Year of Ann Dvorak: Day 254

On September 11, 1931, a twenty-year-old Ann Dvorak appeared before a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge to receive approval to sign a contract with Howard Hughes’ Caddo Company.

Since she was under twenty-one, Ann was still considered a minor, which is why she needed the judge’s approval to sign the deal. This was not the first time Ann had made such an appearance. She had been required to obtain similar approval when she signed her MGM contract in 1929.

In addition to the court visit, the Caddo contract also had to be co-signed by Ann’s mother, Anna Lehr. What’s also interesting about the document is that Ann signed her last name D’Vorak. She made have already decided how she would pronounce her stage name  (vor-zhak – not that anyone else picked up on this), but she still didn’t know how she wanted to spell it.