Presented is a James Stewart signature, inscription and drawing of the “imaginary” rabbit character “Harvey” in a framed display celebrating the Academy Award-winning actor and the 1950 film he starred in, “Harvey”. Stewart has drawn an image of a rabbit and a bow tie in black on white 7 x 10½-inch paper, inscribed “Harvey” in gray marker in the lower left, and signed his name “James Stewart” in gray marker in the lower right. The 1950 film of the Pulitzer Prize-winning stage play stars Stewart as a man whose best friend is a “pooka” named Harvey, in the form of a 6-foot, 3½-inch tall invisible rabbit. Stewart plays Elwood P. Dowd, a middle-aged, amiable though somewhat eccentric man. As described by Dowd, Harvey is a pooka, a benign but mischievous creature from Celtic mythology who is especially fond of social outcasts (like Elwood). Elwood has driven his sister and niece (who live with him and crave normality and a place in society) to distraction by introducing everyone he meets to his friend, Harvey. His family seems to be unsure whether Dowd's obsession with Harvey is a product of his (admitted) propensity to drink – or perhaps mental illness. Sometimes serious, other times comical, the film was very popular and earned Stewart a Best Actor nomination for the Oscars. The signed illustration is mounted at the upper right of 16 x 20-inch red paper matte, accompanied by a 3½ x 9½-inch color reproduction of the movie poster at left, a 6 x 6¼-inch black and white publicity photograph of Stewart in character with a rabbit puppet at the lower left, and a 2 x 5½-inch caption in black ink on white paper, “Original ‘Harvey’ drawing sketched and signed by the only person who could see him – James Stewart”. The four items are displayed in a 16½ x 20½-inch gold metal and glass frame. This item comes with a full LOA from JSA (BB36718).

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