Original Documents / Ephemera: Letters An original one page typed letter on headed notepaper from the actress Sybil Thorndike. The letter is signed in ink by her and is dated the 3rd of May 1924. The letter is addressed to a Mrs. W. K. Clifford and she discusses her performance in 'Saint Joan' by George Bernard Shaw.
Sybil Thorndike had asked Shaw to write a play for her. He told her to go away and have a family and that if and when she did he would write a play for her. And so, after the birth of her 2nd child she came back to him and asked for her play. Shaw wrote 'Saint Joan' for her and it became the definitive role of her acting career. Based on the trial transcripts of Joan of Arc the play is still entrancing.
The letter is in good clean condition though there is a small tear on the mid-foldline. Only the top half of the letter is shown to prevent reproduction of the signature.