Jazz, Woody and Sysqo - from Dru Hill
Jazz passed out on my couch at a party one night
Henry Rollins - took my pic 15 years ago or so at a show at the 930 club, was my persoanl hero at the time
Ian MacKaye - fugazi
Ian and Henry’s Moms at DC Space Spoken word show
Wayne Wonder
Crystal Waters
Brady Anderson and 2 other orioles used to stop by our old after hours club every so often
Armando Benitez - he got in a fight with my best friend at a bar
Bam Bam Biggalo
Sorry to burst it 1000monkeys, but 99.9% of Warlock Pinchers fans know that they never had a drummer. It was a drum machine. Of course now (2010) they added Dale Crover {Melvins} as their drummer for the reunion shows in Denver.
At various sci-fi and gaming conventions:
- Ron Glass (Shepherd Book from Firefly)
- Mark Singer (from Beastmaster and V)
- Virginia Hey (from Farscape)
- Gil Gerard and Erin Grey (Buck Rogers)
As guests at the ad agency where I work
- Peter Frampton
- Trace Adkins
- Straight No Chaser (a capella group)
- Ernie Banks
- Orion Samuelson (long-time ag reporter for WGN TV and radio…anyone who grew up in Chicago in the 1970s knew that he was on Channel 9 before Ray Rayner came on!)
At a Kay-Bee Toy Store, I once ran into U.S. Senator William Proxmire.
At fan-photo days that the Green Bay Packers used to have, I got to meet pretty much every good player which the Packers had in the late 1970s through mid 1980s, including a couple of Hall of Famers (Jan Stenerud and James Lofton)
I’ve met Captain Kangaroo, Dale Chihuly, John de Lancie, Bill Nye, Peter Beales (the rose guy), Neil Gaiman, Dan Aykroyd, and Rick Steves, in about that order, starting when I was about three with Captain Kangaroo and leading up to Rick Steves last autumn.
I’ve met various Washington state legislators, but they’re not famous.
It’s possible I’ve met one or more persons famous within the punk community at a birthday party for my cousin Cinder Block (lead singer of the defunct band Tilt) but I don’t know that for sure.
Mr. Rogers, when I was in the hospital as a child getting my tonsils out. Nobody better say anything wrong about Mr. Rogers around me. . .
Rev. Billy C. Wirtz. A fringe/regional ‘celebrity’, but he’s funny, cool, and I spent a few hours hanging out with him. Nice, genuine dude.
I spent an hour on the phone with the blonde from “30 Rock”, Jane Ican’tspellhername, in the time period between “30 Rock” and “Ally McBeal”. She wanted a new cell phone that had just come out. I did all I could, but was unable to get her one - it wasn’t available at our company yet. Despite keeping her on the phone for an hour and not being able to get her the phone she wanted, she was nice.
Tom Savini at a Sam’s Club. I remarked to my friend that the guy in line to check out in front of us looked like Tom Savini. I didn’t say it loud, but he must be on a hair-trigger in public places, because he groaned and turned around. I hadn’t looked closely at him, I thought it was just a short guy with dyed black hair and a leather jacket. He wasn’t pleased at being bothered, but then, I hadn’t spoken to him. Remember: don’t speak to, about, or look at, Tom Savini at Sam’s Club. 
Numerous musicians after concerts, briefly. One notable occasion was getting an autograph from Meat Loaf during his “Back into Hell” tour - he had a fear of being mobbed, but signed everyone’s picture/item/ticket, etc, and was nice and talked with us as he did it. He seemed grateful that he had his second chance at a big album almost 15 years alter “Bat out of Hell.”
I grew up in LA. Hollywood, to be exact. The list is long, and I couldn’t remember all of them on the spur of the moment anyway, so I’ll stick to the highlights:
Close Personal Friends with: **Kelly McGillis **(used to be, and before you ask: yes, I did.)
Friends with Nina Hartley.
Grew up spending time at his house, sleeping over with his kids, went to Disneyland with him, was on the cover of Jet with him in a news photo from his grandmoher’s funeral, had very close relationships with his stepmother and father when I was a child, was on the set watching him film his big scene in Sweet Charity: **Sammy Davis, Jr.
**Spent a whole afternoon at his house with Kelly and him and Astrid Plane, watching him talk on the phone A LOT, watch S-Cpan, and raid the refrigerator. After he answered teh door in a towel: **W****arren Beatty.
Briefly and uncomfortably hung out in his dressing room with him, me, and my client who brought me, his guitar player’s wife: Elton John.** The same night, I got very close to Sting, which was delicious. After the concert, at which we had front row seats, I attended the afterparty at Le Dome on the Sunset Strip, and because we arrived in a limo and the papparazzi didn’t know who we were when the door opened, they just started shooting - then they realized and stopped. But I can say I have had the experience of being beseiged by papparazzi upon exiting a limo. It was weird. (Related: Bernie Taupin)
Bruce Jenner, about whom I know the most incredibly juicy stuff for absolute fact and of course can never write it on the internet, but just think of the most “yer kidding!” thing you ever heard about him. (I also knew his kids, Brandon and Brody Jenner, who were complete monsters.)
When I was a teenager I jumped off a bus to run back and say hello to Groucho Marx, who was a very old man using a cane and being assisted by his wife/daughter to walk down Wilshire Boulevard. His female companion noticed me standing there looking like a dope and suggested he say hello to me. He turned to me and in an absolutely perfect Groucho style said: “Do you always stop old men on the street?” I was thrilled.
Shortly after “Friends” ended, Matthew Perry was playing at the Bicycle Casino during Legends of Poker, and had to go outside often to smoke. It was obvious he was trying very hard to not be recognized or bothered, giving off a “leave me the fuck alone” vibe. But I also knew from things I’d been hearing that people had been hassling him for autographs, which I think are deeply, deeply stupid. I very much wanted to express to him something which was/is entirely true and genuine: I wanted to thank him for bringing me many hours of deep pleasure with his work on that show, which I really loved, and he was my absolute favorite actor/character on the show. So, in spite of his vibe, I went after him on one of his smoke breaks. He was very grumpy, but I immediately told him I didn’t want anything at all from him, I just wanted to tell him thank you for what he’d already given me, and he instantly broke into a huge grin and thanked me back. I felt good about that.
- Incidentally, that’s a real peeve of mine. AUTOGRAPHS ARE STUPID. (I think I may go iwth a thread on that…)
During that same time, I was playing at the Bike quite a bit, and I was thrilled to meet the legendary Doyle Brunson, who was very much the Texas gentleman. It was right at the start of the poker boom and he was a little amazed a the intense attention he was getting.
Met Larry Flynt at a trade show. That was cool. I think Hustler is dreadful, but I love Larry Flynt.
OH OH OH OH OH…my best celebrity score in years and years was just a couple of years ago and it was WONDERFUL: **Sidney Poitier **and I were both waiting our turn at La Brea Bakery and we had a chat about the amazing bread and Oprah. What a lovely, lovely, lovely man! What a thrill! VERY exciting.
Marina Sirtis is one my closest friends’ next door neighbor, she joined us for a birthday dinner one night.
I have my own Star Trek neighbor in Walter Koenig, who lives around the corner from me and is a tiny man who wears suits a lot, used to have a ginormous standard poodle, and a cute white fringe of hair and really, truly does have that accent for real. We introduced ourselves one day when I was working in the yard and he was walking the dog, and I pretended I didn’t know who he was.
I met **James Woods **at the Farmer’s Market on third street one day and about a week later I saw him at Commerce Casino. This made me think about how many people we are in the same orbit as all the time and have no idea because we don’t actually know who they are.
And just a degree of separation between me and the President, who smoked dope with a couple of my friends back in college.
Sam Kinison gave me a drunken hug one night at a restauraunt where I worked, not long before he died.
Dennis Quaid used to come into the same restaurant to pick up take out a lot… and he usually had really powerful body odor.
My mother was off & on lovers with William Marshall (Blacula) for 25 years, so I knew him very well.
and that’s all I can remember that have any fun attached right now…
Aaaaaaghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! It’s alive again!!!@
Oh, it’s a zombie? Well, it’s the kind of zombie that revives easily… why start anew?
It’s bizarre to me that Sammy Davis Jr. lived to be 65 years old and was survivedby his grandmother. By several years, for that matter- she lived to be 112.
You know you can’t leave it there- at least give a hint: person, place, substances, goats, what?
I was the catering manager for the Music Center in Los Angeles which involved lots of celebrities who wanted special treatment so except for Placido Domingo (who used to call me for little favors and was perfectly charming), all the names start to run together - except for John Cleese who was also fabulously charming.
I had a blind date with Weird Al Yankovic when I was, like, 14 and he was 19. Suffice to say it was fairly disgusting.
I have been heavily involved in the food-and-wine industry and know a lot of foodie celebrities (and made out with Tony Bourdain about 15 years ago), but my pride and joy is the fact that I had lunch with Julia Child less than a year before she passed away. Meeting tons of celebrities barely fazed me but sitting down with her almost made me cry with joy.
Unless otherwise specified, I met these people at church (duuuh):
Marion Barry
Jesse Jackson
Al Sharpton
President Bill Clinton
Gov. Arnold Schwarznegger
Gov. Gray Davis
Antonio Villaraigosa (Mayor of L.A.)
Stevie Wonder
B.B. King
Glen Campbell
Willie Nelson
Wynton Marsalis
Phil Upchurch
Koko Taylor (In a Blues club)
Pat Boone (at the Orange County Fair)
Phillip Bailey
Marlon Jackon
Tito Jackson
Jermaine Jackson
Chick Hearn (at the last Western Conference Finals in the Great Western Forum)
Dave Winfield
Magic Johnson (At Villaraigosa’s victory party)
Bob Griese (Admiral’s Club - DFW Airport)
Lynn Swann (Admiral’s Club - DFW Airport)
Bert Blyleven (Whiskey Pete’s in Nevada)
Rodney Peete
Holly Robinson Peete
Cicely Tyson
Danny Trejo
Tyrese
And Stoid just reminded me:
John Leslie
Not too many…
Mickey Mantle - baseball card convention signing autographs
J Mascis (from Dinosaur Jr) - outside of a pizza shop in New Haven
Zombie Jesus
I guess you could throw in Sen. Luger and Governor Cuomo, whatever. Also had lunch with a billionaire 2 years ago, but that was just because he’s our CEO.
Leaving aside the future celebrity issue, who would fix up a fourteen year old on a blind date with a nineteen year old?
Man, I’ll bet the choir in that place kicked ass.
That’s AWESOME! Does he ever talk about the Renaissance album? Are they on good terms with Victor Willis?
And yet he didn’t get a divorce until ten years later.
That is so neat! I’d love to see the Jet cover- which issue was it? They’re all online.
Edit: Actually, this is the Jet article, not cover, dealing with his grandmother’s death. This can’t be what you were talking about, unless you’re a large, older black man or woman.
OH MY FUCKING GOD I COULD KISS YOU SO HARD RIGHT NOW!!! I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR THIS FOREVER!!!
WOOHOO!!!
CHECK IT OUT…OVER TO THE LEFT, THAT’S ME AND MY OLDER SISTER KATEE!!!
(And so it’s not the cover… I was 8, my memory was imperfect)
The woman in the big white hat identified as “Rita Davis” was known to me as “Pee Wee” and she’s sitting next to her husband, Sam Davis, Sr., who was known to me as Daddy Sam.
AWESOME!!!
I LOVE YOU!!!
I was sitting next to Chris Cooper while flying out of LAX and didn’t even recognize him. The family that sat in front of us did and struck up a conversation.
I met Jennifer Carpenter (Deb on Dexter) the day after last season’s finale while flying out of Burbank on a business trip. We talked for an hour (she asked me to watch her bag!). She is so unbelievably nice and told me stories about crazy Hollywood parties and weddings she’s been to and how she got into acting. Plus, she spent a lot of time talking to me about my job…maybe she was up for a lawyer part? I don’t know.
Umm, have met lots and lots of boring politicians because my first job out of college was working for the Democrats and I worked for the Feds for 5 years and had to trek into DC every year…oh, and Barak Obama (not boring). He came to talk to the at the University of Illinois College of Law in 2004.
Lots and lots of movies that shot in my building and around work, but seeing someone in close proximity doesn’t seem to count.