Cherry, that much I guessed. It’s this part that doesn’t make any sense to me: “he asked me where I was from because I said something with double in it.”
Bring it on, geezer-boy! (Narrows eyes in George-Bush-let’s-kick-everybody’s-ass manner)
Now I realize this is reeeeaaally a stretch, but I did once meet the daughter of the man who invented the Moog synthesizer. She’s not a celeb, and neither was her father, but she *is * very nice and the story of how her father invented the synthesizer is very interesting. She also taught me the correct pronunciation of his (and her) name: “mOHg”. I had always thought it was “mOOg”.
Also met Amy Carter a few times.
This doesn’t qualify as a meeting, but the most floored I was by any e-mail I ever received was when I received one from Pem Farnsworth .
“Who the hell is Pem Farnsworth?”, thou asketh? Well suh, she is the widow of Philo T. Farnsworth (a name you couldn’t make up), the Mormon prodigy who was born in a log cabin and first envisioned the possibility of television when he was a 14 year old plowing a field and thinking of how the rows of turned earth reminded him of energy waves he’d read of in a borrowed book. More to the point, in 1927 Pem became the first person ever to appear on TV (and the only one ever to receive a 100% share of every TV viewer on earth) when her husband broadcast her image from one side of his San Francisco lab to another. Then came the collusions of the Russian-born rival inventors (Sarnoff & Zworykin), the financial might of RCA, years of litigation over who did what, a major blow to history caused by a butthole manager who wouldn’t let Farnsworth take family leave to bury a son who died in infancy, and the result was that TV didn’t enter the home until the late 1940s when it could have been in place by the mid 30s. Can you imagine how much different the world would have been (for better or for worse) if we’d had TV during WW2?
Anyway, a few years ago I received a very short “thank you” e-mail from her for some comments I made about her husband on a web-site I didn’t realize she was associated with. I was stunned that she was still alive and stunned that she reads e-mail (though I’m guessing somebody else typed and pressed send, though it would be cool if the opposite were true).
Walloon I think because I was spelling my sisters name which is Farrah, so I said double R. I’m not sure if thats a very British thing to say but I’m guessing so.
Reviving an old thread I guess. The only celebrity I know (semi-celebrity I guess) is Pem Farnsworth. She’s a good friend of my family, and I talk to her often. Though she now lives far away from where I live, up until 5 or so years ago, she lived only two miles away. The last time I saw her was in September of 2003 (about when this thread was last posted in), when she went to California for the technical Emmy awards (at which she presented an award). She’s a very kind person, and incredibly intelligent with an amazing memory for someone her age (95).
Sampiro, I can’t say for sure whether she actually sent the email you received, but it very well could have been.
Arlo Guthrie, Pete Seger
Don King
Areosmith Stayed at a Hotel where I was working, they had all the booze taken out of the mini bars and fresh juice and bottle waters put in instead. I thought that was cool.
Most, but not all of these come from my time working in a Pharmacy in West Los Angeles.
Sean Connory. Harrison Ford . Tom Sellick. George Carlin. Caeser
Romero. Carol O’Connor. John Candy. George Carlin. Robert Wagner. Harry Neilson. Tony Orlando. Dave Thomas. Dabny Colman (Asshat) Sam Kinnison. Bill Cosby. Strother Martin. Bruce
Willis. Gilda Radner. Peter Bergman. Sean Penn. Robin Wright.
Kurt Russell. Carol Burnett. Tommy Chong. Howard Stern. Arnold
Schwarzenegger. Pat Sajak. Chevy Chase.
Hmmm. That’s all I can remember off the top of my head, but there were more…
Dr. Spock (who spoke at a seminar at college).
Ummm…that’s it.
Not too many celebrities walking around the streets of Ohio.
OH yeah…
Marlon Brando (I was a kid). Dom Deloise. Mel Brooks. Reba McKyntire (sp). Eddy Albert. Elizabeth Taylor.
Seen, but didn’t speak to: William Shatner. Leonard Nimoy. Adam West
and there’s STILL more…
I was a programmer/producer at a Pacifica radio station for a long time and I got to meet a few interesting people:
One day I overheard the receptionist having a hard time understanding someone and she was getting a little short with the guy, I realized that it was Leon Redbone and that she had no idea who he was, I helped him find his interviewer, he was nice.
I got to interview Adrian Belew (I am a big fan of his) and after the hour long interview we hung out and discussed Frank Zappa’s health (FZ was sick but the “BIG C” announcement had not been made yet).
I ate Indian food with Jello Biafra when he was in town for a spoken word show (I knew the promoter).
David Byrne was in the station one day but he was in a rush so all I got was an autograph (on “my life in the bush of ghosts”).
I interviewed and hung out with (to answer the question, NO) Jack Herrer, he was cool (and very mellow).
I hung out with Rev. Billy C. Wirtz between sets once, he is nice and a down to earth kinda guy, he seems like it would be fun to get drunk with him.
unclviny
dickey barrett from the mighty mighty bosstones who kindly signed my impact unit 7inch (impact unit was his band before the bosstones)
john and john from they might be giants
and joey macintyre from new kids on the block who interesting enough thought i was going to shoot him, when in reality i was reaching in my pocket for m&ms to offer him. go figure
also bruce campbell (evil dead fame) i offered him a beer he declined. i felt like a jackass when i learned he is a recovering addict. stupid me.
also jim lomberg of the Boston Redsoxs’ wife taught me how to swim when i was a youth
I met Burt Young (who played Paulie in the **Rocky ** movies) on the set of Last Exit to Brooklyn, hung out in his trailer for a while and walked around the set. Jennifer Jason Leigh said hi to me.
I met Italian horror filmmaker Dario Argento at the Film Forum in New York during a double bill of his movies (he was signing copies of a new book written about his work). While waiting on line, David Byrne of Talking Heads was exiting the theater and said “Excuse me, let me get this out of your way” as he unchained his bicycle, which he rode away on.
Years ago in Chicago, I stayed at a hotel room in front of Junkyard Dog (he was a WWF pro wrestler who passed away a few years later). I watched wrestling a lot when I was a little kid, so we chatted for a few minutes of the old days of pro wrestling.
I chatted briefly with Alex Winter (Bill from Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure) and got his autograph while we were both standing in line at a Petland store. He was very down to earth. I also saw Debbie Harry of Blondie at the same store another time, but she was really snooty. I barely looked at her.
I passed Macauley Culkin (Home Alone) on the street in New York shortly after the second Home Alone movie came out. He was with his mother and I guess one of his brothers. I didn’t say anything.
I saw Riddick Bowe at JFK airport shortly after he beat Evander Holyfield for the heavyweight title. There were too many people around him and I was tired, so I just kept walking.
I’ve also met Clive Barker a few times at horror conventions. He was super nice each time.
I forgot to add, I’m not a starfucker by any means, so the only celeb encounter that meant anything was Argento, whose movies I’ve loved for years. I actually kept fanning my hand so it would dry before he shook it because I was so nervous.
Jeez. I’ve been a cameraman/Steadicam Operator for 22 years. So, I get to stand in front of a lot of interesting people…This’ll be all over the place, chronology - wise. But, here goes.
Charlie Pride
Billy Joel
Tina Turner
Notorious B.I.G.
Mary J. Blige
Sean “Puffy/P-Diddy” Combs
Bon Jovi
Sister Machine Gun
Phil Collins
Jon Anderson
Peter Jennings
Dan Rather
George Stephanopolous
President Bill Clinton
Mary Travers ( peter, paul & mary )
Martha Stewart
Cast of Sex & The City
James Gandolfini
Mathew Broderick
Ben Stiller
Jerry Stiller
Anne Meara
Steve Young
Chris Berman
Paul Newman
David Macallum
Lou Ferrigno
Jerry Orbach
Robin Leach
Limp Bizkit
Shaggy
There’s more, but that’s what comes to mind right now.
in no particular order:
Chris Cooper - within a month of his Oscar win for “Adaptation” buying coffee and bagels at a bodega around 28th & Park Ave. I told him I thought he should be adding his Oscar to the one he should have won for “Lonestar”. He smiled and seemed pretty sheepish in saying thanks. Cool guy.
Tobey Maguire - At Tiffany’s, surrounded by an entourage of a half dozen other actor-types, btu I didn’t recognize any of them. He seemed to recognize me, gave me the “how you doing?” head nod. I have no idea who he thought I was.
Peter Greene - Zed from “Pulp Fiction”, at Sundance. Kind of standoffish, but it was after at 11 p.m. screening and he might have just been worn out. Still pretty intimidating presense.
Steve Buscemi - also at Sundance, different year. SUPERCOOL guy, was with his wife and kids. Talked to me and my friend for about 20 minutes, way taller than you’d ever guess, maybe 6’. He probably would have talked longer, but his young child hugged him spilling his latte on his hand, which he reacted to in such a typical Buscemi-character way I nearly fell down, and we excused ourselves soon after. Supposedly he lives in my Brooklyn neighborhood, but I’ve not seen him since.
David Arquette & Lukas Haas - also at Sundance, there for “Johns”. 1996, before Arquette was annoying (at least famously so). They were really cool. We, my friend and I, hung out with them at a bar in Park City on successive nights, drank with them quite a bit. We had run out of money and had no place to stay so we tried to angle an invite to their condo for more drinking planning to sleep on a floor, but they politely declined.
Trey Parker - I was actually pretty good friends with him in Boulder. Turned down the offer to work with him on his first film “Alferd Packer: The Original Party Cannibal” (I didn’t think it was funny, still don’t - but South Park rocks!) He was in a band that played the basement in my fraternity house on a practically weekly basis, prior to that when we lived in the dorms together we briefly discussed starting a band together. He is a really nice guy, or at least certainly was I assume still is. I lost touch with him long before he made it.
Andrew Shue - Brother of Elizabeth, “Melrose Place” fame. This was a few weeks ago, I know he was a professional soccer player prior to acting, so upon seeing him in Union Square, I purposefully mistook him for Arsenal winger Robert Pires. I don’t know why, just seemed like a funny thing to do. His entourage quickly hustled me away.
Paul & Mira Sorvino - Chronologically the first, I beleive Mira is within a year of my age and when we were about 10-11ish I was eating lunch in a restaraunt with my mother, she with her father. So I guess she wasn’t famous yet, and I didn’t know him. I guess it still counts, my mother said hello. I acted like an emabarressed 10 year old.
Jill Goodacre - Victoria Secret model, and wife (ex?, if so its 718-555…) of Harry Connick. She was born in Texas, but I heard went to high school in Boulder. Unbeleiveably gorgeous. Met her in a bar. Really sweet and quiet.
Richard Grieco - of “21 Jump Street” fame. Surprisingly enough in that same bar in Boulder, at a different time. Had really bulked up, surrounded by seemingly dozens of large, hip-hop type bodyguards. It was really kind of sad, I mean this guy was famous (sort of, once) and yet we all felt so superior to him. All in all not a bad guy though, despite his posturing.
Chris McQuarrie - screenwriter of “Usual Suspects” a super nice guy who offer loads of advice and encouragement on screen-writing. Though in every case he qualified it with very humble, “but then again I think I’m the luckiest guy in the world” type sentiments. This was also at Sundance, and within a year or so of “Usual Suspects” but he couldn’t have been cooler and more modest.
Jello Biafra - Boulder native. Punk Rock God. Left-wing hero. My customer at an Italian restaraunt. Dining alone while visiting back in Boulder. A really cool guy, though he was somewhat sarcastic, I was forgiving. I warned him that the kitchen wasn’t as clean as it should be, and told him about one of out cooks who was the drummer of the Warlock Pinchers, but he wasn’t in that night.
and on that note:
the drummer of the Warlock Pinchers: I can’t remember his name, and 99.9% of people of course don’t know the Pinchers, but a great punk band. W eused to hang out, but then I lost touch after I quit that restaraunt.
oh yeah,
Shannon Doherty - always been one of my favorites and even more incredibly beautiful in person (andyes her eyes do point in two different directions), drunk as hell, and oblivious to the conventions of common decency, but beautiful none-the-less. About six months ago at a bar in Manhattan, presumably with the guy now featured in the Paris Hilton tape, but I didn’t notice him.
I met David Sedaris after a show at my college a few months ago. Genuinely nice guy, talked to my friend and I even after the Union staff tried to hurry him up and make him not talk. He also signed our books and apologized for “being a dick,” though it wasn’t his fault.
Former Louisiana governor Buddy Roemer goes to my mom’s church, and I’ve met a handful of other local celebrities. That’s pretty much it. I haven’t met very many famous people.
Because I worked at my college’s radio station, I interviewed The Bangles, Jonathan Richman, and Gordon Gano of the Violent Femmes.
Because a friend of mine helped finance a low-budget horror movie, I got to meet Adam West on the set.
I talked to Patton Oswalt (from the King of Queens) for a long time before he was famous. He had a standup gig doing jokes between an improv troupe’s sets. He didn’t take it seriously, but he was still killing - he’s just hysterical. We talked about the Faces of Death videos a lot, and then he got up and did off-the-cuff standup about Faces of Death. And he just had everybody roaring, making it up as he went along.
Ive met eddie izzard and he is a really funny guy, we spoke for about 25 mins. I laughed a lot!
Also met,
robin williams ( again a very nice chap)
Lance Armstrong (legend!)
coldplay (bit posh but very nice)
my friends parents were in Miami on vacation when Will Smith and Jeff (Jazzy Jeff) got in the same lift. they said down please but my mates parents didnt recognise them and thought they were being robbed! This made Will Smith laugh a lot apparantly, but they now have a good story to tell when ever they see him on the telly
Don’t know if this would count, but I went out a few times with Mike Cheever, the former center for the Jacksonville Jaguars back when we were in college.
I’ve been working at the Georgia Music Hall of Fame awards ceremony every year for the past handful of years, so there I’ve met Alan Jackson, Trisha Yearwood, The B52’s, the Indigo Girls, TLC, Kenny Rogers, LA Reid, Clarence Carter, Travis Tritt, and Michael Greene, who is the President of NARAS. He’s there every year, really nice guy.
This is a little embarrassing, but since I had a friend who was a friend of one of these guys, I’ve been around some old late 80’s hair metal bands. LA Guns, Faster Pussycat, The Cult, and Slaughter are the ones that I remember offhand that I’ve met.