Anthony Quinn
Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008
I’m not sure exactly where I got the photo of Anthony Quinn – maybe at a movie memorabilia show in the mid-80’s – but I do know that I held onto it for a long time without doing anything with it. Finally, during my autograph surge of 1997, I sent it off to two-time Academy Award winner Anthony Quinn. He responded in kind by adding his brilliant and handsome signature to this still from Zorba the Greek, perhaps his most famous role – surpassing even the fame of his Oscars for Best Supporting Actor in 1952 (Viva Zapata!) and 1956 (Lust for Life). Read the rest of this entry »
Like most kids, I loved the daily kid shows that were on in my pre-school days. Local show Uncle Al was probably my favorite with a close second by nationally syndicated Captain Kangaroo. His real name was Bob Keeshan and he had a show from 1955-84 on the CBS network. That’s quite a long haul. I remember Mr. Greenjeans and that bizarre moose that hung out with him. 
After I sent an eventually-successful autograph request to Robert Blake, I continued my program of making one attempt per day to obtain a variety of celebrity autographs. Some of my unsuccessful attempts between July 20, were to Kurt Vonnegut, Ronald Reagan, Tony Dow, Bill Clinton, and George Bush (who alternately refused, never answered, or sent along an autopen. Shame on you, President Bush!) 
It is ironic that one of the worst child actors in the history of motion pictures – one Mickey Gubitosi – would grow up to be one of the most successful actors of all of the Our Gang kids. And notorious as well. My attempts at getting Robert Blake’s autograph through the mail began long before he went to trial for the murder of his wife Bonnie Bakley. I was actually rather surprised to receive my first attempt, which I sent on February 23, 1987, back with a legitimate autograph (seen at right). This came back along with two signed notecards on March 9. Blake had been known to use secretaries in the past – and ones who didn’t even attempt to get his signature right. My friend Bob had one of these added to a photo on which he had already acquired other signatures. 
Even though Ed Asner is instantly recognizable and needs no introduction, the first thing I thought when I saw him while coming out of the restroom during the intermisson of the October 2, 2005 presentation of the reading of