Celebrity addresses that have worked!
Successful addresses last updated
18th June 2001
The Successful Addresses List!
Wonder who I am?! Cue the dubious photo!
There are plenty of sites on the web that provide a listing of celebrity addresses for people to write to with fan mail, autograph requests, underwear etc. However, not all respond. Some refuse to fulfill requests for autographs, such as Paul Newman, although to be fair I heard that this is only because once one autograph hunter approached him with his book while Newman was having a slash. He is now believed to use a secretary to sign through the mail (TTM).
But anyway, what I want to do here is provide a list of those celebs I have written to and got a response.
Recently it has become increasingly popular to contact celebs via email. Some even have their own websites from where you can drop them an email, such as Rutger Hauer (see listing). I have included my successful email addresses in the address listing but surf around and you will find more. You could even look yourself by using search engines for the official sites.
I generally use a standard letter that I simply adapt according to who I'm writing to. This letter has a simple format in which I basically pick up on an aspect of their career that I particularly enjoyed. For example, with Jack Lemmon I mentioned how excellent I thought Glengarry Glen Ross was, and his performance in particular. Alternatively I may mention a selection of movies and emphasise a couple of them. The choice is yours. I've found myself writing loads for some people and had to edit extensively!
So far I haven't written to anyone and had to lie about something just to get their autograph! I have always told the truth in my letters. I didn't tell John Travolta that I loved Phenomenon, for example, because it would have been a complete lie! Anyone who's seen it will understand that ;-)
After the "praise paragraph" I go for broke and ask if they could send me a signed photograph. It's best to ask as nicely as possible. Remember politeness is paramount. They are very busy people and don't HAVE to reply to anyone!
To be honest you really ought to send a stamped SAE when writing to celebs in your own country or if writing abroad, say from UK to USA, send 2 International Reply Coupons. It is the polite thing to do. They tell you never to expect celebs to pay for postage. Better still, if you're writing abroad try and get hold of some stamps for that country. For the USA you can buy stamps online from www.stampsonline.com. This way you can save the celeb (or their secretary!) from messing about with IRCs and they can just put a photo in your (stamped) envelope. This can only increase your chances of a reply. There are also generous souls in the Autograph newsgroup/mailing lists that are prepared to trade stamps.
Some celebs still send autographs even if you don't send postage. In fact, Roger Moore returned my stamp! What a generous guy. My advice though, is to enclose postage. IRCs will often do but stamps are the best option.
Les's Autograph Haven - The site
belonging to my fellow UK autograph collecting bud
Patchman's Autograph
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