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Meet Clayton Morar! Survivor fan, TV addict, self-proclaimed celeb-whore and autograph collector of note.


Clayton's a journo at TV Plus and the ultimate fan of everything to do with showbizzz. Last week I caught up with him to give him Autograph Number 3767 for his collection - a very special 'graph that's none other than TVSA's Brown Shuga aka Lelo Boyana.

This pic of Shuga was taken during the shoot for a feature on her in Drum magazine.


Clayton and Shuga met at the Big Brother Africa Finale and he wanted to get her autograph but things were so crazy they lost each other in the fiasco of it all and he's been wanting it ever since.

I organised with Shuga, she sent it through and I hooked up with Clayton in downtown Cape Town to add it to his collection and find out the hows and why's of his mission.

Tashi: How did it happen? What made you start collecting?
Clayton: I was 13 - exactly 11 years ago. From when I was five or six years old I’d always go to the domestic cricket games and go up to people and get their autographs. It wasn’t a serious hobby then.

Tashi: What was it that made you go up to them? Meeting the person?
Clayton: Yes - meeting them and - for me collecting autographs is like having a piece of the star. You can attach a memory to it. You can think that you met them on that day or that you shook hands - there’s that sort of a memory that goes with it.

At 13 I was very much into tennis - I loved Steffi Graff  - and one day I found a fan address in the Foschini Club magazine so I posted a letter saying “I’m a big fan, please can you send me your autograph,” and three weeks later - literally, I counted the days - her autograph came in the mail from her.

It was a postcard signed with a khoki and I was like, “Wow, if she can do it others can too,” and that’s what got it started.

This autograph from Rome's James Purefoy arrived in the post on the day we hooked up.

Tashi: If you send a letter are you more likely to get a response than if you e-mail?
Clayton: No I try to send out more e-mails than postal. I’d say 90% of the time, if you e-mail you’ll get a reply - if you get the address from one of the sites that’s very up to date. It saves you postage and you get a quicker response.


Tashi: What’s been the most difficult one to get?
Clayton: Early on in my collecting phase - I was about 14 or 15 - Kepler Wessels was still playing domestic cricket and it took me about seven times of asking him to sign for him to give it to me. Eventually he caved in just to get rid of me nagging and he scribbled it on a piece of paper.

Tashi: What was up with him?
Clayton: He just wanted to get away from the people. When he’d leave the cricket grounds there were always people around the car. I’ve learned that it’s how you approach people because you get fans who are rude and obnoxious.

How you come across to people can change how they respond to you. He could see I wasn’t rude but he just ignored me.

The one that was most difficult to get internationally was Angelina Jolie. Fans often write to movie sets for high profile stars. I tried her on a number on movie sets and then during Mr and Mrs Smith I got one back that said: “To Clayton, with love, Angelina Jolie.” That was like after the fifth try.

Tashi: That’s something I’ve always wondered - do all celebs sign the autograph or is it a copy of their signature? How do you know if something’s a forgery?
Clayton: There’s a science behind it with different types of fakes. There’s the photostated version which would be a stunning black and white picture and their autograph’s photostated with it.

Tashi: So it would be theirs?
Clayton: Yes it is. Then you get a forgery - you could get a message “To Clayton,” but you have no way of proving it was definitely written by them. Then you have to research and compare it to their real autographs that you find in different places.

Some stars will have a message to their fans on their websites and a signed autograph or their albums have their autograph - it’s sort of like handwriting analysis - you can compare how they dot their "i’s" and that sort of thing. What I’ve learned is that a signature won’t always be the same - it’s aways different - so it’s bit hard to check but you can see the difference.

Then you get the autopen - this is a huge dilemma in the autograph world - it’s a machine that accomodates up to 3000 photographs and signs them - it’s like a conveyor belt and at the end of it they’ll have a pen that signs it - most politicians use it -

Tashi: ‘cos they’re all such liars obviously –
Clayton: (laughs) ‘cos they’re all such liars - you can spot an autopen - they sometimes sign with shakey marks and the copy's of a signature are identical. People who do a lot of autopens are Geroge Bush -

Tashi: Do you have it?
Clayton: Yes I had it but didn't keep it - it’s worthless to me if it’s an autopen. Richard Gere also does a lot of them but his signing habits change. One day you’ll find someone gets an autopen or pre-print from him and then on another someone will get an original.


Tashi: You’ve got almost 4000 - where do you see your collection going?
Clayton: I want to be in the Guinness Book of World Records - that’s the ultimate aim for me. At the moment there’s no official listing - over the years I’ve read and researched and seen collectors claiming they have between 5 to 8000.

One British guy claims he has 40 000 but I doubt it’s true. If it is he’s probably someone who’s been collecting for years and years so he must be in his seventies at least. None of it’s confirmed though so I can’t take any of it as fact.

Tashi: What do you need to do to get into the Book?
Clayton: I’ve got the application forms but at the moment I don’t want to submit yet. I feel that at the moment it’s only over 3000 and I’m only 24 - I’ll hopefully do it by the age of 30.

It’s taken me from 13 to 18 to get 200 and then in six years - from 18 to 24 I got the other 3000 - on average over the past two years I’ve gotten between 700 to 1000 a year so by age 30 I should be bordering on 10 000. I feel that’s a big number so no-one can knock me out of the record book easily.


Tashi: What are your coolest autographs?
Clayton: Mother Theresa, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Meg Ryan, Jeff Probst, Channing Tatum - the guy from Step Up, Kevin Spacey, Phil Keoghan, all of the Survivor cast, Heidi Klum, Wentworth Miller, Carol King, Giuliana de Pandi, the Popstars group 101 - even though they’ve broken up I love the group and got all of their autographs the first moment I met them. They’ve got a special place in my collection.

Tashi: Survivor autographs: how many do you have?
Clayton: I’ve got 171 out of the 247 contestants that have competed on the US show - including the cast of Survivor 16 that’s currently airing in America. It’s a 69% success rate.

Everyone who’s been in the show’s in touch with everyone else and sooner or later they meet up. When you get in touch with one they know others.

One great person is Wanda Shirk - she goes to different events the Survivors have and before one I find out who’s going to be there and she gets the autographs for me.


Tashi: Who’ve you got feelers out for right now?
Clayton: I’m trying to get viable working addresses for Julia Roberts, Mariah Carey, Beyonce. Other people I’m dying for are Charlize - I wanted Lelo and now I’ve got it - McDreamy from Grey’s Anatomy, Ellen Pompeo as well, Tyra and Eva Longoria.

The West Wings' Martin Sheen

Tashi: What advice do you have for anyone wanting to collect?
Clayton: Try to define what sort of autographs you want to collect then research your best resources and start writing. When you write be sincere - people get tons of fanmail and they have people who sift through their mail so make sure you show that you’re a true fan.

They need to see that you really have watched their movies if it’s a movie star - if they don’t they might send off a photostat - what you want is for them to sign it personally. You need to keep it short and to the point but introduce yourself and let them know what you like about them.

You must also specifically state: “Please can you send me an authentic, personalized autograph made out to “Clayton”. This is important because sometimes people stand at premieres, get lots of autographs from one person and sell them on e-bay. You must be genuine in your approach so they know you don’t want to do something like that.

More 'graphs:

Band From TV - a band made up of Greg Grunberg (Heroes), Bonnie Somerville (The O.C.) Bob Guiney (The Bachelor), James Denton (Desperate Housewives and Hugh Laurie (House)

Prison Break's Sarah Wayne Callies

Fun facts on Clayton's Collection

Fave in-person signings:
Brian Adams
"I met him in Australia in 2005 - the Australian 2005 Music Awards were happening when I was in town. I convinced my friends to go and wait outside with me and Brian Adams walked past with his bodyguard. I said 'I’m a big fan,' and he signed - he was very nice."

John Malkovich
"He was in Cape Town last year filming Disgrace and I didn’t know he was in town. One Saturday a friend and I were at the V&A Waterfront, we left Pick ‘n Pay and he walked past and I was like 'That’s John Malkovich,' and my friend was like: 'Are you crazy? There’s no bodyguards.' 

I went up to him and said: ‘Hey John,' and he turned around like 'What do you want?' type thing so I asked him to sign and he was cool."

Meg Ryan and William H. Macy
"Walking past the convention centre I saw a movie set and found out it was a movie with Meg Ryan and William H. Macy. I stood across the road and eventually they left the set, walked to their limos and I got them both."

Autograph signer with the worst reputation:
"Jonny Depp - because he doesn’t want to be in the public eye so he shies away from it."

Longest wait for autographs:
Liza Minnelli - a year and a half
Cameron Diaz - over two years
John Palyok (Survivor Vanuatu contestant) - three years

The ultimate autograph to get:
"Oprah - I want to get on her show to talk about my collection and get her autograph."

Best memory-meeting local stars:
Tanya van Graan, Janez (Top Billing), Danny K, Minki Visser, Pam Andrew, Colin Moss, Sophie Ndaba, Leanne Liebenberg.

Most legendary autographs in the collection:
Sammy Davis Junior, Bob Hope, Walter Matthau

Clayton's Collection was featured on The Showbiz Report last year and he's been in the newspapers of his hometown - PE.

Clayton's Recommended Sites:

www.stefansautographs.ch
www.star-collector.net

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