I remember the first time I sent fan mail to a celebrity. It was to Phill Lewis, who played Mr. Moseby in the Disney Channel sitcom, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.
Sure, I wanted to tell him that he was a star in what can only be described as the funniest piece of filmed history since the dawn of time, but I also wanted him to shout “NO RUNNING IN MY LOBBY”, just so I had an excuse not to do P.E. at school.
Believe me – this tenuous link will make sense.
Fresh after his first ever Oscar nomination for Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Richard E. Grant shared an adorable letter he wrote, at the age of 14, to his idol, Barbra Streisand. If he loves her, wait until he meets me; I may not sing as well, but my nose is a lot bigger.
In the 47-year-old letter, Richard wrote “I am fourteen years old I read in the paper that you were feeling very tired and pressurised by your fame and failed romance with Mr Ryan O’Neal,
“I would like to offer you a two-week holiday, or longer, at our house, which is very beautiful with a pool and a magnificent view of the Ezulwini Valley. Which the Swazi people call Valley of Heaven. I think you will agree when you see it,” continued Richard, who was a pretty smooth-talking teen, if you ask me.
While she didn’t take him up on his offer to stay with a 14-year-old lad, she did respond nearly 50-years-later. Which, ironically, is still a lot faster than getting a letter via Royal Mail.
The Yentl star responded on Twitter, saying “Dear Richard What a wonderful letter you wrote me when u were 14 ! and look at u now! You’re terrific in your latest movie with Melissa congratulations and love Barbra”
Richard later posted a photo (or, well, three of the exact same photo, side-by-side), showing him tearing up as his daughter read him the message Barbra had said.
If, much like Richard E. Grant and I had a friend taking photos of me now, you’d probably see some weird mosaic of the same photo thrice of me bawling at this story.
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