I won’t go so far as to say it was a dream come true to meet William Forsythe, but he had certainly been on my ‘want-list’ for many years. In fact, I sent him an autograph request way back in August of 1997 but I never got a response. As a huge Robert DeNiro fan, I took interest in the performance of William Forsythe when I saw him in the important role of Cockeye (as seen at right) in the Sergio Leone classic Once Upon a Time in America. This sealed him in my mind as a high caliber performer, especially having already enjoyed his role as Evelle Snoats in the Coen Brothers’ amazing film Raising Arizona.
Admittedly, his later roles never seem to equal the greatness of the two that I loved so well, although he did have a nice turn playing Al Capone in the 90’s TV version of The Untouchables, and later reunited with Robert DeNiro in City By the Sea. I didn’t find out until later that he had a role in Rob Zombie’s new version of Halloween.
In fact, I think that was why he had shown up to the Hollywood Collectors Show on October 4, 2008. There were a few celebs present from various slasher flicks. But imagine my surprise when I turned around and there he was: William Forsythe, the guy whom I had long admired, standing there ready to sign autographs. Amazingly, I was able to get every single autograph and/or photo that I had wanted to get that weekend and Mr. Forsythe was the extra-special bonus.
Although he had nice photos from many of his movies, including my two favorites, I chose the Raising Arizona photo seen below to have him sign. He was $20 just like everyone else, and was very nice to let us pose for photos with him free of charge. I told him that he “was one of the good ones.”
John Goodman and William Forsythe in Raising Arizona
Cockeyed with me at the Collectors Show
The celebs of the 2008 Hollywood Collectors Show will continue…
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