Classic Entertainment Autographs

Cat. #00407: ROBERT STRAUSS

Quite scarce vintage inscribed black felt-tip pen signature on a 3.25 x 6-inch tan card, attained by inveterate collector Hirsch Cohen in 1973. In good condition, with a hint of show-through from an address label affixed to the opposite side. Note that the image of the star shown here alongside the scan of the autographed item is not included. One doesn't soon forget gravel-voiced, simian character actor Robert Strauss, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance as Stanislas "Animal" Kasava in Stalag 17 (1953). He was similarly over-the-top, as a mixed bag of goons, bartenders, cops, cabbies, and bookies in films like The Seven Year Itch (1955), The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), the war flick Attack! (1956), L'il Abner (1959), Elvis Presley's Girls! GIrls! Girls! (1962), and The Family Jewels (1965). Throughout the 1960s, he popped up in similar roles on classic western programs and sitcoms like "Bonanza" (1962), "Wagon Train" (1959-1962), "The Dick Van Dyke Show" (1964), "The Munsters" (1964), "Green Acres" (1966), "Bewitched" (1966), "The Beverly Hillbillies" (1967), "The Monkees" (1967), and "The Jackie Gleason Show" (1966-1967). After years of eluding autograph hounds, Strauss died of a stroke at the age of 61 and his signature is highly uncommon in any format.