Dorothy Granger 1980
Wednesday, March 5th, 2008
Dorothy Granger was one celebrity who I wish I had paid more mind to over the years. Although she didn’t pass away until 1995, the only opportunity that I ever had to meet her was during the 1980 Sons of the Desert convention in Hollywood. Dorothy only had a few small roles in the Laurel and Hardy shorts, most notably in Hog Wild where she actually plays two roles within the 20-minute film so I wasn’t too thrilled when I got the chance to meet her and have her sign my little blue autograph book on August 2.
Almost immediately following my California vacation with Bob in the Summer of 1997, I began the single largest autograph collecting drive in the history of Brad – no doubt inspired by my admiration for the Bob’s massive collection. It would go on for well over a year and nearly double my existing collection at that point. The philosophy behind the initiative was simple: to make some effort every single day to obtain a new autograph. I had tried something along these lines a couple of years prior, but in that case it was to send MAD Magazine a letter every day in hopes of getting one published. That lasted all of three days, but this one did not falter.
Wednesday, October 5, 2005 was another busy day to add to my bustling vacation on the West Coast. Jimmy and I had been up late the night before catching our appearance on 
Armed with absolutely nothing, I decided to send Ellen Corby a request for an autographed photo. Although she was best known for her role as Grandma Esther Walton in the popular series The Waltons, the photo I was after was the same one that my friend Bob had received from her. Before her days as an actress, Ellen Hansen (as she was then known), was a script girl working at the Hal Roach Studios. In fact it was there that she met her future husband Francis Corby who was working as a cameraman for Roach. 
Henry Brandon became one of the staples of the Sons of the Desert conventions throughout the 1980’s. Although one of the kindest and gentlest men you would ever hope to meet, the Sons took his role as the evil Silas Barnaby in Laurel and Hardy’s Babes in Toyland to heart. Everytime he would enter a room, he would be greeted with scores of boos and hisses. I always wondered if that would eventually get on his nerves, but he was always a great sport about it and treated the Sons member like they were long-lost family at his convention at his five consecutive convention appearances.