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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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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on August 3, 2014 at 3:30pm

David,

When did you consign them? Could you tell us more? This is something I'd like to know more about.

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Permalink Reply by David K on August 3, 2014 at 3:45pm

The item a signed CCR acoustic signed by the living 3. I set a modest reserve. The contract I signed with them which is quite long seems to state Auction House has the right to purchase if there are no bids. but the auction house told me to try and set the min. reserve price as low as possible to enhance bidding. If the purpose (and i DONT know this) was so they could buy items..that is unethical. but based on the auction agreemeny not illegal. If there wee no bids I wanted the item returned. . When was it submitted? In the late 2000's..I dont have the catalog near me..sometime between 2003-2007.

I KNOW they took a seller fee for sure since they sold it. I am not sure if they took the BUYER fee as well... but I beleive they did. They said the contract I signed allowed this in buying,. I have not subitted items since as I complained over this sale. (I guess they didnt want to deal eith me again) We parted after that. Too bad I have lots of items they could sell. I was unhappy with the way that sale " in house" went. Settting the min. reserve Lower than I wanted..and then they bought the item, staing "No bids"... Why not just ASK to buy the item outright for a negotiated price from me>?

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Permalink Reply by michelle on August 3, 2014 at 10:43pm

I have to say I think this is really appalling of Heritage. I have never personally heard of an auction house doing something like this; - It certainly reeks of unethical behaviour big time. It has certainly made me rethink my views re Heritage. I wonder how many other sellers have been hit by something like this?

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Permalink Reply by David K on August 3, 2014 at 10:59pm

It seems strange to "Charge me" a sellers fee when they themselves are the buyer. Just call me up and say the item did not sell we would like to purchase and make an offer. Asking me to give the item a low reserve and then buying the piece themselves ... Yes..I had a problem with it. I made that clear. Their response "This was in the fine print of their consigner agreement." I stated I dont wish to sell it..they stated we already OWN it. ??

They also were not very careful retutning albums to me..they "lost" 2 signed J. Tull albums and gave me the low end current market value .

They sent me back 2 signed CSNY albums both were bad forgeries (really) that were not the ones sent to them.. I had a hell of a time getting my real CSN albums back. The Tull albums were never "found"..weird.

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Permalink Reply by michelle on August 3, 2014 at 11:24pm

It gets worse as you read on!! I feel really sorry for you. That is very low for a Tull album. I just hope they weren't top value Tull albums. How can you lose 2 albums just like that? And also to send you back 2 BAD forgeries really beats the biscuit.

Shame on them!!! I wish there was something we could do en masse to help you because it reads like an ebay nightmare not what is supposed to be a top auction house. Kind regards

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Permalink Reply by David K on August 3, 2014 at 11:47pm

I stopped submitting items after that. I just checked their web site..it states the item sold in April 14 2007. They state there were 2 International bidders (how can that be when they told me there were NO bidders?). It states I was charged a 19.5% Buyer Premium fee. Yes those were premiium Tull titles mInt

I just checked the current names of consigner executives. They are not the same people. Only the CEO is the same. The execs were John Hickey and their ent. memorabilia intake person was a different person in the 2000's. How the forged CSNY passed PSA inspection no idea. Both were poor .

Thank you for the concern...

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Permalink Reply by Micko on July 4, 2014 at 11:32pm

Another week, another Belushi. This one selling on Ebay from Seller THETKTMAN with a cute tale of where it came from. My gut is telling me this is not real, as the signature lacks the roundness and lean. And if he frequented the bar so much, wouldn't it have been easy to get a photo at the time? And the price $150 is way too low.

Ebay

'Here's a signed promo photo inscribed " to my friends at the Jolly Jester, John Belushi" . The Jolly Jester was a magic bar in Aspen Colorado operated in the late seventies and early eighties that was frequented by Belushi. ( there was always snow around)The frame is not worth anything but has served to protect the photo and signature which is in very good condition.'

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Permalink Reply by Bam Miller on August 3, 2014 at 1:11pm

Personally I'm sceptical on this signature tbh, how do we know that this is really an authentic John Belushi and not the work of a someone who worked there at the time who was out to make abit of money? I'm not fond of this example, the "John Belushi" signature is way off from his usual signatures. I'm pretty sure that this is not his handwriting. Most likely a forgerie in my opinion.

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Permalink Reply by Micko on August 1, 2014 at 2:47pm

And yet another different Belushi style. I do think that this is genuine IMO. This one has a very quick incomplete 'Belushi' On Ebay this week. Here is the description:

(1949 - 82) Wonderful ink signature from an autograph book signed by "Blues Brothers" entertainer John Belushi. Rare.

Offered by UACC Registered Dealer #175. We have been featured Worldwide and are winners of the prestigious Universal Autograph Collectors Club (UACC) Dealer of the Year 2010. Visit us at www.autographs.co.uk

Attachments: No photo uploads here

image.jpg, 131 KB

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Permalink Reply by Micko on August 2, 2014 at 3:00pm

Her's the pic

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Permalink Reply by Bam Miller on August 3, 2014 at 1:17pm

UACC dealers are also known for mucking up the authenticity of alot of signatures that they examine. for example, you could forge a really good example of a star's signature then send it off to them to be examined, they return it explainimg that it is genuine. Also, there have been way too many stories surfacing that tell us that they examine known genuines and pass them off as fake. It's all down to observation really, the "Belushi" in this one bothers me. The dealer may not realize this could be a clever example of a forgerie just like that ridiculous signed Continental Divide lobbycard with the fancy big frame.