It’s been quite a while since I’ve enjoyed an episode of Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, but I used to really dig the zany blackout humor of the show when it was being broadcast on Nick at Nite during the last few years of the 1980’s. I didn’t really start my collection of autographs related to the show until I ran into Gary Owens at a Hollywood Collectors Show in 1995. I only had him sign a couple of notecards and finally got my chance to get a picture with him in 2007 – as seen here.
During July 1998, I attended a Mayberry Squad Car Rendezvous in Bradford, Ohio, and in the dealer area I found an autograph seller with some pretty reasonable prices. I picked up a slew including two nice signed photos from Laugh-In stars Jo Anne Worley and Arte Johnson. So far, I haven’t had the chance to meet Arte…but Jo Anne was a different story.
Purchased signed Arte Johnson photo
Purchased signed Jo Anne Worley
My next autograph came through the mail when I was honored to acquire a signature of one of the show’s creators in 1999. Dick Martin not only signed the picture but added a funny inscription stating, “I can’t believe I’m wearing jeans.” What a great guy! Sadly, I never got the chance to meet him before his passing in 2008.
Great signed photo of Rowan & Martin, signed by Dick Martin with wisecrack added
I had the unique opportunity to meet two of the Laugh-Inleading ladies just two weeks apart on different sides of the continent during the Fall of 2010. Ruth Buzzi was scheduled to make an appearance at the Chicago Hollywood Celebrities Show on Saturday, September 25, 2010. I brought along my cast photo that my friend Bob had gotten signed by Gary Owens, Dick Martin, and Alan Sues in the early 2000’s.
She was pretty friendly, but wondered if her higher fee for oversized memorabilia applied to my item. It did not, so I got the standard autograph/photo op combo for $25. She quietly pointed out Teresa Graves in the photo, the African American actress from the show. Ruth Buzzi explained how she was tragically killed in a house fire while staying with her Mom, sleeping on her patio porch in 2002. This doesn’t appear to be accurate, as reports indicate she died in her own home.
With Ruth Buzzi
Meeting Jo Anne Worley came much cheaper. She was one of the radio performers at the C.A.R.T. show on Saturday, October 9, 2010, that I described here. She was a pretty nice lady, asking me about where I acquired the other signatures on the photo. When I told her that I just saw Ruth Buzzi two weeks ago in Chicago, she told me that she never does those celebrity shows. I made the mistake of letting her try to sign the photo while she held it and it got a little crummy. She finally moved over to the piano on stage and signed it there.
With Jo Anne Worley
Cast shot now signed by Ruth Buzzi, Dick Martin, Gary Owens, Alan Sues, and Dick Martin
There are still a few more Laugh-In celebrities that I’d love to meet, so let’s hope that one day I will be updating this entry.
Celebrites of the Fall 2010 Chicago collectors show will continue…
Celebrities I met at the C.A.R.T. show in 2010 will continue…
Autographs of 1999 will continue…
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