Celebrity Outreach
[ 6 November 2007 ]
I have a recurring fantasy which involves me writing a letter to a celebrity & changing their life, somehow. Just in some small way — giving them a bit of unexpected support. I have learned what a difference it makes. In this fantasy, it’s always a celebrity who has fallen from grace in some way, or who is no longer “A List” for whatever reason. Someone who I think needs a bit of love & encouragement.
I think about writing to Michael1 Jackson & telling him what a genius he is — that I have faith in him, that I believe in his talent, & that I’d be totally keen to ride a carousel with him someday.
I imagine writing to Michael1 J. Fox, saying how much I loved him in The Secret Of My Success, & that I hope his family is happy & healthy & that they all have breakfast in bed together on Sunday mornings.
I don’t know why, but it really tugs at my heart-strings to think of ex-celebrities sitting around, lonely in their enormous homes. No fan mail, or maybe just one letter a week from that slightly crazy old woman in Ohio who has been writing since the start of their career. It must be hard to go from worldwide adoration to D List.
If you’re interested in participating in my ageing celebrities outreach program (hee!), you can find addresses here. Who would you write to, & what would you say?
[1] Has anyone noticed that people named Michael tend to be unconventionally charismatic creatures? Michael Douglas, Michael Hutchence, Michael Jordan…
Super-love & cupcakes,
Gala 
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I don’t know about Michael Richards, though….So many Michaels!
Oh, I’ve been thinking of doing exactly the same with Britney Spears… But then I feel she gets thousands of letters she never reads, so I would feel sad if she never answers to me :(. Everybody makes fun of my fascination for Britney, but she is a great memory from my childhood, one of her songs make me feel in love for the first time, and I dunno, just good memoirs.
Haha, but sometimes I feel really important when you answer to my comments.
And by the way, my boyfriend and I are planning to move to Australia… I’m like totally in shock, is not like we are moving tomorrow, more like in two years, but is so for sure… I’m just getting use to the idea of living in Sweden and we are already thinking on moving to Australia!!!!!!!!
Hahaha, and like you say “Super-love & cupcakes”, now I answer “Super-love & Swedish Pancakes!”
ooh! I once wrote to Zach Braff after the success of “Garden State” telling him that I was a fan and warning him not to let fame get to him.
I love this post!
Gala, you’re so cute!
This post is awesome! I’d definitely be up for it.
I used to write to celebrities who weren’t very famous (either they never were very famous, like character actors, or they were popular for only a little while), but who I liked, because I thought it might make them smile. I even wrote to “Mr. Feeny” from Boy Meets World once! Which was probably my favorite letter I’ve written ever, because I loved that show when I was younger, and he was my favorite. I felt a bad when I hadn’t seen him in much since then… same with most of the BMW cast mates. They were all so important to me back then!
To be fair to Michael J Fox, he CHOSE to be an ‘ex-celebrity’ so he could focus his energy on Parkinson’s disease, both his own and that of other people. Because of that, can I suggest we name him a Mega-celebrity rather than an ex-celeb?
Mind you, I’ve had a huge soft-spot for MJF ever since I saw an interview with him around the time he ‘retired’. He talked about how long he’d had PD (years before he made it public), how he coped, what he was trying to do for other people with the disease. The best bit was when he was asked about having the disease and he said, ‘Well, I can make a great martini now!’
He’s got a fatal disease, and instead of moaning, he’s devoting himself to making life easier for other people with the disease and poking fun at his situation…. love him. So worth fan mail.
P.S. I just checked out the site for his foundation – he’s raised/given over $95 million!
Oh my gosh I would so write to that girl from GhostWriter; what was her screen name? ...LENNI! I thought she was the coolest & she was definitely my fashion idol. I wear cabbie caps to this day in honor of her.
Totally with you on the M.J there. I adore him and I did actually write him a letter once. I can’t remember where I sent it though. I’d write to Giovanni Ribisi because I love him and he is a fabulous actor. Most of you would know him as Phoebe’s brother Frank Jnr on Friends. I often think he wouldn’t get much fan mail and it would be cool if he wrote back. Oh and Gala you probably know this already (being her model and all) but Vanda has a new typewriter necklace that you would love! I thought of you as soon as I saw it!
Wow this is true.. after years of having the world love them with tons of fan-mail interviews & the like they become “d-grade” and then all they have is money… which wouldnt b too bad i think they would feel mega lonely..
I can’t think of anybody to write to :S i was thinking of Ringo Star (mainly coz i love the beatles and i loved it when he voiced Thomas the tank engine! &two of his band mates died) But im not sure if he is d-grade..
Oh and i was also wondering if you were going to have an article on icing day before the end of the week?? Mayb give us a hint to what you will be celebrating ;D
xx strawberry kisses
I would write to Robert Plant (led zeppelin singer), cause he still is awesome, and GOSH he was SEXY back in the 70s!! Sexiest man ever!
Led Zeppelin is one of the things that really make me happy; just tell him how great he is :)
I would write to Zach Braff too. Scrubs is like the only tv-series I watch (influence of my boyfriend xD)...though I fell asleep while watching Garden State hahaha
Cute post Gala :D
I just wrote a love letter to Richard Dean Anderson who played Macgyver!!!
Adorable post! <3
I used to regularly write to Jonathan Taylor Thomas (that delicious hunk from Home Improvement) when I was in middle school, and even got a few handwritten responses here and there. (Which I, of course, still have to this day.)
I’m a bit tempted to take your advice Gala dear. I think I’ll drop a line to Mark Hamill, for whom I shall always nurse a soft spot in my heart. Yes, Luke Skywalker was my first “celebrity crush.” I told my mom I was going to marry him someday when I was 5.
I want to write to Owen Wilson! I’ve been watching Wedding Crashers and You, Me and Dupree too many times this week. I love all of his movies and each character he chooses to play is uplifting and a free spirit. I hope he’s doing well now after all that’s happened, he seems like SUCH a nice person.
My father-in-law wrote to Sophia Loren many years ago after she had a miscarriage. It was just a short message sharing his condolences and prayers for her and her family.
She hand-wrote a letter back to him thanking him for his kindness. It was a very sweet letter. He still has it framed.
aurea — The sort of music people like is so personal to them & yet soooo many people feel like it’s alright to get all “music police” on it. Which is hogwash, if music makes you happy then you should listen to until your ears bleed! & wow! Australia! Whereabouts & how come? It’s crazy, at the moment it seems like there’s a mass exodus & everyone’s coming to Australia!
Leanna — Hahah, that is so cute. Zach Braff is great.
Elizabeth — That’s really sweet. I love the underdog sometimes. Like I always used to like odd numbers better than even numbers, because even numbers always had someone to pair up with & with odd numbers, one of them was left out… o_O
Fleur — Ahh, I didn’t know he chose to drop out of the fame game, I thought it was just a consequence of his Parkinson’s. I read a bit about the medicine he takes & how you build up a tolerance to it after a while, which is a scary thought. It must be hard to deal with your body rebelling against you. I LOVE that martini line though, aahahah! That is so awesome! God, I love him even more now.
Lou — Oh my god, you should totally tell her. She would die of joy :D
Lady Smaggle — I feel really sorry for zee King o’ Pop sometimes. I still love him though.
EmmaRose — I was going to write a reminder notice, yup! Maybe I’ll give you a hint… hmmmm… !
fran — Do it, do it, do it!
sarahjane — Ahhhhhhhh you’re the coolest girl who ever lived!!!! Did you send it?!
Aarika — I used to LOVE JTT! Him & Macaulay Culkin. Yes. Though mostly because I was “supposed” to have a crush on a boy star, I think. Anyway, they were my two boys. I can’t believe he wrote back, how amazing is that? Is he still acting? It would be so funny to meet him for lunch & show him those letters, hahaha. He’d probably be so embarrassed ;>
A*my — Now that you should definitely do. I think he probably needs it.
tee tee — That is incredibly lovely & even more so that she wrote back. Awh.
I wrote to Paul Dano [of Little Miss Sunshine fame] when I first saw him in this [in retrospect, rather bad] Lifetime movie, “Too Young to be a Dad.” He wrote back and said it was the first piece of fanmail he’d ever received :D (i was also a creep and figured out his house number, so i sent it there since i couldn’t find any info for a manager).
I think the letter’s still in my storage space in California, but I wish I had it right about now.
oh god, i completely agree with what you said about people named michael – i have fallen in love with two of them because of it, haha.
Sometimes, I really want to write to young celebs and tell them that they’re perfect the way they are, and not to worry about trying to live up to a certain standard their previous generation has left.
Or… write to Kirsten Dunst to tell her how adorable she was in Marie-Antoinette.
I’m obsessed with that movie.
ohhh i was OBSESSED with Michael J. Fox and Back to the Future when I was little. teehee!!
(and my daddy’s name is Michael. haha)
aww you’re so cute. it tickles my heart to see that there are still compassionate ppl in this world. ive been around too much jadedness.
I once wrote to David Boreanaz because I was desparately in love with him and also really wanted to be an actor but he didn’t write back. I was 13 and it broke my heart. Sadness! I have not written to a celeb since!
But the nicest celeb types I have ever met were the Living End. Seriously the most approachable boys around. I also have a friend who gives Chris Cheney letters everytime she goes to a concert and he ALWAYS has time for her. He takes her aside and has little chats with her about what is going on with her life. She had alot of serious issues which she is finally getting past and I think he has alot to do with it.
Back in the day when i was a silverchair fan, i sent Daniel Johns a hand-made bday card (it was when he was ill with anorexia/ arthritis etc) and i received a lovely handwritten letter back from him thanking me for the gesture and saying he really appreciated my wishes….
Gotta love those nice Aussie boys!
xxx
i’ve been meaning to write to wendy richard and mollie sugden from Are you being served? it may be really old but i love that show!
I’ve only ever dated guys called Michael – I knew there was a reason!
my dad is unconventionally charismatic for a sports shop salesman, probably because he’s called Odd Ray Michael. i kid you not. my grandparents were, er, slightly “original” in the baby name department, long before the celebrities, i might add…
This morning I sent off a card to Christopher Walken!
I would love to write to that dude who played Neil in “The Young Ones.” He was just adorable…
Ahh! what a cool topic.
I always think about this when I can’t sleep.
In my head I write letters and think about them reading them and hoping that they’ll care.
I’ve always wanted to write to Courtney Love, even though the way she keeps changing her face, I feel like really I don’t know her anymore – not that I ever did but hey! :)
I also in a really daggy moment wanted to write to Kevin Costner… yikes!
ahahhaha
I’ve also had a crush on Michael J. Fox for ages too!
hee hee
:)
ooohh and I almost forgot!
I wrote a fan letter to Troy Newman when I was 12. He was a gorgeous Australian pop star that only had one real big hit but he was stunning…
the whole Johnny Depp hair and mysterious dark eyes!
His LP was called ‘Gypsy Moon’, so I made him a card with a drawing of a gypsy caravan on it and a letter inside.
I only ever received a letter back from his fan club asking for $15 to join and get a photo in return.
My big sister paid for my membership and I cherished those photos and posters so much!
10 years later I searched for him all over the internet and sent an email to an address I found telling how much I loved his music and wondered what he was up to know.. I received a reply telling me that he’s passed away of a drug overdose 2 years before in Europe and that I should send my condolences to his family in Perth. I never could find their details though. So sad :(
I dunno… my brother’s name is Michael. Clearly he must be the exception.