Celebrities You've Met

Cafe Society
101

I used to fly NY->LA and LA->NY on what seemed to be an extremely popular set of American Airlines flights for celebs. By chance, I’ve sat next to or across the aisle from a whole bunch of them.

The one-timers:
Alex Trebek (He slept, and snored)
Lars Ullrich (Metallica)
Rosie O’Donnell and her partner, Kelly (No kids with them.)
Phylicia Rashad (She slept and slumped over so far that she nearly fell out of her seat.)
Krist Noviselic (Nirvana)
Dame Edna (out of drag and unrecognizable)
Harry Hamlin and Lisa Rinna (They whispered, giggled and smooched a lot. Very cute.)
Bill and Camille Cosby (When I told him that I named one of my dogs “Froofie” after one of his stand-up bits, he gave me a kiss and hug.)
Dyan Cannon (The woman is eensy weensy tiny.)
Kelly Rowland (from Destiny’s Child - talked on the airphone from the moment it was permitted until she absolutely had to hang up.)
Finola Hughes (General Hospital and Charmed - drank lots of tea and went to the bathroom a lot.)
Laila Ali (Muhammad’s daughter and boxer in her own right. Wore a sleeveless dress and intimidated everyone with her amazing arms.)
Ben Stein and his wife. (She was feeling poorly and he was very solicitous of her, it was nice to see.)
James Woods (Slept.)

The Multiple-Trippers:
David Hyde Pierce (Very personable and funny and tells beautifully dirty jokes upon request, including an awful one about Moose the Dog from Frasier.)
Kristen Chenoweth (Broadway and the recent TV version of “The Music Man” - did NY to LA and back once a week for a while, the poor thing.)
Mike Myers and his wife Robin Ruzan (Very nice to everyone, surprisingly very quiet.)
Julie Andrews and Blake Edwards (She’s very nice, he’s standoffish. I once told her that she was one of my idols, she said “Oh, aim higher, dear!”)
Nathan Lane (Flew with him five times, he’s very nice but drank a troubling amount.)
LeeAnn Rimes and her husband. (Also very kissy-huggy in a young, newlywed, sweet way.)

Then there are those I’ve met in other situations, but that’s a whole other post, I think.

102

Yet another “Weird Al” meeting here.

Also:

Robert Goulet, while walking down the streets of Louisville, KY. He was in town on the touring production of “South Pacific.” We talked for about 10 minutes. I told him I loved his appearance on The Simpsons. He told me that they sent him a script of several different lines, and not all of them were anywhere related to the plot. He never went into the studio with the cast - he had to go to a local studio for his voice work. He then told me to button my coat so that I wouldn’t get sick (it was December).

Donny Osmond, who is a prick. When I was in high school, I worked at the high school radio station. My aunt’s best friend is a local deejay, and she was interviewing Osmond for a concert that night. She asked me if I wanted to sit in, to get some experience on how to interview people. She said that she’d cleared it eith his “people.” When Osmond showed up, he pitched a bitch, and refused to do the interview if I was there.

80’s rock goddess Lita Ford.

Nikki Sixx, bass player from Motley Crue.

Ajay Naidu, who played Samir Nayeenanajar is the movie Office Space. Oddly enough, this was at a Dopefest. Last January (2002), I went to the NYC fest. It was my first trip to New York, ever (by the way, I loved the city). Anyway, the first night, we met in a bar called Grassroots. Ajay was in there on his own. I was sitting at a table with thinksnow and a few others, and we kept commenting on how much this guy looked liked "that guy from Office Space. So I decided to go ask him if it was him. He said yes, and we talked for about 10-15 minutes.

Jack Blades, singer/bassist from Night Ranger and Damn Yankees.

Soap actor/singer Michael Damien.

George Carlin (to a comedian, like me, this is the equivalent of meeting God).

More to come as I think of them…

103

I haven’t had a chance to meet any Hollywood celebrities, since I don’t live in the US - but do atheletes count?

I’ve met a fair share of tennis players; had dinner with Juan Carlos Ferrero last year.

Oh, and Yao Ming, resting after a basketball match against Australia - nice chap; his English is better that what we give him credit for.

104

I get a feeling of linguistic national pride for you to get the å in there. Yeah, I met him at a party once. Excellent actor, very weird person. Reputed to have had a eidictic memory and being able to speed-read, he read a novell a day during most days of his adult life.

And re: Dennis Lyxzén, sorry, no.

105

I sat almost uncomfortably close to Oz Fox of Stryper during a wedding reception. I had taken the Dog of Honor to the wedding, and we fed him bits from our plates. I’m sure you’re all horribly jealous.

He works at a JBL warehouse now.

106

I worked in radio in the early 80s, so I met a lot of musicians at the studio and backstage.
Sting was terrifyingly tall and handsome, I was too intimidated to speak to him. But Andy Summers showed me pictures of thier trip to Peru, he was quite friendly.
Brian Setzer was adorable and very nice. Many, many, many tattoos.
Pat Travers had just come from the beach. Nice legs.
Lately I’ve been meeting authors at booksignings. Dave Barry and Carl Hiassen are both from the Miami area where I lived for many years and I have mad crushes on both of them.
But my best celebrity meeting was Michael Palin. He wrote a gorgeous coffee table book following Hemingway’s path around the world. He looked older than I was expecting but had a wicked twinkle in his blue eyes. Simply charming.
Oh, and I slow danced with Peter Tork backstage at a Monkees reunion concert a few years ago.

107

Very breifly,
Princess Diana.
Do I win?

108

As a once devout Catholic and an avid history buff, I was beyond thrilled when I was actually granted an audience with Armand Jean du Plessis, better known to the world as Cardinal Richelieu.

Unfortunately, I later learned that it was really none other than Ron Higgins, professional Cardinal Richelieu impersonator. Merde, but did I have egg, egg, baked beans and Spam on my face!

109

I used to work for a video store and I met Gary Payton and Mike Holmgren (sports celebrities) while working there. I also met Mick Foley (former WWE wrestling star, now an author) and Jon Krakauer (author of Into thin Air and Under the Banner of Heaven) at book signings.

110

Let’s see… almost everybody currently in the Allman Brothers Band (Gregg Allman, Butch Trucks, Jaimoe, Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks, Oteil Burbridge), the Derek Trucks Band (DT, Yonrico Scott, Kofi Burbridge, Mike Mattison), Gov’t Mule (Warren, Matt Abts, Danny Louis), plus Dickey Betts and most of his band.

Ben Stein
Jon Stewart (his favorite episode of the Daily Show was also mine! :D)
Al Franken
Jason Newsted (ex-Metallica)
Audley Freed (ex-Black Crowes)
Dick Griffin (jazz trombonist and painter, really sweet guy. Interviewed him for a website.)
Edgar Winter
Robert Randolph

Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, and a lot of other actors since I usually hang around stage doors after shows… I’d have to go through my desk drawers full of programs to figure out who I spoke to. Not happening right now. :stuck_out_tongue:

Matthew Broderick. We were both in the audience for something on Broadway. Sorta awkward.

Arthur Miller, almost. “Almost” because I’m a yutz.

Billie Jean King (jerk)
Jeff Goldblum (he was in The Exonerated and preferred to hit on a girl who was way too young for him)

uglybeech: I think I said a few words to Leon Lederman too! I saw him speak and bought one of his books. He gave a talk with John Allen Paulos.

So, how vain is he, really?

I guess my favorite Prof. at school isn’t a celeb, but he’s won the National Magazine Award a couple of times and is about the most respected travel writer out there, I think. And he used to play trumpet in a band with Johnny Winter. Also, my girlfriend’s mom hosts a weekly radio show and reports for NPR. And I’m willing to bet I know one or two musicians who’ll be famous in the future, but I’ll count them later. :wink:

111

Okay…celebrities I’ve actually met not just seen? Narrows it down a bit, but I still have a few.

Ariana Richards–the little girl from Jurassic Park–was looking to buy zebra finches at the pet store I worked at for a very short time. She was actually my last customer–it was 10min before closing time on my last day. I recommended they go somewhere else as our finches looked awful.

Maureen McCormick, “Marsha Brady.” Ran into her years ago when she was mostly focused on being a mom. I was 16 and working at Marshall’s; she shopped there every now and then. I inadvertantly called her a slob once: I had just cleaned the children’s clothing department before ringing up a few customers. While walking through the department after them, I found all these clothes thrown on the ground. I said to myself, “What slob did this??” …turned the corner, and here’s a sheepish Marsha Brady smiling at me in embarrassment. Basically, whatever she found that she wanted, she threw on the ground. I asked if I could give her a cart–naw, she was fine. Umm…oooookaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.

Mickey Rooney was at a local 50’s diner. He was a stereotypical bitter, dirty old man, looking my friend and I up and down while complaining about TV today being a bunch of crap, and how he built Paramount studios, and how that Jane Seymour is a bitch, blah blah blah. Really a sad encounter.

Erik and Lanie from Warrant…Okay, I know that barely counts, but it’s something. They were roommates of a friend of mine (not a member of the band) and we’d often hang out at their house (this is long after the glory days). Erik’s girlfriend, soon wife, was always there–she was a regular on Baywatch (but a regular with no lines–she just ran around in the red swimsuit). So when I was invited to a pool party at their house, I showed up in shorts. When a friggin’ Baywatch babe is flaunting her stuff in a string bikini, it is best to avoid swimsuits at all costs!

Most of the rest of my interactions involve people from horse racing, most of which none of you would recognize. Although…I have met and chatted with Gary Stevens, who played George Woolf in Seabiscuit. He’s a really nice fellow, I’m happy to say.

112

Off the top of my head, one writer, one basketball player, and some musicians:

Anne Rice
Sweet Lou Dunbar
Cryptopsy
Dimmu Borgir
Explosions in the Sky
Calla
Spoon

Now, autographs…add to that mix Clive Barker, Mickey Mantle, and Casey Stengal (sp?), among some others.

113

Were any of them in…Imperiet? Heh.

114

My mom danced with President Lyndon Johnson on several occasions. She said he was a pincher.:stuck_out_tongue:

My dad and I met then Vice-President Bush at the Vice President’s residence back in the ealry 1980’s. My dad was working on the White House account for IBM and word came that the Vice President was looking to get a PC, so my dad was the one selected to go and I got to go along. Bush was quite nice and very polite.
When I was in 10th grade I interviewed Arch Campbell, (the entertainment/movie critic for WRC Channel 4 in Washington DC) for my oral communications class.

When I worked in the music department at Barnes N’ Noble in Rockville MD, I:

  1. helped Lea Thompson (used to be a news anchor on WRC Channel 4 in Washington DC) find some CD’s and rang her up. Being under those harsh Tv lights for over 20 years did quite a job on her skin.:eek:

2)Helped Ted Koppel find some CD’s and a few books.

  1. Helped Lynda Carter find some books and CD’s. Positively HUGE boobs and she wasn’t wearing a bra.:smiley: :smiley: :smiley: :smiley: :smiley: :smiley: :smiley:

I’m friends with Josh Beverly, former lead singer of The Murder Junkies the band that used to be fronted by the late G. G. Allin.

My brother is on a first name basis with Michael Eisner.

115

I met Eileen Ivers when she played a small concert at the UT music hall.
I almost literally ran into Alain Prost at the USGP back in 2001.
Met and chatted briefly (very briefly) with Patty Wagstaff at the airshow in Tullahoma, TN.
Met Alan Kulwicki at an autograph session at Hooters just hours before he was killed in the plane crash. Since he was a mechanical engineer by training, I had him sign an engineering textbook of mine (before I jumped into architorture). He laughed and said “I remember that stuff. Good luck.”
A few years back, my brother crossed paths with Ozzy Osborne at the Peabody in Memphis.

116

“B movie scream queen” Monique Gabrielle
Surreal artist Robert Williams
Mad magazine artist and writer Duck Edwing
Underground cartoonist Gilbert Shelton
Magicians Penn & Teller
F1 and Indy Car champ Nigel Mansell
Blues singer and former porn star Kandy Kane

Had a chance to talk to Randy California of Spirit but didn’t know who he was at the time.

And my favorite “brush with greatness” story took place after mario Andretti’s final career Indy Car win at Phoenix International Raceway. I was standing at the podium, when some white haired guy pushed his way past me to the front. I thought to myself, who is that pushy old guy. When he climbed upon the podium, I realized it was Paul Newman. So I like to tell people that I was shoved by Paul Newman.

Tried to get a picture of him, but he turned his head. Have seen him at other races but never gotten as close. He has a sixth sense about photographers, I think. Every time I’ve tried to get his picture, he turns away. So I thought about coming out with a book, “The Back of Paul Newman’s Head.”

117

Since writers count, I’ll throw in the ones I’ve met at a few signings and Bouchercons (mystery convention):

Loren Estleman, who was gracious. We chatted about Sherlock Holmes, and it turns out he started his writing career with a few pastiches in that line.

Ian Rankin, great writer and great fun in a bar. At the DC Bouchercon, he came in nearly scalped. His child got hold of a flow-bee and wanted to try it on him, so he ended up with this “attacked by shears” look.

I was invited along to dinner with John Gilstrap and Jeffrey Deaver at the same DC con. Spotted Val McDermid in the book room and bought a book for her to sign.

I’ve also met at a booksigning and corresponded with Bernard Cornwell for awhile. At a writer’s conference in Wilmington, N.C., I ran into him outside one of the buildings and talked to him about the profession while he smoked a cigar.

Oh, and Tamar Myers killed me off in one of her books as revenge for a bad review I gave one of her books. (She did ask if she could do that; how could I refuse?). But having my body pecked by vultures was really too much, don’t you think? :wink:

118

Oh wait, I forgot the best one! ** I PEED ON FIDEL CASTRO!! ** Of course, I was only a few months old at the time so my memory of the even is dim at best, but I have seen the picture, and it’s a pisser! yuck yuck yuck…

119

Ben Folds, three times. He’s really easy to get a hold of after his concerts if you wait around long enough, and he’s just as funny and friendly after his shows as he is during them. I’m almost glad he’s not more famous than he is because then he wouldn’t be able to do stuff like that anymore.

120

I’ve met a few. No one enormously huge, but notable.

First celeb I ever met was Ghan Wilson, a well known cartoonist and soon to be known Lovecraftian writer. He hung out at my house one evening with friend John Dennett (fairly well known sculpter who got started in the biz working for my dad).

Second one I met was Dom DeLouise at the Springfield Mall in PA. He was signing a cookbook he wrote. I was very young, but remember him being very nice and funny.

Shortly thereafter my father took me to a Star Trek convention and I met George Takei , but I don’t really remember that encounter very well. got his autograph and shook hands and stuff. There were a couple other sci-fi people there but I don’t remember who.

Briefly met fantasy writer Terry Brooks.

When i was 16 I met and got my picture taken with Mr. T. That’s probably one of my favorite celeb moments because…well…come on, it’s Mr. T!

Hung out back stage with the english band Catherine Wheel who later invitedme and a friend out for coffee, but we were in NYC and had to catch out train back to Philly and had to decline. Also back stage at the show I was talking to this beautiful blone for a good 10 minutes before I realized it was ex-Belly singer Tanya Donnelly who was incredibly sweet.

I gave Dave Grohl of Nirvana/Foo Fighters my lighter so he could toast a marshmallow on stage at a Foo show. He thanked me, but that was about it for our exchange.

Also of Nirvana fame, I very briefly talked to Krist Novoselic at a show he was at for his ex-band Sweet 75.

I have hung out on several occasions with the members of Sunny Day Real Estate after shows. They are all probably the nicest musicians in the world. They truly care about their fans. Three of the four members have since gone and formed a new band called The Fire Theft which is also fantastic. Met them after one of thise shows as well.

I have had beers on two seperate occasions with the LA based band Gwen Mars, who are very personable and friendly, and remembered my name the second time they came around which blew my mind.

I talked to Rachel Goswell of Slowdive/Mojave 3 fame a couple times. Mind bogglingly beautiful and incrdibly nice to boot.

Talked to Neil Halstead, also of Slowdive/Mojave 3 fame after one of his solo shows. We both got to the show late from geting lost using the same exact MapQuest directions, and had a good chuckle over that.

I briefly met BRUCE CAMPBELL aka ASH from Evil Dead at a horror con in Baltimore. Got a great picture of him.

Also at that con I met famed director/special fx make-up guru Tom Savini who unfortunately was a complete dickhead to me. I don’t know if he was having a bad day or is always like that, but his attitude toward me (a huge fan) was really shitty. I still love his work though. And again, at the same con I talked to Michael Berryman at great lengths about everything from life, philosophy, Bill Hicks, memories, his work in The Hills Have Eyes, and his experiances being friends with Brandon Lee and filming his cut scenes in The Crow. He was one of the most fascinating and intelligent people I have met. We corresponded over e-mail and instant messanger for a while, but have since lost touch.

Through out the years I have met other bands and the occasional sci-fi personality, but really don’t feel like racking my brain.

A story of my father’s though (who himself is welll known in his field of sculpting) definitely takes the cake. He was in Wisconsin, promoting his company at a convention, and it just so happened that comedian Andy Kauffman was staying at the same hotel for a show he was doing later that night. They got onto the elevator togther and rode in silence, save for the munching of the pear Andy was eating. My father broke the silence by extending his hand and saying, “Mr. Kauffman, I just wanted to tell you that I really appreciate your art.” Andy stared him down and leeringly asked, “Reeeeaaaallyyy?” My father stared him back down and confidently replied, “Yes. Really.” At that point Andy broke into a huge genuine smile, shook my father’s hand, patted his shoulder, and said, “Thank you. That honestly means a lot to me.” The elevator then reached bottom, they said their goodbyes and parted ways.

He’s met many celebrities, but that was always my favorite.