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38 Pp. Grey Cloth Spine, Black Cloth Covers, Stamped In Gilt And Red. First Printing, Near Fine In Very Good Dust Jacket Priced $1.50. Inscribed From Actor Francis Lederer " Dearest Mrs. Lasky To Find An Artistic Soul As Yours Touched By A Tale Like This Is Greatest Thrill To The Interpreter Francis Lederer". Francis (Frantisek) Lederer (1899- 2000) Was A Czech-Born American Film And Stage Actor With A Successful Career, First In Europe, Then In The United States. Lederer Started Acting When He Was Young, And Was Trained At The Academy Of Music And Academy Of Dramatic Art In Prague. ]After Service In The Austrian-Hungarian Imperial Army In World War I, He Made His Stage Debut As An Apprentice With The New German Theater, A Walk-On In The Play Burning Heart. He Toured Moravia And Central Europe, Making A Name For Himself As A Matinee Idol In Theaters In Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Austria And Germany. Notable Among His Performances Was A Turn As Romeo In Max Reinhardt's Staging Of Romeo And Juliet. In The Late 1920S, Lederer Was Lured Into Films By The German Actress Henny Porten And Her Husband. He Worked With G.W. Pabst In Pandora's Box, Starring Louise Brooks, ]And Atlantic (Both 1929). Lederer, Billed As "Franz" At This Time, Made The Transition From Silent Films To Sound Films. In 1931, Lederer Was In London To Perform On Stage In Volpone And The Next Year In Autumn Crocus By Dodie Smith, Which He Then Performed On Broadway ? Using The Name "Francis" ? Where It Played For 210 Performances In 1932 And 1933. ]He Also Performed The Play In Los Angeles. Lederer's First American Movies Were Man Of Two Worlds (1934), Romance In Manhattan (1934), With Ginger Rogers, The Gay Deception (1935), With Frances Dee, And One Rainy Afternoon (1936). He Was Cast As The Lead With Katharine Hepburn In The 1935 Film Break Of Hearts, But The Producers Replaced Him With Charles Boyer. It Was Irving Thalberg's Plan To Make Lederer The Biggest Star In Hollywood But The Death Of Thalberg Ended This Possibility. Although He Continued To Play Leads Occasionally ? Notably When He Was A Playboy In Mitchell Leisen's Midnight With Claudette Colbert And John Barrymore ? In The Late 1930S Lederer Began To Expand His Character Parts, Even Playing Villains. Throughout His Career, Lederer, Who Studied With Elia Kazan At The Actors Studio In New York City, Continued To Take Stage Acting Seriously, And He Performed Often Both In New York And Elsewhere. He Appeared In Stage Productions Of Golden Boy (1937), Seventh Heaven (1939), No Time For Comedy (1939), In Which He Replaced Laurence Olivier] The Play's The Thing (1942), A Doll's House (1944), Arms And The Man (1950), The Sleeping Prince (1956) And The Diary Of Anne Frank (1958). Although He Took A Break From Making Films In 1941, In Order To Concentrate On His Stage Work, He Returned To The Silver Screen In 1944, Appearing In Voice In The Wind And The Bridge Of San Luis Rey, And In Films Such As Jean Renoir's The Diary Of A Chambermaid (1946) And Million Dollar Weekend (1948). During The 1950S, He Served As Honorary Mayor Of Canoga Park. He Would Continue To Make Television Appearances For The Next 10. In His Later Life, Lederer, Who Had Become Very Wealthy, Invested In Real Estate, Especially In The Canoga Park Community (Part Of Which At One Time Included West Hills In 1987). He Was Active In Local And Los Angeles Civic Affairs, Philanthropy And Politics. He Served As Recreation And Parks Commissioner For The City Of Los Angeles, Received Awards For His Efforts To Beautify The City And Was The Honorary Mayor Of Canoga Park For Quite A Time. He Became Involved With Peace Movements, Taught Acting, And Was One Of The Founders Of The American National Academy Of Performing Arts And The International Academy Of Performing Arts. Jesse Louis Lasky (1880 ? 1958) Was An Important Pioneer Film Producer Who Made A Few Films With Lederer.
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