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DEAR JOHN...a study of John Belushi's autograph and a personal search!

John Belushi shone bright and burned out in only 33 short years on this Earth. He is rightly considered an American comedy icon and so his autographs are highly sought after items. The trouble is that the man who lived a wild and fast life also had a wildly signing style. Now I’m only an amateur collector, and I’ve tried doing my research, and although there are characteristics to his signature, he can be very tricky to give a definitive on. Obviously taking into consideration the changes in signing over his years of fame, quick signings, documents and checks, he’s still a tricky one.

The following is my tale to discover if I have a genuine Belushi or not.

First of all, let’s have a look at some (what I would consider to be) 99.9% genuine Belushi signings.

Firstly some signed documents:

Here is a very confident and quite complex signature; an all in one movement for ‘John’ continuing into an ‘A’ for his middle name ‘Adam’ (which appears in earlier examples of his signings and official documents) Then his surname is another all in one movement, this time rounded with lots of swirls. The ‘B’ starts with the straight line downwards, then twists back up to the top veering left and then he continues into the two front loops of the ‘B’ and then back again and into the ‘e’ and a nice loop for the ‘L’ a tight swirl for the ‘u’ and ‘s’, another loop for the ‘h and then finishes with the dot of the ‘I’ that floats out to the right hand side of the signature.

Another contract signed faster, The ‘J’ a bit more pointed in this example, still with the ‘A’ for Adam, and the Belushi is stretched and less flourished, probably to fit into this document. Still that dot over the ‘I’ out to the right. And both names written in single, deliberate movements.

Next up is a nice example of a check from 1972. A little looser, back to the more rounded style, still with the middle ‘A’ but the ‘Belushi’ is leaning to the right a little. There is a break after the ‘s’, which seldom occurs and the dot once more.

This group signing from SNL cast in 1977 features a much simpler signing style, he’s dropped the ‘A’ and this time there’s less of a lean to the left on the ‘J’ of John and the trademark ‘I’ dot still floating off the very end.(in the middle of the document)

This check from the same year and the lean to the left is back and that dot over the ‘I’ as a little dash to the right.

This dot/ dash I believe is an important trait in spotting a genuine Belushi (isn’t it the same with Stan Laurel, where a genuine one always has a dot after the signature? Something that forgers often missed.)

Then there’s this hastily signed membership card, yet there’s that ’A’ and of course the dot again!

Another card:

Now a couple of more informal versions of his signing styles. A signed receipt with a much simpler ‘John’ but it still has a twist in the ‘o’:

And this in-person from a respected document specialist, this time with the John above the Belushi and with a flamboyant swirl underneath.

So there you have it, lots of variation, but a few stand out features;

A lean to the left

Both ‘John’ and ‘Belushi’ written in one movement.

The bottom of the ‘B’ twisting back and sweeping into the rounded ‘e’

The twisting ‘s’

And that tell tale ‘dot’ over the ‘I’ at the end.

Now onto the obvious fakes to compare to:

This site ‘Memorabilia Autographs’ are hawking a large number of these forgeries, from 200 to 400 dollars. This is the most common forgery of his signature out there.

Memorabilia Autographs

This one on Ebay is currently passing this one off. Not a bad attempt to copy his movement, but not right

Ebay

This pick guard is pretty shameless:

Now onto my own purchase, I bought this on Ebay back in 2005. And I am under no allusions that it could be a fake, but it has always bugged me, as just when I write it off, I see something that makes me think it could be genuine.

Firstly it seems like a very elaborate fake, now, I’m not stupid enough to think that forgers won’t go to great lengths to cheat us collectors, but still. Why fake these three names in particular; Bill Murray, John Belushi and Gilda Radner (whom the autograph hunter wasn't sure who it was, hence the question mark after her name). Surely Dan Aykroyd would serve you better to forge alongside Belushi? More bucks for sure.

And the confidence in which the Belushi signature is executed has always made me wonder, a forger could certainly have gone for a simpler version of his signature and there is no hesitation at all in the line, it has that lean to the left and has that all important dot over the ‘I’.

I sent the item to John Hickey at Heritage Auctions, who was very helpful and ran it by Steve Grad at PSA/DNA at no extra cost and I was simply told ‘all no good.’ Now I have the utmost respect for their work, but it continued to bug me and nine years later it still does! Particularly as PSA Autograph facts have this one posted as a genuine example.

PSA facts

Here are two studies I’ve done on my own autograph. One shows all three SNL cast comparisons.

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And finally another look alongside two genuine and similar in style Belushi’s.

So, there you have it, what do you guys think? Am I chasing a dream and need to save up and buy another, or could I have a genuine Belushi in my collection? I’d love to know what you think? And no need to spare my feelings, I’m still getting over that Jackie Gleason secretarial I have hanging on my wall!!

And at the very least, anyone looking to buy a Belushi have a little resource here on site.

Tags: Belushi, Bill, Gilda, John, Live, Murray, Night, Radner, SNL, Saturday

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Permalink Reply by Micko on March 8, 2016 at 3:27pm

And here's the one from The episode of Pawn Stars. The expert is a little quick to judge, but it was probably edited to fit on the show. It's a quick signing, but it in my opinion it does look good.

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Permalink Reply by FRAZYNUT on April 21, 2017 at 12:47pm

20+ years in business and virtually ALL of my autographs and related items have direct provenance from my concentric circles of Hollywood and music people; the sort that wouldn't usually offer items for sale. I bring this up because without researching the Murray or the Gilda, I believe the Belushi is accurate. And tying the two thoughts together. Several items I know to be correct because they are friends and stars, legends, directors, actors etc.....have been given the "probably not correct" ruling with no further explanation. I actually lost an ebay sale on something signed by one of my best friends for many many years because the buyer took it for a free once-over offered by ebay at the time. I did complete the sale by.....wait for it....having the famous director call my buyer. Now *that's* a friend lol. See... I ONLY obtain items that have direct provenance. And the majority of the items (I do not pay extortion) that have been presented to various autograph virtuosos we all know....are rejected. Must always consider motivation in this world and I think the key few words you posted were "at no extra cost." For the hell of it...I took sonething bad to be authenticated....a 1922 secretarial hand fake..paid at a show....and got the thumbs up and letter. I don't know if my membership will be revoked as quickly as I obtained it for writing this, but my opinion ...they are a scam. And it's as important to take some rare items out of circulation as it is to approve those that were paid to be reviewed. Finally I have a Belushi I know to be real for the reasons stated above. But it looks not too much like the examples as it was a small-space form-filing.I will list the item for sale because it has other value but due to the heavy hands at play...I'll be forced to avoid the "autograph as authentic"issue and allow it to sell on other merits. Sad really.

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Permalink Reply by Robert Chase on April 21, 2017 at 2:23pm

My opinion is atypical on all three

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Permalink Reply by Micko on April 22, 2017 at 2:26am

Hi Frazynut, Thanks for posting. It's really interesting to hear your take on my 'Belushi'. I think forever it will remain a mystery and you are quite right, the experts only really look at the same examples that we look at. So our own research is probably a lot more through. And unfortunately if mine is a forgery it's a very good one (that's why I keep flip flopping over it), the confidence and elaborate style in the Belushi signing on my autographed page does seem to buck the trend in the many fakes out there. And one other thing that always bugged me was the angle of the Bill Murray sig - it's a 'B' as in John's but it leans to the right and has different flicks at the top and bottom - would a forger bother to adjust his writing style ever so slightly?...just too many questions that will never be answered. So I will continue to be puzzled and hopeful.

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Permalink Reply by FRAZYNUT on April 22, 2017 at 1:44pm

I really need to look at the other 2 because my comments are a little incomplete. I just HAD to post when I read about those people telling you what you don't have. I had less than a 50% success rate on ebay when buyers used the "free service" provided by various authentication services. And in every instance, I could prove authenticity with absolute certainty. I guess this would be a good topic for a new post. Have you ever tried to track down the history of these three sigs. Bill Murray actually talks to people who can find him. I have a close relative who has had nice personal experiences with him. Maybe for some reason he'd remember. What is it on? Looks like back cover of a script? Is it card stock consistent with a script?

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Permalink Reply by Micko on April 23, 2017 at 10:33am

Hi Frazynut,

The sigs are not on a script, simply a piece of autograph book like paper, signed in a red ink pen, not a biro. Interesting about Bill Murray, if my one is genuine it's a hasty signing - the Bill looks pretty good compared to others where the bottom of the 'B' twists into the 'i', but in nearly every other case the M and 'u' in Murray never meet. And Gilda does have the strange line that cuts through her 'G' all tantalizing little clues, but not enough and the Ebay seller Hallzautographs is no more.

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Permalink Reply by FRAZYNUT on April 21, 2017 at 3:08pm

Of course isn't it interesting that he printed the names also in red? I'm far too cynical to believe the question mark after Gilda. But that PSA sample definitely looks no more correct than yours. Wish I could see that ink up close (the PSA). I know the exact pen that made yours ....I think.

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Permalink Reply by Robert Chase on April 21, 2017 at 3:15pm

You can't base the authenticity of these three on one psa example. They fail in my opinion when looking at all the exemplars

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Permalink Reply by FRAZYNUT on April 21, 2017 at 6:40pm

Oh I agree. I think op piece is stronger than the PSA. I don't like their example at all. That was my point. And I've spent zero time on the other two aside from JB. I found this thread because I have an unusual, but true Belushi on a golf cart key. I know Belushi signed his name because the producer and a co-lead are friends and were there when it happened. There was alot of babysitting of John in those days and they made him sign his name on this. But it doesn't match except in a couple of tell-tale ways. I'll show it after I sell it. But I'm not selling it as an autograph. Odd outlier.