I wrote a fan letter!

[teela brown]

I wrote a fan letter to Tony Shalhoub. I'll post back if he answers.

It all started because I read an interview of Ian Holm wherein he stated how surprised and pleased he was because he received fan mail as a result of his role as Bilbo Baggins. This floored me, because I think Ian Holm is one of the finest actors around. Artists of his caliber should receive more fan mail!

So I thought I should get busy and write to one of my favorite actors - Tony Shalhoub. I told him he had that weird, indefinable ability to completely upstage other actors in a piece, without getting flashy and hammy. I know that whenever he's in a frame, I watch no one else. I thought his portrayal of Freddie Riedenschneider in The Man Who Wasn't There was brilliant! I like the fact that he's rather, but not altogether, a character actor.

Next artist to write to: Derek Jacobi. Now I know he must get a lot of fan mail! Shouldn't he?

[Eve]

I've written lots of fan letters. In high school, when everyone else was writing to Burt Reynolds and Ann-Margret, I was writing to Bette Davis, Lillian Gish, Joan Crawford . . .

Now I write to authors. I love getting fan mail myself (and have become close friends with some of my fans), and--like Joan Crawford--I answer every piece. I figure other authors like getting fan mail as much as I do, so I send them out every time I enjoy a new book.

[Scarlett67]

I've written two fan letters, both with good results (the primary goal being to know that the person read and appreciated your remarks, of course, but if you get a substantive response, so much the better).

One was to Billy Joel, and as a result he played my favorite song in concert (which I had not asked for).

The other was to Jean Merrill, author of The Pushcart War, a children's book that means a lot to Mr. S and me. She very graciously adorned our copy with a very sweet and amusing inscription, and returned it to us with a charming two-page letter that we framed and hung in our living room.

We adore Tony Shalhoub too -- good luck!