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James Stewart Autographs: Which are Genuine, Autopens or Forgeries?

Isn't this an Autopen signature?

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Permalink Reply by Scott Cornish on March 28, 2011 at 5:18pm

Thanks Steve! A mustache on the COA - too funny.

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Permalink Reply by Bobby Livingston on March 28, 2011 at 4:40pm

What do you think of this example? I think its epic.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on March 28, 2011 at 4:51pm

Looks great to me. Compares favorably to this signature from the early 60s.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on March 28, 2011 at 5:17pm

Hey...that's mine, Bobby!

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on March 28, 2011 at 5:03pm

This really expands beyond the scope of the thread, but a word of warning...

Don't put a lot of weight into Stewart pics authenticated by third party authenticators. I've seen quite a few authenticated Wonderful Life photos I find very suspect. In my experience, Stewart signed in black the vast majority of the time. However, there are a multitude of Wonderful Life photos signed in blue with suspect signatures.

Here is an example. Can't make a definitive opinion based on the lousy scan, but the "Stewart" certainly seems consistently off in most that I see. And there are an awful lot of this pose signed in blue.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on March 28, 2011 at 5:24pm

One more before I call it a night. One of my favorites.

Now that I think about it... most of them are my favorites. :-)

I probably shouldn't share this, but you can get real Stewart's on eBay for dirt cheap if you know what you are looking for. People flock to the "authenticated" items and disregard the best stuff quite often.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on March 28, 2011 at 5:43pm

Always share tips like that! Collectors can get authentication help here.

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Permalink Reply by Robert Zarrillo on March 28, 2011 at 6:59pm

OK - I have three that I'd like opinions on - great photos as you'll see (Rear Window and Harvey) - plus a book plate from his poems book

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on March 29, 2011 at 6:01am

Disclaimer: I am no expert. However, I am familar enough with this signature to offer a moderately informed opinion. :-)

That said:

Bookplate - likely authentic

Rear Window - Likely fake. I need to see a bigger scan of the signature, however, it appears tightly drawn and the letters in "James" are too distinct. Looks like a Polk special.

Harvey - Undetermined, but my Spidey Sense is tingling. I did not mention this pose specifically, but, like the Wonderful Life pose, the Harvey pose appears in mass quantities signed in blue. I suspect the blue signed Harveys and Wonderful Lifes came from the same source. There are some minor issues with the formation, but I need to see more to make a more definitive determination.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Miller on March 31, 2011 at 4:17pm

2 & 3 are fake. IN particular the Harvey is a forgery that was born and has floated around on ebay for several years. The same signature kept appearing on the Rear Window with Stewart/Kelly/ Hitch in the photo. Stewart genuine signature is not compacted like this. Also he did not have a secretary signer. His secretary Claire Preist confirmed this with me many years ago. Also, he said on Johnny Carson in the late 80's no one else signed his autograph requests and he signed all them personally every day. He was known to briefly use an autopen machine after his stroke in mid 90's.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on March 31, 2011 at 5:45pm

Excellent information, Mike. This confirms my instincts regarding the common Harvey fake as well as the NON use of a secretary. Do you agree this is the same forger who did all the Wonderful Life blue signature photos?