Let me clarify this…My first foray into collecting autographs from the stars of The Andy Griffith Show occurred on December 11, 1985. I had sent out seven autographs requests the day before and I followed it up on the 11th with five additional letters. Two of them were unsuccessful due to having the wrong addresses – Tim Conway and Art Carney (again). But three were quite successful, one of them being Don Knotts.
I had recently obtained some portraits and cast shots that I had ordered through a catalog that our tents Grand Sheik Carl Ahlm supplied me with. One of the shots was from some sort of guest shot of three of the fellows from The Andy Griffith Show. I’m not sure if this was from a variety show or what, but the guys obviously are not in character. So anyway, this is what I sent to Don Knotts to sign…which he did. It was returned to me January 2, 1986 along with two signed notecards.
It was quite a while later in 1997 or 98 that I got the guts to try and send this photo off to Jim Nabors. This request also was met with success and he also signed an additional shot from Stroker Ace. As Andy Griffith himself is a notriously bad signer, I have opted never to attempt him.
The gamble in sending the photo wasn’t that extreme, however, since Bob had met up with Don Knotts at one or two Hollywood Collectors Shows not long before and got a few different signed photos for me…displayed at top (also signed by Jean Carson) and below (along with Betty Lynn).
For more Don Knotts, see my posting on Three’s Company…
Autographs from December 1985 will continue…
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