Tori Black

My next celebrity autograph is one from my 'adult' collection, which I have held-off from blogging about until now, the great Tori Black!

Tori was one of a modern group of adult film stars who have managed to move from standard pornography into mainstream celebrity news.  Hell, TMZ even posted her mugshot when she was arrested last year.  You can't get any more mainstream celebrity than that!

Anyway, Tori's rise to pornography's Hall of Fame is pretty common, let's be honest.  First there was her some standard POV films, which followed by some noise on the internet, then she was named Penthouse Pet Of The Month for December 2008.  A great issue, you should buy a copy or two...

In 2010, Maxim Magazine named her one of the top pornstars of the year, and she landed the role of Catwoman in the DVD released Batman XXX: A Porn Parody.  The film was controversial at the time as it was one the first big parody movies that leant it's name directly from the source.  Of course the suffix "A Porn Parody" absolved it of any confusion to the source material, which meant more fun for us.  And by fun, I mean Catwoman being double-teamed by Batman and Robin.

Later that year, Tori was cast in the lead role in "Wonder Woman XXX: A Hardcore Parody" however I felt her lovely slender phyisque did not fit the character, so I decided to give it a miss.

Anyway, onto the autograph!  Since Tori Black's autograph is difficult to obtain through the mail, and as she has never attended a convention in Australia, I decided to purchase the following colour 8x10 Penthouse headshot over the internet.  I was happy with the result, the autograph appears genuine and that's good enough for me:

Score!

Peter Davison

My next celebrity autograph blog is English actor, Peter Davison.

Born in 1951, Peter Moffatt decided to use the stage name Peter Davison to avoid confusion with a well known director of the 1970's. Davison first came to prominence in the late 1970's playing the role of veterinarian Tristan Farnon in All Creatures Great And Small.

Then, from 1981 - 1984 Davison was cast in his best known role as the Fifth Doctor in the British sci-fi series Doctor Who, replacing the extremely popular Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor, who had played the role for the previous 8 years.  At the time being the youngest actor to assume the lead role, Davison's Fifth Doctor was an unashamed fanatic of cricket, dressed in his trademark whites and a stick of celery, and a aptly stored cricket ball in his jacket pocket helped save his life on one occassion (Four To Doomsday).

Having battled the Cybermen, the Master, and Omega, The Fifth Doctor departed the series saving the life of his new companion Peri in the greatest episode of all-time, The Caves Of Adrozani.

After his days on Doctor Who, Davison appeared in numerous tv shows both in America and the UK, including A Very Peculiar Practice, All Creatures Great And Small (again), Magnum P.I., At Home With The Braithwaites, Heatbeat, and The Last Detective to name but a few.

When the new series of Doctor Who was revived, Davison donned the whites and celery again for a mini-episode Time Crash opposite his future son-in-law David Tennant's Tenth Doctor.  With the show gearing up for it's 50th anniversary on 23rd November 2013 there's constant rumours of another return to the show for the Fifth Doctor, but we'll have to wait and see!

Now, onto the autograph... As a member of the Doctor Who Club of Victoria, I drew a fancomic for the club magazine which featured the Fourth and Fifth Doctor up against the Master.  When Davison visited Melbourne in the late 2000's he was given a copy, and mentioned that he didn't remember ever being that skinny (a bit of a jibe about my artistic skills I think).  Anyway, some time later I wrote a fan letter to him in the UK, and shortly after received this delightfully inscribed colour 8x10:

Score!

Billy Zane

My next celebrity autograph blog is the one and only Billy Zane.

Born in 1966, William George Zane Jr. is an American actor of Greek descent.  One of his first roles was part of Biff's gang in 1985's Back To The Future, and 1989's Back To The Future Part II.  Unfortunately he wasn't cast in 1990's Back To The Future Part III (I checked).

He also starred in 1989's Dead Calm alongside Sam Niell and Nicole Kidman, and in 1993's Tombstone alongside Kurt Russell.  Then in 1996 he starred as Kit Walker/The Phantom in The Phantom, a role which he spend a year getting in peak physical shape for.  By the time filming was due to commence, Billy was so pumped, a plastic-moulded Phantom costume was discarded in place of the brilliant latex number.

In 1997 he starred as Cal Hockley in one of the biggest films of all time, Titanic.  Unfortunately, Rose went off with the dirt poor artist Jack Dawson instead of the wealthy aristocrat Hockley.  Then at the end of the film she threw the diamond into the ocean, what an idiot!!!

Since then Billy has appeared in numerous productions, both in movies and tv series, such as Boston Public, Charmed, and Samantha Who? and has also moved into film Production and Directing.  Billy is also my choice for the lead role in the Telly Savalas biopic, should it ever get made (which it bloody well should).

Now, onto the autograph!  Billy's autograph has always been a tricky one to get.  Living in Australia, it's not like we can ever get the chance to meet him in a restaurant (or whatever) and through-the-mail requests are difficult to obtain, so when I attended a pop-culture convention here in Melbourne a few years ago I purchased this 1-page milk advertisement of The Phantom, signed by Billy Zane.  That white smudge above the signature is the pen ink, not me.

Score!

John DiMaggio

My next celebrity autograph blog is John DiMaggio.

Whilst John is best known for his voice-over work as the 'ultimate robot lover' Bender in Futurara, one look at John's iMDb page and you'll see he's been a very busy man.

One of his first roles was in a 1996 episode of Law & Order as a bartender.  He has also appeared in bit roles on other well known TV shows such as Becker (in 2000) NYPD Blue (also in 2000) and CSI: NY (in 2004).

But a large chunk of John's work has been behind the microphone, and he has contributed to his voice in such animated series as Spawn (1999), Dr Doolittle 2 (2001), The Powerpuff Girls (2004), The Batman (also in 2004), TMNT (2007), Asterix and the Vikings (as Timandahalf) and in the recent animated movie, Wreck It Ralph, to name just a few.

But of course, he'll always be remembered as Bender.

Now, onto the autograph!  I attended the 2011 Armageddon Expo in Melbourne, and was lucky enough to meet John at the autograph table (the line was huge, as you could imagine).  He happily signed this 3x5 colour picture of Bender.

Score!

Mie Hama

My next celebrity autograph blog is Mie Hama.

Best known for playing Kissy Suzuki in the 1967 James Bond film You Only Live Twice alongside Sean Connery, Mie Hama was already an established actress in Japan, having starred in over 60 productions from 1960 onwards, including the 1965 Bond-spoof Ironfinger.

She also starred in other notable films, such as King Kong Escapes (1967) and the 1966 film What's Up Tiger Lily? which was directed by and starred Woody Allen.

To co-incide with the release of You Only Live Twice, Mie Hama posed nude in the June 1967 edition of Playboy magazine, which is now quite a collectable, among James Bond and Playboy fans alike.  Yes, I have a copy in my collection of 007 memorabilia.

After the release of You Only Live Twice, Mie Hama returned to acting in her native Japan.

Now, onto the autograph (sort of!) a few years ago I wrote a fan letter to the Office of Mie Hama, to which I received a letter of reply rejecting my request for an autograph. Included in the letter was a brief description of her time on the set of You Only Live Twice, to which the letter was signed with her shubun, which (to me) is as good as an autographed photo!

Until next time!

Ioan Gruffudd

My next celebrity autograph blog is Ioan Gruffudd.

Born in Wales, UK in 1973, Ioan appeared in many Welsh television and film productions, before getting his first "taste of Hollywood" playing the role of Fifth Officer Harold Howe in 1997's Titantic.  Then, from 1998-2003 he played the role of Horatio Hornblower in the Hornblower series of tv films.

In 2004 he starred as Lancelot, alongside Clive Owen, Keira Knightley, and future James Bond villain Mads Mikkelsen in King Arthur.

Then in 2005 he was cast as Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic in the Fantastic Four feature film, and again in the 2007 sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer.  Both films had a lot of deviations from the comic, and they had a heavy "E! Hollywood" feel to them, which was a shame as they we okay but they could've been SO much better.

In 2008, Ioan appeared as Tony Blair in W, the feature film about former US President George W Bush, and he then starred alongside Sarah Michelle Gellar in the tv series Ringer (which is now cancelled).

Now, onto the autograph (and it's a doozy!).  In between his two Fantastic Four films, I wrote to Ioan c/o his talent agency in the UK.  Soon after I received a signed colour 3x5 photo of Ioan as Hornblower, and I also received a delightful 'with compliments' slip from Gillian Gruffudd which stated "Thank you for writing to my son."

Gold!!!

Sammo Hung

My next celebrity autograph blog is Sammo Hung.

A mainstay in kung-fu movies, both as an actor and as a director, in the 1970's Sammo worked for Raymond Chan's Golden Harvest, and can be seen in the opening sequence of Enter The Dragon (1973) as a Shaolin student, up against Bruce Lee.

Sammo was also responsible for co-ordinating a number of fight scene's for Game Of Death (1978). After Lee's death, Sammo went on to direct and star in the 1978 "Bruceploitation" film Enter The Fat Dragon.

Sammo also appeared in the 1975 film The Man From Hong Kong, starring Jimmy Wang Yu and former 007 George Lazenby.  The film has the only fight scene ever filmed on Uluru (Ayres Rock). Former Number 96 star Rebecca Gilling also appears in the movie - a lot.

Sammo starred and directed a number of films in the 80's with his friend Jackie Chan (perhaps you've heard of him?) such as Project A, My Lucky Stars, and Dragons Forever.  In 1997 he teamed up with Jackie again for Mr. Nice Guy which was set and shot in and around Melbourne (and the Yarra Valley).

After a number of projects, some more profitable than others, and a falling out with Raymond Chan, Sammo once again appeared alongside Jackie Chan in 2004's Around The World In Eighty Days (starring Steve Coogan as Phileas Fogg).

In 2010, Sammo Hung was given a lifetime achievement award at the New York Asian Film Festival.

Now, onto the autograph!  In 2003 I wrote a fan letter to Sammo, and shortly after I received this terrific inscribed colour 8x10 photo:

Until next time!