Vintage original 3.5 x 5.25 in. German Ross-Verlag postcard depicting the German silent film actor and producer, ERNST HOFMANN.
 
He is depicted in a medium publicity shot by Binder with his back to the camera and wearing a light striped jacket as he looks to the side with his hands in his pockets. It was signed in black ink by Ernst Hofmann in 1926, the year in which he appeared in three films. Printed by the renowned Ross-Verlag company of Berlin, it was posted and cancelled on June 22, 1926 in Berlin. It is in very fine condition.
 
Provenance: We purchased a collection of two albums of vintage original German postcards from a rare book dealer at an antiquarian book fair in Pasadena, California. Approximately half of the postcards were signed by the respective personalities and the ones that were dated by the actors are all dated "1926." We were informed by the dealer that these photographs came from a film collector in Germany who acquired the postcards at the time they were issued and then had them signed by the respective actors when he met them in person.
 
*"Ernst Hofmann was born on December 7, 1880 in Berlin, Germany as Ernst Carl Heinrich Hofmann von Schönholtz. He was an actor and producer, known for Emerald of Death (1919), MarieAntoinette - Das Leben einer Königin (1922) and Die Fledermaus (1923). Regarded as one of the most attractive actors in the 1910's, he first worked at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin before he began his film career in the 1910's, with performances in Die Insel der Seligen (1913), as well as the box-office hits Satanas (1919) and Herrin der Welt (1920).
 
In 1919, he produced Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau's first film, Der Knabe in Blau/Der Todessmaragd (1919) and also assumed the leading role. He became a very busy actor in the 1920's and took part in many well-known productions. When the advent of sound, he ended his film career. Ernst Hofmann published, under his pen name Ernst Hofmann von Schönholtz, several entertainment and crime novels. He was married to Hedda and died on April 27, 1945 in Potsdam, Germany during the fights for Berlin."
*(source: Wikipedia)
 
Ross-Verlag in Berlin was a German publishing house specialized in photographs and photo postcards of artists. The owner of the company was Heinrich Ross (b. 10 August 1870; d. after 1954 as emigrant in the USA).
 
GERPCB