KEN MURRAY
American Comedian, TV Radio Actor
This is an original/genuine/authentic hand signed cancelled bank cheque (check) by Ken Murray which has been stamped on the front by the SECURITY FIRST NATIONAL BANK – BEVERLY HILLS and is over 50 years old.
Cheque No. -
Cheque Date: 16th December 1968
MADE PAYABLE TO “ W W BANKSON ” ALSO SIGNED ON THE REVERSE
Born: 14th July 19 03
Died: 12th October 1988
Please refer to the attached 12 x scanned images of the actual item included in this auction sale, this is an original rare unique hand signed cheque.
Ken Murray was an American comedian, actor, radio and television personality and author.
Murray got his start in show business on the stage in 1920s as a stand up comedian. He performed his comedy act on the vaudeville circuit and in burlesque. He found success as a stage performer after appearing in Earl Carroll's Vanities on Broadway in 1935.
In the 1940s, Murray became famous for his Blackouts , a racy, stage variety show featuring Marie Wilson (among others) at the El Capitan Theatre on Vine Street in Hollywood. The Blackouts played to "standing room only" audiences for 3,844 performances, ending in 1949. Later that year, the show moved to Broadway with Marie Windsor replacing Marie Wilson. It received devastating reviews and closed after six weeks.
Murray revived the Blackouts on the Las Vegas stage in 1956. The show was a hit and ran for three years.
After finding success on the stage, Murray made his film debut in the 1929 romantic drama Half Marriage , followed by a role in Leathernecking in 1930. During World War II, Murray was one of the many celebrities to volunteer at the Hollywood Canteen. He later was the original host (1945–57) of Queen for a Day , on the Mutual Broadcasting System radio broadcast, which was simulcast on KTSL (now KCBS-TV), Channel 2 in Los Angeles. In 1947, he produced Bill and Coo , a feature film using trained birds and other animals as actors. Bill and Coo won a special Academy Award for "novel and entertaining use of the medium of motion picture" and "artistry and patience" . He was also the host of The Ken Murray Show , a weekly music and comedy show on CBS Television that ran from 1950 and 1953. The show was the first to win a Freedom Foundation Award. Murray also guest starred on several television series including The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford and The Bing Crosby Show.
Over the course of his career, Murray filmed Hollywood celebrities using his 16mm home movie camera. He began filming the footage to send back home to his grandparents in lieu of writing letters. His grandmother saved the footage which featured Hollywood stars including Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin and Jean Harlow. Murray later assembled the footage in compilation films such as Hollywood Without Make-Up (1963). Footage filmed by Murray was also used in several television specials including Hollywood: My Home Town and the feature length film Ken Murray's Shooting Stars . In 1966, he appeared in the Walt Disney film Follow Me, Boys! .
Notes:
Please note, that the following text has been digitally
overlaid on the Signed Cheque and therefore it is NOT
displayed on/or associated with the original item.
“Hand Signed Autographs
For Sale Genuine / Original Hand
Signed Bank Cheque”
This auction is for the original signed check ONLY, as all other images are freely available to download via the internet.