# Brushes with FAME **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 26, 2000, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brushes-with-fame/23590 "2000-06-26T16:52:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BigGiantHead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b4bc9f/32.png) [@BigGiantHead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigGiantHead)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2000, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brushes-with-fame/23590/21 "2000-06-27T04:21:25Z")
Bjorn Borg’s house was right down the street from the little tiny private high school I went to in Greenwich, CT. One time, I was walking “into town” and heard a swishing noise approaching. Looked over my shoulder just in time for him to pass by on his bike and say “Hello” to me. Later that same year, I ate dinner at a restaurant right next to WWF honcho Vince McMahon - IIRC, their HQ is in Stamford, CT. Went to a little comedy club in NYC and there was a surprise appearance by David Brenner - he was polishing his act for an upcoming Letterman. Our seats were practically ON stage and he ended up bouncing a few questions off me. That’s it! But my ex has got about a million of these… if yer good, I’ll get her to fill in! ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2000, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brushes-with-fame/23590/22 "2000-06-27T04:21:48Z")
The little girl from Jurassic Park is **Ariana Richards.** She all growed up now. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2000, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brushes-with-fame/23590/23 "2000-06-27T04:45:08Z")
I’ve mentioned it before, but I’ve worked with both my college activities board and our local folk/Americana concert series, so I’ve met quite a few folks. In college, I had dinner with the Indigo Girls and with Andy Richter, and got to meet Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Elie Wiesel, Spalding Gray, the guys from Widespread Panic, and a few others I can’t think of. Via the concert series, I’ve met Bruce Hornsby, John Prine, Suzanne Vega, Leon Redbone (actually argued with him for about ten minutes over the theatre’s cut of the merchandise sales–that was weird), Arlo Guthrie, Bela Fleck, David Crosby, Roger McGuinn, and several others. Dragwyr: > [@](#): > > Being a Magician who attends conventions regularly, I come in contact with several well known magicians every year > including George Johnstone, Gay Blackstone (Harry Jr.'s wife), Michael Finney, etc. This year, I’ll meet Jeff McBride. Does that count? Are you doing the McBride Master Class? That should be cool as hell. I just bought his Card Manipulations videos on eBay a few weeks ago, so as you can imagine, I’m not quite there. Dr. J ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2000, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brushes-with-fame/23590/24 "2000-06-27T04:57:14Z")
I think I’ve told my Billy Crystal, Val Kilmer, and Lou Diamond Phillips stories too many times, but here’s one I don’t think I’ve shared: Dave Barry. I may well be the only person in America or, indeed, the world, with a book autographed by Dave Barry to “Mr. Chuckletrousers.” Envy me. ---
**Author:** ![VaHermit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ed655f/32.png) [@VaHermit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VaHermit)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2000, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brushes-with-fame/23590/25 "2000-06-27T09:34:00Z")
This is probably too old to count here, but my brother was married (now divorced) to the daughter of Spike and Valley Mae Stroop, Who were pretty famous in the 60’s. They hosted a bluegrass TV show here in Va. called the “Valley Barn Dance” and played several times at the Opry. Through them, I met Roy Clark, String Bean and Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, great entertainers and human beings all. Probably not what you’re looking for, but a high point in my teenage years, so I thought I’d mention it. ---
**Author:** ![MannyL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MannyL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MannyL)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2000, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brushes-with-fame/23590/26 "2000-07-02T05:06:10Z")
Along the vein of being on MTV, I met Jesse Camp, and Carson Daly. I’ve also met Vanilla Ice, Crystal Waters, Eddie Money, and Amber. I’ve been on Stage with K-7 and Quad City DJ’s ---
**Author:** ![Nilvedman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/46a35a/32.png) [@Nilvedman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nilvedman)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2000, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brushes-with-fame/23590/27 "2000-07-02T05:16:56Z")
Actually, I have a pretty cool story for here. Last summer, eight kids from my high school got a chance to sing with Shania Twain at the Fleet Center in Boston. And I was one of them! We sang backup in “God Bless the Child” or something like that. Unfortunately, she never talked to us, but she did say we had good blend during the sound check. And I got to be on the news! All in all, a pretty good day. PS - The Boston Globe said that we were pretty good, too. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2000, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brushes-with-fame/23590/28 "2000-07-02T05:22:48Z")
dropzone said: “So the famous Kilmers are all related? I always wondered about that.” All the ones of whom I am aware. nacho4sara said: “I met that Rudy guy (he was a short little guy who played football and had a movie about him made…Parks? I forget his last name). He did a speech at my school and hung out backstage with me (I did lights for tech crew) and even wrote me a college recommendation.” That Rudy guy’s name is Daniel Ruettiger, or something like that. In grade school I had a classmate who lived next door to Darrell Green. She says on Halloween he kept all his lights off and even though the cars wre in the driveway, no matter how many times you rang the doorbell nobody answered. Or that might not have been Darrell Green. She claimed to live near a lot of Redskins back in the early 90s. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brushes-with-fame/23590.md?page=1)