Highly rare vintage blue fountain pen signature on an irregularly-trimmed 4 x 5.25-inch tan autograph album page, acquired in-person in the 1930s and decorated with a magazine image. In good condition, with some slightly uneven ink adhesion. After building up a hulking physique as a sailor, boxer, lumberjack, coal miner, and champion weightlifter, Tom Tyler entered films in 1923, starring in early western features and serials. During the talkie era, he struggled to conceal his dense Lithuanian accent and was increasingly relegated to character roles in big budget films, including Stagecoach (1939), Gone with the Wind (1939) and the horror classic The Mummy's Hand (1940), as the undead Kharis. In 1941, Tyler landed the plum title role in the Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941) cliffhanger, but, due to increasing difficulties with rheumatoid arthritis, his career completely collapsed by 1943. In an attempt to make ends meet, he took whatever parts he could in various T.V. westerns, including a "starring" role, alongside Tom Keene, in Ed Wood's unsold pilot "Crossroad Avenger" (1953). The following year, he died of a heart attack at the age of 50 and his autograph is virtually nonexistent in any format.

• Tweet