Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Steve Zarelli on March 7, 2018 at 8:10am

I believe I did mail him many years ago with no response.

Whether it was true or not, I was also under the impression he was a notorious non-signer.

He will certainly be a hole on most authentic MASH cast photos.

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Permalink Reply by Jason Strecker on March 8, 2018 at 5:36pm

I read that his reasoning was something to do with charity, in that he believed if he kept his autograph scarce it would add value to those autographs he signed for charities. As I read more about him, a few years ago, it seemed he was an good quality man, kind towards people so I tend to believe his reasoning. I don't think there would ever be a story about him being mean or negative in turning down an autograph request.

I think he was a bigger star pre-internet and may have lived out of the public eye. We don't hear, if any, more recent stories about fan encounters with him. We've always just gone by what the old time major collectors said-that he was a tough signature. Those were the same guys who wrote autograph books insisting Jerry Lewis and Charlton Heston were such great autograph signers. So I would tend to give David the benefit of the doubt and say we really don't have any first hand accounts of his signing habits for the public.

I did read a website and saw some photos of him doing a formal (charity or play) autograph signing for a theater program he was involved in so he was obligated for the event to sign and take photos. I don't recall if it was noted he would only sign certain items. I just did a google image search and there are a few autograph that seem to be authentic, not just including the star trek certified autographs.

Mike Farrell is still the easiest Mash autograph to obtain and I've seen (myself included) him reply to questionnaires. Someone should ask him about David's signing habits. I'm sure his answer would something along the lines of the charity answer.

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Permalink Reply by Jason Strecker on March 10, 2018 at 11:17am

Here's a good video with him turning down an autograph in preference to "meet" the fan and ask his name. He does take two photo ops with fans (though, at first, doesn't seem to understand their request) but he's nice about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQ3UdC8XrA0

And here's a fan who did obtain a "mail" autograph through a $100 donation to his orchestra. The orchestra had his original autograph on sale but the fan wanted something else signed and got in touch with the orchestra about arranging a deal, though he noted it was something they discouraged in the end. See very bottom post.

https://www.mash4077tv.com/2018/03/david-ogden-stiers-1942-2018/

I imagine he touched a lot of people's live in his orchestra work, perhaps more than his acting work. Again, I hope more comes out about his meetings with fans and I would definitely prefer to hear these stories as opposed to the old "autograph books" written by people who just classified him a "tough signer." They definitely got Charlton Heston and Jerry Lewis wrong, so I'm thinking they may have classified David wrong.

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Permalink Reply by Trevor Song on March 10, 2018 at 8:30pm

Hi Jason,

Yes - that is my post regarding the donation :-) I was the one who forked over the 100 dollars for it. You probably didn't notice my name at first on that post, but no worries.

If you want to, go have a look at the MASH autographs here:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151643685690196.1073741...

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Permalink Reply by Jason Strecker on March 11, 2018 at 5:19am

I didn't put two and two together in the two different websites, oddly enough.

But WOW Trevor you probably are the King of Mash autographs! You have every main star, amazing personal inscriptions (I've never seen in anyone else's ttm autographs) and even a letter from the main star, who most people think was just as impossible as David, as far as free.

So glad for you!! You should be so proud.

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Permalink Reply by Trevor Song on March 11, 2018 at 8:46am

Hi Jason,

Thank you for all the wonderful compliments on the collection :-) I am very proud of it for many reasons, one being that I started it at such a young age thinking in the back of my mind that I should do it right then and there before people start dying off. The thing that I remember being impressed with is that it had a very diverse cast of people - so I knew it would take some effort to get in touch with some of these actors. I was surprised to learn later that Alan Alda is considered a tough signer. I didn't have any major problems with him when I wrote to him the first few times. Maybe I got very lucky?

What I want to know is how many other people out there got successful in obtaining everyone through the mail as well? I certainly can't be the only one. With that article written in 1998 in the Autograph Magazine, I get the impression that others have tried this too. Sadly, people who have started after 1996 to now will have gaps in getting some of these actors now - McLean, Larry, Harry, William, and now David. I kind of wish they were all still around so other people could have the same gratifying experience in hearing from these guys.

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Permalink Reply by Jason Strecker on March 11, 2018 at 11:01am

I started collecting ttm in 2000 and by that time the only ones replying regularly were Mike Farrell, Jamie Farr, William Christopher and Harry Morgan. Jamie Farr was on and off about signing in mid 2000s and William stopped signing completely.

Alan Alda had gone to sending autopen but would sign photos sent to him. Loretta Swit was on and off, maybe it depended on if item was sent to her home or agency. Gary Burghoff was tough, it took me four tries to get him. Wayne Rogers, I sent to multiple times with no response. I really wasn't even collecting anymore when I decided to write him one more time and got a signed photo.

I met Mike and his wife (Shelly Fabares) at a book signing in 2007. Both were super nice and Shelly spent the entire book signing standing in the back talking with one lady fan, myself and my grandfather.

I actually named my dog Colonel Potter though I grew up more a fan of Harry from Dragnet. He had sent me this personal piece of memorabilia after I had written to him noting the dog's name. Don Knotts' daughter had donated his awards nomination folder to the Andy Griffith museum so I am more than honored Harry sent me his.

Attachments: No photo uploads here

• DSCN2645.JPG, 3.9 MB

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Permalink Reply by Trevor Song on March 12, 2018 at 12:54am

That's really cool that you got to hear from Harry and he gave you that award nomination. I guess it shows that some of these MASH stars could be really generous depending on how you approach them and if they were willing to listen. I guess it also depends when you approached them too - like before the internet got big and their addresses were available to the masses around the world. I can say that just about all my autographs with the exception to DOS were obtained through addresses I got through the Screen Actor's Guild around 1995-96, before the internet exploded and their fan mail addresses got exploited to the masses. Before that, most of them were easy, although Larry Linville was a pain in the ass after some previous attempts. Heard somewhere around here that Linville was starting to autograph less by the 1990s. I even read somewhere before that Linville signed more for the fans in Europe than America.

I just read the mass amount of messages on StarTiger.com about David Ogden Stiers. All I can say is - wow. Lots of negative things said there. Don't know what to say about their experiences, but if anyone from there is reading this, very sorry to hear that many have tired and couldn't find a way to get through to him. I did what I could to try to help the fan community seeing that I got through to him and I wasn't sure if he was a more willing signer by that point, but my hands got tied once I was told he still didn't like to sign autographs and I couldn't mention to others how I got the autograph. While I could have posted photos a long time ago, I respected this decision and kept the autographs I got of David Ogden Stiers private in my collection until he passed away. Sad he's gone and didn't get to live a longer life past 75, but glad to share my story and experience about him to everyone.

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Permalink Reply by Jason Strecker on March 12, 2018 at 6:06am

Mid to late 90s was still early in the internet process and probably hadn't soured some stars on signing. What amazes me is the Alan Alda letter with him giving you the other two addresses. That probably speaks to the friendship of the stars', as Alan probably knows those two were reliable mail signers. By 2000, when I started collecting Alan was noted as the "tough" signer. I've seen a few fan photo ops with him more recently and other fans had shocked responses to the original posters. I know he isn't much of a free signer and has often cited the "I will shake your hand" reason in interviews.

There's a really cool photo on google images somewhere of Larry Linville and I believe William Christopher of both men in the original uniforms doing a meeting and greet with army troops. I wonder if Larry had hoped to distance himself from the character over the years.

Going back to your question if anyone else has the entire cast autographs: Perhaps someone does have all the autographs (not including other cast members or extras/staff etc) but probably no one has the amount of personalized photos and personalized responses that you have. You're collection is museum worthy if there were ever a mash museum.

What does the David 8x10 say? Parts of the ink kind of blend in with the photo.

Your David success reminds me of CBS' Andy Rooney who, for years, cited how he disliked autographs and would not sign. Yet, in an interview, stated he would sign his books. I had multiple successes with him by sending his books to be autographed. He was proud of his work as an author. It just goes to show, especially with your David success-no one is impossible. I'd like to think if I kept collecting I may have had a brilliant idea with David but that one goes to you and only you! I had gotten tired of startiger in 2007 and stopped collecting for the most part. On any of those ttm collecting sites, you'll always find someone who suddenly is not a fan anymore or writes nasty comments, when a person doesn't respond to fan mail.

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Permalink Reply by Trevor Song on March 12, 2018 at 10:03am

I think a couple of things come into play when people write those negative comments. It might be based on their overall age and whether they have yet to be a "seasoned" collector, whether they had things that were sent and weren't returned to them, and also their personal one on one experience if they had one. Years ago I was pretty disappointed about the whole issue about DOS and the attitude of his about autographs. But over time, when I saw that not many people have gotten him, it became kind of a null issue. But I will admit, it wasn't cool that I sent some stuff over (a SASE and publicity photo) and never had any of those returned back to me.

Back to your question on what the photo says. People have said erroneously that my DOS photo is an 8x10 and I don't want to mislead anyone here on what the photo size is. It's actually roughly half that size. It looks to me like it was printed on some sort of computer printer on some special stock photo paper. Whatever the case is, I'm still happy with it and the personal signed card on his stationary. The photo says "TREVOR, With thanks and appreciation. Peace, David Ogden Stiers."

On that subject, I tried looking at the Newport Symphony Orchestra website if they offered any DOS signed material still, but according to what I was able to piece together it looks like they phased out this opportunity to buy anything signed by him on their website since 2013 (the same year I got this autograph). The only item they ever put for sale on the site was some kind of 12×24 print that was signed by the music director for 20 dollars and signed by DOS for an additional 10 dollars. 

Thank you for the compliments about my autographs and the fact you think they could be museum worthy. I hope one day that could happen!

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Permalink Reply by Jason Strecker on March 13, 2018 at 10:08am

$20 and $10 extra is an amazing price for his autograph. I think it speaks to his humble qualities if his signature, as rare as it is, is only valued at $10 according to him and/or his staff. As an actor he was pretty similar. He was part of a lot of different shows playing multiple different types of characters and had the range to steal the show or be on an equal level as the star but never tried to overshadow anyone else.

Trevor, I will definitely keep your facebook page on my favorite places and look at those amazing items a few times, over and over.

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Permalink Reply by Jason Strecker on March 27, 2018 at 12:29pm

That is authentic and very awesome for that person.

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