My autograph collecting didn’t exactly get off to a rip-roaring start in the first months of 1986, but there were some cool ones that I added to my collection nonetheless. Following the great Jim Brady autograph that I’ve already shown, I posted a letter to Jean Darling on January 16 after receiving her package in the mail and she reponded on February 4 (see here). Then on January 21, I sent out two requests – one to Bob Hope (which yielded a return of a secretarial signature on February 5), and one to Ray Bolger (which yielded three photos, some of which can be seen here).
Everything was quiet in the autograph request department for more than a month when I finally decided to send out four more requests on February 25, one of these being to perhaps the most famous child star ever, Shirley Temple. Although she didn’t inscribe the notecards I enclosed, she signed the two great photos below and inscribed them to my full name, returning them on March 6.
My favorite of the whole lot
I was so pleased with her response that, being the greedy little guy I was, I followed up by sending her an additional four photos to sign on March 10. She caught on to the greed and only signed two of them (one seen below and one seen at the top of the posting), again adding my full name, and returned them on March 17. I think she was one of those performers that wanted to take care of her fans, but didn’t want to be taken advantage of.
Eleven years later I would have her sign photos for both Lisa and Ashleigh…and an additional one for me that was also signed by Our Gang member Jerry Tucker. And just to push my luck, in 1998 I sent her one more photo from the film Fort Apache which was already signed by her ex-husband John Agar – and it met with success as well.
Shirley added her signature to this shot from Captain January in 1997
Signed in 1998, this shot from Fort Apache was the last autograph I got from Shirley
Very soon afterward, Shirley Temple Black stopped signing autographs through the mail, putting a notation on the returned unopened that “due to her address being posted on the internet, she was no longer signing autographs.” I know this because I attempted to get a photo signed for my Grandpa Murphy and instead of the signed photo being sent to he apartment as planned, he received the full envelope marked “Return to Sender.” Despite this downer, it was still great to have the opportunity to get quite a few signatures from this living legend and I’m glad I acted at just the right time.
Autographs of 1986 will continue…
I have a autographed photo of Shirley Temple as a young child and would like to offer it for sale if you are interested.
Thank you …
Gerri
March 12th, 2013