Uncommonly early vintage 8x10-inch chest-up portrait, dating to the onset of his career in the 1930s, boldly signed in white fountain pen.  In very good condition, with negligible handling dings.  The character actor was initially groomed as an action-adventure star.  His career was launched with the memorable title role in the radio program and hit film The Adventures of Frank Merriwell (1936), about an athlete who works out a mysterious inscription on a ring, digs up treasure chests, gets kidnapped, and battles Indians while searching for his lost father.  Somehow, he instead found himself playing cheap would-be Lotharios, snobby college boys, unsavory lawyers, and fast-talking reporters in scores of classic films, in a career lasting 40 years.  

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