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George Raft (born George Ranft) was a legendary tough guy actor (specializing in crime and film noir roles) from the 1920s to the 1980s. Like James Cagney, he actually WAS born in a tough neighborhood in New York City, so his tough guy persona was honestly earned! Note that he first appeared in movies in minor roles in 1929, but it took three years and seven movies before he got his big break in Howard Hughes' "Scarface" (where he played Paul Muni's coin-flipping henchman). After that, he was rushed into six movies in the rest of 1932 alone, and he remained a major star (mostly in gangster roles) for many years. Some of his other movies include: Each Dawn I Die, Manpower, If I Had a Million, They Drive by Night, and Some Like It Hot (in a great cameo where he played a parody of his earlier gangster roles) AND Ben Bernie was a jazz musician and radio personality from the 1920s to the 1940s. He appeared in a few movies including Stolen Harmony and Shoot The Works AND Fred Stone was a vaudeville and live theater legend, but is sadly forgotten today, except by major theater history buffs. He was born in 1873, and by the turn of the century, he was the leading actor in live theater plays that toured the country, and in 1902, he played the Scarecrow in the first stage version of The Wizard of Oz, a role he repeated for many years. In 1918, he first appeared in a movie, and although he appeared in a total of 19 movies, he mainly stayed loyal to the stage. He was great friends with many Hollywood legends including Will Rogers, and when Annie Oakley died, she left her unfinished autobiography to Stone! He was critically injured in an airplane crash in 1929, and was told he would never dance again, but made a nearly full recovery. In 1923, the creator of Raggedy Ann wrote a stage play for Stone, where the Scarecrow met Raggedy Ann, but it was never produced. Stone and his daughter did play in a musical where he was Raggedy Andy and she was Raggedy Ann, with music by Jerome Kern. In the mid 1930s, when older actors were having much success at Paramount, Paramount hired Stone with a great fanfare, announcing that he would be appearing in a number of movies, but that really didn't materialize. Stone was certainly a remarkable man, and a movie should be made of his life!

Important Added Info: Note that this is one of a fascinating group of four key book stills we are offering in four separate auctions. Each shows Fred Stone with famous celebrities of the time. Apparently, in 1935, Paramount signed Stone (a true legend) to a contract to appear in movies, and in publicizing that signing, they created these wonderful stills showing him appearing with Cecil B. DeMille, George Raft, Ben Bernie, Mae West, and W.C. Fields! Also note that this key book still is on a deluxe heavyweight paper stock and has an extra 1" on the left of the still with punch holes (where the still was kept in a binder).

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