The thing I remember about getting my picture take with midget actor Billy Barty was that I was it was just in the nick of time as he was on his way out of the Hollywood Collector’s Show during the Summer of 1995. And so was I. Bob wasn’t with me for some reason during a portion of our second day at the show, June 25, so I didn’t really have anyone to take pictures of me and the stars. I had actually already purchased a nice shot from him of The Mickey McGuire series. The so-named Mickey would eventually become Mickey Rooney and the little, tiny co-star was later better known as Billy Barty.
It was when Bob had returned to the show to pick me up, and Mr. Barty was on his way out, that we all converged near the front door. I thought “what the hell?” and had Bob snap a photo of us together. I’m certainly glad I did. I always liked Billy Barty in such films as Foul Play and Under the Rainbow.
Two years later, I would get Mickey Rooney to sign the photo as well. He took one look at it and said to me “do you know how much this is worth?…Five hundered dollars!” - as if trying to make me feel guilty that I had only paid him $20 to sign it. I made some idiotic crack that if he personalized it, the value would not be so great. To which he scribbled his name on it and handed it back. I agree that its a nice piece, but I’d have no qualms about selling it for $499.
Celebrity encounters from the 1995 HCS will continue…
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