straightjacket

God Save Ireland

from National Library of Ireland on The Commons

• 6 older comments, and then…
• Suck Diesel said:

  Looks like he signed a lot of these photos
  
  www.rrauction.com/auctions/lot-detail/345681406330923-ant...

• beachcomber australia said:

  Here he is dancing in 1935 -
  youtu.be/y5HkZC0MbCs?si=oXW8XrN9aFxBtjQF
  
  And speaking -
  youtu.be/owp5qhsJhvI?si=hgWZqaUAungBd27I

• beachcomber australia said:

  "Sir Anton Dolin (27 July 1904 – 25 November 1983) ... was born in Slinfold in Sussex as Sydney Francis Patrick Chippendall Healey-Kay (generally known as Patrick or Pat Kay to his friends). He was the second of three sons of Henry George Kay (1852-1922) and his wife, Helen Maude Chippendall Healey (1869-1960), from Dublin."
  From - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Dolin_(ballet_dancer)
  
  I wonder if his maternal Irish connection explains the inscription "God save Ireland".

• Suck Diesel said:

  beachcomber australia No, I think he had a stack of these photos, and signed them to suit the recipient.
  Sort of like some Hollywood fan club

• John Spooner said:

  In 1926 he suffered temporary blindness. Newcastle Evening Chronicle - Monday 20 December 1926:
  

  On Friday night, said the dancer's secretary, Mr. Dolin was dancing in a cabaret while the show was being filmed for a news picture. The glare of the lights so affected his eyes that early the following morning he woke up in agony and discovered that be was blind. He was taken to a specialist in Wimpole Street, who stated that the optic nerves were terribly bruised and burned.

  I understand that in the early days of cinema, the film available was in today's terms very slow, necessitating very bright artificial lights. As a consequence, actors being filmed got into the habit of wearing dark glasses. So if you wanted to look like a film star, you'd wear dark glasses and they thus became a fashion accessory.