Cat. #000430: TALLULAH BANKHEAD

Vintage black fountain pen signature on part of a tan autograph album page, acquired in-person in the 1930s and later matted up to 11x14 inches with an 8x10-inch black and white portrait of the star in her prime. In good condition, with some scuffing to the matte, which is unframed, and the signature never examined outside of the display. Seductive, whiskey-voiced stage and screen star Tallulah Bankhead was equally well-known for her uninhibited behavior, including copious use of drugs and alcohol, endless sexual encounters and occasional disrobing in public. After a handful of appearances in British silent films, she was signed to a talkie film contract with Paramount, but proved more of a Broadway fixture, at her dazzling and fiery best in “The Little Foxes” (1939) and “The Skin of Our Teeth (1942). Her movie career was spotty and included several box office disasters, perhaps because her extravagant, larger-than-life personality was not done justice on the screen. Her more memorable appearances include Alfred Hitchcock’s Lifeboat (1944), Otto Preminger's A Royal Scandal (1945) and the horror flick Die! Die! My Darling! (1965).