Visiting Jack Hanlon 2007
Friday, April 6th, 2007
This was my second visit with Jack Hanlon – and I have to maintain that he is one of the nicest fellas you could ever hope to meet. Jack was a former child actor who had appeared in at least three of the silent Our Gang films: Ten Years Old, Olympic Games, and The Glorious Fourth. In addition, he had a role in the Buster Keaton classic The General. It was just over five years ago that Jack’s nephew contacted Bob and they arranged a meeting for the first time. Read the rest of this entry »
It was September 28, 1987 and I had gotten off the bus and was heading for home when I stopped off to get the mail. Inside the box was an envelope addressed to me from NASA. I wasn’t sure what this could be, but when I opened it up, I found a personally autographed color photo of the first man to step foot on the moon, Neil Armstrong. I was legitimately surprised to find this, as it had been more than two years since I had sent this request. It was, in fact, the sixth autograph request I had sent since starting full-force with the hobby early in 1985. 
This entry combines two events into one posting. One of the last successful autograph attempts I made in the Summer of 1985 was a request I sent to Sherman Hemsley (best known as George Jefferson on the TV show The Jeffersons) on August 16. Remarkably, it was not fulfilled until more than two years later…arriving on my birthday, October 2, in 1987! There were less than half of a dozen celebrities from this batch of Summer of ’85 autograph requests that I actually got the opportunity to meet sometime in the future and Sherman Hemsley was one of them. 
My first association with Our Gang member Jean Darling came in late 1985 when I sent for a 
Babes In Toyland is one of the most treasured of Laurel and Hardy films. The timeless comedy of the boys combines with the sights and sounds of a magical land capable of wow-ing any kid seeing L&H for the first time. Ashleigh used to watch this film over and over again – and I mean like four times in one day. The characters in the film are based on nursery rhymes and children’s stories, and among them are the Three Little Pigs. Most of us had always assumed that these guys were actually all midgets – but the truth of the matter is that two were midgets and one was child actor Payne Johnson.