Michael "Mike" Dale Hollywood Actor Military and Theater Scrapbook 1940s–1990

Offering a large personal scrapbook belonging to actor Michael "Mike" Dale, also known as Mike Migdal. The album documents his life and career, including his military service, boxing background, Hollywood acting career, and his involvement in establishing the Fair-Ladd Community Theater at Ladd Air Force Base in Fairbanks, Alaska, during the late 1950s.

Before pursuing acting, Dale worked as a boxer and served in the U.S. Army as a military policeman, including overseas service in Iceland during WWII. Newspaper articles in the album discuss his boxing career, military service, and eventual move to Hollywood. He appeared in numerous films and television productions before relocating to Alaska, where he founded and directed the Fair-Ladd Community Theater, bringing together military personnel and members of the local civilian community.

The album contains numerous large black and white Hollywood publicity and production photographs, original stage and rehearsal photographs, personal snapshots, newspaper clippings, and other ephemera. Film material includes The Well, East of Sumatra, City Beneath the Sea, Istanbul, Outside the Law, Family Plot, The Car, and Gray Lady Down, among others. There are photographs and articles involving Jeff Chandler, Robert Ryan, James Brolin, and other actors. Several photographs have handwritten identifications, and some retain studio markings and stamps.

A substantial portion documents Dale's years in Fairbanks, including photographs of rehearsals and theatrical productions, newspaper coverage of the Fair-Ladd Community Theater, and local events, including the 1958 Winter Carnival and dog sled races. Additional material includes WWII military photographs identified as Reykjavik, Iceland, in 1942, including boxing photographs, a photograph bearing a military censor stamp, personal correspondence, and later material extending into 1990.

The album remains assembled in its original three-ring binder with a hand-decorated cloth cover. The binder and pages show considerable age and handling, including tape repairs, staining, edge wear, and deterioration to the binding. Photographs and clippings are in varying condition, with many of the larger photographs remaining well preserved.

An interesting personal collection documenting the life of a working Hollywood actor, former boxer, and WWII veteran, with a substantial amount of material relating to military and civilian community theater in Alaska. Selling the entire album together as found.