It's not quanity, it's quality (july vs june)

Maybe not the best month in terms of numbers, but the ones that did come in this month were ones I really wanted for quite some time (and some difficult to get).

July 2005 autographs

Autographs received (real or believed to be): 5
Out of that number, the amount that were purchased: 0
Pre prints: 0
RTS: 1
Other: 2 in-persons (from a friend), 1 returned unsigned (return from deceased celeb. family), 3 in-persons (that I got myself)
Total sent out in July: 18


June 2005 autographs

Autographs received (real or believed to be): 14 (from 11 requests)
Out of that number, the amount that were purchased: 0
Pre prints: 0
RTS: 0
Other: 1 (unexpected gift from a friend)
Total sent out in June: 16

Some "love" for the collection ..

This past evening I went to an area county fair which had a country music concert. So I added 3 new (in-person) successes to wrap up the month.

Patty Loveless - In Person: 7/30/05. Patty was the headliner of the show. I've been a fan of hers for 20 years now since my mom introduced me to her music with the song "After All". I enjoyed the show a lot and she was very sweet when I met her. She signed a cd insert for me and this photo which I purchased at the merchandise table.


Grand Ol' Opry member Patty Loveless

Steve Azar - In Person: 7/30/05. Steve (best known for the song "I Don't Have To Be Me 'Til Monday") was the middle act of the show. He signed a cd insert for me and this photo.

Country music singer Steve Azar

Brian McComas - In Person: 7/30/05. Brian opened the show with a fun set that included his top 10 hit "99.9% Sure I've Never Been Here Before". Before the show he signed this DVD insert for me.


Brian McComas signed DVD insert

That's what friends are for..

I've had so many friends help me with autographs (or addresses to get autographs) and I'm very appreciative. If it hadn't been for my friend Joey I wouldn't have any successes today. He went to a "Comic Con" a few weeks ago. I found out they had 5 of the "Superman" movies cast appearing there. Margot Kidder ("Lois Lane"), Sarah Douglas ("Ursa"), Jack O'Halloran ("Non"), Marc McClure ("Jimmy Olson") and Jeff East ("Clark Kent"). I have two of them already (Marc McClure and Sarah Douglas) so I dropped a few hints (more in just poking fun at him than expecting him to follow through) about how nice it would be to build on that collection and next thing you know he called me up saying he got me 2 (great ones I should add that I didn't already have). I was surprised and very appreciative. Thanks Joey, I know you went thought some stuff to pull this off for me. I really appreciate it!

Margot Kidder - In Person: 7/16/2005. Margot Kidder has been making the convention circuit a lot in the last two years or so, and I expect will continue for the foreseeable future with a new "Superman" film coming out next year. I've wanted her autograph for a long time. I remember "Superman: The Movie" airing on TV and the next day at school everyone talking about her line "You've got me.. but who's got you?". The Superman DVD has the screen tests for many actresses who auditioned for the "Lois Lane" role. People such as Lesley Ann Warren, Anne Bancroft and even Stockard Channing. But watch the screen tests you easily see there's only one "Lois Lane" and that is Margot Kidder!


Margot Kidder as "Lois Lane"


Jeff East - In Person: 7/16/2005. Jeff played "Clark Kent" as a teenager during the first "Superman" movie. Doesn't he look a lot like Christopher Reeves? I was really glad that Joey got this for me because there isn't a working address to write to Jeff at and he doesn't do many convention appearances anymore. Very cool guy. Did you know that Jeff East and Marc McClure ("Jimmy Olson") played in a band together during the "Superman" era years?

Jeff East - the "teenage" Clark Kent

A real life angel

The end of the month is picking up for me.

Jack Angel - Sent: 7/11/2005 Received: 7/27/05. Voice actors are some of the best (and most under rated) people in the industry. I know I've said it before, but let me add this. They usually have some of the coolest photos to send out for autographs as well. Jack Angel is a great voice over actor and has been part of (it seems) everything. The photo below shows some of the characters he's voiced in his career. In addition to this great photo, he sent me a one page typed letter. It was very specific to my letter, not only answering the questions I had but giving me some insight on some of the shows I mentioned in my letter to him. "Monsters, Inc.", "Finding Nemo" and "Lilo & Stitch" are just a few of his more recent projects in a 35+ year career.


Jack Angel - the voice of many Saturday morning friends

Mail for Monday

More excitement in today's mailbox.

Lesley Ann Warren - Sent: 7/11/2005 Received: 7/25/05. How cool is this, after getting Dame Julie Andrews last week today I snag another "Victor Victoria" star Lesley Ann Warren. I sent her two photos and a index card. She signed and personalized all three for me in 2 weeks time. I really like the inscription on the index card (see below). It goes to show she read my letter. I'm really happy to add her to my collection. I know her popularity has been on the increase again lately since her guest appearances on "Desperate Housewives" and "Will & Grace".


Lesley Ann Warren (click to enlarge)

In her Oscar nominated role from "Victor Victoria"

James Garner is great about responding to fan mail so I plan on sending this photo to him next week to complete it. Lesley Ann's inscription on this photo reads "To Ryan With my best Lesley Ann Warren".

"To Ryan, Thanks for your lovely letter" is inscribed on this index card by Lesley Ann Warren.


Lesley Ann Warren index card

RIP Richard Eastham

I was very sad today to learn that Richard Eastham has passed away. He was on my "Top 12" list of most wanted autographs. I had tried to write him twice but both times (and both addresses) came back "Return To Sender". Last August I bought a signed index card of him on E-bay for 99 cents. I scanned it below and included a photo of him as "General Blankenship" from season one of "Wonder Woman". Richard Eastham passed away on July 11th at the age of 89 from alzheimer's disease.


Richard Eastham 1918-2005

With the compliments of julie andrews ...

I was very happy to see (any) success at my mailbox today, but when I opened it up I became even happier!

Julie Andrews - Sent: 7/11/2005 Received: 7/22/05. About two weeks ago I read on "Star Archive" about someone getting a success from Julie via The Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, CT where she was directing a play. I knew many people would probably jump on this quickly as Dame Julie usually sends out pre-printed signature photos. Luckily I already had a 8X10 photo of her (which I had for at least 7 years) to send. So I put a letter together for her, sent the photo, SASE (self addressed stamped envelope) and since the photo was a little dark I sent a sharpie (made for signing on dark surfaces) and sent it off to East Haddam, CT. The signed photo came back today with a note "With the Compliments of Julie Andrews". The signature on my photo matches the in person autograph scans that I've seen. Plus (like Suzanne Somers) she even sent the sharpie back as well. I always said that a good letter will get you a good result if the letter actually reaches the person. Star Archive has also shown a few other people today that got successes from her as well. I told one of my friends that if I got Suzanne Somers and Julie Andrews this month I wouldn't complain the rest of the month about how slow and bad this month has been for me. Mission accomplished!


Dame Julie Andrews (click to enlarge)

Idaho: home of superheroes & potatoes

Finally more mail today for my mailbox:

Van Williams - Sent: 7/8/2005 Received: 7/18/2005. "The Green Hornet" was a spin off of the "Batman" TV series from the 1960's starring Van Williams in the title role and Bruce Lee as "Kato". I sent two photos to Van (one of him as "The Hornet", the other a regular photo of him from that time period) and a index card. All 3 came back signed & personalized in 10 days. He also wrote me a quick little note on the post it note answering a question I had about a car in the other photo. Van lives in Hailey, ID and his neighbor in the next town of Ketchum is none other than Adam "Batman" West. I guess the two are seen together fishing and riding around town often.


Van Williams as The Green Hornet

Enjoying my 'somer'

Dry spell over (hopefully!). I finally got my first success for the month today. Talk about a great one too:

Suzanne Somers - Sent: 7/5/05 Received: 7/14/05. When I was a kid I thought there was nothing funnier than the opening of "Three's Company" where "Janet" was watering the flowers and accidentally watered "Chrissy" who was sun bathing. I've been watching for a working address on Suzanne Somers for years. I was real excited to find out that she was doing a Broadway play (which opened last week), so I sent two photos to her there in care of the theatre. I though the roller skating picture would look great signed with a purple sharpie so I sent a marker too. In the last few days I've read of people who were getting successes from her via the play so I hoped that mine would be coming. And today it arrived signed in purple sharpie (which she even returned). To give you an idea how rare she is to get, prior to this month "Star Archive" had not even had a success listed on her since December of 2003 (which was an in-person success).


Suzanne Somers (click to enlarge)

Come & knock on my door...

653 days is a long time to wait for nothing

It's been very quiet (and lonely) lately at the mailbox. The good news is I've found a little more motivation and time to get new requests out. I have several that I just sent out that I really (fingers crossed) look forward to getting back. In the mean time I received this yesterday:

Skeeter Davis - Sent: 9/24/2003 Received: 7/8/2005. Yes the dates are accurate. Skeeter was a "Grand Ol' Opry" member best known for her song "The End Of The World". I had really hoped to add her autograph to my collection since I enjoyed that song so much, so I sent a cd insert to her to sign. I had seen successes on her since her health had declined (including one last year) but when she passed away on September 19th of last year I knew my item wasn't coming back signed. Today my SASE came back with a unsigned 5X7 photo. I'm not upset about not getting an autograph, but I wish they would have sent my cd insert back to me. Interestingly enough I still have 4 more pending autograph requests that are older than this one.