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All in the Family Cast Photo

I picked up this as a Carroll O'Connor single signed photo many years ago. Probably ebay, but I can't recall.

Then, I sent TTM to the rest of the cast members for completion.

Do I have any clunkers on here?

(Click for supersize image)

Tags: All, Family, in, the

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Permalink Reply by Brick Hunter on March 31, 2012 at 9:02pm

The Rob Reiner and Sally Struthers sigs are the same ones I see on everything, but I don't know whether they're secretarial or genuine. The Jean Stapleton looks really smashed together and a bit odd so I'm not sure about it being authentic. You're sure the Carroll O'Connor is good?

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on April 1, 2012 at 6:43am

Actually, the Stapleton was the one I was least concerned about. I sent her a letter first and she replied back with a handwritten note saying she'd be happy to sign it.

I am not sure the O'connor is ok. It looks ok from my cursory research, but I was hoping someone with expertise would know for sure.

I figured the JS and SS were probably ok. The other two are higher risk.

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Permalink Reply by Brick Hunter on April 1, 2012 at 11:30am

I can't say I have any expertise. I'm just barely familiar with their signatures after seeing some here or there over the years. But I don't think there are any or many renowned experts on All in the Family signatures so a thread like this may be good to piece together the facts.

The O'Connor is a little off in my recollection of them because every O'Connor autograph I've seen has the n's highest point at about half of the r at the end. They're about equal in this one. The r itself isn't exactly what I've seen but it may just be another variant or signed at a different time then the pieces I've seen. Also it seems there's fairly often a break between the last r and the o in Carroll, though I doubt that's on every one.

The Jean Stapleton may be genuine and just more recent than anything I've seen, but it'd be hard to tell with everything so smashed together.

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Permalink Reply by Peter Lougheed on March 31, 2012 at 11:30pm

Why is the Rob Reiner auto cut off?

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on April 1, 2012 at 6:36am

I don't know. I suspect maybe another sheet of paper or the envelope got in the way... so it clipped the end of the sig.

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Permalink Reply by terrier8HOF on April 1, 2012 at 10:27am

interesting......the Stapleton is the one that looks the least consistent but maybe she has changed her signature style in her later years. the o'connor may be secretarial. I have one just like it, and one on an index card that is totally different.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on April 1, 2012 at 4:35pm

I ran this by Bill White at RR Auction. He felt the Carroll O'Connor was a forgery.

Ugh. What a waste of time adding the other three sigs.

When I compared to the other examples in the RR archives, the O'Connor is close, but there are some differences. It seems the letters -- especially the rr and nn -- on the example above are a bit more well-formed and stretched out than in what I see in the RR archives.

This is why I avoid Hollywood items. LOL I mean, who is out there forging Carroll O'Connor for heaven's sake?

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on April 1, 2012 at 4:43pm

Sorry Zippy,

Could be worse. Josh Board spent 20 years completing a Beatles-signed Sgt. Pepper's 45. He writes this great story on it and sends me the photos:

The Lennon signature on the record when he bought it in '89 wasn't real.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on April 1, 2012 at 4:49pm

It goes to show you almost can't be too careful and never assume.

I bought the O'Connor over 10 years ago... and at that time who would think someone was forging a $30 autograph? A quick review shows it's pretty close to the limited other examples I could find... so I think it's good. And it's done pretty well... it's not an obvious hack job. Sheesh...

Lesson learned.

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Permalink Reply by Brick Hunter on April 1, 2012 at 5:55pm

Ahhh... how horrible. A bad experience for sure. Did you find out whether the other three signatures were good?

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on April 2, 2012 at 4:16am

Bill felt the other 3 are not known to use secretary, so they were likely ok. He did mention the Stapleton was odd, but it was a moot point with a fake Archie.