Bob Cummings
Tuesday, February 13th, 2007
I was very familiar with the work of actor Bob Cummings when I sent him an autograph request on July 22, 1985. Although his name might be vanishing into obscurity today, at the time I was enjoying watching The Bob Cummings Show on television. Being a huge Hitchcock fan, too, I was also a fan of his work in Dial M for Murder. He was the star of another of Hitch’s classics that I hadn’t seen yet at this point, too: Saboteur. Finally, and perhaps most important at the time, he was an extra in Laurel and Hardy’s Sons of the Desert (although in later years he denied it, stating he was already an established actor when he came to Hollywood in the 1930’s). Read the rest of this entry »
Here’s another autograph that I received through the mail in the Summer of 1985, proving yet again that really famous people can sign autographs for fans – for free. I’m not sure why I chose Vincent Price to send a request to, but I would again guess that I saw that Carl had received a response to his request. I only knew Mr. Price as the star of the 3-D opus House of Wax (although I probably hadn’t seen it yet at this point), the crazy guy from “The Brady Bunch” Hawaiian episode, and the voice from Michael Jackson’s Thriller song. I sent the request on July 22 and received an almost immediate response, adding the photo below and two signed notecards to my collection on July 29. This hobby sure was getting cool! 
My first association with Our Gang member Jean Darling came in late 1985 when I sent for a 
During the midst of my autograph collecting spree, there was no question that I was still the biggest Laurel and Hardy and Our Gang fan in the world. So naturally, it was on my agenda to collect not only autographs of world-famous actors and actresses, but also anyone who worked in either of these series. Since I had not yet met Bob at this point, I relied on Carl Ahlm to get me the addresses of such folks. I had been present at Hollywood ’80, the incredible Sons of the Desert convention at which more than twenty Our Gang members had assembled for the biggest reunion in history, and picked up quite a few autographs there. 
As a child, I was raised on Saturday morning cartoons. Back in the day before they were all dreck, I would leap out of bed and rush to the TV where I would spend several hours with the likes of The Monster Squad, Land of the Lost, The Pink Panther, and of course, The Bugs-Bunny/Road Runner Show. While I still enjoy Pink Panther, I watch with campy glee my DVD’s of Land of the Lost, and I would love to see The Monster Squad (but know it would be crap), I am still an absolute fanatic for the Looney Tunes cartoons.