Often times when going out to get autographs, it's hard telling who you might come across in Hollywood. The theme of the night could have been "Return of the 80's" as we ending up getting autographs from celebrities who came to prominence in the 1980's.
First off, we headed out and our first stop was a television talk show which 80's funny man and former Saturday Night Live star Eddie Murphy was one of the guests. After his appearance, Murphy rolled down the window of his limo and immediately began signing. It was rough though, with a combination of a few dealers and Murphy's guy yelling, "He'll sign for everyone. Get your autograph and step back." Knowing that is not usually the case, the scrum of autograph collectors around the window never budged. We were successful, nabbing three autographs of Murphy on stills from the film "Coming To America". Sweedish singer Robyn was the next to leave, pulling over and getting out of her limo to meet and greet the fans. We had her sign a couple autographs and posed for photographs with her. We made the mistake of standing around, talking with a fellow collector.
We were heading to another television talk show but I mistakenly felt like there was no rush, as I felt we would miss the guest, Adam Sandler, on his way in. Of course we got there too late, after Sandler, another Saturday Night Live alum, came over and signed away. When Sandler left he waved at the amassed crowd and jumped in his car. I ran around and Sandler rolled down his window as he was pulling out of the parking lot. "Hey guys, sorry but I've got to go." Holding up a great shot from "The Wedding Singer", an awesome movie set in the 1980's, and a blue sharpie the entire time, Sandler said to me, "Hey, I got you." He pulled up, took my sharpie and signed my photograph. I had another but all of a sudden another collector took the sharpie from Sandler and handed him a ballpoint pen, so he could sign a baseball. With that Sandler was done, pulling away after only signing two total autographs. Returning to the baricade, we waited and waited for the 80's girl band, The Bangles, known for such pop hits as "Walk Like an Egyptian", "Hazy Shade of Winter", "Eternal Flame" and "Maniac Monday" to leave. Finally, we spotted Susanna Hoffs, Debbi Peterson and Vicki Peterson all heading to the parking lot. The crowd of collectors called over to them and they waved, disappearing into the fenced parking lot. All three of them had a lot of luggage and stuff so I thought that there was a chance that once they put their stuff into their vehicles that they might return. Sure enough, here came Debbi and Vicki but no Susanna over to the awaiting fans. We obtained 6 photos signed by the two members of The Bangles, so I am hoping we encounter Susanna Hoffs at some point in the future. The talk show always features the latest castoffs from the television show Dancing with the Stars. Soon the door leading from the parking lot opened and David Arquette headed right to the assembled crowd, without anyone even calling for him. He was his normal, friendly self and genuinely seemed disappointed that he and hisdancing partner, Kym Johnson, were voted off that evening's DWTS program. David signed and starting taking photographs with some fans and then Kym Johnson appeared from the parking lot and also came over the the crowd. Both signed a lot of autographs for fans and then headed into the television talk show.
So it ended up to be a good day for autographs with a 80's theme. Looking forward to our next adventure of collecting autographs!
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Al Pacino and Bree Olson
One thing that all autograph collectors have to come to terms with is that things don't always turn out as planned. Sometimes for the better and you will be pleasantly surprised and sometimes for the worse. Several venues in Los Angeles host events and I've been to many of them as a patron or to collect autographs but I still come across events being held at a venue or location that I am not so familiar with. On 8/22/2011 a party to celebrate the release of the Blu-Ray of the iconic "Scarface" film (originally released in 1983). I had limited information on the event, not knowing for sure but hoping that Al Pacino would show up, and had never been to the venue, a place called the Belasco Club. I got there a little late, missing most of the arrivals, but hoped to do well with the "Scarface" cast members as they departed.
Mark Margolis, who portrayed Alberto "The Shadow" in the film signed and posed for anyone who asked. Generous with his time, Margolis was friendly and talkative, spending time hanging in the area with collectors for a few minutes after satisfying everyone's requests. He mentioned that he lives in New York City but was visiting his son in Los Angeles, in addition to appearing at the "Scarface" event.
The Skull is Alejandro Sosa's professional henchman and chief assassin in "Scarface. His real name is never given and he has no on-screen dialogue. He is apparently nicknamed by his gaunt face and he always wears large, circular, dark sunglasses, giving his face the appearance of a skull which is his assassin trademark. He was portrayed by Mexican-American actor Geno Silva. Silva was walking by as Mark Margolis was signing autographs and perhaps would have gotten unnoticed but Margolis made sure that was not the case. As he signed, Margolis said to us, "Hey, you guys need him. He was the assassin in the film." Thanks Mr. Margolis for the autographs and the tip! Silva happily signed and I think was surprised that collectors even cared to get his autograph. Margolis joked that all the "Scarface" fans out there would be angry at Silva as his character was the one who killed Tony Montana in the film. Both men were great with the fans and collectors.
One thing that all autograph collectors have to come to terms with is that things don't always turn out as planned. Sometimes for the better and you will be pleasantly surprised and sometimes for the worse. Several venues in Los Angeles host events and I've been to many of them as a patron or to collect autographs but I still come across events being held at a venue or location that I am not so familiar with. On 8/22/2011 a party to celebrate the release of the Blu-Ray of the iconic "Scarface" film (originally released in 1983). I had limited information on the event, not knowing for sure but hoping that Al Pacino would show up, and had never been to the venue, a place called the Belasco Club. I got there a little late, missing most of the arrivals, but hoped to do well with the "Scarface" cast members as they departed.
Mark Margolis, who portrayed Alberto "The Shadow" in the film signed and posed for anyone who asked. Generous with his time, Margolis was friendly and talkative, spending time hanging in the area with collectors for a few minutes after satisfying everyone's requests. He mentioned that he lives in New York City but was visiting his son in Los Angeles, in addition to appearing at the "Scarface" event.
The Skull is Alejandro Sosa's professional henchman and chief assassin in "Scarface. His real name is never given and he has no on-screen dialogue. He is apparently nicknamed by his gaunt face and he always wears large, circular, dark sunglasses, giving his face the appearance of a skull which is his assassin trademark. He was portrayed by Mexican-American actor Geno Silva. Silva was walking by as Mark Margolis was signing autographs and perhaps would have gotten unnoticed but Margolis made sure that was not the case. As he signed, Margolis said to us, "Hey, you guys need him. He was the assassin in the film." Thanks Mr. Margolis for the autographs and the tip! Silva happily signed and I think was surprised that collectors even cared to get his autograph. Margolis joked that all the "Scarface" fans out there would be angry at Silva as his character was the one who killed Tony Montana in the film. Both men were great with the fans and collectors.
Al Pacino's known personal vehicle was across the street in front of the Belasco so it made sense that Pacino would leave in his car, even though he arrived in a limousine. That was not the case as Pacino left out the back of the theater, jumping in the limo and leaving the event. Along with another collector, we had information on where Pacino was heading so we made our way over to Beverly Hills. Unfortunately, we missed Pacino's arrival to his destination by a couple of minutes so we didn't get Pacino after all.
Knowing that porn star and current Playboy Playmate Bree Olson was making an appearance at a local radio station, I headed over there with plenty of time to spare. After about a 30 minute wait, Bree left the building and came over to the assembled collectors. The seven of us were standing in a line with our items and Bree started with me, taking my blue Sharpie and signing my photograph. Bree is known to write lengthy and risque inscriptions on collector's items so that fact, along with personalizing every item meant that it took Olson a bit more time to sign just one item than it typically does for a celebrity. One of my friends there engaged in conversation with Bree, her telling us that she was still friends with actor Charlie Sheen even though the two had ended their highly-publicized relationship. I realized that some of the other collectors were getting not just one but two items signed so I got in the back of the line of collectors. I figured Bree would sign at least another item for me since I had only gotten one. Once Bree got to me, I noticed she now had a black Sharpie in her hand so I asked if she would sign my photo with my pen since I prefer the look of autographed photos in blue. She kindly obliged and as she signed I mentioned that I had just another photo and if she would also sign and personalize it to me. Bree happily signed it as well, so I ended up with a total of three autographed photos from Bree Olson, more than any other collector there. Two of us snapped photos with Bree who told us she was sick so she didn't "look that great" but Bree looked just fine.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
