Cat. #003119: ESTELITA (RODRIGUEZ)

Extremely uncommon vintage blue ballpoint pen signature on a Players Directory biography, acquired in-person by inveterate collectors Frances and Violet Zane in the early 1950s and affixed to a 4x6-inch pale blue autograph album page. In good condition, with a faint tear to the upper left-hand area of the signed clip. Gorgeous Cuban-born Estelita, only occasionally credited with her full name, Estelita Rodriguez, played spicy senoritas in a number of Roy Rogers westerns of the 1940s, perhaps owing to her affair with Republic Studios mogul Herbert J. Yates, and was also memorable in the cult horror flick Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter (1966). She was preparing to portray Lupe Velez in a biopic when she was found dead in her home at the age of 37, allegedly due to influenza, although this has long been questioned.