Fascinating pair of Chase National Bank checks, 6.5 x 2.75, both filled out and signed by Tennessee Williams, with one made payable to his companion and muse Pancho Rodriguez for $50 on July 29, 1946, and the other made out to NYC luxury leather merchant Mark Cross for $88.45 on December 2, 1947, a day before his iconic play A Streetcar Named Desire made its Broadway premiere. Williams adds “(special account)” below both of his signatures. Rodriguez, who endorsed the reverse of the 1946 check, is widely believed to be the inspiration for Stanley Kowalski, a character immortalized by Marlon Brando. In overall fine condition. Accompanied by an original playbill for a performance of A Streetcar Named Desire at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre beginning September 6, 1948.
