April 1, 1953
My Dear Trixie [Wyatt]:-
Your letter of March 26th. arrived this AM, it certainly came over in record time, it hardly seems possible. Am pleased to hear from you dear, but awfully sorry to note re Stan Anniston passing on. Altho' I was not very surprised, as his health was in bad shape when I saw him last in Manchester in '52. & later he had a serious operation & was expecting to go through another one as soon as he recovered from the 1st. poor fellow.
Strange there was no mention of his wife Evelyn Major in the obituary notice, & it was news to me that he had a daughter, I never met her, or did he ever mention her during the several visits to see me. Funny things, I wrote Jackie Harrison a couple of weeks ago & asked him if he had heard from Stan & Evelyn.
I shall be delighted to send you some more stationery & shall order it right away, it will take a couple of weeks before I get it, as I understand the printing is done in the East - Chicago or somewhere - anyway, I send it on to you as soon as I get it & of course will let you know when to expect it, will also shop around for an American doll for you, do you want any particular costume - like Cowboy or Indian - or just the usual dress doll? I think you had better describe the kind you want, size, colour hair etc. let me know dear & we will be happy to get it for you. Do'nt worry about the cost Trixie, it will be our pleasure to get it for you.
You sure have had a bad Winter, I hope its over with by now & you will soon be having some nice weather again. They have been having some terrible snow storms through the Middle West & East, but its like summer here in California, the trouble here is mostly forest fires which do a lot of damage, everything gets so fried up.
Well, all for now Dear. Eda joins in love & kind thoughts & trust alls well & happy with you.
Bye & God Bless.
As ever-
x x
April 20, 1953
Miss Mary Sharon,
1415,No.Alta Vista
HOLLYWOOD. 46.CALIF.
My Dear Mary:-
Many thanks for your nice letter of the 20th. inst. It was indeed a pleasure to hear from you. Certainly brought back a lot of Memories of the old Roach Studio days.
Sorry am unable to see you this week Mary, but will give you a call next week when you return from Ensenada. We expect to be leaving for England in a couple of months or so & am busy with a new act for our appearance tour.
I shall be interested to hear what you have in mind for a TV series, altho' frankly, I am not too concerned in making pictures at the present time. However, I shall enjoy the pleasure of meeting you again.
All for now Dear, trust alls well & Happy.
Sincerely always:-
STAN LAUREL.
April 25, 1953
My Dear Claude & Marie [Cingalee]:-
Many thanks for your package & letters just recd. Eda was delighted with the cloth & we both appreciate your sweet thought very much. It was indeed nice to hear fran you, & we enjoyed reading the interesting news. Funny you should happen to mention Belfast, remember Geo. Lodge the managing director? well, he has been visiting here for a couple of weeks & is leaving for home on Monday next. We have been with him several times - lunches etc. He wanted us to play Panto this Xmas in Belfast, but Babe is not too hot about it - too much work, so that's out. However we have promised to play Variety for him when we come over again.
I understand business has been quiet so far this year, I guess they are all sailing up for the Coronation DO, & imagine after that, things will start moving good. Anyway, I glad to note you have been going along OK & the slow up has'nt affected you much. Did you put on your own show Claude? you said you intended to after we left. I had a couple of letters from the Lorraine's & one from Paul Kenway, last but not least, a couple from the "Bishop Of Barnes." (Tracey) He tells me he is back in the newspaper bus. (must be in opposition to Hannen Swaffer).
Glad to hear the razor is doing the job alright, so is the lovely lighter you gave me, only use it on very special occasions. Hope you had a nice trip to Blackpool on Easter & some decent weather. Those places can certainly be lousey when it's raining & windy. All here as usual, just taking it easy, but have the feeling to get going again. Delfont wants us to do Panto at the London Casino this year, but am afraid that's out & if we come over in Oct. I don't know where the hell we cruld play during the Panto Season as all the variety change policy for that Period & I certainly don't want to play places like Sutton! We have a deal pending for Australia & New Zealand & if that goes through, we may come to Eng. to play variety tiil Dec. & then go dmm there, so don't know as yet what will happen. The picture bus. is very quiet at present, most of the studios closed down owing to this 3rd dimension situation. A lot of the producers not sure how good it will be after the novelty wears off as it takes a terrific investment.
All for now Kids, Eda joins in love & kind thoughts to you all & look forward to seeing you an again soon.
Bye & God Bless.
As ever sincerely:-
April 25, 1953
My Dear Betty [Healy Murray]-
Was sure pleased to get your letter of the 20th.inst. & to read the good news re your new venture. Congratulations to you both, am sure you will be very happy there when all settled down & nothing to worry about. I think it's wonderful, practically living on your own estate & Wayne doing the work he likes best, & too, you have a nice place for your horses. Sounds like a perfect set-up. I am really very happy about it Betty, you both certainly deserve a BREAK. Lots of good luck. Your description of the ranch is very interesting, especially the Barn & the collection of old carriages etc. must be a great sight.
I an feeling lots better, & getting the urge to get moving again. We are either going to England or Australia this year or maybe both, arrangements not completed as yet, but will be, pretty soon now, so am busy preparing a new act.
The Masquers Club gave a dinner for Louella Parsons last Thursday night, it was quite an affair. I met Shemp Howard, but did'nt get a chance to talk to him very much, I think he re-joined the Stooges again, do'nt know what they are doing right now. The picture bus. is in uproar with the 3rd. dimension medium., studios are closed down for a few months as they are not sure which way to go, so of course there are a million & One actors idle. TV seems to be slowing down too, a lot of Sponsors are cutting out the big expensive shows as they will soon be able to get a backlog of old but good pictures from the studios, so they won't have to pay for actors or bother with productions & will be much cheaper, so things do'nt look too bright in Hollywood for a lot of Thespians. It's lucky we are able to go abroad & not be affected.
Note you have'nt heard any more from Tonnage, think you are wise not to get mixed up in it. I guess you will be getting a TV set now, or is it difficult to get reception there due to the Mountain location? Well Betty, all here as usual, so not much to tell you, so will hang up.
Bye bye Dear,
Every good wish to you both,
As ever:-
Following the tradition of the famed New York clubs for male stage actors and their associates, such as The Lambs and The Players, Masquers Club was founded in Hollywood in 1925. It would play a most important role in the founding of the Screen Actors Guild in 1933. “We Laugh to Win” was their motto, and laugh these good fellows did, along with talking, eating, drinking, smoking, and game-playing in their clubhouse at 1765 N. Sycamore.