George Raft Very Rare Autographed Page 30s + Auto Of His Mistress Virginia Pine

Description

Here is an extremely rare very early vintage original double autographed page, autographed by actor George Raft (1895-1980), from his prime in the 1930s, and also very rare autograph of his mistress actress Virginia Pine (1912-1984); and on the reverse autograph of actress Sally Eillers (1908-1978). Best known for his tough-guy roles, frequently played gangsters. His films include Scarface (1930), The Bowery (1933), Rumba (1935), Each Dawn I Die (1939) and They Drive By Night (1940). He reprised his gangster role in the 1959 comedy, Some Like It Hot.
Virginia Pine was born on August 11, 1912 in Chicago, Illinois, USA as Virginia Peine. She was an actress, known for Dr. Monica (1934), Hot Off the Press (1935) and Boogie-Woogie Dream (1944). She was married to John T. Coulter, Quentin Reynolds and Edward Lehmann Jr. She died on March 17, 1984 in New York City, New York, USA. Blonde starlet of the 1930's and 40's, in films with Warner Brothers from 1934. Less remembered for her films than for her lengthy relationship (1933-40) with - and polishing influence upon - the actor George Raft. Now, the stories of how Raft and Virginia met differ. One source claims that he visited Chicago and met Virginia. She fell madly in love with him, left her husband and followed him to Hollywood. The version that sounds more accurate is that Virginia was a friend of Jock Whitney, a notorious millionaire playboy, who introduced George to her. Beautiful, fair skinned and blonde, Virginia was the Botticelli Venus for Raft – and her cool, sophisticated manner and was a direct contrast to his own frugal upbringing and the more crude, less polished women he usually dated. Virginia fiddled with Raft on their first date, driving the well heeled womanizer to dust. Later she claimed she did or the fun and to humble him – in other words, Virginia was a woman who knew what she wanted, knew how to play and play well she did. George fell fast and hard.
Virginia and George dated for the next seven years, from 1933 up until 1939/1940. It was his most meaningful, sincere and earnest relationship. She completely changed his image from a badly over-dressed hoodlum from Hell’s Kitchen to a slick, alluring gentleman who always had that whiff of danger within him. The Pygmalion scheme (in reverse to the usual older man/younger girl scenario as she was both younger and a woman) included dressing him, teaching him the social graces, proper way to eat and drink, how to talk, what to talk about and so on. It really rubbed off him, and George became the man today known – one of the best Warner Bros stars in the 1930s, standing hip to hip with James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart.
George built a palatial house in Coldwater Canyon where Virginia and her daughter Joan lived. They went for holidays on Catalina island, attended the horse shows at Santa Anita racetrack, and were an all around acknowledged Hollywood couple. George himself was a perfume connoisseur and bough Virginia a big number of rare and expensive perfumes from abroad she would cleverly use to further enchant him. He was also a terrific father figure to her daughter, Joan, who was just a baby when the two started dating. In many ways, George WAS Joan’s father, as she spent her formative years (from ages of 1 to 7) with him and trusted him completely. In return, George adored the girl and enjoyed taking her to the park and doing other paternal activities.
As with most real life stories that sound like fairy tales, there is a catch, and not a small one. George was still technically a married man. His wife, Grace Mulrooney, lived in New York, as they had been separated for a long time, but she was a Catholic and refused to give him an divorce. She was paid handsomely by getting 10% of everything George made in Hollywood. As most women living in the 1930s, Virginia opted for marriage and wanted to wed George after it was clear they were suited to each other, but this was one thing George could not give her. Soon, all the money, fame and social status became meaningless in the shadow of living as an unwed couple. Yet, George could not or did not want to get an divorce, no matter how much Virginia pushed him.
Then, the inevitable happened – Virginia started to date other guys. This was a huge blow to Rafts ego, and he was so jealous he sometimes stalked Virginia and her escort-of-the-hour to the nightspots. One especially nasty example of this was when Virginia dated Joseph Schneck, the powerful and wealthy movie mogul. Raft followed them to Schneck’s house, rang the bell and when no one opened the door,broke it down, entered, saw Virginia and Schneck on the couch, just glared at them, turned and left.
From there the relationship went downhill mighty fast. Virginia started avoiding Raft, and when they were together, they fought constantly. Soon he decided to end the misery, giving her 15 000$, which she used to move to New York in 1940. He moved to her Coldwater Canyon house with his best friend, Mack Grey. Raft himself admitted that the end of their affair was a great blow to him, and how Virginia was the love of his life. In his biography, Raft constantly blames his wife for not giving him a divorce, but several other sources claim he was too cheap to divorce Grace since he knew she would take too much money. Whatever the truth, the fact remains, Raft and Virginia did not end up married and it was a huge burden for the rest of their lives.
A very rare double autograph pairing.
Will ship worldwide. I always combine shipping on multiple orders.
George Raft was born and grew up in a poor family in Hell's Kitchen, at the time one of the roughest, meanest areas of New York City. He was born George Ranft, and was the son of Eva (Glockner) and Conrad Ranft, a department store deliveryman. His parents were both of German descent. In his youth, he showed a great interest in, and aptitude for, dancing. That, combined with his dark good looks and sharp dressing, made him a local favorite at such spots as the El Fey Club with Texas Guinan. In 1928, Raft went to Hollywood to try his luck at acting. His first big role was as the coin-tossing henchman in Scarface (1932). His career was marked by numerous tough-guy roles, often a gangster or convict. The believability with which he played these, together with his lifelong associations with such real-life gangsters as Owney Madden and Bugsy Siegel, added to persistent rumors that he was also a gangster. The slightly shady reputation may have helped his popularity early on, but it made him somewhat undesirable to movie executives later in his career. He somewhat parodied his gangster reputation in Billy Wilder's Some Like It Hot (1959).