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Van Johnson Personal Intimate Love Letters To Evie Wynn

Currency:USD Category:Memorabilia / Autographs - Original Start Price:50.00 USD Estimated At:100.00 - 200.00 USD
Van Johnson Personal Intimate Love Letters To Evie Wynn
Van Johnson Personal Intimate Love Letters To Evie Wynn - Rarely does one find such personal and fascinating letters from the royalty of Hollywood. Van Johnson was one of the most popular and sought after actors in Hollywood from the mid-1940's until the 1960's, and continued with a successful carrier up to the early 1990's. He was also the toast of the town, and along with his wife Evie, created legendary parties at their home in Beverly Hills, as well as when constantly globe hopping to see their "close friends", most of whom were either show biz royalty like Charlie Chaplin, Ingrid Berman or Noel Coward, or real royalty, as in the Queen of England. They seemed to know everyone, and everyone wanted to be a part of their whirlwind life. Van's best friend was actor Keenan Wynn who was originally married to the sparkling and desirable Evie. However there was trouble in their marriage, and Van (as did many men of the time) fell head-over-heels in love with her, and began to court her as early as 1942 (they married in 1947). Here are two extremely original private letters written to Evie by Van. The first is written in 1944 while Van was starring in what became one of the greatest war movies ever made, "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo". It is written from their location at the Eglin Air Force Base, in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. The letter is filled with details about the making of the film, about Van's relationship with Evie's then husband Keenan, about the film's Director, the legendary Mervyn Leroy, and about a "tiff" that Evie and Van seemed to have had. You can see their affair beginning to take shape. Van was relentless with his pursuit of Evie, as evident in the second, extremely intimate letter. So personal and intimate that unlike the first letter that was addressed to her home, the second was sent to friend and agent Ruth Lowe at MCA in Beverly Hills, who would then hand deliver it secretly to Evie. In a dazzlingly love-laced stream of conscience, Van types out one emotion after another, listing all the reasons he loves her. A truly heart-pounding glimpse into the mind of man full of passion for a woman. The first letter includes the original envelope from Pensacola, Florida (care of Mervyn LeRoy), with a six-cent cancelled air mail stamp. The second includes the original envelope from the Douglas Resort in Dardanelle, Calif with a three-cent stamp. Both letters come directly from Van Johnson's personal collection, and includes a Letter of Provenience from the Johnson’s daughter, Schuyler Johnson along with a copy of her famous controversial cover story article “My Life As A Hollywood Princess”, about her trials and tribulations growing up in Beverly Hills with a superstar father and extended “family” with some of the most famous celebrities in the world.