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George O'Brien was born in San Francisco, California in 1899, where his dad was later chief of police. He had intended to study medicine, but when he turned 18, George enlisted in the Navy in World War I, and was decorated for bravery and boxed, becoming Light Heavyweight champion of the Pacific Fleet. After the war, he went to Hollywood, and got work as a stuntman, and had a few bit parts. He got a few better parts, and in 1924 he got the lead in The Man Who Came Back, which got him noticed by John Ford, who gave him the lead in his epic western, The Iron Horse, a huge break for the mostly unknown actor. The movie was a huge hit, and made O'Brien a major star. He made several more films for Ford, and in 1927 he starred in Sunrise, opposite Janet Gaynor (who had had her first real role in O'Brien's The Johnstown Flood a year earlier), directed by F.W. Murnau. The movie tells of a farmer married to a good woman who is seduced by a very bad woman into killing his wife, and the movie is wonderful! When sound came along, O'Brien switched to becoming a mostly western actor, and he made 45 movies in the 1930s, including a few really top westerns like Riders of the Purple Sage. Even though many of his movies were low budget "cheapies" they were always popular. In 1940, he turned his back on the movies, and re-enlisted in the Navy in WWII, at the age of 41, and with a wife (actress Marguerite Churchill) and two small children! He served actively (unlike most Hollywood stars of that time) and was highly decorated, rising to the rank of Commander. He appeared in three John Ford movies after the war as a favor to his old friend, but otherwise mostly remained away from movies. He joined the United States Naval Reserve during the Korean War and retired with the rank of Captain in 1962, having four times been recommended for the rank of Admiral! He passed away in 1985, only remembered by film buffs, but having starred in two of the best movies of the 1920s, and having been a solid box office draw for most of two decades! He passed away in 1985 at the age of 85.

Important Added Info: Note that this letter has been personally autographed (signed) by George O'Brien! In it, he thanks our consignor for his nice words about his movies. After his signature, he added a P.S. telling about an award he received for "Sunrise", and that he enclosed the invitation he received. That invitation was sent to him by Ed Hulse, legendary longtime film buff, representing the Society for Cinephiles in New York City. Mr. Hulse is still a very active film fan and author, and he can be found on Facebook!

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.

Our address for UPS or FedEx only is:
Bruce Hershenson,
306 Washington Avenue, West Plains, MO 65775