Quote:
When W. C. Fields gave Bradbury his autograph, he drawled something like, "Here you are, you little nosepicker!"
Close, but not quite. I've heard Bradbury tell this story several times over the years--complete with a very good W.C. Fields impression--and he says that he sold newspapers at the corner of Santa Monica Blvd. & Western. As soon as he finished selling them--sometimes by trumpeting bogus news--he'd race over to the Paramount gates with autograph book in hand. Fields was someone he was especially eager to encounter, and finally he did. Fields glared at him, took the proffered autograph book, signed it and passed it back, saying "There you go, you little son of a bitch. That oughta hold you." Ray says he felt like he'd been knighted.