"I can see you right now in the kitchen, bending over a hot stove. But I can't see the stove." - Groucho Marx, "Duck Soup"
I had seen and enjoyed It Happened One Night, the only film to ever sweep the Academy Awards with Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Actress, but I really got the idea to write a letter to Claudette Colbert because our tent Grand Sheik Carl had had success with her. She, of course, was the Best Actress winner for the aforementioned film – and later garnered an additional two nominations. Read the rest of this entry »
One of the autograph requests I sent out in 1985 was to Woody Woodpecker creator Walter Lantz. Walter started his career with the Hal Roach Studios and claimed to have painted the Flying Elephants in the film of the same name, a fact disputed by Roach special effects man Roy Seawright. In any case, Lantz’ name in animation history is secure as the creator of Woody and the producer of a vast array of “Cartunes” from 1929 to 1972, including Woody, Chilly Willy, Andy Panda, and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (after the series left Disney’s domain). Read the rest of this entry »
One of the first autographs I received after delving into the hobby in early 1985 was from Audrey Meadows, who played the role of Alice in one of my favorite television series The Honeymooners. I sent out the request sometime in mid-May and the photo returned on May 31. She was kind enough to sign a cast shot in bold, beautiful purple, along with a pair of notecards. Read the rest of this entry »
I wrote to Jane Russell on May 23, 1985 – mostly because I had purchased a photo of her through Carl Ahlm’s photo catalog. I had purchased this particular photo because A) It was in color, and B) It showed two hot women, one of them being Marilyn Monroe. I had never seen a single movie with Jane Russell at that point, but knew who she was. A careful check of The Film Encyclopedia indicated some of the famous titles of films she was in: The Outlaw, The Paleface, and of course the film from which the photo below was taken: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Ms. Russell also was kind enough to send along the additional signed photo above – in addition to signing the one below. Read the rest of this entry »
One of the factors that drew me back into the world of autograph collecting in early 1985 was the wide array of legendary celebrities that were now in retirement, sitting around their pads signing autographs for fans. Looking through our tent Grand Sheik Carl Ahlm’s autograph albums, I was astonished by the volume of illustrious film icons that were responding to fan mail. Read the rest of this entry »