Scarce vintage handwritten, signed check, made out by him in blue ballpoint pen in 1972. A gentle fold down the center; bank cancellation stamps; and a chip to the upper edge, but overall, in good condition and accompanied by a computer-printed image of the star. Affable leading man Gig Young was nominated for two Oscars, for Come Fill the Cup (1951) and Teacher's Pet (1958), before winning for They Shoot Horses, Don't They (1969) in 1970.  Originally credited as Raymond Barr, the actor was also memorable in They Died with Their Boots On (1941), Old Acquaintance (1943), The Three Musketeers (1948), Wake of the Red Witch (1948), City That Never Sleeps (1953), Young at Heart (1957), The Desperate Hours (1958), That Touch of Mink (1962), Kid Galahad (1952), The Shuttered Room (1967), Lovers and Other Strangers (1970), Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974), The Hindenburg (1975), Sherlock Holmes in New York (1976), and Bruce Lee's The Game of Death (1978), as well on T.V.'s "The Twilight Zone" in 1959. While always put-together and well-balanced onscreen, Young struggled with emotional and interpersonal difficulties in his personal life. A succession of marriages, including one to Elizabeth Montgomery, failed miserably.  In 1978, three weeks after marrying German actress Kim Schmidt, he apparently shot her to death in their New York City apartment and then turned the gun on himself. The direct cause of the murder-suicide remains unclear. Young was not quite 65; his bride was just 31.

• Tweet