When I was 18 y/o in 1972, I was in Balboa Beach, CA at an Orange Julius Shop. I was eating a hamburger & I heard the door open & a bunch of little Boy Scouts came in with a man in a brown leisure suit, loafers & a crooked toupee'. It was the Love of My Life!!! After watching him pay for food & drinks for the young boys, John Wayne came & sat in the chair right behind me. I mustered up all the nerve I had & stood up & asked for his autograph. He was very happy to give it to me & even asked where I was from because of my strong accent. When I told him I was from Texas, he asked me if I knew of a town named "Midland". I am from the sister-city of "Odessa" & we talked for a few minutes. He was the nicest man I think I have ever met in my life. I still have the autograph & have been offered many things in trade for it but I am holding on to the sentimental value of it. I have never missed a movie of his & have most of them on video. I am now & always will be a true die-hard John Wayne fan!!

Thanks for that story. You are now envied by me. lol. I think it would have been one of the highlights for me. What a memory to have. dukefan1

Wow, you were able to talk with John Wayne about a subject of mutual interest. Your autograph of John Wayne is invaluable. It goes hand in hand with your experience. Protect both the autograph and the story. Make sure that you memorialize it for your future generations because the story must go with the autograph.

Troylan

You say John Wayne was Wearing a toupee is this a joke or are you being serious I was never sure if the duke wore a toupee or not, great story as well troylan I was always on the other side of the Atlantic Im afraid, which narrowed my chances of getting a duke autograph.

Oh Ps who where the boy scouts?

Shootister,

No joke. It is true that John Wayne did wear a toupee. If you do a search on this board for "toupee" and "hairpiece" you will find other posts on the topic.

Happy hunting and reading! B)

Chester

BTW, not trying to get personal, but are you old enough to have met JW? I think he made at least one movie over in your area of the world ;) .

Hi Shootister
If you want to see JW sans son toupee, try the book John Wayne in the Camera Eye. He allowed photographer Sam Shaw to enter his home, take a lot of candid fotos and so on, and he never bothered to put that hairpiece on. These pictures were made in about 1960, 61.

I recieved a Autographed picture of the Duke in 1967 from the movie Hondo. My father had wrote John Wayne about what a fan I was and gave it to me as a surprise. As far as the toupee watch North to Alaska and you will see it clearly in the early fight scene. He also went without it while seeing the troops in Vietnam.

Brian
Tulalip Wa

Troylan:

I too have an autograph of the Duke's. I was a last second stand in for a Olympic benefit, my sister (whose employers were huge Olympic contributors) had planned on attending with her husband, asked if I would go, because his flight was delayed due to bad weather . I agreed to go (the benefit was in Chicago) and didn't want her going alone. I had a copy of Charles Portis's novel True Grit, which I took along. I was amazed to find that I was allowed to meet the receiving line which Duke was shaking hands and giving autographs. I got the keys back from my sister and tore for the parking lot, grabbed the book and sprinted back to the reception. Duke graciously signed it and it is my most cherished item. I have been offered money for the book, but it's not for sale, not at any price. A lifelong reminder of a special night and a very special man.


Ethan

If I can find one that I can buy within my budget I will be faster than you can spit.


Monique ;)

When you buy your autograph, Monique, make sure you get the real McCoy. There are so many fakes out there! I mean: if JW would have signed all the autographs for sale, he wouldn't have had time to make all those movies, would he? (same thing with the James Dean autographs that keep popping up - how many could he have signed?)

So if you want to make sure to get the real signature, look for a contract or written letter. They might cost more - but then you can be sure it's the real thing. Or see if your seller adds a certificate of a well-known research institute for autographs, and a life-long insurance to send it back if it turns out it's fakery should go with it. But if his story goes like: it was sent to me by Wayne's office, remember that there are secretarial autographs.

I'm not saying that all the JW autographs on Ebay are fakes, far from that. But as Davy Crockett said: Not before you seperate the sheep from the goat.

I once went to a -what we call- cinemafair here in Antwerp and someone had a Duke autograph for sale.This must be about 10 years ago and at that time they asked the most ridicilous price of 60.000 belgian francs.(that's now 1.500 euro or £1000)I bet that person selling that autographed photo wanted to get rich quickly.I wonder if anyone ever really payed that amount of money :uhuh2:

Hi Sally, I used to deal in Autographs but have been out of it for about 10 years now. John Wayne's autograph was valued at around $1,600 about the time I was dealing in them. The asking price is high but not a bad price these days.

Anyone interested in a Rittmeister: Manfred von Richthoffen (aka) The Red Baron, calling card--which is boldly signed by him on the bottom of the card. Asking price is ONLY $800.00. I don't have it but, I know who does. ;-)) Comes professionally framed and matted w/ a nice photo of the Rittmeister.

I have two autographed Pictures of Duke, one that I got from Him after the completion of "The Angel and The Badman " in 1947 and one from the Film "Rio Bravo," and think of them as my treasures along with the many other things that I have of the Duke's. :D

If you want to see Duke without His Hair Peace You can go to

HAIRY STORY (http://www.ranch26bar.com/HAIRYSTORY.html)

Chilibill :cowboy:

Originally posted by William T Brooks@Oct 10 2006, 11:16 AM
If you want to see Duke without His Hair Peace You can go to

HAIRY STORY (http://www.ranch26bar.com/HAIRYSTORY.html)
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Gee - check out the sideburns in that second to last picture! Duke was stylin' for the seventies!

Mrs. C :angel1:

Originally posted by The Ringo Kid@Oct 10 2006, 07:38 PM
Hi Sally, I used to deal in Autographs but have been out of it for about 10 years now. John Wayne's autograph was valued at around $1,600 about the time I was dealing in them. The asking price is high but not a bad price these days.

Anyone interested in a Rittmeister: Manfred von Richthoffen (aka) The Red Baron, calling card--which is boldly signed by him on the bottom of the card. Asking price is ONLY $800.00. I don't have it but, I know who does. ;-)) Comes professionally framed and matted w/ a nice photo of the Rittmeister.
35691



Well how much I might like Duke I won't pay that amount of money :huh:

Originally posted by Moonshine_Sally@Oct 13 2006, 01:42 PM
Well how much I might like Duke I won't pay that amount of money* :huh:
35864


Hi Sally, I hate to tell ya but, the price is probably much more these days. One thing is for sure, having John Wayne's autograph is a great investment. I never had one of his but I did have some from the likes of:

Humphrey Bogart, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, Ronald Reagan, James Cagney, Errol Flynn, Col. Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, William Henry Harrison, Ulysses S. Grant (who i'm somehow related to) George Armstrong Custer, George S. Patton Jr, Chesty Puller, Audie L. Murphy, Pat O'Brien, Gary Cooper, Stan Lee, Todd McFarlane, Nolan Ryan, John Severin, Russ Heath, Don Stivors, Don Trioni, Jack Kirby, Walter Nodell, Joe Kubert, Bruce Lee and Victor Tayback.

I have had other autographs as well. The above were: Actors, Presidents, Medal of Honor Recipients, Generals, Artists, Writers, Athletes and Martial Arts greats. I no longer have any of these as I sold or traded them all away years ago. :(

Originally posted by William T Brooks@Oct 10 2006, 01:16 PM
If you want to see Duke without His Hair Peace

Bill,
You just did a number on the Duke's image with those pictures you posted. I swear, that looks like a glass of milk he's holding..... :lol: :lol:

I have his autograph in a copy of the bio "Shooting Star".

Stumpy;

You got that right. At this time Duke was having Bad Stomach problems at the Bull Sale at His 26 Bar Ranch, :uhuh: and He thought that He needed something in His hand so He had a Big Glass of Milk in His hand!!! :rolleyes: :angry:

Bill :cowboy: