Paula Laurence Extremely Rare Very Early Autographed Photo 40s Dark Shadows

Description

Here is an extremely rare very early vintage original autographed 6" by 8" photo of theater, TV, and movie actress and singer Paula Laurence, from her prime in the 1940s. K
nown for Dark Shadows (1966), Play of the Week (1959) and Producers' Showcase (1954).
Ms. Laurence made an auspicious New York debut, acting in Orson Welles' Federal Theatre Project production of Horse Eats Hats in 1937, and following it up with a turn as Helen of Troy in Welles' famously trim, spectacularly lit version of Marlowe's Dr. Faustus (with Welles as the doctor). The casting was a testimony to Ms. Laurence's dark, sultry, almond eyed beauty.
In 1939, she shifted to decidedly lighter fare, performing in the Broadway revue Sing for Your Supper. Two years later, she played Hilda, the wiseacre maid in the big Jerome Chodorov-Joseph Fields hit Junior Miss, based on the stories of Sally Benson. Moss Hart directed the production and the two were briefly engaged. Two musicals followed. In Cole Porter's Something for the Boys, she played Ethel Merman's stripper cousin Chiquita Hart, performing the duet "By the Mississiniwah" with the star. In Kurt Weill's One Touch of Venus, she got to sing the title tune as secretary Molly Grant.
During this time, she also put in time at the wartime Stage Door Canteen. Reminiscing about the experience years later, she said, "Those of us who could entertain the troops, did; those who couldn't, danced with the servicemen, waited on tables or washed dishes with considerably more skill than the high-priced help which served us at home. We were all performing a needed service and vice-versa, for all these activities were wondrously therapeutic in relieving the guilts we all suffered because our lives were comparatively undisturbed; we weren't flying bombers or being shipped to crematoriums."
She also acted in the 1946 Jose Ferrer Cyrano de Bergerac; understudied Beatrice Lillie in the 1948 revue Inside USA; was directed by Alfred Drake in the short-lived 1950 musical The Liar; and appeared in Season in the Sun, a 1950 play by New Yorker theatre critic Wolcott Gibbs. Her appearances on Broadway in the 1960s were fewer, including Have I Got a Girl for You and Ivanov, starring John Gielgud in the title role. Off-Broadway, she performed at City Center and the Phoenix Theatre Company. Regionally, she acted at the Westport Country Playhouse, which was run for many years by her husband, producer and director Charles Bowden. At the Royale Theatre in New York and the Blackstone in Chicago, she understudied Bette Davis in Tennessee Williams' The Night of the Iguana. Bowden produced the play. He went on to produce Williams' Slapstick Tragedy in 1966. After Tennessee Williams' death, the Bowdens became the guardians of the playwright's institutionalized sister, Rose Williams.
In later years, Ms. Laurence had a second career as a journalist, contributing articles to Mademoiselle, Vogue, Cue, Harpers Bazaar and Playbill.
Was active as a performer for 70 years in cabarets, night clubs, benefits and revues. She was also a recording artist and sculptor. Trimmed, corner and edge wear, minor creasing. Extremely rare.
Will ship worldwide. I always combine shipping on multiple orders.
Filmography:
1993-1994Law & Order (TV Series)
Mrs. Silverman / Mrs. Franzel
- Golden Years (1994) ... Mrs. Silverman
- Night & Fog (1993) ... Mrs. Franzel
1993For Love or Money
Mrs. Elinor Vigushin
1993Tribeca (TV Series)
Woman Under Dryer
- The Hopeless Romantic (1993) ... Woman Under Dryer
1988Crossing Delancey
Diva
1979Firepower
Woman Guest
1978Eyes of Laura Mars
Aunt Caroline (as Paula Lawrence)
1970Cauliflower Cupids
Lucille
1970Dark Shadows (TV Series)
Hannah Stokes / Opening Voiceover
- Episode #1.1014 (1970) ... Hannah Stokes
- Episode #1.1013 (1970) ... Hannah Stokes
- Episode #1.1005 (1970) ... Hannah Stokes
- Episode #1.1004 (1970) ... Hannah Stokes
- Episode #1.1003 (1970) ... Hannah Stokes / Opening Voiceover
Show all 7 episodes
1959Play of the Week (TV Series)
Carlotta Ivanova
- The Cherry Orchard (1959) ... Carlotta Ivanova
1958Armchair Theatre (TV Series)
Society lady
- Time of Your Life (1958) ... Society lady
1958Hansel and Gretel (TV Movie)
Meenie
1956Playwrights '56 (TV Series)
Jane Widdy
- You and Me and the Gatepost (1956) ... Jane Widdy
1955Producers' Showcase (TV Series)
Roxane's Duenna
- Cyrano de Bergerac (1955) ... Roxane's Duenna
- The Women (1955)
1949The Philco Television Playhouse (TV Series)
- What Every Woman Knows (1949)