Toby Stephens

Next in my list of celebrity autographs is Toby Stephens.

Born in 1969, British actor Toby Stephens is best known for playing villainous Sir Gustav Graves in the 2002 Bond movie Die Another Day, starring Pierce Brosnan and Halle Berry.

Predominately a stage actor, Toby Stephens has had numerous TV and movie roles, including a part in the 2000 movie Space Cowboys, and in Series 3 of the TV show Robin Hood (playing Prince John of England).

Going back to Toby's role in Die Another Day, the movie celebrated the Bond franchise's 40th anniversary (Dr. No having premiered in 1962), and included many tie-ins to the previous movies, including the storyline.  Toby played the role of Sir Gustav Graves (loosely based on previous Bond villain Sir Hugo Drax in Moonraker), who used his fortune in diamonds to create Icarus, an Earth satellite used to re-create the Sun's rays, in an attempt to take control of North Korea for his own personal means.

Good thing Bond stopped him in time.

Since his time as megavillain Sir Gustav Graves, Toby's work on TV and in movies has increased, and he has also returned to the stage, and has completed numerous audio plays for BBC radio.  He's also my tip to play the next Doctor Who.  Good luck with that.

Now onto the autograph, about a year after Die Another Day was released I wrote a fan letter to Toby Stephens, and in April 2004 I received a signed postcard and letter from Toby apologising for the delay.  Unfortunately he signed the back of the card in blue ballpoint pen, which didn't scan very well (so I haven't included this in my post).

Until next time!

Henry Winkler

Next in my list of celebrity autographs is Henry Winkler.

In 1973, Henry Winkler was cast in what many would consider to be his greatest role, that of Arthur Fonzarelli, aka The Fonz (also known as Fonzie) in the TV series Happy Days.  The Fonz was originally a protagonist to the show's lead Richie Cunningham (played by Ron Howard) however the two quickly became friends.

Gifted with unexplained supernatural powers, Fonzie was able to turn on the jukebox at Arnolds with a simple rabbit punch.  He also had telekinetic powers over the lights, made every girl swoon, and the audience go wild whenever he appeared.

The show ran from 1974 to 1984, and Fonzie quickly became the most popular cast member.  He was a mechanic who lived above the Cunningham's garage.  In memorable episodes, Fonzie was temporarily blinded but still managed to repair his damaged motorbike, and he also jumped a shark on waterskis.  He also fought Robyn Williams' character, Mork, in one rather regretful episode.

Apart from Happy Days, Winkler also starred alongside Michael Keaton in the movie Night Shift, which was quite good.  He then went into producing and directing roles, and was responsible the TV show MacGyver starring Richard Dean Anderson, and the movie Cop And A Half starring Burt Reynolds.

In 1996 he had a cameo in the movie Scream, then appeared in the Adam Sandler movies The Waterboy, Little Nicky, Click, and You Don't Mess With The Zohan.  He also did voice-over work for TV shows South Park, Family Guy, King of the Hill and The Simpsons.

Now onto the autograph!  About 10 years ago I wrote to Winkler requesting an autograph.  Not long later I received this terrific inscribed 8x10 photo in the mail:

EYY!!!

John Howard

Next is my list of autographs is John Howard.

Best known for being the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard joined the Liberal Party in 1957.  In 1974 he won the seat of Bennelong (NSW) for the party, as was appointed Minister for Business and Consumer Affairs by Malcolm Fraser in 1975.

John Howard served as Federal Treasurer from 1977 until Malcolm Fraser lost the 1983 election to Bob Hawke.  Upon Malcolm Fraser's resignation from politics, John Howard contested the leadership of the Liberal Party but lost to Andrew Peacock.  Accepting the role of Deputy Leader of the Opposition, John Howard remained determined to obtain the top job.

When Andrew Peacock tried to have him replaced by John Moore as Deputy Leader, the Liberal Party re-elected John Howard to the role 38 votes to 31.  Andrew Peacock subsequently resigned, and John Howard was elected Leader of the Opposition, defeating John Carlton 57 votes to 6.

John Howard pushed for economic reform and a slowing of Australian's reliance on multiculturalism.  However with infighting amongst the Howard and Peacock supporters in the Liberal Party, the Bob Hawke-led Labor Government continued to dominate in the polls.

In 1989, Andrew Peacock regained his position as leader of the Liberal Party, bouyed by support by then Carlton Football Club President John Elliott.  When Andrew Peacock lost the 1990 Federal Election to Bob Hawke, he was replaced as leader by Dr John Hewson.  Dr Hewson was unsuccessful in introducing the GST and therefore lost the 1993 Federal Election to Paul Keating.  Alexander Downer became leader of the Liberals in 1994, but after he resigned the position, John Howard was re-elected leader (unopposed) on 26 January 1996.

Recanting his views on immigration, John Howard lead the Liberal Party to power with a 45 seat majority over the Paul Keating-led Labor Party, and was sworn in as Prime Minister of Australia on 11 March 1996.

John Howard subsequently moved to introduce spending cuts aimed at reducing the country's budget deficit, and introduce the GST.

 In the 1998 Federal Election, John Howard defeated the Kim Beazley-led Labor Party.  Dealing with issues such as the proposition of Australia becoming a Republic, illegal immigrants coming into the country, and the reconciliation with Aboriginies, John Howard remained stead-fast in his beliefs.

Once again defeating Kim Beazley in the 2001 Federal Election, John Howard dealt with Australia's response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the US, by pledging assistance from the Australian Armed Forces.  The 2002 Bali bombing also dominated his time and re-iterated his earlier stance on the War on Terror.

In the 2004 Federal Election, John Howard defeated the Mark Latham-led Labour Party, despite not commiting to remaining as Leader for the full term.

Leadership speculation remained in the headlines, with then Deputy Leader Peter Costello seen as his successor.

John Howard lost the 2007 Federal Election (and his own seat of Bennelong) to the Kevin Rudd-led Labour Party, who used social media (rather than the traditional Political media) to gain popularity.  John Howard remained as caretaker Prime Minister until Kevin Rudd's formal swearing-in on 3 December 2007.

Since the 2007 election loss, John Howard has largely remained out of the headlines, except for the occassional dental appointment mis-hap, and being the target of protesting shoe-throwers.

Now, onto the autograph!  After John Howard's victory over Mark Latham, I wrote to him c/o the Prime Ministers Office (bear in mind I did NOT include a stamped, self-addressed envelope).  Shortly after I received this in the mail:

Brilliant!

Carey Mulligan

Next in my list of celebrity autographs is Carey Mulligan.

Carey is a British Actress who first made a name for herself playing Kitty Bennet in the 2005 movie Pride & Prejudice alongside Keira Knightley, Rosamund Pike and Judy Dench.

Then in 2007 she appeared as Sally Sparrow in the Doctor Who episode Blink, which has been regularly rated as the best episode of all time.  Sally only meets the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) once in this episode, but she does have a scene with his DVD Easter Egg earlier in the episode.  If you watch it you'll understand what I'm referring to.

Sally never joined the Doctor as a companion, and since then Carey starred in the movie An Education, for which she was nominated for a BAFTA, Oscar, Golden Globe, and a Chicago Film Critics Award for Best Actress.

In 2010 she co-starred in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.  I didn't watch it but my brother said it was quite a good movie.  She has recently finished filming The Great Gatsby alongside Leonardo DiCaprio and former Spider-Man actor Tobey Maguire.

Now onto the autograph!  I'm currently creating comics for the Doctor Who Club of Victoria which are used as part of the club's magazine, Sonic Screwdriver.  As appreciation they sent me this limited edition "Blink" postcard signed by Carey!

SCORE!

Barbara Eden

Next in my list of celebrity autographs is Barbara Eden.

Barbara is best known for playing the titular role in the TV series I Dream Of Jeannie, however she has quite an extensive career in show-business both on TV and in film.

Originally starting out as a singer, Barbara made a name for herself by winning the Miss San Fransisco pageant in 1951.  She then entered the Miss California pageant but did not win.  Soon after she landed roles in an extensive list of TV shows such as The Johnny Carson Show, I Love Lucy, and The Andy Griffith Show.

In 1960 she starred alongside Elvis Presley in the movie Flaming Star.  Over the next 3 years she starred in such movies as Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea, and The Wonderful World Of The Brothers Grimm.

Then in 1965 she landed the role of Jeannie in I Dream Of Jeannie, alongside Larry Hagman as astronaut Major Anthony Nelson, and Bill Daily as Roger Healy.  The show was NBC's answer to Bewitched, and ran for 5 seasons, totalling 139 episodes.  Set in Coco Beach, the show centered around Major Nelson's house and his work at NASA.  Jeannie was his loyal yet ditzy servant, whom Major Nelson had rescued from her genie bottle.  Jeannie's costume was a big talking point, with the censors furious that her navel was showing in a few episodes of Season 4 and 5.  A majority of show was based around the unrequited love which Jeannie had for Major Nelson, however in the show's final season the two were married.

 After the show was cancelled it became popular in re-runs, and even produced a cartoon series, Jeannie (not voiced by Barbara Eden) and 2 reunion episodes, I Dream Of Jeannie: 15 Years Later (with Barbara Eden reprising the role of Jeannie, and Wayne Rogers as Major Nelson), and I Still Dream Of Jeannie (again starring Barbara Eden, but with the character of Major Nelson mentioned, but not shown).

Since then, Barbara has appeared in cameo roles in numerous TV shows, including Dallas, and Sabrina: The Teenage Witch.  Her final appearance as Jeannie (to date) was in the 1996 movie A Very Brady Sequel.

In 2011, Barbara released her autobiography, Jeannie Out Of The Bottle.

Now, onto the autograph!  A few years ago, the Australian Pay-TV channel TV1 produced postcards promoting I Dream Of Jeannie re-runs.  So, I sent one to Barbara, and a few weeks later I received a reply:

Too easy!

Ardal O'Hanlon

Next in my list of celebrity autographs is Ardal O'Hanlon.

Ardal is an Irish comedian who was cast as Father Dougal McGuire in the TV series Father Ted, which ran from 1995, until lead actor Dermot Morgan's untimely death in 1998.  During the show's 25 episode run it was nominated for numerous BAFTA awards.  Here is Australia we can watch re-runs on channel 7TWO.

Ardal landed his next big role in 2000 as lead character George Sunday (aka Thermoman) in the TV series My Hero.  In the show, Thermoman was a famous superhero from the planet Ultron who came to Earth, got married to Janet and had a kid.  Much of the show's premise was about how George and Janet could keep his alter-ego a secret from her family.  Ardal remained on the show until 2005, when his character was replaced by Dr George Monday (played by James Dreyfus).

However, many people would consider Ardal's biggest role (to-date) would be his cameo appearance in the 2007 Doctor Who episode Gridlock, as the feline alien character Thomas Kincade Brannigan.  The character was so popular he even had his own action figure.  The episode starred David Tennant as The Doctor, and Freema Ageyman as his companion Martha Jones.  It's a great episode, I suggest you watch it at least 15 times.

Since then, Ardal has appeared in numerous productions and has also returned to the stage in a comedic fashion.

Now, onto the autograph!  During his time on My Hero, I wrote to Ardal and not long after received this delightfully inscribed 3x5 card:

Score!!!

Daniel Craig

Next in my list of celebrity autographs is Daniel Craig.

Born in England in 1968, Daniel rose from relative obscurity when, in 2005, he was cast as James Bond, replacing Pierce Brosnan who had held the role since 1995.  Many people were sceptical about how this thin, blonde bloke from Chester (Liverpool) was going to play the most well-known movie roles of all time.

Daniel had previously starred in some "action" films, such as Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life, and Layer Cake (co-incidentally in this film, acting like 007 when Colm Meaney's character hands him a pistol), but nothing to the level of a Bond film.

Various websites were created in opposition to his casting (ie: craignotbond.com) which the media lapped up.  It wasn't until the trailer for his first Bond film, Casino Royale, was released, including a clip of a ripped Daniel Craig coming out of the ocean in blue swim-trunks, when the press went wild.  And BANG when the film was released in 2006, everyone loved his take on the character, and every blonde-haired bloke around the world finally realised they too could be James Bond!

Since then, Daniel has starred in The Golden Compass, and The Invasion co-starring Nicole Kidman (which was a re-make of Invasion of the Body Snatchers).

Daniel's next run as 007 was in 2008's Quantum of Solace, which unfortunately suffered from the curse of the 2nd Bond film.  With the exception of Sean Connery's "From Russia With Love", whenever a new actor has taken on the role of James Bond, their 2nd film has failed to live up to expectation.  To clarify my point, I'm referring to Roger Moore's "The Man With The Golden Gun", Timothy Dalton's "Licence To Kill", and Pierce Brosnan's "Tomorrow Never Dies".  Where QoS fails (in my opinion) is the editing.  The film was too quick and the storyline suffered greatly because of this.

Since then, Daniel's films have been a bit hit-and-miss, including Cowboys And Aliens, The Adventures of Tintin, and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

Daniel is currently filming his 3rd Bond film, Skyfall, due for release in October 2012.  From all reports, the film sounds good. Fingers crossed!

Anyway, onto the autograph.  When Daniel was cast as Bond, I managed to find some Layer Cake promo cards.  So I posted one to Daniel c/- the set of Casino Royale, and not long after the card was returned to me in the mail, with an inscribed autograph:

Until next time!