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1940s Autograph Book: Can You Identify These Signatures?

Hello Everyone,

I am brand new to this site because my friend gave me an autograph album from the 1940s when he was an extra in the Our Gang Comedies and many Westerns to sell for him on eBay. He was a young boy at the time.

His memory is failing but together we are constructing some of the signatures which are difficult to read. There is one which he swears is Ronnie Regan (president to be) and although I looked up his older signatures I am still not 100% convinced. I certainly do not want to misrepresent any of the signatures in my listing.

I am attaching a photo I took of the page along with others we are unable to positively identify. I would be so grateful if one of you could assist me with the identification of these signatures. I am not asking for authentication as I know they are genuine, but just identification based on your experience and best judgment.

Thank you for your time and consideration. Best Wishes, Jacqueline

Click to enlarge:

Tags: Reagan, Ronald, Ronnie

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on July 13, 2011 at 6:40pm

Others will be better at helping you figure out who everyone is, but unfortunately, that's definitely not a Ronald Reagan autograph on the upper right.

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Permalink Reply by jacqueline winch on July 13, 2011 at 7:43pm

Thank you so much for your reply Steve. The only thing that looks like it could be RR is the way he did the Rs but unless he really changed his writing, I agree that it's doubtful. Before I list the auction tomorrow, I'll check with him again and see if I can jar his memory at all.

While I have you on the hook - any idea whose signature it is? The other three as well are puzzles. Again, I'm so appreciative of any help as I want to do my best for him in my auction which is scheduled to begin tomorrow at 5:00 PT. I'm going to continue research tomorrow into the last of the unknown signatures in the book. I'd love to have them all identified.

Thanks again for your help, Jacqueline

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on July 13, 2011 at 9:03pm

I'm not good at identifying random autographs, but someone here should be able to help...although tomorrow afternoon might be tight. Let's cross our fingers.

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Permalink Reply by jacqueline winch on July 13, 2011 at 10:10pm

Hi Steve, Thanks for the good wishes. This is going to be interesting. Jacqueline

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Permalink Reply by Lou reves on July 13, 2011 at 9:50pm

Iam not sure but is the bottom Lionel Barrymore?

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Permalink Reply by jacqueline winch on July 13, 2011 at 10:09pm

Oh yes, Louie - I believe you're right. That was a tough one and I'll add that to my description before it launches. It would be amazing to id them all. Thank you so very much!

I must say, I do a lot of eBay for others but this particular project has been really fun - like a treasure hunt. I'm not quite old enough to remember them all but I do know most of the names at least. I wonder why my friend says Ronald Reagan signed. He says he does remember meeting him and working in a movie or two he did. Maybe he's just confused about who actually signed the book. My friend's eyesight has failed badly and he needs a magnifying glass to see anything so between that and his memory, it's been a challenge. I've been working on this for four days now!

Again, thanks for your time and input. Jacqueline

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on July 13, 2011 at 10:34pm

Jacqueline,

I reduced the size of the image since it was 5 megs and took a long time to download, but it's larger than what's showing. Just click to enlarge.

I'm going to ask a friend to chime in on these if he could. If anyone can identify them, he can.

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Permalink Reply by jacqueline winch on July 14, 2011 at 7:20am

I'm sorry about the size I didn't realize when I did a photomerge. eBay likes them big but when I did the merge I didn't reduce again. My apologies for the inconvenience. I'm just so thrilled people are responding with solutions. Only two left to go... Best Wishes, Jacqueline

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Permalink Reply by Richard Davie on July 14, 2011 at 2:16am

Hello,

The signature on the top left is of the Oscar winning actress Claire Trevor and, yes, the bottom right is Lionel Barrymore, another Oscar winner. As a matter of interest, they both starred alongside Humphrey Bogart and Edward G. Robinson in Key Largo.

Good luck with the others.

Richard Davie

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Permalink Reply by jacqueline winch on July 14, 2011 at 7:22am

Hello Richard, I am so very grateful for your keen eye and expertise. Thank you for the astute ID of Claire Trevor!

The other two remain a mystery but at least I didn't post an erroneous name! Best Regards, Jacqueline

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Permalink Reply by Paula Williams on October 11, 2016 at 3:27pm

Hello Richard! my name is Paula, i'm from Brazil and i wanna ask if this autograph is of Alan Rickman really! a person said is from 2015 but is very diferent from most of his signatures!

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on July 14, 2011 at 8:08am

I just heard from Gary Brucato, founder of The Classic Entertainment Autograph Database, that he agrees with Louie and Richard about Claire Trevor and Lionel Barrymore, and that the other two are Renie Riano and Harold Huber. Riano and Huber examples are posted on his site for comparison.

www.thecead.com

Thanks Louie, Richard and Gary!