Vintage letterheads of famous actors, singers and directors

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Vintage letterheads of famous actors, singers and directors

A year after I posted about Letterheady, the fantastic website run by Shaun Usher showcasing interesting letterhead designs, mainly legendary artist, politicians, scientists and corporations, I find Letterheady is still going strong. Its collection is delightfully getting bigger. This time I have picked out a few actors, musicians and directors. I just see in my mind's eye the days before email, Facebook and Twitter. Charlie Chaplin taking the to send me a hand-written letter. What better example of humility? Here are some of my favorites. And for those who don’t know the names I have listed below , I can just quote the great Groucho Marx: “A child of five would understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five.”

Groucho Marx, 1961

Charlie Chaplin, 1967

Michael Jackson, date unknown

Steven Spielberg, 1982

Marilyn Monroe Productions, 1962

Arnold Schwarzenegger, 1989

Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong, date unknown.

Steve McQueen, 1969

Johnny Cash’s personal letterhead, date unknown

Letterhead used by Freddie Mercury in 1973, the year Queen’s debut album was released.
Queen, 1973

James Dean, 1955

Marlene Dietrich, date unknown

The characters to the left of the taijitu translate as ’Using no way as way’, whilst those on the right read ‘Having no limitation as limitation’.

Bruce Lee , 1968

In the early-1970s, legendary artist Frank Frazetta was asked by Bo Derek and her husband, John, to design the letterhead for their new production company: Svengali Productions. This stunning rough sketch, in which a nude Bo Derek acts as svengali to an unidentified male puppet below, was one of Frazetta’s preliminary ideas.

Svengali Productions., c 1970