Johnson, Rita - 1937 Signed Album Page w/ Orig. 1947 Promo Still
5 7/8 x 4 3/8 album page culled from a 1937 autograph album. Signed, in steel tip pen,
"To Virginia, Best Wishes, Sincerely Rita Johnson".
Slight toning to page. Comes with an original 1947 7x9 (trimmed from a larger size) Paramount still press photo. Paper blurb and file handstamp on verso.
Uncommon autograph, being so early in her film career.
Also included will be a copy (The original will stay on file with us) of the JSA letter that authenticates the autograph album that this signature came from.
***Johnson began acting on Broadway in 1935 and started her film career two years later. She played a murderer in Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941) and a doomed wife in the RKO film noir They Won't Believe Me (1947).
Johnson suffered a head trauma on September 6, 1948 that required brain surgery. Unsubstantiated rumors, suggested she might have been abused by a boyfriend, but the only explanation she offered was that a large, industrial-grade hair dryer at her apartment had fallen on her.
She was in a coma for two weeks and it was reported, "It took her a year to recover. Her left side was paralyzed temporarily, and for a while she couldn't walk." It put a virtual halt to her film career. Her screen time in movies after that was limited due to her reduced mobility and powers of concentration.
Johnson suffered from alcoholism from the time of her injuries until her death of a brain hemorrhage on October 31, 1965, at age 52