Martina Hingis

Next on my list of celebrity autographs is former Women's World Number 1 Tennis Champion, and my favourite player of all time, Martina Hingis.

Hingis was born in 1980 (like me!) in Slovakia, and represented Switzerland on the international stage. She spent a total of 209 weeks as World Number 1, won 5 Grand Slam singles titles, and 9 Grand Slam doubles titles.

Not only was she a fantastic player, but she was also very outspoken. Noticibly towards other players such as Steffi Graf "She is old now. Her time has passed.", Amelie Mauresmo "She's here with her girlfriend. She's half a man already.", and also Anna Kournikova "What rivalry? I win all the matches".



And I'm not even going to discuss what she said about the Williams sisters. Look it up.

In 2007 she tested positive for cocaine during that years Wimbledon tournament, and thusly retired from the sport before any ban could begin. But by then she'd already won over $20 million US.

Now, onto the autograph. During her playing career I wrote to her via the Swiss Tennis Institute and requested an autograph. Not long later I received this in the mail:



Score!

David Tench

My next autograph is a bit obscure, since he only existed for a few months in 2006, and when you think about it, he didn't actually exist at all. Of course I'm referring to: David Tench.



"Who the hell?" you ask? Good question. David Tench was the host of a chat show on Channel Ten called David Tench Tonight, which aired from August to November 2006, with a Christmas Special the following month.

The show was created by Andrew Denton, and David was created via computer technology. He would interview real people (albeit celebrities) and according to funnyman Mick Molloy, the interviewee would simply interact with a TV setup behind the desk, with the CGI entered in later on.

During the 2006 season of Big Brother, the show was promoted via viral marketing, with the BB demographic their obvious target. Some of his guests included Pat Rafter, Nelly Furtado, Jimmy Barnes, Layne Beachley, Meat Loaf, and future Australian PM Julia Gillard.


How emabarrassment!

David Tench was played by Australian actor Drew Forsyth (uncredited), given an American accent, and was also meant to be very cheeky and contriversial. Although a lot of people didn't really get his jokes, enjoy the show, or even watch the show. That's why it was cancelled.

Regardless, just like I did with Hamish and Andy when they were on Channel Seven, I emailed David Tench Tonight via their website and asked for an autograph. What I received was not your standard signed photo, but a jpeg image:



Not bad considering he never existed.

Matthew Pavlich

My next celebrity autograph for you is one of my most recent, Matthew Pavlich.


For those of you who don't know (as I don't have many sportspeople on this blog), Pavlich is the current captain of the Fremantle Football Club, having been in the role since 2007 and with the club since 2000.

Whilst the club, joining the AFL in 1994, has yet to win a premiership and even play in a Grand Final, it has made the finals in 2003, 2006 and 2010, mainly due to Pavlich (let's be honest).

As at the end of the 2010 season, Pavlich has played 236 matches and kicked 468 goals, which is pretty good considering he's more of a Centre Half Forward and not a traditional Forward.


Originally from Woodville West Torrens in South Australia, Pavlich ended intense media speculation and fortified his loyalty to the club, by re-signing with Fremantle in late 2007 for a further 3 seasons.

The club changed their logo and guernsey for the 2011 season, perhaps that may take them a bit closer to a premiership? Only time will tell.


But not only is Matthew Pavlich a champion on the field, he's also a decent bloke off the field, as an Ambassador for PBF the Paraplegic Benefit Fund. For more info please check out their website: http://www.pbf.asn.au/index.php

Now, onto the autograph. As a long-time Essendon supporter I wrote a letter to their current captain Jobe Watson, and all I received in reply was a pre-printed autograph of the 2010 team. Disheartened with that dismal response, I then wrote to Matthew Pavlich and included his 2006 trading card (wearing the club's away guernsey at the time). It didn't take long and I received this reply:



Terrific stuff!

Burgess Meredith

My next celebrity autograph is definately one of my most interesting, Burgess Meredith.


Who? You may ask. Tisk! Tisk! Perhaps you may remember him better as The Penguin from the 1960's Batman tv series? That's right. The Penguin. One of Batman's greatest enemies, Burgess Meredith appeared in 21 episodes. Not bad considering the show only went for 120 episodes in total. But lets not forget, he also appeared in the 1966 Batman movie, alongside The Joker, The Riddler and Catwoman, which shows you not only how popular the tv show was, but also how popular his character was.


Is that it? Definately not! Prior to his days as The Penguin, Burgess Meredith appeared in various episodes of The Twilight Zone, and Rawhide (amongst other Westerns). In fact, Burgess had a fairly extensive acting career, even after his breakout role as The Penguin ended.

But it wasn't until 1976 when he was cast as trainer Mickey Goldmill in Rocky alongside Sylvester Stallone that Burgess Meredith found his next big role. He continued the role in the subsequent sequels, up until 1990's Rocky V (that's the fifth one).


Is that it? No! Burgess Meredith also appeared as Grandpa Gustafson, alongside veterens Walther Matthau and Jack Lemmon in the 1993 movie Grumpy Old Men, and the 1995 sequel Grumpier Old Men.


Had Burgess Meredith not died in1997 I'm sure he would've appeared in many more movies.

Now, onto the autograph. As a teenager my brother and I used to collect comics from our local comic book retailer (in Ringwood, VIC Australia). We became friendly with the owner of the shop who was intrigued by our autograph collections. Then one day, he gave me this little gem, a Batman trading card which he had signed by the one and only Burgess Meredith. Golden!


Thanks Ian! Until next time...

Cameron Diaz

Next in my on-going list of celebrity autographs is Hollywood megastar Cameron Diaz.


Cameron's first movie was opposite Jim Carrey in 1994's The Mask, which she did at the age of 21. I was 14 at the time, so yeah I was pretty smitten with Cameron at the time. I re-watched The Mask on DVD a few months ago. Meh, it's funny how some films seem better in your head.


After this, Cameron went on to star in My Best Friend's Wedding (which I call My Best Friend's Weeding because I'm just so funny), and then in one of her biggest films to date, There's Something About Mary opposite Ben Stiller. One look at this pic and you'll see why it was such a hit.


The next film was yet another blockbuster, Charlie's Angels, which co-starred Lucy Liu and Drew Barrymore. Mindless violence, dance sequences (who doesn't love those?) and just fun. Shame about the sequel (pee-eww!).


Of course, Cameron did a few "artsy" films like A Life Less Ordinary and Vanilla Sky, but I never got around to seeing them.

And of course, Cameron played Princess Fiona in the 4 Shrek films, which grossed something like a combined billion dollars worldwide (not including the money made on Happy Meal toys).


So, on to the autograph... When Cameron was filming Charlies Angels, I sent this promotional postcard for Australian Women's magazine Cosmopolitan to her through the mail. It took a while to get a reply, but it was worth it (sorry about the scan, her skin isn't really that blotchy).


Until next time!

Karen Gillan

Next in my line of celebrity autographs is my most recent addition, Karen Gillan.


When David Tennant decided to leave the role as the ultra-popular Tenth Doctor in Doctor Who, it signalled a big change in the show itself. Head Writer Russell T Davies also decided to leave, with Steven Moffat taking over. That meant a change in the overall cast. Little known actor Matt Smith was signed on as the new Eleventh Doctor, and Karen Gillan was signed on as his new companion, Amy Pond.

I've found that being a Doctor Who fan can be a funny thing. Those of us who have seen the Doctor regenerate from one actor to the next are used to change. But this time, I guess a large portion of the "new" fans didn't take it so willingly. There were death threats made, people went overboard. But, casting a 29 year old as the next Doctor, and a 21 year old read-head as his companion, went over a treat with their (internet based) key demographic.


Photos of Karen Gillen (like this one) also helped.


As did these ones of her first episode on the show.


Half way through the season, there was talk that Amy Pond was too sexy for the show, which is funny because they said the same thing about Louise Jameson, and Nicola Bryant.

Anyway, Amy Pond survived her first season as the Doctor's companion (just) and will appear in the upcoming Doctor Who Christmas Special in the UK this Dec 25. Still no word on when it will air here in Australia...

So, on to the autograph, it was just a simple through-the-mail request, which took about a month to receive this really nice reply.


Until next time!

Blade Trinity, Ryan Reynolds, Jessica Biel, David S Goyer

I haven't posted any celebrity autographs in a while, so today's you're in for a treat... here are 3 autographs I obtained, in person, in December 2004 at the launch of Blade Trinity, starring Wesley Snipes, Ryan Reynolds, and Jessica Biel.

Unfortunately, Wesley Snipes didn't appear, so in his place was director David S Goyer.

(This pic was found via a Google search)

The launch was held at Myer Melbourne, and was hosted by Fox FM's Adam Richards. My brother and I waited in line for an hour and a bit, and were pleased to be (not too) far from the stage.

The 2 co-leads (Reynolds and Biel) were introduced and gave a quick run-down of their roles in the film, as well as a discussion about their previous work. For Reynolds this included Two Guys A Girl And A Pizza Place, and for Biel it was Seventh Heaven. During this time there was a LOT of noise about Reynolds being cast as The Flash. That never eventuated, but he did land the role in Green Lantern (due out in 2011).


For Biel, there was not much else that was talked about, and her nude spread in Gear Magazine was DEFINATELY not discussed...

Anyway, here are the autographs:

(David S Goyer signed Wesley Snipes' promo postcard)


Ryan Reynolds as Hannibal King


Jessica Biel as Abigail Whistler

For so-called "Big Name Hollywood Stars", they were pretty nice people and seemed genuinely happy to be there. Too bad the movie bombed.