Cat. #000616: EDWARD BROPHY

Exceptionally rare vintage signature in bold pencil on a 3.5 x 4.25-inch tan album page, acquired in-person in the 1930s. In good condition, with the writing against the upper edge. Prolific comic character actor Ed Brophy, remembered for his small build, bald head and raucous voice, entered films in 1919, appearing in bit parts until Buster Keaton cast him in The Cameraman (1928), unforgettable in the scene in which the pair attempt to undress in a tiny closet.  The two were thereafter reteamed for a long string of films, including Free and Easy (1930), Doughboys (1930), Parlor, Bedroom and Bath (1931), Speak Easily (1932), The Passionate Plumber (1932), and What-- No Bear? (1933).  From 1934 onward, Brophy popped up as scores of amusingly explosive gangsters, no-nonsense cops and dyspeptic authority figures in films like The Champ (1931), The Thin Man (1934), Shadow of a Doubt (1935), Great Guy (1936), Golden Boy (1939), Calling Philo Vance (1940), The Bride Came C.O.D. (1941), and