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Charlton Heston Secretarial Signature Study

Hi:

At Steve Cyrkin's invitation, I'd like to call your attention to a signature study I've posted on my blog, Charlton Heston signature study by Steve Zarelli.

I believe I have identified the "tell" in Charlton Heston secretarial signatures, and if I am correct, the news is not good for most collectors. It appears that most Heston signed photos are secretarially signed.

Here is a synopsis:

The Theory
Photographs and other memorabilia sent to Mr. Heston's office were signed by a secretary. However, Mr. Heston did authentically sign books through-the-mail.

Real vs. Secretary
In authentic signatures, the R in "Charlton" is distinctly a lowercase "r" and less than half the height of the L. The first four letters are clearly "Char."

In secretarial signatures, the R looks much more like a lowercase "l" and is about the same height as the L. So, the first four letters appear to be "Chall."

I have attached two images to give you a small sampling.

For more details and images, please visit my blog at the link below.

I'd love to hear your feedback and thoughts on this. I fully anticipate some resistance to the theory, because denial is always the first step. In fact, I would love to be proved wrong, because that would mean I wasn't sitting on a bunch of secretary signed photos!

By way of introduction, I have been collecting since the early 90s and I am the UACC Ethics Director.

I look forward to the discussion.

The Collecting Obsession

Regards,

Steve Zarelli

Tags: Charlton, Forgery, Heston, Secretary, authenticating, autograph, secretarial

2 members like this

Attachments: No photo uploads here

Figure 1.jpg, 60 KB
Secretary 1.jpg, 37 KB

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on March 15, 2011 at 2:10pm

Well, it would be nice if they at least acknowledged receipt of emails even if they didn't have a determination yet. I emailed them about 7 days ago with no response.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on March 15, 2011 at 2:11pm

Who did you email?

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on March 15, 2011 at 2:12pm

The general inquiry address on their website. I received an automated response that my email had been received and would be responded to within 3 days.

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Permalink Reply by Brandon Mysinger on March 15, 2011 at 1:28pm

I agree Steve.

Authenticators bear the largest part of the responsibility here, especially with the knowledge now that this information was out there and even in at least one case in their actual exemplar database.

It is going to take a lot for sellers to question items that are authenticated, when in their eyes....they did what they thought was right. The sellers simply can't answer for the authenticators. what they do with the items they sell / sold is up to them. I'm sure they will take it up with the authenticators in private.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on March 15, 2011 at 2:07pm

Frankly, I cannot blame sellers who don't know me or my reputation for being cautious and not immediately accepting the study.

That said, a wise course would be to put everything on hold pending further verification either way. Is anyone's bottom line so dependent on Heston autographs that they couldn't afford to put them on ice for a week or two?

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Permalink Reply by Lou reves on March 15, 2011 at 4:22pm

I dont expect JSA or PSA to really admit to anything, but I offer this observation... If Heston was signing his checks with an R in the 60's and with an R in the 70's and the TOPPS cards he signed for the movie (which I heard was a supervised signing) and they all have the R where did the LL come from?

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Permalink Reply by Clark J. Holloway on March 15, 2011 at 8:55pm

The problem with the contract and the letter is that they were received by ICM in the mail (note the stamp date in the upper right hand corner of contract). Who knows who signed them on Heston's end?

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on March 16, 2011 at 6:24am

Correct. It was processed through the mail. This appears to be standard paperwork. Stuff like this is routinely signed by a secretary or even a rubber stamp.

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Permalink Reply by Stephen Duncan on March 15, 2011 at 7:26pm

I went to the Cinearama Dome in Hollywood about 15+ (maybe more) years ago for a screening of Ben Hur. Mr. Heston was there for a meet and greet and a Q&A. He had a stack of pre signed photos, 8x10's and 5x7's, and stood at a table signing more (including books). I nabbed him in person and gobbled up my fair share of the presigned.

http://www.cineramaadventure.com/domepix.htm

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Permalink Reply by Dennis on March 15, 2011 at 9:11pm

I met Charlton Heston in Dallas when he and his wife performed the play Love Letters. After each performance, Heston sold and signed copies of his book, In The Arena. I bought a couple of books and he signed some photos from my collection. He signed quickly because he signed several hundred times each night. Some of my in person autographs have a looped 'r' in Charlton.

The story:

Here are a few Heston autographs from my collection. You guys can make up your own minds but here is the story of meeting him. I typed it for Horror-Wood Web-zine but that's long gone now. I heard that Charlton Heston and his wife Linda would be performing the play "Love Letters" in Dallas TX (about 3 hours from my home). I attended the play opening night and arrived early, waiting outside with a marker and 8x10 from Ben Hur. One of the ushers told me to move along and Mr. Heston would be selling and signing copies of his book "In The Arena" after each performance. I ignored the usher. Heston arrived in a Toyota Camry (I expected a Limo). I approached him with a black marker and the photo on a clipboard. Mr. Heston greeted me and pulled a blue marker from his coat and signed the photo. I'll explain the significance of the marker's color later. After a brief greeting and the autograph, Mr. Heston went inside and I waited for the play to begin. While waiting in the lobby, I noticed that I was under-dressed for the play. Most of the men in the audience wore suites and ties. I wore jeans and my Planet of the Apes T-Shirt. After the play, I bought a book and waited in line, carrying a few photos and lobby cards. He was seated at a small folding table for signing books. When it was my turn to meet him, he shook my hand and smiled when he noticed the Planet of the Apes T-shirt with art of the French poster (Heston being held by 2 gorillas). After signing the book I asked if he would sign a couple of photos and he agreed. I placed a lobby card from Ben Hur in front of him. It was the scene of Heston in the galley. I asked him if he would please write "Row Well and Live", my favorite line from the film. He said "No, I don't do that". The next item to sign was an 8x10 from Planet of the Apes. To my surprise, Mr. Heston gritted his teeth and said "and the same goes for 'Take your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape!' --- I won't write that movie line either" and he signed the photo. I returned home with my autographs and found Mr. Heston's book "The Actor's Life" 1976 printing. I decided to drive back to Dallas, 2 days before the play ended. He was happy to sign this book, plus a couple more photos. My old friend Harry Thomas used to tell a story about putting the beard on Moses for "The Ten Commandments" and applying Yul Brynner's Egyptian body makeup. I'll share Harry's story and Heston's response to my Ten Commandments question another day. I decided to stay the night in Dallas and go through the autograph line one more time. I still had quite a few photos after 20 years of collecting. How often will I get to meet him? I went through the line again and hoped he would sign a Soylent Green photo with my green marker. No, he would only sign with his blue marker - No movie quotes, character names, or sketches. Here is a link to a Horror-Wood article I wrote on collecting horror autographs. Horror-wood is gone so I keep it on my server. Charlton Heston would not pose for a photo but I had an audience member take a few as he shook my hand, etc. Charlton Heston was a real cool guy.

Here are some in person examples.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on March 16, 2011 at 6:12am

Is it possible you are in error recalling the source of the last two? Speaking for myself, I know my memory gets fuzzy after a few years and I have mistakenly thought something I got signed in-person was actually signed TTM and vice versa. :-)

The same pen was not used on all of these. The pen used on the second two was a round tipped pen, while the pen used on the first example had a flat edge.

Also, besides the double LL, the second two examples have the other characteristics we've tied to TTM signatures. First the baseline is appropriately curved on the first, while the baseline is arrow straight on the second two. Also, the second two are missing Rolf's "es" formation.

???