The large Tondo is a tribute to actress Jean Wallace. Her life seems to have followed the typical trajectory of a Hollywood ‘starlet’. Having enjoyed some success in the early 1940’s her personal life began to create more headlines than her career. Twice married, she lost custody of her sons in 1949 due to an increasing reliance on alcohol. Shortly thereafter she attempted suicide for the second time by stabbing herself in the abdomen with a 14 inch knife. When asked why, Jean said “I just did it for laughs.”

The drawing is taken from the final scene in The Big Combo (1955) as she exposes her criminal lover under a light so the police can see in the darkness to arrest him. Wallace found some happiness later in life with her co-star on this film - Cornel Wilde. However after her final divorce in 1981 it is rumoured that she spent her final decade cultivating a home menagerie and died aged 66 from a condition relating to chronic alcohol abuse.