Books and Manuscripts

Aboard the French Line ship Flandre, April, 21, 1960. One sheet, 10 5/8 x 8 3/8 in. (270 x 213 mm). Autograph letter on French Line stationery, signed by Truman Capote, to American actress, Lillian Gish: "Dear miss Gish,/I was so delighted, so thoroughly/pleased by your performance in The Grass Harp./While I felt certain other aspects of the/production could have been bettered, your Dolly/was precisely the Dolly I have always had/in mind. Which is not surprising, considering/the very fine artist you are; and remembering,/too, that the role was after all written for you!/With admiration and gratitude,/Truman Capote". Creasing from contemporary folds.

Truman Capote (1924-84) writes to American actress and "First Lady of American Cinema" Lillian Gish (1896-1993), expressing his enthusiasm for her performance as Dolly Talbo, in the telecast stage production of his play The Grass Harp. Gish appeared in the play as part of a series of televised stage plays called The Play of the Week, that aired between 1959-60. This production aired on March 28, 1960, less than a month prior to this letter, and was directed by Word Baker and Hal Gerson and produced by David Susskind. Capote had originally wanted Lillian and her sister, Dorothy, to star as the Talbo sisters, Dolly and Verena, in the first Broadway production of The Grass Harp in 1952, and is quoted as stating that he "thought Lillian and Dorothy Gish had just the right quality for the two sisters and I did The Grass Harp with them in mind. But Bobby Lewis, the director, didn't want them; he was used to a different kind, an Actor's Studio kind of acting." (Truman Capote: A Literary Life at the Movies, 2014, p. 185).