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Any Fun Autograph stories? (1 Viewer)

DeathStar1

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Any interesting ones to tell, when you finally met your favorite personality face to face?

one thing that was funny to note.. I told marina Sirtis in a gathering of Next Generation stars, that I met her, and Mr.Dorn at a convention a few years earlier. Obviously she isn't used to hearing him being reffered to any way other than Michael, as she repeated it to me as if she was about to laugh :). It's nice to see that they really are like old friends off stage, and it's not just a hollywood act. While wating in line, they where going back and forth between tables talking about some reality show :)
 

Rain

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Um, Donald Sutherland signed his credit card slip when I sold him some cat food. I'm not sure that counts though, since the name on his card is Donald McNichol (which apparently is his middle name)...and no I don't have the numbers. :p)
 

Jesse Skeen

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As the clumsy waiter? What kind of cat does he have?

In 1992 David Cassidy (from the Partridge Family) appeared at Tower Records to promote his new album (which was instantly forgettable), so I brought in my 8-track tape of The Partridge Family's "Up To Date" and had him autograph it. He said it was the first 8-track he'd signed in 15 years.
 

JoeyR

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When I was in elementary school we went on a field trip to the local zoo. My mom was the "group mom" for the group of about 8 kids I was with. We walked up to a refreshment stand and there was a guy standing there when he turned around my mom realized that it was Kris Kristofferson. She asked him to sign autographs for the 8 of us but he told her he didnt have time that there were people on the tour bus waiting for him. I havent liked him since.

BTW this was about 1979 when this happened.
 

Ricky Hustle

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I realize some people feel differently than I do but...

I would never ask for an autograph. Just meeting the person and exchanging a few words is enough for me. If I were famous, I probably would not want to be bothered, so I assume that celebrities feel the way I do. :)

When I lived and worked in NY city, I had quite a few celebrity encounters. I ran a store on the Upper East side, so I had a bunch of locals as regular customers.

Alan Alda
Winona Ryder (what a cutie!)
Peter Boyle (really tall)
Bill Cosby
Nick Ashford (really cool - and friendly)
Madeline Kahn (very sweet)
Peter Jennings (bought cigarettes all the time) :frowning:
Sy Serling (sp? Hair club for men guy)

I'm sure there are more, just can't think of others. Here's my fun story...

I live in Vegas now, and when my kid was 2 we enrolled him in one of the Gymboree classes and Rita Rudner and her 2 year old when in the same class. Every Sat. morning, it was odd seeing her there - with bedhead. She was really nice, and I appreciated the fact that she didn't feel above looking like the rest of us, dressed casually in sweats that we may or may not have worn to bed the night before. That class was fun while it lasted.
 

todd s

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I do a lot of autograph collecting. Mainly through the mail or through shows. Anyway, last year I went to a show where Stephen Furst (Flounder from Animal House, Vir from Babylon 5) was attending. When I got to have an Animal House pic signed. I start chatting with him. I begin to tell him that I told my daughters that I was going to this show and you were one of the guests and they got very excited. I asked them why? A few weeks earlier I bought them the 80's tv show Fairy Tale Theater. The show starred a lot of big name actors. And their favorite tale was "The Three Little Pigs". And Stephen was in that one. Anyway, I tell this to Stephen and he gets a big grin on his face. And tells me how nice it is that a new generation is seeing this show and that he hadn't thought about it in a while. So after signing my photo. He takes a piece of paper and asks my girls names. He writes them a personalized short note and signs it for them. As he gives me the note. He gives me his business card and says if I can find a picture of him from the show send it to him and he will sign it for them. I thanked him. A few days later I found and pic and sent it to him. And a few weeks later it came back signed to them. :)
 

Shayne Lebrun

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Had George R. R. Martin sign one of my Wild Cards books at a signing at the World's Biggest in Toronto a few months back; he was promoting A Feast For Crows. I should have checked while I was there, to ask, as I can't figure out what he actually wrote.
 

Janna S

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I have an old business card that my dad had a skinny, geeky big band singer sign for him in the late 30's or early 40's. Who knew he would ever amount to anything . . . . some kid named Frank, Frank Sinatra.

And when my father was depressed and ill from having lost a leg due to circulation problems (from smoking, not diabetes), I called an old high school buddy of his who had managed my father's high school state basketball championship team back in about 1937. I thought the friend might be willing to send him a chin-up, fight-the-good-fight get-well card, from one former athlete to another. He did. We found the very thoughtful, hand-written, personal card in my father's nightstand about ten years later, when he died. The closing lines were:

"Joe, you're a winner!"

Sam

"Sam" was Sam Walton.
 

TonyD

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last time the baseball all star game was in philly we went to the all star festival to meet a few players.
i was getting robin roberts auto when i congratulated him for being the only phillie to pitch a perfect game.

as i walked away i explained to my wife the embarrasing mistake i had just made.
 

andrew markworthy

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I have a 'reverse autograph' story. My father once spent an evening drinking with Sir Ralph Richardson (the actor - perhaps better known in the UK than the USA but considered over here to be on a par with Olivier and Gielgud) precisely because he didn't pester the old man for an autograph in a hotel dining room when everyone else did.

In fact, my family seems to have a history of not getting autographs. My mother was head teacher of a school that got a visit from David Prowse (he played Darth Vader in some obscure 70s sci-fi film). She was offered an autographed copy of his photo in full DV kit for me and she turned it down because she didn't think I'd be interested ... My uncle met a vast number of famous actors (he was a producer of industrial films and regularly went to Cannes with John Schlesinger - and read into that what you will) but never got their autographs. Among his effects were a ton of personal photos of the great and the good (including some excellent ones of Richard Burton) but no autographs. To my uncle these people were friends or colleagues and his argument was that you wouldn't ask a colleague in your office for their autograph, so why should he?
 

todd s

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It's funny you mention this. I have seen shows of some athletes home. And the two I remember the most was Curt Schilling and Roger Clemens. And in both of their houses was large amounts of autographed bats, balls, shoes and jerseys from other players and celebs. So I guess they had no problem asking their colleagues at the office. :)

I think asking someone for their autograph all comes down to timing. I have met a few celebs. But, I would never bother them while they were eating, going to the bathroom or talking. I was at a pub in California where Huey Lewis goes occasionally. I was there with some friends. When he came in with a friend. They sat down had a few drinks and when they were leaving. I walked up and asked for his autograph. He was very nice about it.
 

Stephen Orr

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A few years ago, when I was still in the Navy, I used to do movie reviews for the weekly show Navy Marine Corps News. I was "The Chief", and I used a ship's bell ring system. Anyway, I went to ShoEast one year with my cameraman, and interviewed and got autographs from Ron Howard (Apollo 13), Rob Reiner (The American President), Martin Scorcese (Casino), and Richard Dreyfus (Mr. Holland's Opus). I also got to see President, Casino and Opus months before they were in theaters. On top of that, we were the first American audience to see Rumble in the Bronx when New Line brought it to the U.S.

My wife took all of the autographs from that trip, and created a very nice wall hanging with it.

A couple of years later, I got to spend an afternoon with Ernest Borgnine when he attended the retirement ceremony of a ship's captain he was friends with. Very funny guy. I still have that autograph, too.
 

Randy Tennison

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I worked at Six Flags St. Louis, in security, during the summer of 1987. I was working the employee entrance, when I saw a man and his assistants come through the gate. Growing up a fan of magic, I recognized the man as Mark Wilson. I went up to one of his assistants and asked, "Is that Mark Wilson?" She said, "You recognize him?" to which I replied, "Are you kidding? Mark Wilson, Mark and Nani, The Magic Land of Allakazam? Of course I recognize him".

The assistant, who was obviously very fond of Mark, smiled big and said, "You need to go talk with him and tell him that you know him". Of course, I jumped at the chance, and he was very gracious, and seemed genuinely pleased that I was talking with him.

The assistants reaction caused me to think. I guess Mark had lost some of his star power by 1987, and very few people my age (22 at the time) knew who he was. The assistant knew that it would make him feel good to be recognized by a younger person. It was a very cool encounter.
 

Jeff Gatie

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When I was 5 years old, my older brother went to Bobby Orr's hockey camp in Ontario, CA. My dad was a commercial artist and he had painted a watercolor of Bobby swinging the net with the puck. He had my sister (4 yrs. old)and I carry it up to Bobby and ask him to sign it. Picture two little towheads walking hand-in-hand to approach the biggest star they would ever know. In my house, he was bigger than Big Bird, faster than Superman and stronger than The Incredible Hulk. It is one of my earliest memories, yet I remember it clear as yesterday, and I have never asked anybody for an autograph since. I figure once you have asked a god to sign something, everyone else's signature is just ink on paper.

Later that day, he also picked up my newborn baby brother, held him over his head and asked him if he was "going to play hockey someday?" My parent's considered this his actual "christening", even though he'd been baptized about a month before. Anyone who followed hockey in 1970 knows I'm not exaggerating.
 

DeathStar1

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Great stories, keep 'em coming :)

like others, I wouldn't pester a celeb for an autograph if others where bugging him, just to respsect their privacy. We where coming out of a Star Trek convention, and my mother spotted Walter koeing reading a book at the table, she said look who it is... looked over, and since he didn't even notice us, I said yep, and walked on away. Definetly wasn't going to bother him in his down time.


>>Bill Cosby>>>

Was he a nice guy? I like most of his comedy, saw him live at Garden State Arts Center a few years ago, and enjoyed Fat Albert as a kid. Now adays he seems a bit...centered on stuff other than comedy..
 

Jeff Gatie

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Nahh, we weren't wearing Canadiens jerseys or Bobby Clarke masks. Actually, he was very humble and gracious. He absolutely loved kids and would run around, play volleyball with them and when he talked to you, you soon forgot he was a god and felt he was just a nice guy. I have met him a couple times since and I've noticed two things:

1) He's not as big as I thought.;)
2) He's just as humble and gracious as I thought, if not more. His on ice persona (the "never show off after a goal" persona, not his "unbridled rage in a fight" one) is his off ice persona. A true gentleman who appreciates Boston almost as much as they appreciate him (and that's saying a lot).
 

Hugh Jackes

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Three:

I participated in two March of Dimes 20-mile Walk-a-thons when I was a teen.

Those of you older than a certain age will remember that Carol Burnett used to invite audience members at her variety show to ask questions. I has sent away to CBS for tickets and the show we saw taped was a couple of weeks before the walk-a-thon. I raised my hand and asked her if she would sponsor me. She invited me up on stage, turned me around and used my back as a desk to write down her sponsorship ($1/mile). I remember how awful the TV makeup looked up close. When they aired the episode, I ended up on the cutting room floor.

The next year, Olivia Newton-John was doing an interview at a local radio station. I waited outside the door and asked her if she would sponsor me, which she did ($10/mile). I remember thinking how beautiful she was, even more so than what we saw on the album covers and TV appearances.

Lastly, my wife and I started a scholarship foundation as a memorial to our son. Our partner in the foundation picked the name, Voice of an Angel, not knowing that:

a) Charlotte Church's first album was called "Voice of an Angel".
b) Tim, who was the same age as Charlotte had a huge teen crush on her.

When our partner found out, unbeknownst to us, he wrote Charlotte Church and explained about the coincidence between our foundation and her album. She wrote us a very nice and sympathetic letter and made a very generous contribution to Tim's Foundation.
 

Mike Heenan

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I remember goign to a local indie CD store some years ago for a Type O Negative signing... my friend and I were probably the nicest dressed ones there in shorts and tshirt etc, I remember the lead singer Peter Steele was really cool guy and such when we were talking with him
 

JeremySt

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I have the autograph of 7 time Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher. He walked by the store where I work, so I grabbed my 2004 Season Review DVD (with his picture on the cover) and asked for his autograph. We exchanged polite banter for about 1 minute, I thanked him, and let him get back to his shopping. Im a huge F1 fan, so I was blown away. I still have the DVD, its not going to ebay.
 

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