farmer's battles with alcohol and mental illness were the subject of her posthumously-published ghost-written memoir Will There Really Be a Morning? (1972), and the film Frances (1982), in which Jessica Lange's portrayal of the title role won her an Oscar nomination. Also included in the lot are two letters -- one from Hannah McFarland, Handwriting and Document Examiner, and another from Wessel and Lieberman, booksellers, officially validating the letter's authenticity and value; and photocopies of two other Farmer letters (one from 1941 and written to Clifford Odets -- Farmer had starred in Odets' 1937 play Golden Boy) from the Special Collections Division of the University of Washington. Frances Farmer material is ultra-rare in any form, and this piece offers powerfully moving insight into this enigmatic actress whose tragedy still haunts Hollywood. In Excellent condition. Accompanied by James Spence Authentication auction LOA.

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