Did you ever write a letter to your favorite celebrity?

[A Sniveling Mess]

I just recently started a thread about celebrity encounters,so I thought now I'd tackle a slightly similar subject.The question I'm asking all of you is,did you ever have the courage to actually contact the person you most admired?(Grandmas don't count.)If so,please tell us about it.Also please tell us about whether or not you got a reply.Anyone counts,so long as they're pretty well-known.Despite the wording of this thread's title,yes,e-mails count too.

[Farmer Jane]

I emailed Judy Blume. She totally emailed back.

[Fear Itself]

I wrote Rod Serling. It was returned unopened.

[WordMan]

I sent a letter to Haruki Murakami's translator.

He sent me a postcard back. (sad I know)

Oh - wait: I bought a book with Dominic Dunne's signature in it. I wrote him care of Vanity Fair and asked if it was his. He wrote back confirming it likely might be. The signature was exactly the same.

[A Sniveling Mess]

Originally Posted by Fear Itself

I wrote Rod Serling. It was returned unopened.

I'm very sorry for that.How rude some celebrities are.

[A Sniveling Mess]

Originally Posted by WordMan

I sent a letter to Haruki Murakami's translator.

He sent me a postcard back. (sad I know)

Oh - wait: I bought a book with Dominic Dunne's signature in it. I wrote him care of Vanity Fair and asked if it was his. He wrote back confirming it likely might be. The signature was exactly the same.

Hey,that's pretty good;signature confirmation and a letter too.Congratulations!Sorry about the thing with Murakami,by the way.

[hajario]

Originally Posted by JRyan35

I'm very sorry for that.How rude some celebrities are.

How do you know that it was his fault?

I don't know about Serling but most celebrities get way too much correspondence to be able to answer. A friend of a friend of mine had a company that answered celebrity letters. My friend contracted for her friend and was, for a while, assigned Adam Sandler and David Hasselhof.

Her job was to scan every letter and mail the people back a post card with a their picture and a signature printed on it. The ones that seems really crazy were separated and given to another employee. I read through a bunch of them and it was interesting at first and got boring quickly. There are some real oddballs out there.

[freckafree]

My mom wrote to Andy Rooney after he talked about this orange peeler on 60 Minutes, asking him where she could buy one. She got a handwritten note back from him with information on how to order one. About three weeks later, she got a typewritten form letter from CBS stating that Mr. Rooney received far too many letters to answer each one personally.

She kept Rooney's letter for years in her jewelry box. I have no idea what happened to it. I still have the orange peeler, though.

[A Sniveling Mess]

Originally Posted by hajario

How do you know that it was his fault?

I don't know about Serling but most celebrities get way too much correspondence to be able to answer.

Yes,that definitely is true.Many celebrties do get a ridiculous amount of mail,and it certainly is unreasonable to expect a celebrity to answer all their mail,or even half of it for that matter.But still,there are some celebrities out there who act like real "jerks" to their fans,and it just seems wrong to me that they shun the very people to whom they owe their careers.After all,if no one watched,say,a certain TV show,the actors on that show would be plain old no-names.I'm rambling now.But anyway,your point is duly noted.

[A Sniveling Mess]

Originally Posted by freckafree

She got a handwritten note back from him with information on how to order one. About three weeks later, she got a typewritten form letter from CBS stating that Mr. Rooney received far too many letters to answer each one personally.

That's kind of strange.I wonder why they sent out that typewritten letter after your mother had already gotten a letter from him?

[WordMan]

Originally Posted by JRyan35

Hey,that's pretty good;signature confirmation and a letter too.Congratulations!Sorry about the thing with Murakami,by the way.

I meant sad because I was so giddy I wrote the translator and not the actual writer and was still geeked about it.

[hajario]

Originally Posted by JRyan35

That's kind of strange.I wonder why they sent out that typewritten letter after your mother had already gotten a letter from him?

Dude, space after punctuation, please.

He probably had his staff forward him the more interesting ones, some of which he would answer. Meanwhile, everyone got the form letter.

[A Sniveling Mess]

Originally Posted by hajario

Dude, space after punctuation, please.

[Prelude to Fascination]

I used to do that all the time. A few under a pen name (fashioned after Don Novello's classic The Lazlo Letters, but the more serious ones under my own name.

For instance, I wrote to Robert Bloch in the early 90s, and asked about his relationship with Lovecraft. He wrote a very nice card back, handwritten, and answered my questions. I'd asked for a picture, and he said they were out of date. He died a year or two later.

I wrote to Steve Allen after reading his book Dumbth, and he sent an autographed picture.

I even wrote to Ronald Reagan complimenting him on some policy or something, and received a more or less personalized letter from a secretary. I was no fan of Reagan, but I'd decided that writing something critical wouldn't get a response--or worse, if I threatened him, I'd get the wrong type of response.

The same for Jimmy Carter--I wrote to him, and I think he was in the Himalayas at the time, and got a photo of him with a fake autograph from his office. Still, it was an acknowledgement.

[A Sniveling Mess]

Originally Posted by JRyan35

Never mind, I see what you mean.

[elfkin477]

Write letters? No. I do send the actors/actresses and authors I follow tweets, and most of them respond back occasionally.

[GIGObuster]

One time there was doubt on the source of what a christian was saying while running away from the burning of ancient Rome in The Cartoon History of the Universe by Larry Gonick; it was irking me a lot that I could not find a source so I send an email to him, he was kind to reply with an answer!

[Rhiannon8404]

When I was in junior high, I wrote a letter to Peter Davison who was Dr. Who at the time. I received a signed picture and a note from his agent or manager; I don't remember which. I was thrilled.

[A Sniveling Mess]

Originally Posted by elfkin477

Write letters? No. I do send the actors/actresses and authors I follow tweets, and most of them respond back occasionally.

Well, that's good enough.If I may ask, who are some of those people you're talking about?

[Yorikke]

Originally Posted by hajario

How do you know that it was his fault?

I don't know about Serling but most celebrities get way too much correspondence to be able to answer. A friend of a friend of mine had a company that answered celebrity letters. My friend contracted for her friend and was, for a while, assigned Adam Sandler and David Hasselhof.

Peace and love, peace and love! (YouTube link)

Joe

[A Sniveling Mess]

Originally Posted by GIGObuster

One time there was doubt on the source of what a christian was saying while running away from the burning of ancient Rome in The Cartoon History of the Universe by Larry Gonick; it was irking me a lot that I could not find a source so I send an email to him, he was kind to reply with an answer!

Thanks for the post, but isn't the "C" in "Christian" supposed to be capitalized?

[elfkin477]

Originally Posted by JRyan35

Well, that's good enough.If I may ask, who are some of those people you're talking about?

Authors Kelley Armstrong, Holly Black, and J.W. Ocker, Sam Ernst (senior writer for Haven), actors Emily Rose and Eric Balfour have all tweeted me back at least once, most more than that.

[Sam I Am]

I emailed Desmond Morris about his paintings, and received a lovely reply.

[TheMightyAtlas]

In 1998 or 1999, Archbishop Desmond Tutu was on a visiting professor at a university where I lived. I wrote him a gushing letter, how much I admired his work, that it had been my dream to meet him since I was a child etc. I got a call from his secretary (yes that is what she was called) to say that if I were to come to the Theology or Divinity (can't remember which) department at such and such time, he would meet with me. I only met with him for a very few minutes, but he was everything I expected. I swear that I was floating on a cloud for weeks. Though I have kicked myself ever since for not being prepared. I didn't prepare any questions to ask him, didn't ask for his autograph and didn't take my camera.

Note I was not a student at that school (nor in any way associated with it) and at the time he was a Nobel prize winner and a huge international celebrity because of his work on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. I was a just a middle manager working at some random company.

I promised him I would tell my grandchildren about this (I wasn't even married at the time). Now I realize my grandchildren will be Americans and care nothing about what happened in South Africa in 1980-1996.

[gwendee]

I have written a few.

Pete Seeger responded with a nice hand written note with a doodle of a banjo.

Colin Mochrie sent a signed photo.

[Scarlett67]

Back in 1994 when I was a total Billy Joel fangirl (shut up), I read in People magazine that he liked to relax backstage before concerts by reading fan mail. So a week or so before his upcoming concert at County Stadium in Milwaukee, I wrote him a letter c/o the stadium thanking him for writing my favoritest BJ song ever, Vienna, and telling him a little about what it meant to me.

About halfway through the concert, he said something like, "We don't usually do this song in concert, but I got a letter . . ." and then he played it.

Cue Scarlett going stark raving apeshit. Mr. S says it was pretty embarrassing. Still, one of the neatest things that ever happened to me.

[Eve]

When I was in high school and my friends were writing fan letters to Farrah Fawcett and Burt Reynolds, I was writing to Lillian Gish, Joan Crawford, Erte, Blanche Sweet, Bette Davis, Mae West, Mary Astor--and yes, I got either letters or autographed photos!

Kinda grew out of it by college, though. Now I write letters to celebs for business reasons, and the SOBs never get back to me.

[D-bear]

I've e-mailed back and forth with Colby Keller (Colby like the cheese and Keller like Helen) for a while. He just sent me an autographed DVD and some goodies from his latest shoot last week...

[blondebear]

I sent all kinds of fan letters to TV stars in the mid sixties and got quite a few autographed photos in return. I had signed pics from Get Smart, Hogan's Heroes, McHale's Navy, The Man From UNCLE, The Addams Family, Beverly Hillbillies, etc. I also sent letters to NASA and got not only group photos of the astronauts, but a really nice collection of everyone's 8x10 head shots.

[Maserschmidt]

I exchanged some nice letters with author Carol Shields.

Years after I had a nice conversation with Stephen King, I sent a follow up letter and got a canned response saying he wouldn't be able to write if he took the time to answer all that mail.

[suranyi]

I wrote a letter to Isaac Asimov. He sent a postcard back with a reply.

[Pai325]

I wrote to Paul and George, and if I tell you I'm in my sixties, you can probably guess which Paul and George I mean.

Anyway, I picked interesting writing paper so they would stand out, and doused them in my perfume, too. Of course they never saw them, and there were too many letters from girls like me to even send a form letter back.

But I tried!

Never wrote to John or Ringo, though.

[Sudden Kestrel]

I always wanted to write a letter to Dick Van Dyke because watching him filled some kind of gap for me after my parents divorced, but I never have. I guess I'd better get started on that .

[Ponch8]

I'd never say he was my favorite celebrity, but I once wrote a letter to Dick Fick, who was the basketball coach at Morehead State at the time. He became famous because of his antics during games, which resulted in an ESPN commentator inventing the weekly Dick Fick Award for the most animated coaches around the country. (I'm pretty certain his name also had something to do with his fame.) He sent me back a handwritten letter, which I still have after 20 years. I don't remember what my letter was about, but the gist his response was about what teams they'd play the next year, who the newcomers on the team would be, and the like.

Here is an article about the tragic fate of Dick Fick.

My favorite celebrity now is Ke$ha, but I figure she has way too many fans to write back personally, so I haven't bothered trying to write her.

[GIGObuster]

Originally Posted by JRyan35

Thanks for the post, but isn't the "C" in "Christian" supposed to be capitalized?

Nope, it seems that Firefox's dictionary is a heathen!

[AuntiePam]

Back in the 50's, lots of singers and actors, who'd respond with photos. I don't think a single one had a genuine autograph, but writing letters, collecting 8x10 glossies, and joining fan clubs was fun.

In the 80's I had a brief correspondence with author T.E.D. Klein, after he wrote The Ceremonies. He had friends in Seattle and there was a remote connection, on the order of "Yeah, I went to school with that guy". I was tickled pink.

Dan Simmons, Charles Dickinson, Harry Dolan, Ray Garton and a few other authors have responded to e-mails. Seems like some of them actually like hearing from readers, clearing up a plot point, discussing a character.

[Shagnasty]

I had a crush on Lynda Carter when I was 5 years old. I made my babysitter write her love letters every week. She said she mailed them (liar!) but I never got anything back. As fate would have it, I stumbled across Lynda Carter's real e-mail address a few ago so I decided what the hell and wrote her. I explained the great deception my babysitter had done to me when I was little and I just wanted to make things right. We wrote back and forth a few times and even had a few personal things in common. I stopped writing after that early injustice was corrected but I still have her address. She is very nice and knows me now so I sleep tight knowing Wonder Woman is just a message away if trouble springs up.

[ZipperJJ]

I wrote a letter to David Mitchell - not the author, the British actor from Peep Show. Never heard back.

I wrote to Ade Edmondson's (another British actor) agent and she helped me send him a letter and a cricket bat to sign. It took forever, and a lot of money but he sent it back signed. I paid for shipping.

[panache45]

When I was in third grade, everyone in my class had to write a fan letter to a celebrity. All the other kids wrote to famous actors, singers and politicians. I wrote to the mayor of our little suburb. At best, the other kids got a form letter back; many got nothing. I, however, got to meet the mayor, and an article about me, with photo, was printed in the local newspaper.

That was my 15 minutes of fame. Some of the other kids said I cheated, because the mayor wasn't a true celebrity.

[coolbyrne]

In the early "The X-Files" heydays, I contacted Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny. Got an almost immediate response from GA (within the month!) and one from DD about 3 months later. His was a straight forward autograph (no personalization), hers was a short note on the back of the final dialogue page for the episode "Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose". I also actually met her about a year later, chatted a bit and she sent me a nice 8x10 with a little note on it about 2 weeks later.

Sent an autograph request to Charles Dance in 1992 and didn't hear anything from him for months, to the point where his agent/representative actually sent me a nice note apologizing for the delay, but that Mr. Dance was out of the country filming at that time. (The dreaded "The Last Action Hero" perhaps?) But I did eventually get the Alien3 trading card back that I sent him, autographed to me.

Never did hear back from Tommy Lee Jones.

[Nawth Chucka]

I've emailed and gotten responses from Chaim Potok and Adam Curry; hand wrote Mitch Albom and got a canned response letter w/ a real signature.
I've sent condolence cards to the White House when a family member passes and always get a lovely thank you for it, no matter the administration.

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

I wrote to Star Trek novel author Diane Carey, & she sent me a nice, hand-written postcard.

[CairoCarol]

When I was 13, I wrote a giddy two-page letter to Paul Simon (on whom I had an incandescent adolescent crush) but never got around to mailing it. I did keep it though, and it's hilarious to look at it now.

This was back when George McGovern was running for president, and I had created my own slogan, which I used incessantly to greet/say goodbye to people: "Peace, Paul Simon power, and George McGovern for president!" So I of course I explained this in my letter, and I drew a picture of Snoopy holding a sign with my slogan written on it.

If I go back and read the letter now, when I finally stop laughing I am (a) overcome with relief that I didn't embarrass myself by actually sending it; and (b) reminded of what a totally unbearable, thoroughly obnoxious 8th grader I was.

[listedmia]

(I've been lurking here for years but never actually posted before today)

He's not exactly my favorite celebrity, but I am Facebook friends with Charlie Sheen. And yeah, I'm reasonably certain it's the genuine article. A friend of mine mentioned hanging out with him, and I sent Charlie a message asking if this happened. He responded very nicely and said he didn't remember the guy in question, but he doesn't remember a lot of things and could very well have met him before.

[Moonchild]

I wrote a letter to Terri Nunn, lead singer of Berlin, to ask her for an interview for my junior college newspaper and she wrote me back saying yes, and instructed me to contact her manager to arrange it. The manager pretty much blew me off, so I wrote her again, so she called my home to arrange it personally.

And she was kind and beautiful in person.

[Lynn Bodoni]

I've written a few authors (science fiction and fantasy), and most have replied at least once. I don't know if my success rate is due to me being a wonderful fan letter writer, or SF/fantasy writers knowing that they NEED fans, or a combination. But when I've received replies, they've always been very nice and personalized.

[Nava]

Originally Posted by Eve

Kinda grew out of it by college, though. Now I write letters to celebs for business reasons, and the SOBs never get back to me.

But some of them invite you for brunch

[FairyChatMom]

When I was a teeny-bopper in the 60s, I wrote to a few of my musical idols, even inviting one group to stay at our house if they ever performed in Baltimore. (This is especially hilarious when you know that we had 7 people living in a 3 BR/1BA, 1000 sq ft row house.) I think one letter yielded a tour schedule, but that was it. After that, I quit writing to the rich and famous. I was crushed...

[glee]

I wrote to Professor J. R.R. Tolkien, and got a reply.

Then I lost it. (sob)

[A Sniveling Mess]

Originally Posted by glee

I wrote to Professor J. R.R. Tolkien, and got a reply.

Then I lost it. (sob)

I'm sorry for your loss.