*Louise Fazenda Inscribed 11x14 To Nancy and 50 similar items

From the estate of actress Nancy Drexel (Mrs. Thomas H. Ince Jr.) is this vintage original 11x14 in. double-weight matte publicity photograph of motion picture star LOUISE FAZENDA. Taken in the late 1920's, she is depicted in a close studio shot with beautiful backlighting on her hair. This photograph was inscribed in black ink by Louise Fazenda to fellow film actress Nancy Drexel thusly: "To - Little Nancy - Wishing you everything - you want most - Louise Fazenda." It is in fine- condition with paper loss and wear on the corners; a 1.5 in. vertical crease in the top half along the right border; a 3.5 in. crease that follows the outline of the left side of her hair; a few small creases in the top left background area; and a 2.5 in. diagonal crease on the bottom right corner that only goes through the "g" in "everything" in Miss Fazenda's signature.

Provenance: The Estate of Nancy Drexel Ince.

Louise Fazenda (June 17, 1895 – April 17, 1962) was an American film actress, appearing chiefly in silent comedy films. Fazenda was discovered by a scout employed by Mack Sennett in a high school comedy show. She made her first film in 1913. She was best known as a character actor in silent films, playing roles such as a fussy old maid and a blacksmith. She briefly left films during 1921 and 1922 to perform vaudeville. Her transition into talking pictures led to more serious roles. The Old Maid, in 1939, was her last of her nearly 300 movie appearances. In 1927, Fazenda married Hal B. Wallis, a producer at Warner Bros., and they remained married until her death. They had one son, Brent, who became a psychiatrist.

Nancy Drexel (born Dorothy Kitchen, April 6, 1910 – November 19, 1989) was an American film actress of the late silent and early sound era. She was sometimes credited by her birth name in films. She appeared in 29 films, generally B-film Westerns. Drexel was the daughter of George P. Kitchen, who was described in a newspaper article as "a pioneer of the film industry." Her professional debut came when she was 8 years old, performing in The Royal Vagabond comic opera. She ventured to Hollywood after winning a Miss New York contest that had 10,000 competitors. She was featured in F.W. Murnau's sought-after lost silent film, 4 Devils (1928), alongside Charles Morton, Janet Gaynor, and Barry Norton. In 1931, she appeared in one of the earliest Spanish-language sound films, Hollywood, City of Dreams, as a glamorous movie star who is the idol of the film's hero, José Bohr. Drexel is presented as one of the leading stars of Hollywood, rather than the B-movie leading lady she was in real life. On September 28, 1932, Drexel married Thomas H. Ince Jr., son of film producer Thomas H. Ince, in Beverly Hills. Both of them were students at Antioch College in Antioch, Illinois, and resumed their studies after the wedding.