Tag Archives: wizard of oz scarecrow autograph

RAY BOLGER AUTOGRAPHED PHOTO, THE SCARECROW FROM THE WIZARD OF OZ

Vintage glossy 7.5 x 9.25 photo of Bolger as the Scarecrow, signed and inscribed in fountain pen “To Charles K. Stumpf, All the best, Ray Bolger.” Three binder dings to right edge, paperclip impression along top edge, and some scattered surface marks and creases, otherwise fine condition.

Although he had racked up numerous stage and screen credits, rubber-legged song-and-dance man Ray Bolger will forever be remembered by children of all ages as the Scarecrow who accompanies Dorothy, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion to the Emerald City in search of “The Wizard of Oz” in that 1939 MGM classic.

A tall, slender man whose physical capacities as a dancer often mystified audiences (he was so lithe as to appear double-jointed), the Massachusetts native began his career in vaudeville. Although generations came to know him through his musical roles, Bolger first and foremost considered himself to be a comic actor, skills he first honed with the Bob Ott Musical Comedy Repertory in the early 1920s and later as part of a vaudeville act. In 1926, he was spotted by Gus Edwards who hired him as a comedian for the Broadway show “A Merry World”. Other stage roles followed, most notably as the lead in the Rodgers and Hart classic “On Your Toes” (1936), introducing the now famous “Slaughter on Tenth Avenue” number. Based on the strength of that performance, he was signed to a film contract by MGM.

Wizard of Oz Scarecrow autographed 8 x 10

Signed Wizard of Oz Scarecrow
Signed Wizard of Oz Scarecrow

Vintage glossy 7.5 x 9.25 photo of Bolger as the Scarecrow, signed and inscribed in fountain pen “To Charles K. Stumpf, All the best, Ray Bolger.” Three binder dings to right edge, paperclip impression along top edge, and some scattered surface marks and creases, otherwise fine condition.

Available now at trishautographs.com

Ray Bolger was born and grew up in Dorchester, Massachusetts, a middle-class neighborhood. His father was a house-painter, his mother a homemaker. He was inspired by the vaudeville shows he attended when he was young to become an entertainer himself. He began his career as a dancer. His limber body and ability to ad lib movement won him many starring roles on Broadway in the 1930s.

His film career began when he signed a $3,000 a week contract with MGM in 1936. His best-known film prior to The Wizard of Oz was The Great Ziegfeld (1936). Keep reading about Bolger by