Tina Louise SUCCESS!

[Pat Cross]

On 3/25/12, I wrote Tina Louise, one of the famed "Gilligan's Island" actors, with an autograph request, including an SSAE and 3x5 card for signing. I received that card today, 4/5/12, signed "To Pat, All the Best, Tina Louise." She signed one side of the card, while the other side read "all autographs, photos & other $10.00 CASH. Checks not accepted, pass it on TL." It looks like I lucked out. Address used was in the database, and is below.

Tina Louise
310 East 46th Street, Apt. 24G
NYC, NY 10017-3002

[lucky1998]

I think it's ridiculous when people charge for their autographs...Good success, though!

[strelley]

You did well, I remember sending her a couple of photos and she signed one and I got a note says it was $10 per autograph, in these days I don't thank that too bad. I've been to a few celeb sites and they are selling signed photos for around $80, at that cost I don't bother unless it was say Paul McCartney.

[lucky1998]

I have one question though. What do these celebrities do if you don't send them their $10 and keep the autograph? Surely they don't track you down and demand you pay for it, right?

[Usher]

I have one question though. What do these celebrities do if you don't send them their $10 and keep the autograph? Surely they don't track you down and demand you pay for it, right?

Tina sent me a photo and added a note saying i had to pay her $10 lol That was in 2009.

[lucky1998]

I have one question though. What do these celebrities do if you don't send them their $10 and keep the autograph? Surely they don't track you down and demand you pay for it, right?

Tina sent me a photo and added a note saying i had to pay her $10 lol That was in 2010.

Kinda stupid to sign an autograph then ask this person you don't know to send ten dollars.
Seems like she would want you to send the money first.

[MW1221]

I have one question though. What do these celebrities do if you don't send them their $10 and keep the autograph? Surely they don't track you down and demand you pay for it, right?

Tina sent me a photo and added a note saying i had to pay her $10 lol That was in 2010.

Kinda stupid to sign an autograph then ask this person you don't know to send ten dollars.
Seems like she would want you to send the money first.

If you're a big enough fan, you'd respect her.

Plenty of celebrities do that, as its cheaper for everyone.

[lucky1998]

If you're a big enough fan, you'd respect her.

Plenty of celebrities do that, as its cheaper for everyone.

I guess. I was never a big fan of her on the show. She was better than the replacement in the movies, though.

[Denisrichard]

Not to mention the fact that these older celebs get NO royalities from their older work and may need the income generated by selling their autographs.....

[Wordsworth]

Agreed, especially since people are selling the autographs they're getting sometimes. I ordered an autograph from James Best's website. For fun, I checked on ebay and found that some people are ordering from his site and charging $10 more for the thing on ebay than Best does on his own site. Plus he personalizes his!

We forget sometimes that the idea of residuals really didn't catch on until much later in television history and, even then, residuals weren't always eternal. I've heard that residuals for the "Gilligan" cast members were either non-existent or limited to two or three runs in syndication, depending on who you believe. Hardly appropriate considering the years and years the show has been on the air, to say nothing of the fact that type-casting often made finding regular paying acting jobs once the show ended nearly impossible.

The average price I've seen for celebrities hawking their signatures on their own site is around $30, so $10 is a bargain for an actor on a much-loved television show, such as "Gilligan's Island".