Today is National Handwriting Day (I think I’ve got not-too-shabby cursive, so, um… congratulations, hand!), which got me thinking about celebrity handwriting. Except for book readings, I can’t recall a single instance when I’ve gone up to a famous person and asked for their autograph. I work at EW’s New York City office, and in this town, if you enjoy being spared the label "rube," you don’t trail the Parker-Brodericks (pictured) down the sidewalk with a pen. I guess we feel cool ignoring how cool they are when we see them.
However, for a month or so in the 1990s, I had a very specific autograph-related obsession (no, not forging checks): mailing celebrities whom my father liked, to ask for an autograph. About six months before my dear old Dad retired, I hatched a plan to make a scrapbook of photos and letters congratulating him on working hard for 35 years, American dream, all that good stuff. I was calling in mementos from relatives and friends when it dawned on me to make the gift funnier (glitzier? stranger? more eBay-able? the original motive escapes me now). Soon I was spending all my primetime TV hours lounging and writing letters to famous people. Dear Carol Burnett! Dear Ed Asner! Dear Mike Wallace, Dave Brubeck, Tiger Woods, President Clinton, Sugar Ray Leonard, Mary Tyler Moore, Ray Bradbury, even the Weather Channel lady my dad watched every day. When I channel-surfed past Danny DeVito, he and Rhea Perlman joined the list. When I ate a Baby Ruth, Hank Aaron joined the list. There was some research involved, but not much (surely contact info is more locked down now, but at the time, expert autograph collectors shared tips over the Internet with fan-mail address intel, emphasizing the increased odds of a reply if you hand-wrote a personal letter.) On cheap blue stationery with a book of stamps at my side, I wrote over and over, "My dad’s a huge fan of yours, and he’s about to retire, so I’m writing to ask…"
Results-wise, I estimate I contacted 100 people and got a 30 percentreturn rate, and those letters and headshots sprang out of my mailboxday after day and into the scrapbook, putting my gift over the top asI’d hoped. (When writing to some stars, I even included aself-addressed, stamped greeting card, making it easy for them to justsign and mail it back; I’ll never forget receiving the "Best Wishes onYour Retirement" golf-themed card with Dan Rather’s signature andactual best wishes inside.)
Uncool as it may be to say, there is something oddlythrilling about a handwritten souvenir from a talented person youadmire. I can’t be the only one with an autograph story, PopWatchers.Do you own any celebrity signatures, and if so, what do they mean toyou?
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John Travolta and Uma Thurman signed my copy of Pulp Fiction (independently of one another) and I have it displayed. I was very eager to show it to my dad, as well, since it’s a movie we shared together when I was probably way too young to be watching such a thing.
The only autograph I have is Donny Osmond. When I was 8 my mother and grandmother took me to see him in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and it was love at first sight. My grandmother wrote him a letter saying how much I loved him, and he wrote back. I still have it today, though now I treasure it because of my grandmother, not because of Mr. Osmond.
I got John Elway and Stephen Stills autographs at political fund raisers. I didn’t expect to see anyone famous so I asked them to sign whatever random piece of paper I had on me
I got Hayden Pannettierre’s (sic) at a sci fi convention I was volunteering at. She was charging twenty five dollars an autograph, but because I was volunteer I got one for free.
I also got Stephen Colbert to sign a copy of his book, which was pretty awesome.
I have an old Monty Python record signed by Michael Palin.
I sent a letter to One Tree Hill star Sophia Bush and she sent me back an autographed picture.
First of all, props to Christine for such a cool gift idea! Watch me steal it. As for my autograph moment, as a young newspaper intern, I got to tag along with the rest of the bureau to the White House Correspondents Association’s annual Dinner which is like the prom for geeky journalists. While there were some notable celebrities there – Jerry Seinfeld and Heather Locklear – I spent my even hunting down my favorite TV anchors. My biggest (and now upon reflection, my lamest) get – CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.
When I was in Jr High, I got letters back from Sasha Cohen, Daniel Radcliffe, Vanessa Carlton, and Ben McKenzie. I sent out more but didn’t get replies.
That’s so crazy that you put up this post today since Kate Walsh from “Private Practice” and “Grey’s Anatomy” visited my school (Arizona State) today to promote Obama. I actually skipped class to see her. We got a picture together and she gave me her autograph on an Obama sign. It’s pretty much the only autograph I have at the moment. But this experience was pretty much the highlight of my day… and I don’t even watch either of her shows!
I’ve got J.K. Rowling’s, B.J. Novak’s, and Ha Jin’s, all of whom I met in person (I actually got to have a 75 minute chat with B.J.!).
I got Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) to sign the cover of one of my original Marvel Star Wars comics at a comic book convention. He signed it with a black sharpie so you can barely see it but it’s totally there.
I got Venus Flytrap’s when I was a kid and Ice-T’s when I was older but I’ve lost them both.
my high school offered a drama trip to dublin for the city’s theatre festival. one of the play’s we saw was starring geoffrey rush.
i barely sat through the whole thing i was so excited, and after the show our teacher approached the stage manager about maybe meeting him.
he actually came back out on stage and talked to us for a good 30 minutes, personalizing and autographing everyone’s program.
it was one of the greatest days of my life, and i still have that program tucked away.
I once wrote a long letter to John Williams and got back an autographed photo where he had hand written a musical staff and the first several notes to the Star Wars theme. Doesn’t get any more awesome than that.
My favorite actor has been Hugh Jackman for about 7 years- since I was 13 years old. He was on Broadway a couple years ago in The Boy from Oz. I got my first summer job, bought myself a ticket to one of his last performances and took a plane to New York just for the show. After it was over, I jumped out of my seat and sprinted to the stage door so that I was in front when he came out. There were hundreds of people waiting, but I was lucky enough to be one of the people to get my program signed. I said “Thank you,” he said “Pleasure,” and I flew home knowing that it would be one of the happiest days of my entire life.
My husband actually did something very similar for my birthday 5 or 6 years ago, writing to celebrities and asking them for birthday wishes for me. He collected them all and had them made into a nicely hardbound book, and gave it to me along with the original photos. A number of people wrote a short message along with their names, which was nice of them. I can’t tell you how much of a kick it is that I have birthday wishes from Mr. Rogers and Dick Van Dyke, two people I grew up watching on TV, among many others. It was quite the time-consuming project for my husband, too, and involved the renting of a PO box and months of secrecy on the part of him and our friends who knew about his little mission. Really cool thing for someone to do!
When I was 16 I went to see “Ian McKellen Acting Shakespeare” not too far from my hometown of Washington, DC. At the end of the show, McKellen did a monologue from “Henry V” and needed volunteer helpers…for dead French soldiers (easiest acting gig ever!). I was standing nearest to him when we stood up and he gallantly kissed my hand. Then after the show I had him sign my official show T-shirt and said, “Thanks for letting me die onstage” and he answered, “Thanks for dying.” I still have that T-shirt, though it’s the worse for wear and the signature’s faded. Good times.
I got Bruce Campbell to sign my copy of “Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way” and the first issue of “Man with the Screaming Brain”. It was wonderful.
I have a hardcover copy of ‘The Lord of the Rings’, signed by many of the cast and crew – illustrator Alan Lee was the first signature, and Andy Serkis is the most recent. It is one of my most treasured possessions.
I have a hardcover copy of ‘The Lord of the Rings’, signed by many of the cast and crew – illustrator Alan Lee was the first signature, and Andy Serkis is the most recent. It is one of my most treasured possessions.
I have an autograph from Robert Duvall on a real estate ad for the house they used in Godfather 2. And, I have a Berke Brethed autograph (the cartoonist who gave life to Opus). He was a guest on a radio show I was working on. He kept too far away from the mike so I kept telling him he was “too soft, too soft”. He signed my cartoon of Prince William , “Hoping to get it Harder” Berke Berthed.
My life’s wish is to get an autograph from Harrison Ford.
Colbie Caillat! Not that big I know, but still exciting.
First of all, LP’s John Williams story?! That is boss!! Anyway, I must admit that thanks to being an L.A. resident with no shame, I have a great many autographs.
My most treasured is my X-Files S1 DVD set signed by Chris Carter and Mark Snow, probably because of the way I got it. About 3 years ago I had the set in my car because I was loaning it to someone. I went into a restuarant and Carter & Snow were there eating!! I sat down and ate but when I saw them leave I jumped up and ran outside and had them sign it. I can still remember the smile on their faces because it was just TOO random.
i skipped the cast photo of the play i did in high school for the local newspaper just to go to a meet and greet in boston to see the cast of “veronica mars”,….the autographs of the entire cast is cherish to this very day
The movie “Stuck On You” was filmed in my hometown (the Martha’s Vineyard part) the week I was home from college in March, so I spent the week watching them film around town. The best day of it was when I headed downtown to watch the jogging scene. After filming, we could all meet the stars. First, I went to meet Matt Damon, who was swamped. Then I turned a corner, and saw Greg Kinnear, who was all but ignored. I went up to him and said “I’m a really big fan of As Good As It Gets and Talk Soup, and I’d love to get your autograph”. So I got to have a nice five-minute conversation with him and get his autograph. He’s extremely nice and sort of self-deprecating. Definitely made my spring break. Who needs a warm beach when you can meet Matt Damon and get Greg Kinnear’s autograph?
The only autograph I have is Wil Wheaton’s…but I paid for it. Is that wrong? It was to support one of his projects!
I admit to being a minor collector of autographs. I was entranced as a kid with it—I got a personal letter and autograph from Shannen Doherty when I was 12 and she was on the now-forgotten Our House. I also have gotten multiple autographs from the guys of Barenaked Ladies, who are always so gracious to fans waiting by their buses after the show. My favorite though is Cate Blanchett. I got it in 99 when she was performing in a play in London. I patiently waited by the stage door for a couple days to get it. It’s framed and on my wall!
HUGE autograph collector here..I do it mainly for myself not to make money. I am so reatful to have Heath Ledger’s…the best one I received in the mail is maybe Oprah or the cast of ER
A recent autograph story: Needtobreathe opened for Jars of Clay at the HOB in Anaheim, and I was in the very front on the lip of the stage. Never heard them before (I was there for Jars) and liked what I heard. When a setlist flew out as their stuff was struck, my friend asked the roadie if we could have it, and gave it to me. It was just notebook paper with the setlist markered on. Later at the meet and greet I got them to sign that. I have lots of signed Jars of Clay stuff, but my favorite was when they visited Manila and I sent them a bunch of little native earthen pots (get it) as souvenirs. They sent one back signed by the band. But my favorite autograph belongs to Billy Mueller, back when he played 3rd for the Giants, before we stabbed him in the back and sent him away … the nicest guy in the world, autographed it after a game with his hair still mussed, quiet and shy and signing for all the kids first–well, he got his ring with the Sox, Barry never did, there’s karma.
Joss Whedon’s autograph: need I say more?