Jane Wyman 1945 Typed Letter Signed – To Carrie Donovan as a Teenager

Singer, dancer, and character actress (1917–2007) who won an Academy Award for Best Actress for 1948’s Johnny Belinda, first wife of Ronald Reagan.

Typed letter signed “Jane”, May 8, 1945, personal “Warner Bros.” stationery, Burbank, CA, 8.25×11, addressed “Dear Carolyn”, in full:

It was wonderful hearing from you again after so long a time, and I do appreciate your sending me your designs. I really was delighted with them, think they show definite talent, and your names for them were most appropriate and original. Peacock Fantasy is lovely, but I think Midnight Storm intrigued me most. Think you should really go on seriously with this work.’

Writing a novel sounds like a big job, and I am wishing you all success with it. You ought to be able to get a bit of material form the characters you must meet in your work too. Sounds most interesting.

Well, Carolyn, must make this short, as I am leaving on a hospital tour with the Ritz brothers, but wanted to acknowledge your letter and designs before I left. Thanking you again, and with all good wishes

Accompanied by original mailing envelope – with extensive chatty notes, most likely between Donovan and a friend.

Carrie Donovan was an American fashion editor for Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and The New York Times Magazine. When Donovan was just 10 years old, she mailed her own sketches for a design collection to the actress Jane Wyman, who replied with a handwritten letter. This letter, part of a small series of letters from Wyman to Donovan, was a continuation of that initial correspondence as Donovan was just 17-years-old when she received this letter.