National Lampoon Radio Hour 1973 Cast Signed Birthday Card Created by Gilda Radner - Pre-SNL Era - John Belushi, Bill Murray Harold Ramis

Lightning has struck me twice apparently. I'm in the middle of moving downstate to the St Louis area and will create a full write up on this item soon. I'm beyond excited though and wanted to post my newest find to share with everyone - and what a fitting home it will be given to compliment the original cast SNL vinyl I completed earlier this year. Seriously I can not believe my luck. 

After meeting Jane Curtin back in February to finish off my SNL vinyl cover, (https://live.autographmagazine.com/forum/topics/history-of-our-comp...) I sat there in awe and told myself nothing can ever top this moment. well... Last week, one of my old eBay notifications popped up for Harold Ramis. I laughed of course because its always just more forgeries or expensive items. I was right.. but something made me keep scrolling down into eBay's suggested similar items. And there it was. A newly listed 10 day auction for $850 with offers considered. 

We are in the process of moving and I'm traveling through areas of spotty or even non existent internet at times. This auction would have killed me to plan everything just right to make sure I was the winner. I couldn't take the anxiety. I made the seller an offer for the bid price. There were only 2 watchers so far but views were piling up. I knew if the right person saw this who knew how special this item was, it would be gone. The listing title had only all last names and it never came up in the regular searches for any single name in particular. I remained patient even though the views were starting to pile up, there was still only 2 watchers. My offer expired the next day . eBay said another competitive offer was made and I prayed it was a lowball. I resubmitted my $850 offer and the seller responded saying he was considering it. after some back and forth, we agreed on $950 and the auction ended there, 8 days early.. 

Ill go into more detail about this item in another post. Wondering if this should go into the Historical Autographs and Documents discussion? Anyways here it is

Supposedly hand created by Gilda Radner. I'm still trying to verify that as best I can.

The signatures I can confirm are
-Bill Murray - signed "William James Murray"
-John Belushi - signed "John"
-Brian Doyle Murray
-Gilda Radner - signed "Ms. Gilda Susan Radner"
-Harold Ramis
-Paul Jacobs
-Richard Belzer    
Ones i suspect are (no one else connected to these names worked for National Lampoon at the time, on record)
-Janice Hirsch - signed "your own true La Hirsch"
-Judy Jacklin - would become Belushi's wife - signed "Judy"
-Anne Beatts - signed "Anne"
-John Hechtman (sound engineer)  
-Julie Simmons - signed "Young Julie" daughter of Matty Simmons
Ones I'm not sure at all about are
-Pat Button?
-"Love always Joyce the callgirl/cowgirl/cottgirl/cougirl?  (Im leaning towards Cougirl, maybe a joke for a hot intern?) This could be either Joyce Sloan or Joyce Jurnovoy
Dale Anglund only has credit as a Production Supervisor for National Lampoons Radio Show (1973-74) and also Lemmings which turned into a Broadway tour (1974-76)
The body of this card says its for Dale's 27th birthday but there is no record of when he was born, 
The only clue I have to pinpoint the date this was created is John Hechtman, the signature in the middle signed in red. I have no way to verify if that is truly his signature but there is no other john that would match. Believe me I have searched hard. if it is his signature, he was the sound engineer. I am hoping to contact him directly (fingers crossed) and will see if I can find out more info. I've also contacted Mark at Marks Very Large National Lampoon
site https://www.marksverylarge.com/ and he replied stating I did my homework already and there is nothing more he could add but will keep in touch. Aside from that, I either have to hope Chevy Chase does another convention and even remembers names since he was only in a handful of those radio shows which would explain why he isn't on here as well. Or I have to find a way to speak with one of the Murray Brothers. HA good luck getting Bill. I've already tried that route previously and he called me a "professional". Brian may be an option but its a long shot. I do have his address near KC which I wont share but its not like I can just go up and ring the doorbell.... although, I found a way to get Jane Curtin. Maybe I can pull this off too. Hopefully I will find more info from other sources first.   
I feel like I've died and this is all a distorted dream version of my living reality. what are the odds that I would come across such an important item? I still cant believe it. As a lifelong fan of Saturday Night Live, I may have something that pre-dates SNL and goes all the way back to its origins.   
 
Oh and if anyone is questioning the Bill Murray, I've seen this full name style a handful of times. There was a member on here that was kind enough to share this one with me about 9 years ago

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Permalink Reply by Jason H on September 2, 2026 at 11:41pm

For whatever reasons, Steve, call it fate, call it luck, call it karma, I believe that everything happens for a reason....

Had to sneak that line in here.. The autograph gods are looking out for me. This has me forget all about obtaining a replacement ghostbusters signed cast photo I've been aiming for. Haha ok that's a lie but this does take the sting out for sure. Maybe if I create a documentary and handle this right, Bill Murray will take notice and finally help me out specifically with finishing my photo. Lol I'm never going to give up on getting him. It's funny, an item like this card you would think should satisfy any collector... I just can't let it go. 

Anyways, here is a picture of Gilda with Dale Anglund at their brownstone. Its a shame the internet is lacking on information about Dale. I think he deserves more

Permalink Reply by Jason H on September 3, 2026 at 10:39pm

Could you, or anyone recommend how I should handle authentication? 

I'm planning on bringing this card somewhere in person and will wait on spot until it is given back. I will stay with this item as much as allowed. I will have the sticker placed on the LOA and wait patiently for that to arrive in the mail. 

I'm trying to verify all names first but not having luck at all contact the people I previously mentioned. I found a new public email address for Julie simmons lynch and also a public phone number. I won't share why it's public on here. She is 69 years old and I may eventually be able to reach her somehow. She was by far the youngest of this group of signers (if that is in fact her signature) 

Do I hold off on authentication until I'm certain all avenues of verifying all signatures are exhausted? Or should I do it now with the list of names I suspect? I've never submitted an item where I'm certain about half the signatures but absolutely nothing to compare for the other half. I know it will pass but what will they list for the other names? Would they fail the entire price if I get some names wrong? I'm guessing it's best to wait and see if I can obtain more info but wondering if that's just me overthinking. Would an authentication actually help in verifying signatures I'm uncertain about? If they have comparisons in their database, I could see it maybe being worthwhile.

Also, is there a point to bring both pages? Will they acknowledge the other page as being a part of this item, or is only the page full of signatures something they would verify? If someone tried funny business and run off with my item, it's probably best to keep the other part separate to match up at a later date if it shows up for sale. Maybe that's overthinking as well?

Permalink Reply by JMS1223 on September 4, 2026 at 2:41am

I would wait until you have more information on the other signatures if possible. Much better to have all the names so they can add them to the authentication letter. 

Smart move to have sticker placed on LOA and NOT on actual item! 

Permalink Reply by JK on September 4, 2026 at 6:36am

I'd definitely bring both pages since without the first page they won't know it was a birthday card (in which case they presumably wouldn't add that to the LOA).

As for the "lesser" signatures, even if you can identify them, will there be any way for them to authenticate them (will there be examples to compare with)?.

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