Rona Barrett-Signed Photograph (Gossip Columnist) for Sale

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Rona Barrett-Signed Photograph (Gossip Columnist) For Sale

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Rona Barrett-Signed Photograph (Gossip Columnist):
$8.00

8x10 B&W glossy photograph signed in blue felt tip ink by Rona Barrett. In great condition.
Rona Barrett is an American gossip columnist and businesswoman. She runs the Rona Barrett Foundation, a non-profit organization in Santa Ynez, California, dedicated to the aid and support of senior citizens in need. She became a gossip columnist for the Bell-McClure Syndicate in 1957, and soon went to work for Bob Marcucci, the manager for teen idols Frankie Avalon and Fabian. In 1966, she began broadcasting Hollywood gossip on the Los Angeles television station KABC-TV. She could be seen on TV regularly, appearing on ABC\'s five owned and operated stations around the country. WABC-TV in New York put her pre-recorded gossip segment into its nightly local news, but anchor Roger Grimsby generally introduced it by making disparaging comments about her. Barrett made Frank Sinatra\'s enemies list by criticizing his personal life, particularly his relationships with his children. Barrett also angered actor Ryan O\'Neal after she wrote some unflattering things about him. To retaliate, he supposedly sent her a box containing a live tarantula. She developed the first in-depth personal TV specials about film, television, music, sports, and political celebrities, and she had a series of magazines on the entertainment industry that were top-rated at newsstands, including Rona Barrett\'s Hollywood: Nothing but the Truth, published by Laufer Media. She also appeared on Jack Paar Tonite, where she clashed with Clement Freud. Barrett began appearing on Good Morning America in 1975. In 1980, she moved to NBC\'s Today Show and was signed to co-host NBC\'s Tomorrow with Tom Snyder, but a public feud with Snyder, who regarded her as a correspondent rather than a co-host and refused to allow her segment to lead the show even when she had a major interview, resulted in her quitting the program in June 1981. She attempted other projects at NBC that either were rejected by the network as too costly or, in the case of Television: Inside and Out, were relegated to poor timeslots. After leaving NBC, Barrett was a senior correspondent for Entertainment Tonight from 1983 to 1986. In 1989, she briefly returned to NBC to host 10 episodes of the morning show At Rona\'s. In 1990, she made a guest appearance as an interviewer at WWF\'s WrestleMania VI at Skydome (now Rogers Centre) in Toronto.
This lot came from the Jim Wiggins collection we purchased in July 2022. Jim Wiggins accumulated the most unique and valuable autograph collection over a period of 70-plus years. He obtained his collection either in person or by writing to persons of fame and notoriety.
Comes with a full Letter of Authenticity from Todd Mueller Authentics if the lot sells for $10 or more.