TTM Tuesday! Vintage Edition! Taking A Look Back At My Through The Mail Autograph Success! With Kurt Russell! Dan Aykroyd! Jason Robards! Bob Newhart! Hume Cronyn! And More!

It’s TTM Tuesday! I feel like there should be some sort of applause inserted there… Hmmm… Anyway, Ace has the week off and I figured this would be a great time to do a column about some of my TTM autographs.

Now, when I was a kid, I collected autographs via the mail back in Detroit. In fact, I amassed quite a collection. I have to be honest, I’m really glad I did looking back. I didn’t send photos since back then I had no idea what to do, so I relied on what people would send back to me. Generally it was an 8×10 or an index card. In some cases, I got books, hand written letters etc…

When I wrote to people, I always asked a questions, like how does someone like me get involved in acting etc… I figured hey why not right? Sometimes I got a great response, sometimes just an autograph. Hey it was something and I was happy!

One of the things that I’m really thankful for is that I wrote to a wide variety of people not just who was popular at the time. It’s really made my collection varied and a lot of people have sadly passed away so this would have been the only way I could get them to sign something.

So, I really didn’t have an order to these, but I picked some random ones. I’ll share more in the weeks to come as Ace does his current TTM triumphs!

Jason Robards

Even as a kid, I really enjoyed Jason Robards. He had a way of playing the gruff mean grandfather who down deep had a heart of gold. In Parenthood, which was one of my favorite movies back in the day, Jason played Steve Martin’s Dad and he was hilarious. It was a rich role and he was amazing in it. You may also remember him from Philadelphia, Magnolia, The Paper, and a wide variety of other films.

Bob Newhart

Growing up, I loved watching Nick at Night and Bob Newhart was a staple on the channel with The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart. I loved how Bob always played the straight man to the cast of crazy wild characters and always seemed perplexed at what was going on around him. Bob has always been great with fans and still answers his fan mail to his day!

Joyce Randolph

Part of the iconic The Honeymooners, Joyce Randolph is the last remaining cast member still alive. She perfected the role of Trixie Norton and even appeared in The Jackie Gleason Show once the Honeymooners ended it’s run. Joyce sent me back a copy of a newspaper article that she was featured in and wrote a nice note at the bottom.

Lauren Bacall

Who can forget Bogart and Bacall? The classic Hollywood couple at the time and who didn’t have a crush on Lauren Bacall? One of the true Hollywood beauties. Lauren Bacall is still working in film and television to this day! She was in Robert Altman’s Pret-a-porter, Dogville, All I Want For Christmas, Misery, Murder on the Orient Express and so many more films.

Dan Aykroyd

I told you there was no consistency to this list, lol… Growing up I loved over the top comedies. Spies Like Us, The Great Outdoors, My Stepmother is an Alien, and let me tell you Dan Aykroyd was in a lot of them. Dan’s presence on-screen has been smaller lately but the classic films he was in back in the day live on. To say I was a little overjoyed when I got this one in the mail is an understatement!

Hume Cronyn

Probably best remembered by modern day audiences for his role in Cocoon and Cocoon: The Return, Hume Cronyn was the consummate actor. He was married to Jessica Tandy and besides sharing the screen with her in Cocoon also acted with her in Batteries Not Included. He was also in The World According To Garp, Impulse, and more!

Kurt Russell

One of my true screen favorites. I had to include Jack Burton, I mean Kurt Russell on this list. Growing up I loved Kurt Russell in Overboard, Big Trouble in Little China, Escape from New York, The Thing and more. I mean, Kurt Russell has done so many classic films they are hard to even count!

So, even though I prefer to get my autographs in person, I do cherish those times when I lived in D-Town and couldn’t trek on the mean streets of Los Angeles like I do now!

Until next time kids…