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.
The photo I had seen was of her on the set of Laurel and Hardy’s film Swiss Miss where she was performing her duties as script girl in that film. So near the end of July 1997, I sent along my request with the traditional self-addressed-stamped-envelope. What I received back in the mail on Wednesday, August 27 that year surely topped the generosity of any person who had responded to me in the past and any who ever would.
When I opened the large envelope, out fell a whopping ten photos. Six of the photos were about 3″ x 5″ in size and five of those six photos were either unsigned or contained a pre-print signature. The sixth small photo was legitimately signed and can be seen above. Two of the remaining photos were 8″ x 10″ prints, both from the film I Remember Mama, for which Ellen Corby was nominated for an Academy Award for best supporting actress. It was clear from these photos that Ms. Corby’s mind might not be functioning at full caliber as she signed neither, but only wrote the title of the film. And in the case below, she also inexplicably added her birthdate. Being a little bit greedy, I immediately sent the better of the two photos back to her and asked her to add her signature. It was never returned.
The two final photos were 5″ x “7 photos, both legitimately handsigned. One was the color shot of The Waltons seen below (which I would later have signed by Jon Walmsley (Jason Walton) and Eric Scott (Ben Walton) when they appeared at the Hollywood Collectors Show in September later that year.
And finally, Ellen Corby sent me the Swiss Miss photo that I was after all along. Fortunately, this was on of the photos that she did sign (even though it also contained a preprinted signature) – adding her maiden name Ellen Hansen as well as her current name. This is one of the treasures of my Laurel and Hardy autograph collection in that it is certainly one of the most unique. Goodnight Grandma!
Autographs of 1997 will continue…
Contrary to the rather stern character of Grandma she played on The Waltons, Ms. Corby was a very nice lady by all accounts. I always heard that she would regale the cast(the kids) with stories from the Our Gang, L&H and other Roach sets. I was always a big Waltons fan. I have signed index cards from both Ms. Corby and Mr. Geer. I haven’t had any luck getting the child actors from the series to sign through the mail.
Dave Chasteen
February 21st, 2008
What a great candid photo from “Swiss Miss” — that’s one I’ve never seen before. I wonder why Babe looks so riveted as he talks to (I think) Charles Judels. The only photo I have of Ellen Corby connected with a Laurel & Hardy film is one showing the crew on location in Lake Arrowhead (Roy Seawright is in this one as well).
Randy Skretvedt
February 21st, 2008
How fortunate you are, Randy! These are wonderful photos! I’m pleasantly surprised to see that she was able to write legibly after her stroke.
Sandra Grabman
February 7th, 2011