Considered by many as possibly the greatest player of all time, Rod “Rocket” Laver is the only tennis player to win two Grand Slams (1962 and 1969). He signed my caricature at his residence in California in June 1994.
New York born Sir Yehudi Menuhin spent most of his performing life in the UK. He is considered to be one of the great classical violinists of the 20th Century. His EMI contract lasted almost 70 years and is on of the longest in the history of the music inustry. His first recording was in 1929 at the age of 13 and his last was in 1999 aged 83, the year he passed away.
I left my sketch at his London office in 1995 and he signed and returned it with New Year’s wishes.
French fiddler Stephane Grappelli was considered ‘the grandfather of jazz violinists’. His self taught improvisation skills produced ‘tender lyricism and vivacious swing’.
He was playing concerts around the world well into his 80s. He toured New Zealand many times and signed my sketch in Dunedin in September 1991. In 1997 he received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. When asked about retirement, he said he didn’t know the word. Music was his ‘fountain of youth’. He died later that year, aged 89, after a hernia operation in a Paris clinic.
Vanessa-Mae Vanakorn Nicholson was a former child prodigy. Her father was an English hotelier of Thai descent and her mother a Chinese lawyer. She was born in Singapore, but moved to the UK at the age of 4. She describes her style as ‘violin techno-acoustic fusion’. Vanessa-Mae signed my sketch at her concert in the Queen’s Wharf Events Centre in Wellington, New Zealand on January 25th 1996. A keen skier, she now lives in Switzerland and plans to compete in the 2014 Winter Olympics in the downhill representing Thailand.
My caricature of Sir Thomas John Woodward, otherwise known as Tom Jones. He very kindly signed for me during a tour of New Zealand somewhen in the early 90’s. He’s looking slightly different now!
Edison Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pelé, is regarded by most as the best football player of all time.
Nicknamed ‘The Black Pearl’, he is the only footballer to win 3 World Cup-Winning medals (1958, 1962, 1970) and was listed as FIFA’s Player of the Century in 1999 and Athlete of the Century by the International Olympic Committee.
From 1995-1998 the Brazilian government created the Sports Ministry specifically for Pelé and made him Extraordinary Minister of Sport. While he held that title, I sent my sketch to him at the government address, and it was returned, signed!
Eric Clapton played 2 concerts at New Zealand’s Supertop at Mt Smart in Auckland on the 7/8 November 1990. I sent this caricature to the promoter and ‘slowhand’ quickly signed and returned it.
He is the only three time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a solo artist, and as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. A recipient of seventeen Grammy Awards, he is ranked second in the Rolling Stone Magazine’s list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. Eric is currently playing London’s Royal Albert Hall, until May 26th 2013.
Hollywood film noir legend Robert Mitchum spent some time in my home town of Invercargill, New Zealand in 1988. He was filming the TV spy-thriller, THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE ROSE, directed by triple Emmy winner, Marvin J Chomsky. I was fortunate to be able to spend a few days on set to write some feature articles for The Southland Times NIE pages.
Critics called Mitchum one of the finest actors of the Golden Age of Hollywood. One stated that he was an “underrated American leading man of enormous ability who sublimates his talents beneath an air of disinterest.” He was more modest. In a BBC interview he said,”Look, I have two kinds of acting. One on a horse and one off a horse.”He used to annoy fellow actors saying the profession wasn’t challenging or hard work. “You turn up on time, you learn your lines, you hit your marks, you go home.” The American Film Institute listed him as the 23rd greatest actor in American Cinema – an accolade he ignored, saying, “Movies bore me, especially my own.”
His distinctive features included his sleepy, indifferent eyes. One of his nicknames was in fact, ‘old, rumple eyes’. They were a result of boxing injuries, chronic insomnia and lots of drinking alcohol. I did a quick sketch on set, emphasising them. I think the actual day was 8.8.88. He laughed when he saw it and signed it with a question mark.
“I started out to be a sex fiend, but couldn’t pass the physical”, he once said.
Robert died on 1 July,1997 from lung cancer.
Australian icon Sir Don Bradman’s story of signing autographs is almost as legendary as his cricket feats. ‘The Don,’ widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time and statistically the greatest sportsman in any major sport, finished with a test batting average of 99.94. A ‘duck’ in his final match, just four runs short of a batting average of 100.
During the Great Depression ‘Bradmania’ was responsible for reviving the spirits of a nation. Between scoring centuries and media commitments, he spent hours answering fan mail, often hundreds a day. It was only when he reached 90 years of age did he stop signing en masse.
Among many stories was one when Sir Don was walking to a local shop, a man stopped him and asked if he was ‘Don Bradman’. He confirmed, but neither had a pen or paper for an autograph, so he asked him if he wouldn’t mind waiting so he could go and buy the necessary items to collect his signature. The man returned to find the cricketer still there and he duly signed. That wouldn’t happen with any celebrity these days!
Australian star batsman Doug Walters was part of an invitational team to play a charity match at Queen’s Park, Invercargill, New Zealand, in early 1988. I drew a caricature of him and he signed it at the ground. Later, I copied a few off and numbered them and he signed them at the Kelvin Hotel that evening. I had an idea of drawing a number of Australian Cricketing legends, including Dennis Lillee, Rod Marsh, Greg Chappell and Allan Border. Doug said most of them were playing in Tasmania the following week, so he would get them signed and returned. They were all currently playing, but the one and only Don Bradman. He had long since retired, but was still included as an administrator and selector. Doug said that Sir Don often visited the Sydney Cricket Ground where Doug had a stand named after him (demolished in 2007). In short, he was able to get Sir Don to sign ten copies of my caricature.
All were signed, dated and numbered. He also signed a run chart of his highest test innings of 334 at Headingly against England in 1930. The items were donated to charity for auction.
With all the fuss I completely forgot to get one for my own collection, so I sent another copy to Sir Don. He not only signed but also personalised it – one of my most treasured items.
Sir Don passed away on 25th February 2001 aged 92 years.
Blast from the past. Going through some of my older stuff and found this Mick Jagger signed caricature of mine. Got it signed when he did a show in Auckland, New Zealand. I can’t remember if it was the 1980’s or early 90’s, but that’s ok, I doubt Mick will remember either.
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