TLS, one page, 8.25 x 11, Samuel Goldwyn, Inc. letterhead, June 2, 1942. A form letter sent to fan Richard Cheseborough in Riverdale-on-Hudson, New York. In full: “Your very welcome letter written during my recent illness in Hollywood has just reached me here with other messages equally kind and much appreciated. There were so many questions in the letters and references to ‘certain home-runs’ and other incidents of by-gone days, that I wish I could answer each person separately. Mighty sorry I’m not the letter writing kind of fellow so I hope you will accept this short note of thanks. I enjoyed working in the motion picture ‘The Pride of the Yankees’ and hope you will enjoy seeing the picture some time in July.” Ruth was asked to play a part as himself, in his athletic prime, in the 1942 Lou Gehrig biopic The Pride of the Yankees, released the year after Gehrig died from ALS. Ruth needed to lose a great deal of weight to play his younger self, and through a vigorous workout schedule he lost 40 pounds. Ruth did a respectable job in his bit part, but the strict hours of filming did not suit his night life. He caught a bad cold—a problem that plagued him his entire life—which developed into pneumonia. Accompanied by the original mailing envelope and a letter of grading and authenticity from PSA/DNA, assigning the autograph a grade of 9. In very good condition, with intersecting folds (lightly touching signature; extra vertical fold) and light scattered wrinkling and soiling (a few faint stains). The signature is clear and dark. JSA/Mike Gutierrez Auction LOA and RRAuction COA.
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