Although Candy Clark has a handful of film credits, her most famous role by far was in American Graffiti. She portrayed the blonde Connie Stevens-ish Debbie Dunham so well that she was nominated for the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. She always fascinated me in this role in her shy but sexy portrayal of this mysterious woman capable of getting Terry the Toad into all sorts of trouble. Candy might also be seen in such films as The Big Sleep, Cat’s Eye, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Zodiac.
I acquired her autograph through my friend Bob back in the late 1990’s when she appeared at a Burbank Hollywood Collectors Show. She was the one who was selling – and the very first to sign – the below movie poster reproduction. This piece became the catalyst for a long litany of autograph collecting and hunting – many of them being acquired through appearances at collector shows that I didn’t attend.
Movie poster repro signed by Candy Clark, Paul Le Mat, Mackenzie Phillips, Cindy Williams, Richard Dreyfuss, Harrison Ford, Ron Howard, Charles Martin Smith, Debralee Scott, and Bo Hopkins.
So it was very cool to be able to meet five of the cast members from the film for the first time when they appeared at the Chicago Hollywood Collectors Show in Chicago on Saturday, October 17, 2009.
I showed Candy Clark this photo and told her that she was the first one to sign it. She was cordial, but didn’t seem overly thrilled in posing for a photo with me when I hadn’t purchased anything from her. In fact, she didn’t want me to come behind the table so we were stuck with a bit of an awkward handshake pose. In retrospect, I wish I had purchased a portrait of her to add as a companion piece to the photo that all started with Candy.
Celebs of the Chicago Collectors Show will continue…
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