Carol Burnett, Jeff Pidgeon and Bob Newhart

The last two weeks have been crazy busy and school has had me super stressed out 😖 Luckily I had three returns to brighten up the days.

First was Carol Burnett, who graciously signed all four of the photos I sent. I loved her in the movie ‘Annie’, so much so that I auditioned for the part of Ms. Hannigan in our High School production of the musical – though I didn’t end up getting the part 🤷‍♀️

Carol Burnett as Ms. Hannigan, dedicated to me

Color version of Ms. Hannigan

From ‘The Carol Burnett Show’

Carol Burnett as “Chair-ol Burnett” in Toy Story, another one to add to the collection for the nursery for my future child 😉

Next I received a response from Jeff Pidgeon, the voice of the aliens from the Toy Story films. I had included a blank piece of cardstock because I had heard if you sent one he will sometimes draw an alien for you – unfortunately I was not one of the lucky ones 🤷‍♀️ But I was super happy to get this one back because it was already signed by John Ratzenberger and Annie Potts – the more signatures I get on it the more wary I am about sending it out – I definitely think I am going to try for the voice of Slinky Dog since I have had success with him in the past, but I don’t know if I will be taking the risk sending it out again if I do hear back from Mr. Clark 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

The last success to report is from Mr. Bob Newhart, who signed 2 of the 4 images I sent to him. Unfortunately he personalized ‘The Rescuers’ photo to me, so I guess that means its now for my personal collection and not for the nursery 🤷‍♀️😜

“To Ashley, Hi from Papa Elf Bob Newhart”

“To Ashley, Hi from Bernard Bob Newhart”

Michael Richards!!!! Kramer from Seinfeld

Amazing success from one of my favorite 90’s shows ‘Seinfeld’ and the last member of the main four I needed to complete my collection. I had tried writing Mr. Richards three or four times with no success – this time I spent about an hour drawing a Kramer rubber duck (matching one I had gotten for Christmas) on the outside of the envelope and I think that must have been what did it 😁 — Unfortunately the pen he used did not work well on the glossy photo paper and is smearing off; I sprayed it with the Krylon “Preserve It” that I have had some success with in the past. I’m hoping to get them framed right away to prevent any further decay of the signatures, but at least I have the scans if something does happen between now and then. I am just so thrilled to have heard back from Mr. Richards – Kramer is my absolute favorite character and Seinfeld has some great memories for me. Right before I left for law school, my Dad actually took me to New York to eat at Tom’s Restaurant (the restaurant used for the outside shots of Monk’s cafe). He was patient enough to indulge me in waiting almost an hour to get the specific booth used in a Super Bowl commercial featuring Jerry Seinfeld and Jason Alexander. The waitress there actually talked about how nice Michael Richards was when he had come into the restaurant, which was super great to hear. I have had the opportunity to meet several celebrities and I have to admit when they are not nice in person it tends to ruin their work for me 🤷‍♀️ I am so happy that he is a nice person in real life 🥰

The envelope with my drawing and my duck 😂

To Ashley! Hi! From “Seinfeld” Michael Richards 2-22-21 LA

Michael Richards K-man! Thanks for watchin’ the show!

Never say never – John Ratzenberger

Almost two years ago (712 days to be exact) I sent a letter and autograph request to John Ratzenberger asking that he sign a photo for me and my two nephews (although it’s been so long that I now have three nephews 😳). Today I received all three photos signed and personalized. This is my second longest success, though Alexander Skarsgård still currently holds the title for longest success at closer to three years. It just goes to show that you can’t give up hope 😊

John Ratzenberger an accomplished actor and responsible for the voices of some of the characters in a lot of my favorite Disney/Pixar movies

First Success of 2021: Lara Spencer

First return of 2021 is one I was super excited about. I absolutely love the show “Flea Market Flip,” in fact several years ago my best friend and I went to the Elephant Trunk Flea Market specifically because it was featured on the show. I actually got some cool stuff there, including a project I am still working on 😳 When the lock-downs first started last spring Mom and I (and Dad but not voluntarily 😂) binged watched all the episodes available on Hulu. I even up-cycled a sewing machine table into a wine bar as a gift for one of my friends. Naturally I was thrilled when Lara responded to me, especially since it was an address I found all on my own and not from one of the fan-mail sites 🥰

Lara graciously signed a photo for me, my Mom and my best friend

Catching up on TTM Successes

Seems like I have fallen pretty far behind on keeping up with my through the mail successes so this post will be everything I have received from I believe around February of 2019 😳 Since I have been lax about keeping track of when things have arrived, I am just going to go in alphabetical order by first name.

Alan Cumming – The Good Wife

I have only seen a few episodes of “The Good Wife” with my Mom but I admire Mr. Cumming and his activist work especially for LGBTQ rights

Chef Alex Guarnaschelli

I would be absolutely intimidated to have her as a judge

Going right into the front of one of her cookbooks 😊

I wrote to Alex Trebek shortly before his passing

Dad and I had been spending a lot of time watching The X-Files together and had caught his cameo, it was a super strange episode …

My Grandmother used to be obsessed with the show Jeopardy, you were not even allowed to talk to her when the show was on 😜

Not a new success at all, in fact this is one of my very first attempts from back in 2009, but I was finally brave enough to remove it from the cheap frame it was in – I had been really worried that it would be damaged, luckily it came out unharmed and I was able to get a good scan.

Annie Potts – the voice of Bo Peep from Toy Story

I’m a huge fan of the Ghostbusters original movies, I even have a lego set of the Ecto-1 vehicle

Dad and I took a trip to New York and visited the firehouse used (and pictured behind her here) in the Ghostbusters movies – I found out after we got this picture back that Dad isn’t really a fan and only went along because I wanted to see the sights… I actually thought that was really sweet of him, to go to locations from movies and tv that he doesn’t particularly care about just because it is something I want to do 🥰

When “New Amsterdam” first came out I thought it was an amazing and uplifting show, just what the world needed – I confess I am not caught up but the first four episodes were so good that I sent fan letters out to the entire main cast

Mr. Kher was the only one to respond. He plays an amazing and caring doctor and his relationship with the psychiatrist (pictured here) was one of the best on the show

He included his own extra image from what I sent 😊

Blake Clark best known as Chet Hunter on Boy Meets World and Harry “The Hardware Store Guy” on Home Improvement.

He is also the voice of Slinky Dog in the Toy Story films

Speaking of Boy Meets World – I was able to add Will Friedle, Ben Savage and Danielle Fishel to my cast piece, getting closer and closer to completion 😊

Bubba Wallace, a professional race car driver, who was active in the Black Lives Matter movement

He signed this and an identical photo to this one as a gift to my nephews

Carole Baskin from “Tiger King”

I was lucky enough to get two autographs from her for a small donation to Big Cat Rescue – it is my understanding that she is now asking for a donation of $100 per autograph

Dane Farwell the stuntman who played Ghostface in the Scream movies signed a Mask, Knife and 8×10 photo for me

It says “Ashley, Do you have nightmares? You should because I know where you live! “Ghostface” Dane Farwell” – unfortunately the pen flaked off quite a bit, I sprayed some fixative on it to hopefully prevent any further flaking

My sister is a huge Harry Potter fan, and so I have tried on multiple occasions to get Daniel Radcliffe to sign something for her, I majorly lucked out in getting success from an apartment address I managed to find AND from a Broadway show he was acting in.

We have matching ones of this image, though hers is made out to her name lol

This is probably my favorite image that he signed and dedicated to me

This is my favorite undedicated photo, Prisoner of Azkaban was my favorite book and he signed in blue which is my favorite color

Dedrie Hall from “Days of Our Lives” my Mom is a huge fan of hers and likes to tell the story of how she skipped school to watch an episode where her character gets married.

Ed Asner, he is an amazing signer, I had asked him to leave this undedicated so I could hang it in the nursery of a as yet unnamed child but instead he dedicated it to me… so I guess it is mine now 😜 he wrote “Ashley, Those Sears hoses are the strongest you can buy – or steal! Best of life! Ed Asner”

I had tried Emma Roberts a few times before because I really wanted her for my Scream collection with no success – decided to give it one last go and she answered!

Also had to go with an image from Freak Show

She added this slightly oversized photo on her own in addition to the two I sent 😊

Florian Bellanger from Cupcake Wars

Famous for his macaroons 😋

He also included this postcard in addition to the photos I sent 😊

I had asked him if he liked Red Velvet now since it seemed like since he said he hated Red Velvet that every contestant tried to make one that he would like 😂

Just before his passing I wrote to Fred Willard, I loved him in “Best in Show”

My sister’s favorite show is “The Closer” and my favorite episodes are the Christmas ones (because Buzz usually gets a larger role and never seems to have a good Christmas)

Fred Willard plays a drunken Santa whose niece is trying to kill him; in addition to these photos he signed one more dedicated to my sister

I used to love the Jackie Chan cartoon

and the Rush Hour movies were hilarious

Harder to see his signature on this one but I liked the image, Jackie Chan has been in so many great movies its hard to pick a favorite

This is my favorite one from Jason Alexander, not only is it personalized to me it matches my photo from Julia Louis-Dreyfuss – I plan to have them framed and hope to get a similar Jerry Seinfeld and Michael Richards to complete my Seinfeld collection.

This was cool because he added something from the show when he wrote “get the big salad” but it’s also cool because this was a mini menu from Tom’s Restaurant the facade of which is what was used for Monk’s in Seinfeld

This was from a Super Bowl commercial shot years after the end of Seinfeld in the actual Tom’s Restaurant. Dad and I made the trek to New York to eat at this restaurant and waited almost an hour so that we could sit in this exact booth 😁

On a group shot

Not sure why this is looking so dark, it doesn’t look quite as dark in real life

Jason Momoa

I got a brief chance to see Jason Momoa at the premiere of his new Apple TV show “See”

Jerry O’Connell signed this and added his character name for me while he was performing in a show on Broadway

I tried 3 times to send a photo for Joe to sign but unfortunately the prison keeps rejecting my mail – I did get this letter from him which I suppose will be just as good; I may eventually have it framed with a photo of him 🤷

Joe Mantegna from “Criminal Minds” and “Joan of Arcadia” signed this for me and another photo for my Dad

John Grisham a former attorney turned mystery writer

Justin Willman, former host of Cupcake Wars

He made a guest appearance as a judge on “Nailed It” an awesome baking competition show on Netflix

He is also an AMAZING magician with his own show “Magic for Humans” so I sent him this oversized playing card to sign; the inscription refers to the fact that it was over a year between when I sent a letter to him and when he responded – but I was just super grateful to hear from him at all. His magic is unbelievable! I had the chance to see him in person and its just like his show, I have no idea how he does it!

Kate Mara, her character ‘Hayden’ was one of the better parts of the first season of “American Horror Story”

She actually seems like a really good person and an activist for human rights

Kathy Najimy, so far the only one of the Hocus Pocus main cast to respond to my letters

Loved the uplifting inscription 🥰

This is SUPER old probably around 2007 but I just found it at my parents house and was able to make a scan; If I remember correctly it came from a fan club mail address so I have no idea on its authenticity

Larry the Cable Guy – voice of Mater – Cars

Leslie Jordan – Beverly Leslie, Karen’s nemesis on “Will and Grace”

He also made an appearance in one of my least favorite seasons of “American Horror Story”

Mark Harmon – in addition to this photo he signed and personalized photos for both my Mom and Dad. I had the one for my Dad matted and framed for him.

Mary Costa – the voice of Sleeping Beauty

She has such beautiful penmanship 🥰 In addition she signed a photo for my sister and one for my Mom and Dad for their anniversary (Mom had said that “Sleeping Beauty” was the first movie they went to see together when they started dating – after opening the elaborately framed signed photo Dad did not seem to agree 😂)

Mary McDonnell, I had been trying to get her on a Scream photo but ultimately was able to get her on a “Major Crimes” photo for me and my Mom.

Meredith Baxter, from one of my Mom’s favorite movies “A Woman Scorned: The Betty Broderick Story”

She sent back the letter I wrote with her own not that says “To Ashley and Lauren – Thank you for your sweet letter – M”

Michael Pena

Michael Pena was hands down one of the best parts of Ant-Man 😂

Paula Brancati from a great underrated show “Slasher”

The second season was just as good if not better than the first and Paula Brancati’s character Dawn was one of the best parts

In my letter I told her how impressed I was with her acting ability because I was absolutely in love with her character from season 2 and rooting for her to survive… but I HATED her character in season 3 and was a little happy when she was killed off 😂 – That takes some serious talent in my opinion

She also included a sweet note on the envelope 😊

Phil Morris who played the lawyer Jackie Chiles on “Seinfeld”

I had mentioned in my letter that I am in Law School so he was offering some encouragement 📚

Writer R.L. Stine

Framed this one up and gave it to a friend that has her own creepy ventriloquist dummy

Nascar icon Richard Petty

In addition to this image he signed two identical photos to this one for my nephews

Robert Sheehan who plays Klaus in “The Umbrella Academy” I’m not entirely sure what he is saying is “Right Below”…

Robert Sheehan

Shirley Henderson – Moaning Myrtle

Toby Jones – voice of Dobby – Harry Potter

This one was actually supposed to be for my sister, but he personalized it to me instead

He also played Dr. Zola one of the villains in the Captain America movies

Headshot he included in addition to the images I sent

Tom Hiddleston signed a Playbill for me and my Dad

He did not return the Loki image I sent but did send back this still from his guest spot on “Family Guy” 😂

W. Earl Brown who played Kenny in the Scream movies

He was actually upside-down in this image so the signature is technically upside-down 😂

He also made a guest appearance in the fist season of “American Horror Story”

Jeremy Jordan, Chelsea Peretti, G. W. Bailey

Three recent success, two that were a loooong time coming.

The first was a somewhat disappointing but not entirely unexpected return from the Stage Manager of ‘American Son.’ I had written hoping to get a cast signed Playbill as Kerry Washington was in the play and my Mother was a fan of ‘Scandal.’ I had written toward the end of the run and wasn’t sure I was going to get anything back at all… but I did receive a Playbill back with the signature of one cast member Jeremy Jordan, who I am a fan of so it wasn’t a total loss. It just means this will stay in my collection instead of going to my Mother 😂

The next success is one I had practically given up on as it had been 302 days since I had sent it and she was leaving the show. It was from Chelsea Peretti from ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine.’ Gina was one of my favorite characters, I also wrote to Terry Crews as his character is one of my other favorites but I haven’t heard back (yet anyway). I’m thinking of writing to the rest of the cast as well. This one was well worth the wait 😊

 

The last success I have to report is now my longest return to date. About two years ago I wrote to all the cast members of ‘Major Crimes’ but had only heard back from Phillip P. Keene (Buzz) and J.K. Simmons (Pope) so this marks the third success from the show G. W. Bailey (Lt. Provenza). I am super excited to ass this to my collection as ‘The Closer’ and ‘Major Crimes’ are favorites of myself, my Mother and Sister.

Cast of My Fair Lady, Cast of The Prom, Cast of King Kong, Dane Farwell, and a failure from Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Several awesome successes and one disappointing failure to report.

 

First success was from the stage manager of My Fair Lady. Unfortunately one of the cast member’s signatures was a bit smeared but still a pretty great success. They did an awesome performance during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade this year (well 2018)

 

The next success also put on a pretty awesome show during the Thanksgiving Day Parade, the cast of The Prom.

 

The next success and last recent one from Broadway is from the cast of King Kong the musical. Strangely though, mine seems to have a lot less signatures than most of the others I’ve seen in the Broadway Fanmail group ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

The last success I have to report was an amazing one. Dane Farwell, who was the Stuntman who portrayed Ghostface in the Scream films. He signed the plastic knife, mask and photo I sent him and added in some great quotes. On the mask he wrote ‘Ashley, You’re Next!” on the photo he wrote “Ashley, Do you have nightmares? You should because I know where you live!” and he included his character “Ghostface” on all the items along with his signature. Unfortunately the photo was signed in a silver pen that did not work well on the glossy photo and flaked off quite a bit. I was able to clean it up a little with a q-tip and then sprayed it with Krylon Preserve-it to prevent any more flaking. I am super excited about this success.

 

Lastly, today I received a disappointing but not entirely unexpected response from Ruth Bader Ginsburg. I saw ‘On The Basis of Sex’ in the theatre and thought it was an amazing film (I totally recommend it to anyone who hasn’t seen it yet) and decided to try writing her a letter. I had only seen a couple attempts on my usual autograph sites and none had been successful since about 2010… I decided to risk it and wrote a two page heart-felt letter asking her to sign. I received a letter back from her staff saying she was unable to sign because of people selling her autograph (which I have since learned sells for over a thousand dollars, well outside my price range 😬), I guess this will be a grail autograph for me – at some point in the future I hope to add her to my collection but at those prices it will be a couple years I’m sure.

… the stationary was cool at least, with the embossed seal and everything.

Mare Winningham, Helen Mirren and Hayley Atwell

I’ve had three recent success, Mare Winningham, Helen Mirren and Hayley Atwell.

I had sent Ms. Winningham three photos (including two from American Horror Story) to a play she was preforming in New York. I had actually just won an auction for some bloody sheets used in the ‘Hotel’ season of AHS, and was hoping to get a signed photo to mount alongside the sheets. Unfortunately she could not sign the AHS ones for some reason. However she did sign her headshot photo, for which I am very grateful.

 

The next was from Helen Mirren. A little over 4 months ago I sent Ms. Mirren a mylar movie theatre poster (I don’t know that poster is the right word, the image that goes on the light box above the theatre to show what movie is showing in that theatre). I included a note in the box I sent it in that I didn’t care how long it took to get back to me, I would just appreciate it if Ms. Mirren was given the opportunity to sign it. I received it back today with a note saying she had not been back in the UK for some time and that they hoped I enjoyed it. I actually don’t think 4 months is that long of a wait considering one of my longest successes took over a year. I am very pleased with this success. I’m planning on framing it in a light box to mimic the ones in the theatre.

 

The next success is from Hayley Atwell. I had written to her once before and gotten a pre-signed response. I really wanted the picture of her with Chris Evans signed, as I hope to add him to the photo at some point. So I tried again via a play she was doing in London and she graciously signed both of the photos I sent. 😊

Edie Falco, Michael Santora, Evanna Lynch, Cast of Puffs, Carla Gugino, Michael C. Hall, Ann Turner Cook

After a bit of a lull, I have several new successes to report.

First is Edie Falco via venue. My mother had been on a Sopranos kick for awhile, and was finishing the series while Ms. Falco was in a play so I thought I’d try her. I sent three photos, one for my mother and two for me, and she signed and personalized all three. I am working on matting and framing the one for my mother as a Christmas present.

 

Next one was a great personal success. My Dad and I had gone to see an off Broadway musical parody of ‘The Office’ which is one of my favorite television shows.  We had front row seats and during the performance the actor that played Dwight was practically sitting on my lap at one point. I wrote to him about that and he responded on the ‘ParodyBill’ that it was one of his favorite parts of the performance. Also cool was the picture I sent to be signed was one I had taken at the performance so its super cool and meaningful that he signed it for me. I had also written to the stage manager of the show requesting a cast signed ParodyBill and have yet to hear back – even if I don’t the success from “Dwight” (Michael Santora) is one of my favorites 😊

The next success was one I sent out over 200 days ago, Evanna Lynch. I had sent her two photos, one for me and one for my sister. She actually ended up signing the pictures with the opposite names. So I now have a photo that more closely matches the Harry Potter photos in my sister’s collection 😂 But I thought Luna was a great character and I am happy to add Evanna to my collection.

The next success also came about because of mine and Dad’s trip to New York. We also attended a performance of ‘Drunken Shakespeare’ in addition to the ‘Office’ show. The performer there (who was incredible and I highly recommend anyone over 21 goes to the show it’s a lot of fun) suggested that next time we came to town we should see ‘Puffs.’ In the event that we cant’t make it back (or that its too expensive) I wrote to the stage manager and asked for a cast signed PlayBill which I received in about two weeks.

The next one is one I was actually really excited about. I wrote to Carla Gugino in October before the premiere of ‘The Haunting of Hill House.’ I had liked her in several movies, but my family and I had a tradition of watching one of her older Hallmark movies around the holidays ‘A Season for Miracles.’ I have gotten in the habit of sending two photos, one from projects that I have liked and one that is more like a standard headshot. I am very glad I did this as after my letter was sent out I binge watched the ‘Hill House’ series. It has become one of my favorite shows and since the address I used was a venue address if I hadn’t sent when I did I would have missed her completely. I’m super excited to have her in my collection and hope to get her on a ‘Hill House’ piece in the future.

The next one is another exciting success that also has a gift component for my mother. ‘Six Feet Under’ is one of my mother’s favorite shows. I remember one time walking home from class and my Mom called me in tears taking about David and Keith… at first I had no idea who she was talking about. Then I realized she was talking about characters from the show 🙄 She liked Michael C. Hall so much in that show that he was the only reason she started watching ‘Dexter’ to begin with. I wrote to him telling him that and asking him to sign photos (two for each of us) which he did. Unfortunately he got my Mom’s name wrong (he put Laura instead of Lauren 🤷😢) but she did get one without a personalization as well so I’m sure she’ll be thrilled once I get that one framed for her too.

 

The last success I have to report is another personal but cool one. Ann Turner Cook, the original Gerber baby. One of my co-workers was playfully teasing one of our students and calling her the Gerber baby, this piqued my curiosity and so I decided to look up the original Gerber baby. I found out that she was a retired teacher who had written some mystery books. Our local library didn’t have her first book but was able to get it for me from another state (which is pretty cool on its own) and after reading the book I wrote her a letter asking for her autograph, she signed and personalized both photos I sent.

Cast of Phantom of the Opera, Cast of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Jane Powell, Martin Sheen, Cast of Frozen

Handful of updates, some lightening fast and some that seemed to take forever.

First was the Cast of Phantom of the Opera, I sent out for this one in late March/ early April so this was about a 6 month wait.

 It came with a note asking that fans not sell the Playbill

 

Next was a much faster return from the Cast of Harry Potter and The Cursed Child

This one took about a month to get back to me. I was very excited about this one, I actually had just looked up how much it would cost to go see this with my Dad and the show itself is prohibitively expensive for us.

 

The next two were sent and received the same day with only a 16 day turnaround.

First was Jane Powell, I had actually forgotten that she was in ‘Growing Pains’ until my boss started talking about ‘Seven Brides for Seven Brothers’ being her favorite movie. I asked for that photo personalized to my boss and Ms. Powell obliged. I am having that one framed as a Christmas present for my boss 🙂

Next was Martin Sheen.

I sent three photos, two from ‘West Wing’ and one from ‘Frankie and Grace’ he only signed the two ‘West Wing’ ones and unfortunately one of the signatures was with a gold pen that wasn’t super visible.

But I am super grateful to add Mr. Sheen to my collection.

 

The last one to report for right now is another one I had sent in late March/ early April and had written off as a lost cause. The Cast of Frozen.

They sent this one in a plastic protective case, which I thought was super awesome of them.