That Murderin’ Rascal!
Tuesday, March 25th, 2008
It is ironic that one of the worst child actors in the history of motion pictures – one Mickey Gubitosi – would grow up to be one of the most successful actors of all of the Our Gang kids. And notorious as well. My attempts at getting Robert Blake’s autograph through the mail began long before he went to trial for the murder of his wife Bonnie Bakley. I was actually rather surprised to receive my first attempt, which I sent on February 23, 1987, back with a legitimate autograph (seen at right). This came back along with two signed notecards on March 9. Blake had been known to use secretaries in the past – and ones who didn’t even attempt to get his signature right. My friend Bob had one of these added to a photo on which he had already acquired other signatures. Read the rest of this entry »
Even though Ed Asner is instantly recognizable and needs no introduction, the first thing I thought when I saw him while coming out of the restroom during the intermisson of the October 2, 2005 presentation of the reading of 
Monty O’Grady certainly isn’t the most recognized among the names of the Our Gang child actors, but he certainly held one of the most unique roles in the history of the series. He was in five of the very earliest of the comedies, beginning in 1922 with the first entry in the series, simply entitled Our Gang. It was pure dumb luck – or possibly fate – that I was able to acquire a good address for Mr. O’Grady just a few years before he passed away. 
I was completely taken aback when I saw how attractive Anne Heche was in person. I was used to seeing that short-haired girlfriend-of-Ellen-Anne Heche on TV and in the movies and frankly, never thought she looked that good. But with her hair down, she was quite the dazzler. A charming personality made her even more appealing. She is in my opinion, what one might refer to as a big star – not some performer whose glory days came many years ago (the type I normally meet). So it was a breath of fresh air that she didn’t need to be goaded into signing an autograph or posing for a picture. 
Joan Fontaine’s career would have been less distinguished – at least in my eyes – had it not been for her back-to-back starring roles in two of Alfred Hitchcock’s finest films: the Academy Award winning Rebecca, for which Fontaine was nominated for an Oscar herself, and Suspicion, for which she won the Oscar for Best Actress. Back in 1988 when I was on my Hitchcock autograph collecting kick, I tried to send her two Hitchcock photos to sign, but I had the wrong address.