'Nude Study of a Woman From the Pink Pussycat Club' by Michael Wilding, 1964, Elizabeth Taylor, Korda

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Signed lower right for Michael Wilding (English, 1912-1979) and dated 1964. Drawn by Michael Wilding after an evening of drinking … Read more Signed lower right for Michael Wilding (English, 1912-1979) and dated 1964. Drawn by Michael Wilding after an evening of drinking at the Pink Pussycat, this sketch remained in the possession of the sitter until her passing in 2025.

English stage, television, and film actor, Michael Wilding is best known for a series of films he made with Anna Neagle and two films with Alfred Hitchcock, Under Capricorn (1949) and Stage Fright (1950). He also guest starred on Hitchcock's TV show in 1963. A celebrity personality, he was married four times, including to Elizabeth Taylor, with whom he had two sons.

Wilding became a film name with Dear Octopus (1943). He followed it with English Without Tears (1944). What really made him a star was appearing opposite Anna Neagle in Piccadilly Incident (1946). Director Herbert Wilcox had wanted Rex Harrison or John Mills and had only taken Wilding reluctantly. However, once he saw the rushes he signed Wilding to a long-term contract. Piccadilly Incident was the second most popular film at the British box office in 1946. After co-starring with Sally Gray in Carnival (1946), Wilding was reunited with Neagle and Wilcox in The Courtneys of Curzon Street (1947), the biggest hit at the 1947 British box office and one of the most-seen British films of all time. Alexander Korda cast him opposite Paulette Goddard in An Ideal Husband (1947), another hit, but it failed to recoup its enormous cost. Wilding, Neagle and Wilcox reteamed for Spring in Park Lane (1948), another outstanding hit. It led to a sequel, Maytime in Mayfair (1949), which was also enormously popular. See less