Meet Radio Man: Autograph King, Friend of George Clooney, ‘Bum’
In the billion-dollar industry of professional “graphing” — collecting celebrity signatures for resale — nobody does it like Radio Man.
Autograph hunters surround Steven Spielberg (left, in cap and mask) as he was ushered into the Writers Guild Awards. The “graphers” waited outside for hours before the event, to no avail. Credit... Jonah Rosenberg for The New York Times
On a blustery February evening in Midtown Manhattan, opposite an unmarked side entrance to the Ed Sullivan Theater, a crowd of more than 60 people stood crushed against a row of steel barricades. They all knew that at any moment, Harrison Ford would arrive for an appearance on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.” They elbowed and cursed one another, jockeying for position, each clutching a sheaf of photographs for Mr. Ford to sign.
They weren’t fans — not most of them, anyway. They were “graphers,” who make a living by hounding celebrities for autographs and selling them to the highest bidder. For many of them, graphing is a full-time job. Some have been at it for decades. They can flip a single signature for anywhere from $25 to more than $1,000, depending on a star’s cachet and how frequently they sign. A Harrison Ford autograph, for example, retails for about $750.
