An autographed manuscript letter from the English cricketer & Hollywood actor C. Aubrey Smith to fellow English actor O.B. Clarence, addressed from 11

An autographed manuscript letter from the English cricketer & Hollywood actor C. Aubrey Smith to fellow English actor O.B. Clarence, addressed from 11 Portland Place, London, W1, and dated 17 July 1938, in ink and reading DEAR CHARLIE, EVER SO MANY THANKS FOR YOUR WIRE LAST NIGHT, SORRY YOU COULDN'T BE THERE. WE HAD A VERY JOLLY TIME TILL ABOUT 3 A.M. AND I DON'T FEEL TOO WOOLLY THIS MORNING; complete with original envelope postmarked 18 July 1938 and addressed to O.B. Clarence in Golders Green; and Aubrey Smith's printed invitation for his supper at the Green Room Club, Leicester Square, on 16th July, for which Clarence had wired his apologies (3) After a first-class cricket career for Cambridge University, Sussex, England (1 test) and Transvaal, C Aubrey Smith (1863-1948) made a highly successful transition into acting where he established himself in roles as the stereotypical stiff upper lip Englishman working with Hollywood greats such as Greta Garbo, Douglas Fairbanks jnr. and Shirley Temple. Around Hollywood, he was perhaps best known as the captain of the Hollywood Cricket Club. He was knighted in 1944 for services to Anglo-American amity. O B Clarence (1870-1955) appeared in many notable films including The Scarlet Pimpernel, On Approval, The Inheritance, Pygmalion, Uncle Silas and Great Expectations. He became somewhat typecast in roles described by critics as ''benevolent, doddering, benign old duffers.''