Ken Murray (July 14, 1903 – October 12, 1988) was an American comedian, actor, radio and television personality and author.
Murray was born Kenneth Abner Doncourt in New York City to a family of vaudeville performers. He had an older brother, Joseph. According to Murray's autobiography Life on a Pogo Stick, as a teenager he learned that Joseph was actually his father and the couple who he thought were his parents were in fact his grandparents. The family withheld the truth from Murray because Joseph, who was also a vaudevillian, did not want the public to know that he had a young son. Joseph had divorced Murray's mother and decided that his parents would provide a more stable life than he was able to as a traveling performer.
Before embarking on a career in show business, Murray changed his name because he did not want to ride the coattails of his father's success; he wanted to make a name for himself. In 1962, Murray portrayed the top hat wearing, cigar chewing, drunken "Doc Willoughby" in John Ford's The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance starring John Wayne and James Stewart, arguably his most memorable screen role. Paired off for most of the picture with Edmund O'Brien as an alcoholic newspaper editor, he drunkenly rolls over the gunshot corpse of villain Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin) with his boot, looks around off-handedly, and says, "Dead" to the surrounding crowd of euphoric Mexicans.
Description: This item is for one of Ken Murray's Signed Cancelled Checks. Check is Blue-Green in color and signed Ken Murray. You also get picture as shown which is meant to frame check with.
Condition: Check is in Near Mint cancelled condition. Signature is very clear and visible with no obstructions.
Documentation: This item is fully documented by three sources. First it has a PSA/DNA Pre-Certified Authentication status. This is a service that was provided to RR Auctions and this item within. It means that this item has previously been reviewed by experts at PSA/DNA and is absolutely guaranteed to pass final testing and marking. Further It means that this signed check of Ken Murray which they personally examined and is in their opinion authentic. Further they state that the signature(s) are consistent considering slant, flow, pen pressure, letter size and other characteristics that are typical of the other exemplars that they compared against. Pre-Certified PSA /DNA is to let buyers know beforehand that upon item being sent in for official final marking and certification that it is guaranteed to be authentic, in their opinion. Second, the item will come with a Certificate of Authenticity from the famous RR Auction where item was purchased by us originally. Third you will also get a Certificate from Reel Art. You will also get a copy of the invoice from RR Auction a to further prove authenticity.
The item described is guaranteed to be of the time period and condition as described, has been exported legally and is legal to buy and sell under all international laws relating to cultural patrimony.
The item does not come as shown framed in picture. Frame is a option above. It is a Designer (Arnoldus) Acrylic 10 x 13 inch frame with metal standoff pegs. The item mounts to wall and stands off from wall about 1 inch.
