Unfortunately, there are a lot of ill-informed or just plain dishonest people out there trying to pass off forgeries as authentic Andy Griffith signatures.
The fact is Mr. Griffith has never attended any reunion gathering or autograph show. He rarely, if ever, signs anything anymore.
Most of the signed items you see were signed by his former Manager, Richard O. Linke, or his wife. Some of the items look like a 3 year old chimp signed them. Just about all of the signed photos you see were signed by Mr. Linke. The authentic signed photos are usually not from the show but publicity photos and most always inscribed.
I met with Mr. Linke in Mt. Airy, NC a few years back to ask him about the authenticity of a signature of Andy’s I got through the mail. He told me all of Andy’s autograph request mail was forwarded to him in California where he signed the photos and sent them out. The signature I showed him was his own. He then signed a perfect, or what I used to think was perfect, Griffith signature for me.
So this is my attempt to educate the autograph collector as to what is a good Andy signature and what is not. This is just my opinion. Please research the item(s) you are looking to purchase. An honest collector/dealer can give you all the info you want as to when, where, how a signature was obtained.
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