Scarce and terrific 8x10-inch sepia-tone linen chest-up portrait by celebrated photographer Max Mun Autrey, warmly signed with his first name only and inscribed, quite possibly to regular co-star Stan Laurel, with an inside joke about the transition from silent to early talkie cinema:  "To Stan, / Cherio and / O.K. for sound. / Bestest / Tyler".  In very good condition for its age.  The comic character actor of the stage and screen was contract player with Hal Roach from 1926-1929, appearing in scores of comedy shorts alongside Laurel and Hardy.  He abandoned his work with Roach after his arm was injured in a stunt involving a raucous game of billiards, reportedly by Oliver Hardy.  Brooke went on to find supporting work in a number of classic films, including Cecil B. DeMille's Dynamite (1929), Madam Satan (1930), The Divorcee (1930), Morning Glory (1933), In Old Chicago (1937), Alexander Graham Bell (1939), The Wizard of Oz (1939)-- as a munchkin!-- and Kitty Foyle (1940).  He died of self-inflicted carbon monoxide poisoning at the age of 51.  This is the only signed photo of the actor we've ever encountered.

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