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Evelyn Keyes was an actress from the 1930s to the 1980s. She was raised in Atlanta and moved to Hollywood, where she was signed to a personal contract by Cecil B. DeMille without having any acting experience whatsoever. She made her debut in DeMille's 1937 movie "The Buccaneer", where she had a bit part, but within a few years, she rose to starring roles. Some of her movies include: The Jolson Story (as "Julie Benson", because the studio could not use Ruby Keeler's name, because she refused), Gone with the Wind (as Suellen), and Here Comes Mr. Jordan. She passed away in 2008 at the age of 91.

Important Added Info: Note that our consignor was struck by seeing this pair of stills that showed Evelyn Keyes from the front and back (he told us that he had never seen a still like this before). He had them in his collection and then he mailed them both to Miss Keyes, who signed both of them and returned them to him. It would certainly make a unique display framed side by side on the wall (and note that she is wearing entirely different outfits in each still)! Also note that these stills are key book stills, printed on a deluxe heavyweight paper stock. Many studios spent extra money to have their most special photos, the key book stills, either backed with linen or printed on a heavy paper, both of which enhanced their durability. They had an extra 1" at the left or top, with punch holes, because of how they were stored. Key book stills are far more rare than regular stills, which has increased their popularity among collectors, since only a few keybooks were manufactured per film, and a key book still is guaranteed to be authentic.

Note that this autographed item is part of a remarkable collection. In each of our last several all-signed auctions, we auctioned hundreds of items from this collection and now we are auctioning many more signed photos and miscellaneous other signed items (plus many signed index cards that have a different note on those)!
     In the 1970s, our consignor was a teacher who taught a film class, and he also part-time ran the local movie theater (and he saved all the presskits from the movies the theater showed).
     Starting in the late 1970s through the late 1980s, he wrote to famous celebrities, and enclosed an 8x10 still or repro (or sometimes another item) from his collection, and he wrote a literate personalized letter, talking about his work as a film teacher, and discussing his favorite movie by that star.
     He received signed photos back from a good percentage of the people he wrote to, and if the people simply sent him a stock photo back, he did not save it, but if he felt the autograph was genuine, and if they added a personalized note, then he did save them.
     In the late 1980s, he pretty much stopped sending letters and photos, simply because he was just too busy. So this item (and the vast majority of the other photos and other items we are auctioning for this consignor) were obtained in the late 1970s or 1980s, through personal correspondence with this star. This is of course excellent, because back at that time celebrities were not selling their signatures nearly as much, and many of the stars were pretty forgotten and were happy to get letters from people like our consignor!
     He of course does not have any "Certificates of Authenticity", but he only kept ones he felt were surely authentic, and those are the ones we are auctioning. However, bidders can certainly compare the signatures to known examples on the internet to judge for themselves.

As is true of all the signed items we are currently auctioning, we give every buyer 30 days in which to review what they purchased and they can return any item as long as it is within 30 days of the end of the auction. On non-signed items, we give a "lifetime guarantee" on everything we auction, but on signed items, we give the above modified guarantee of 30 days after the auction closes.

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Bruce Hershenson,
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