eMoviePoster.comAuction History Result 1e228 HOWARD KEEL signed deluxe 8x10 still '56 head & shoulders portrait wearing suit & tie! Date Sold 3/31/2011Sold For: Login or Register to see sold price. An Original Vintage Theatrical Autographed Deluxe 8" x 10" [20 x 25 cm] Movie Still (Learn More) Howard Keel was born Harry Clifford Keel in Gillespie, Illinois in 1919. His father was a coal miner and he grew up poor. His dad died when he was 11, and his mother moved to California, where Howard graduated high school and then worked first at a factory, and then as a salesman for Douglas Aircraft Company. At 20, he started taking voice lessons, and he performed publicly at 21. He was married for the first time in 1943 (he would be married two more times, but he would be single less than three months over the next 61 years!). In 1945, he got the part of understudy to John Raitt in the part of Billy Bigelow in Carousel, and he next became the understudy to Alfred Drake in the part of Curly in Oklahoma, and when that show travelled to England, Keel played the lead, to great acclaim. While there, he played a part in an English movie, The Small Voice, changing his first name to Howard. When he returned to the U.S. he was signed by MGM, and his first movie, Annie Get Your Gun, where he played Frank Butler to Betty Hutton's Annie Oakley was a big hit. He followed with both musicals and non-musicals (this very big and handsome man was a natural for roles in non-musical westerns, which were also quite popular at the time). Among his best movies were Show Boat (where he played Gaylord Ravenal) and my personal favorite, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (where he played Adam Pontipee). Two parts he was supposed to play, but ended up not playing, were the leads in Singin' in the Rain and in Sunrise at Campobello. Those both would have been very different movies with Keel in the lead role! As the cycle of musicals wound down in the mid-1950s, Keel made a few more western or action movies, but mostly performed on stage, often in summer stock, over the next two plus decades. In 1981, Jim Davis, who played the role of Jock Ewing on the hit TV show Dallas passed away, and the producers wanted to find another older male star to play a similar role as Clayton Farlow, and they cast Keel (who looked fantastic!), and he stayed with the show for the remainder of its run, which let him quit touring in shows, and gave him financial security. In 1988, Keel had heart bypass surgery, but stayed on Dallas. The show finally went off the air in 1991, and Keel continued to make some singing appearances. He passed away in 2004 at the age of 85. Important Added Info: Note that this still has been personally autographed (signed) by Howard Keel! Also note that this is a deluxe still printed on double weight paper stock. Note that this autographed 8x10 is one of 91 that were consigned to us by a former theater owner. He owned two different major theaters in Louisiana from the 1940s through the 1970s, and he sometimes had premieres of movies at his theaters, at which time some of the celebrities connected to the movies would appear in person (this was often done in the 1950s and 1960s). When celebrities came to his theater, he would have them autograph 8x10 stills for him in person, and that got him started collecting signed stills, so at some point in the 1950s, he began requesting the studios to have them send him stills signed by the stars of movies he had recently shown at his theater when he was holding a special event or having the anniversary of his theater's opening! Over the next decade, he collected 91 signed stills that were sent to him by the studios through the mail, as well as several dozen that he obtained in person. We auctioned those "in person" signed stills in our previous auctions, and now we are auctioning the 91 stills where he obtained the signatures through the mail from the studios. We know for certain that he received these stills directly from the studios, but we can't say for certain if the stills were signed by the stars or if they were signed by secretaries. But since he owned a major theater, and since many of the stills were personalized to him (or to his theater), we would think it likely that most, if not all, of these 91 stills have genuine signatures that are NOT secretarial signatures. But we suggest that anyone bidding on these stills compare their signatures to other examples of that star's signature, so they can best determine if the signature is from that star. Condition: very good. There are a few faint smudges and faint stains around the edges of the still, but it is otherwise in nice condition! Learn More about condition grades
Postal Mailing Address:
Bruce Hershenson, P.O. Box 874, West Plains, MO 65775. (For our UPS or FedEx address, click here) phone: +1 417 256-9616 fax: +1 417 257-6948 E-mail: Contact Us Hours of Operation: Monday - Friday 8:30 AM - 12:00 PM & 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM (CDT) |
|||||||||||||
Copyright Notice:
©1998-2024 Bruce Hershenson. All rights reserved.
All materials contained in this document are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of Bruce Hershenson. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content. However, you may download or print material from this Web site for your personal, non-commercial use only. |