British-born film director (1889–1957) who helmed such horror classics as Frankenstein, The Bride of Frankenstein, and The Invisible Man. After a series of strokes left Whale physically weak, he committed suicide by throwing himself into his swimming pool. His career was the subject of the Academy Award–winning 1998 film Gods and Monsters. Original pen and ink sketch (with additional ink washing and pencil detailing) for a character named Mrs. Blow to be played by Ethel Lodge for the 1920 production of Abraham Lincoln: Sketches From Behind The Footlights by Simon Cameron in Ireland in May 1920 on an off-white 6.5 x 7.5 sheet, all drawn by Whale and signed in fountain pen, “J. Whale 1920.” In fine condition.
A decade before telling man-made monsters where to go, Whale had garnered acclaim for himself as a set and costume designer on the British theater scene. Having enlisted in the army during World War I and commissioned a second lieutenant, he was captured and made a prisoner of war in 1917. It was during this imprisonment that Whale discovered a flare for staging theatrical productions, leading him to an eventual encounter with Frankenstein’s monster! A great sketch from the “first” career of the famed director. Pre-certified PSA/DNA and RRAuction COA.
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