From the estate of actress Nancy Drexel (Mrs. Thomas H. Ince Jr.) is this vintage original 8x10 in. double-weight semi-glossy photograph of NANCY DREXEL. Taken in the late 1920's, she is depicted in a very close studio shot in a dramatic pose. On the verso are two rubber credit stamps in light purple ink. It is in fine+ condition with five pinholes in the borders and one just beneath the center of the top border; the letter "F" handwritten in vintage black ink in the bottom right corner; and a light vertical wave in the background area near each side, as the photograph does not lie complexly flat. There are no pinholes, tears, stains, or other flaws.
Provenance: The Estate of Nancy Drexel Ince.
Nancy Drexel (born Dorothy Kitchen, April 6, 1910 – November 19, 1989) was an American film actress of the late silent and early sound era. She was sometimes credited by her birth name in films. She appeared in 29 films, generally B-film Westerns. Drexel was the daughter of George P. Kitchen, who was described in a newspaper article as "a pioneer of the film industry." Her professional debut came when she was 8 years old, performing in The Royal Vagabond comic opera. She ventured to Hollywood after winning a Miss New York contest that had 10,000 competitors. She was featured in F.W. Murnau's sought-after lost silent film, 4 Devils (1928), alongside Charles Morton, Janet Gaynor, and Barry Norton. In 1931, she appeared in one of the earliest Spanish-language sound films, Hollywood, City of Dreams, as a glamorous movie star who is the idol of the film's hero, José Bohr. Drexel is presented as one of the leading stars of Hollywood, rather than the B-movie leading lady she was in real life. On September 28, 1932, Drexel married Thomas H. Ince Jr., son of film producer Thomas H. Ince, in Beverly Hills. Both of them were students at Antioch College in Antioch, Illinois, and resumed their studies after the wedding. |