[Dorothy Tutin [Dame Dorothy Tutin], Shakespearian actress.] Autograph Card Signed to W. J. Macqueen-Pope, with typed article by him (‘Star in Spite of Herself’), his typed interview notes, and carbon of typed letter from him to Sir Andrew Caird.

From the Macqueen-Pope papers. See his entry and hers in the Oxford DNB. Caird was Northcliffe’s right-hand man, and mainly associated with the Daily Mail. The four items are in fair condition, lightly aged and creased, with slight rust spotting from a paper clips. Items Two to Four are on carbon paper. ONE: ACS from Tutin to MP. Small unillustrated postcard, signed ‘Dorothy Tutin’. Reads: ‘I remember you very well - your fascinating letures at the Academy [i.e. London theatre school RADA, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art] - and shall be very happy to meet you for this article. You sound so busy that perhaps Saturday 3.30 Stage door is also better for you - We could talk over tea. Otherwise I am free Friday for lunch, if you would prefer - Just leave message S. Door.’ TWO: Carbon copy of TLS from MP to Sir Andrew Caird of Associated Newspapers, 13 October 1953, with carbon copy of MP’s signature. 1p, 4to. A covering letter for Item Three. ‘I have tried to draw a picture of the girl as I know her - as she showed herself to me he we had tea last Saturday[.] She was one of my audience when I lectured at the R.A.D.A. but I didnt know it. But it took away her reserve and made her natural.’ He apologises for his bad typing and states that he is ‘nearly dead as a result of the [Drury] Lane production..... but that was worth it’. Regarding the article he concludes that it is ‘a bit long, I fear - there is so much to say’. THREE: Carbon of Typed Article titled ‘Dorothy Tutin - Star in Spite of Herself. / by / W. Macqueen-Pope’. 6pp, 4to. Begins: ‘On the stage at Wyndhams Theatre, London, is a play called “The Living Room”, a young girl is staring at Death. [...] And what makes it all the more remarkale is that the actress who plays it, Dorothy Tutin, aged twenty two - is not a bit like that. She is a little creature of immense vitality, whose wide eyes and parted lips do indeed gaze before her - not at Death, but at Life, which stretches in such a long, long vista before her. She is twenty two, she has been on the stage about five years - and she is playing a difficult exacting role - a leading role, amidst a brilliant company in a most notable play at one of London’s most successful theatres. And yet she did not want to be an actress at all.’ Concludes: ‘The writer of these words lectured for a long while to the students of the R.A.D.A. He used to look at the young people in front of him and wonder how many of them would make the grade. His half century of hard experience taught him that the percentage would be very few. [...] Dorothy Tutin sat there listening to words about her calling - and in Dorothy Tutin our sta[g]e has an Actress - with a capital A - who does not look nor behave like an actress at all. Which makes her all the better....’ FOUR: Original set of MP’s typed notes from his interview, headed ‘Dorothy Tutin’, with carbon copy of same. ‘A London girl. / Drinks milk to put on weight. Not successful [...] She heard a broadcast of students at the R.A.D.A. and what they had to do. It frightened her. She got an audition, and failed. / She tried again and got into the R.A.D.A. Prep. Her parents urged the frightened girl to try it for a term. / She had to go from Put[n]ey to Highgate every day - 1 1/2 hours and was scared all the time of what was ahead of her. [...] She had actually played Macbeth himself when at school [...] she remembers the chapel organ peeling out as she was dying / She didnt feel strange at all in the part despite the fact that the girl who played Lady Macbeth was much bigger than she. [...] Wants to play Shakespeare - afraid of her voice. [...] Does not look or behave the least bit like an actress. [...] Doesnt believe in long runs but knows them necessary thinks the old time actors luckier because they played for shorter [p]eriods, were on their toes and never got stale and knew that before long they would be playing something new. [...]’