Cat. #0005612212: JOHN BOWERS

Extremely rare vintage bold pencil signature on a 1.5 x 5-inch portion of a tan album page, acquired in-person in 1927, aboard a Hollywood-bound actors' train called the Screenland Limited, en route to a filming. In good condition, with slightly uneven trimming. Good-looking John Bowers was a popular leading man of the silent screen, starring in dozens of films between 1921 and 1927, often cast opposite his wife, Marguerite de la Motte. With the advent of talkies, his career came to an abrupt end, prompting his suicide by drowning in the Pacific Ocean at the age of 50. His sad ending was reputedly an inspiration for the plot of A Star is Born (1937), released a year after his death. This is the only the second autograph of the actor we have ever encountered.