Phenomenal eight page ALS on 6.5 x 8 off-white Dorchester Hotel London stationary, circa 1947. Correspondence with her friend and fellow actor, Marshall Thompson. In part: “I was so pleased to get your nice letter the other day. It bucked me up no end, for at the time I was feeling way down in the dumps. – I shall explain – We were having a wonderful vacation up until the time we landed in New York, then the publicity department ran me ragged. We were only there two days, but you have no idea what torture they can put you through in just two days. One day they had me modeling heavy winter fur coats over woolen shirts & sweaters – and the temperature was only 105. And the photographer was so slow I could have died, each picture he took, cost me an hour of standing on one spot, (in a puddle of sweat) and not moving a hair…I think it was that day that did something to my nerves of resistance or something because on the very first day the boat left the harbor, I became violently ill with a headache & ear ache & a 104 fever. So I spent the rest of the lovely boat trip & about a week in London in bed…so when your letter arrived I was very angrily thinking of how many years I had looked forward to coming back to England, and now that I was here, I had just traveled thousands of miles to land in a bed. But your letter made me feel loads better, and now I couldn’t feel any better at all…We spent several days down in Kent, & we went to see our old county home, but it was all over run by weeds & it was so unkept – it made us feel terribly sad…Mother & I did a very crazy thing today, we bought two baby, miniature French poodles…They are so darn cute, you’ll just love them. But my poor father, when he sees them he will probably throw us out (back to the Del Mar again) – The last thing he said was – ‘Don’t you dare come back with a French poodle.’ – Ha Ha – so we come back with two. Oh Yes! I have to tell you one more thing before I go – just before we left NY, Harvard College asked me to come to the big celebration, Sept. 19th on enrollment day, for I had been voted ‘the actress most likely to succeed’ & their favorite lady. And they have also made me an honorary member of the Harvard Advocate. That was really an honor, because there are only about four honorary members in the Advocate – (Teddy Roosevelt was one of them) – I was so thrilled, and can hardly wait until Sep. 19th…P.S. Please write me in New York, we’re staying at the St. Regis Hotel. I’ve missed you a lot, and so many times I thought how much fun it would have been, if you had been here with us too. I can hardly wait to see you…So, ‘Hasta la vista’…P.S...My little puppy ‘Teeny’ sends his love too.” In fine condition, with scattered creasing and uniform toning.
In 1947, MGM and Louis B. Mayer were busy transforming a 15-year-old Taylor into Hollywood’s next leading lady. At the time of this letter, her coming-of-age roles in Cynthia and Life With Father were showcasing a maturing young starlet, and her captivating performances garnered recognition from all the right places: “Harvard College asked me to come to the big celebration, Sept. 19th...for I had been voted ‘the actress most likely to succeed’ & their favorite lady. And they have also made me an honorary member of the Harvard Advocate”; and the press wasted no time: “...the publicity department ran me ragged. We were only there two days, but you have no idea what torture they can put you through in just two days.” Interesting to note how Taylor underlined “lady” because although she was blossoming into a beautiful young woman, she still thought of herself as a real tomboy. Having just come back to her homeland of England, Taylor delighted in the warm correspondence with esteemed MGM colleague, Marshall Thompson, best known for his 1949 role in the highly-regarded film, Battleground: “...so when your letter arrived I was very angrily thinking of how many years I had looked forward to coming back to England, and now that I was here, I had just traveled thousands of miles to land in a bed. But your letter made me feel loads better,” as did her invitation to perform ‘Kiss and Tell’ on the radio show, Theater Guild on the Air, on September 14, 1947, just days before the Harvard event. This point in time was pivotal in Taylor’s life - these words were written at the true beginning of her ascent to stardom, memorializing the young, sheltered, innocent, yet always willful and dazzling queen of American cinema.
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