PROFOUNDLY rare-- just the third example we have encountered in 40 years-- 3.5 x 5.25-inch black and white portrait, boldly signed in blue ballpoint pen along the bottom, with a second preprinted "autograph" embedded in the image at the upper left. In good condition, with some minor photo mount remnants in two corners. Stocky, barrel-chested, baritone-voiced character actor Paul Birch was chiefly consigned to western flicks through the 1950s, when he became part of the repertory company of Roger Corman, appearing in The Beast with a Million Eyes (1955) and snagging the iconic role of Paul Johnson in Not of This Earth in 1957. After breaking ties with Corman following a fight, Birch appeared as Professor Konrad in the cult classic Queen of Outer Space (1958). He went on to appear in films like The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) and It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963).

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