ALS signed “Gene O’Neill,” one page, 8.5 x 11, Peaked Hill Bar letterhead, September 13, 1922. Letter to Jeanie Begg. In full: “This in much haste to catch the Coast Guards who are just going in Town with mail. Your special arrived only this moment. Specials and wires mean nothing to us as we’ve no phone and there’s no delivery in this solitude. My advice is: Go see Arthur Hopkins. Tell him I sent you. Show him this letter, if need be. Tell him you played ‘Pearl’ in ‘The Moon’–damn well, let me add. And see what he says. Personally, I doubt if he is casting anything at present. And when I come down to town I promise to speak to him personally about you. This will be within two or three weeks. All luck to you!!” Intersecting folds, one through a single letter of signature, and scattered creases and wrinkles, otherwise fine condition.
In 1916, the up-and-coming playwright Eugene O’Neill headed to Cape Cod to join a group of writers and artists who had begun presenting their plays there. When their productions, including O’Neill’s play Bound East for Cardiff, gained greater notice than anticipated, the Provincetown Players moved their theater to New York City. It was there that young actress Jeani Begg opened as Pearl in his The Moon of the Caribbees in the fall of 1918. Writing from his shack on the dunes of Peaked Hill Bar in Cape Cod, where he continued to spend his summers, the playwright encourages her to get in touch with Arthur Hopkins, the first producer to put O’Neill on Broadway. Offering warm praise of the actress’s work—“tell him you played ‘Pearl’ in ‘The Moon’—damn well, let me add.”—he promises to also put in a word for her upon his return to the city. A lovely letter from the playwright who, still an emerging artist himself, consistently did his part in helping others get their start. Pre-certified PSA/DNA and RR Auction COA.
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