Late Beverly Hills Cop Asked Celebs For Autographs Instead Of Tickets?
BEVERLY HILLS (CBS) — Police officers often ask you to sign a traffic ticket, but one late Beverly Hills cop took that to extremes.
Roy D. Garrett, who retired in the 70s and died about 15 years ago, collected a "Who's Who" of Hollywood royalty of the 50s, 60s and 70s.
Garrett had a penchant for getting autographed photos from the famous, and now, his priceless collection is being auctioned off by Heritage House of Beverly Hills.
Most notably, he got a rare Marilyn Monroe autograph. She wrote, "To Roy, Love & Kisses and -- Thanks for keeping me out of the clink!"
Amy Johnson, reporting for CBS2 and KCAL9, spoke to Margaret Barrett of Heritage Auctions.
She revealed the collection also included Tarzan star Lex Barker, Tony Curtis, Jane Wyman, Clark Gable, Jimmy Stewart and Ginger Rogers. There's also Greta Garbo, Errol Flynn, Dorothy Lamour, Rex Harrison and Susan Hayward.
A grateful Dean Martin wrote, "To Roy, my new friend and pal."
"Roy started working in 1946 and I believe he retired in the early 70s," Barrett said. "And he worked in Beverly Hills and this was where all the movie stars lived. He was here during the golden era of Hollywood."
It's unclear if Garrett actually wrote the stars tickets -- or whether he got the autographs in a barter to get out of the ticket. Barrett laughs, "It would only be speculation. It's hard to know all these years later. For whatever the reason, it's clear these stars liked giving them to him."
Garrett's daughters decided to auction off the collection after the recent death of their mother.
The auction is scheduled to take place later this month.
