Jay Burstein's Friends

Jay Burstein's Groups

What would you like to tell us about yourself, your collecting, or business.: I began collecting about fifteen years ago joining a friend in Los Angeles for a Hollywood Collectors' Show there, where I met Don Knotts, Steve Reeves, John Agar, and Steve Allen, and then slowly built up a nice collection that includes John Wayne (in a classic b/w photo from HONDO) public figures like President Lyndon Johnson, Hubert Humphrey, Simon Wiesenthal, Walter Cronkite, Gerald Ford, and governor George Wallace; acting legends Victor Mature (great b/w scene from "My Darling Clementine"), Woody Allen, John Cassavetes, Sophia Loren, and the entire cast of the classic TV show, "Combat," including Vic Morrow. My greatest treasure, though, is my collection of autographs from the film, "The Wild Bunch," including William Holden, Robert Ryan, writer/director Sam Peckinpah (and Walon Green), Warren Oates, Bo Hopkins, and Ben Johnson, though a few of the actors, notably the Mexicans, elude me still. I have recenly begun giving autographs as gifts and all recipients have commented how wonderful a gift an autograph is because it gives you a touch of personal contact otherwise unavailable, especially on a star no longer with us. I have found some reputable and some unreputable dealers along the way and would love to hear abvout other people's experiences with fraudulent signatures and the like.

What are your areas of interest?: History/Politics, Modern Hollywood and Stage, Classic Hollywood and Stage, Music

Why do you collect?: I have always loved TV and film. It was and is a great escape, ansd am thankful to the actors who made it happen. I look at the "Wall of Fame" in my office and I am instantly transported to the film or show that features the signer, and not just to that show or film, but to "a better time" or just "another time" in my life.