Highly rare vintage inscribed thick pencil signature on a 4x6-inch tan album page, acquired in-person in 1936. In good condition, with a frayed left edge, where it was removed from its original album. Note that the image of the star shown alongside the scan of the autograph here is not included. With his grim, beady-eyed, sharp-nosed, weather-beaten looks, great character actor Russell Simpson added charm and rustic authenticity to countless silents and early talkies.  Long associated with John Ford, he was unforgettable as Pa Joad, opposite Jane Darwell, in The Grapes of Wrath (1940), and was also exceptional in Drums Along the Mohawk (1939), Tobacco Road (1941), They Were Expendable (1945), My Darling Clementine (1946), The Sun Shines Bright (1953), and The Horse Soldiers (1959). His better known credits with other directors include The Power and the Glory (1933), Ever Since Eve (1934), Way Down East (1935), The Crime of Dr. Forbes (1936), San Francisco (1936), Ramona (1936), Young Mr. Lincoln (1939), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), Brigham Young (1940), Santa Fe Trail (1940), Meet Me at the Fair (1953), Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), and Oklahoma! (1955).

• Tweet