An unimpressive one (mine). My sister and I went to see Shaun and David Cassidy in a musical they were doing, maybe 10 years ago. We were waiting at the stage door to maybe say hi when Shaun literally walked right next to me. I turned around and realized who it was. I said, “Shaun!;” he said, “what?” And I couldn’t think of anything to say after that. So he stood there looking at me like I was an idiot (which clearly I was) and my sister said, “Merry Christmas, Shaun!” He said “Merry Christmas” back and I just stood there and nodded.
More impressive (my sister’s): She lives in DC in the same building where Michael Jordan and Patrick Ewing live. My sister knew they were in the building but she pretty much has no idea what they look like. So, she gets in her elevator one day and sees a VERY TALL guy standing there. He looks her up and down and says, “Oh my god. How tall are you?” My sister says, “4’10 1/2. How tall are YOU?” And he says “7’5” or whatever he is (Ewing, that is) and she says, “Oh, that’s tall.” And then he starts laughing hysterically and says “4 10 1/2.” My sister only later figured out who he was and figured he probably went home and told everyone there is a midget in the building.
I once sat beside comedian David Brenner on an airplane; he bitched for 3 hours about the deplorable state of world politics. About a month later, I sat next to Sam Donaldson - he bitched the whole time about US Air.
When in DC I took a tour with a friend of the house where Lincoln died (across the street from Ford’s Theatre). It was the last tour of the day and only me, my friend, and a couple were given the tour. At the end my friend said “do you know who that was?” I said “No idea.” Dude, that was John Fogerty .
This is a little more timely now since he has his own show but back in 2000 I was at a convention in Orlando staying at the Peabody Hotel. I was driving across the entry way when I hit my brakes and a couple holding hands stopped in the crosswalk. The guy looked me in the face so I could give him the “go ahead” wave. It was Donald Trump and some other lady. Only later did I realize “wow, if I hit the gas I would have run him over.”
(You were so busted)
Didn’t grow up there; met him in a bar. Carol’s Speakeasy–Jeffrey Dahmer’s hunting grounds, actually; though I never met him.
I think i’ve mentioned some of these in other threads:
Merlin Olsen - (you know the LA Rams football player, also in Little House on the Prairie, and the FTD spokesman). I knocked over his luggage in the Salt Lake City airport. He was really nice about it though.
Angelo Moore - Lead singer of the band Fishbone. He popped into a bar I was in before a concert and I bought him a beer.
Harry Connick Jr - Backstage after a show. He’s a lot shorter than I imagined.
John Linnel - One half of the Johns from They Might Be Giants. After a show. Got an autograph and all.
Alain Jorgenson, Jolly Roger and Hypo Luxa - All alternative music atrists recorded a lot on Wax Tracks and on a lot of each other’s bands (Pigface, Revolting Cocks, Ministry). I was buing tickets for a concert and they happened to be getting in town for a Pigface gig I didn;t know about. So as I walked in to the venue to buy tickets they were all there. They complimented me on my boots and jacket. Offered me tickets to their show.
No Doubt - All the members of the band were milling around in the crowd and at their merchendise booth at a small concert in Provo, Utah. This was about 6 months before Tragic Kingdom came out. They were playing most of their older songs and were testig out a few new ones like “Just a Girl”.
Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer - You know who they are. Met them at a couple launch parties for products.
That’s all i can thik of for now.
In the course of my work, I met Howard Dean quite often when he was Lieutenant Governor, and a few times when he was Governor. At one point, he knew me by name, but I am quite sure he has forgotten me by now…
D’oh! That’s what I get for listening to my Mother.
(Grumble… Grumble) I should figured, this same friend also told my mother the “Sit! Lie Down!” story.
Music
Beck
Marilyn Manson
Slipknot
The Spin Doctors
Nash Caito
Pron
Ron Jeremy (at a nudie festival, he was emcee)
Jenna Jameson (same)
Jasmine St. Claire (same)
Sports
Pacers (in general I’ve met most of the major ones)
Colts (same deal)
Mark Dismore (from my hometown)
Locals
Don from Don’s Guns
The Watson’s Girl
Tom from Bob and Tom
The most surprised I ever was by a celebrity in person was Tony Randall. I always assumed (from his demeanor on talk shows) that he’d be an obnoxious conceited know-it-all when in fact he was one of the nicest actors I ever met. He attended the Alabama Shakespeare Festival several times when I worked there and was generally more cheerful and genuine and more pleasant to be around than several of the completely non-famous actors who worked at the ASF. (Admittedly he was a newlywed and then an expectant father at the time, which may have made him more cheerful than usual.)
Most obnoxious celebrity I ever met: Leslie Nielsen. (His girlfriend was with him; she’s going to be pretty when she grows up.)
I work for the Defense Department. A couple of years ago, I was driving south on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, and traffic was much slower than usual (keep reading to learn why).
I was in the left lane, going about 15 MPH, which was about 5 MPH faster than the right lane. There was a big black SUV in the right lane, and as I pulled up close behind it, I noticed the license plate: XFBI.
Drawing alongside, I thought, “Hmm. that ex-FBI guy looks a lot like G. Gordon Liddy”. Connecting this thought with the license plate, I realized it was G. Gordon Liddy.
I lightly tapped on my horn. He slowly turned his head toward me – he had that celebrity’s sense of being watched (or maybe it was the alertness of an ex-FBI agent? I dunno). I gave him a thumbs-up, which he returned.
This was actually the second time I met him – I got his autograph when I saw him speak once in college. But this was more memorable – it was September 17, 2001, and I was heading to the Pentagon.
I also met George Will once – why are all the celebs I meet named George?
I danced with Shaquille O’Neal once, at a bar called Sports near LSU. We were both students. He must have only been a freshman at LSU at the time. He’s very tall. 
Well, I’m only 22, so I haven’t had a whole lot of time to meet celebrities yet. All but one of mine are Detroit sports related.
First, I met Joe Dumars (Former Piston/Current President of the team) while I played roller hockey at The Joe Dumars Field House, a place he set up for kids to go get involved with sports.
After that, I met a few Detroit Lions at once (and this was while they were still a decent team), most notably Luther Ellis, who is a great guy and absolutely gigantic. This was for a “Shop With A Cop” event at the Target store I worked at.
Next was another Lion, Robert Porcher, who is also a really nice, funny guy. I have pictures of me both with him and Luther.
I’ve also met Jason Babin, who was a defensive lineman here at Western Michigan and is projected to go pro in the 2nd round of the draft this year.
[the late] Noel Redding - of The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Dooku, I agree that Jimmy Edmonds (Angels, Cardinals) is a great guy. I am very good friends with his mom.
On the husband’s side-
While he was singing as a kid, he did a concert with Charo.
While an undergrad at University of San Diego, he met Mother Theresa. He was overwhelmed by her, and he is not the world’s best Catholic by any means.
Well…when I was in 11th grade, back in 1980, I took this class trip to Washington DC and New York City… anyway, while we were in NYC, I was walking around with several kids, one of whom had a Minnesota Vikings jacket on, and some guy walked up to us and started talking to us. The other kids didn’t recognize him, but I did, it was Al Franken. (At that time he was part of “Franken and Davis” on SNL, more recently he was on SNL and did varioius characters including Stuart Smalley - of “Because I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and, gosh darnit, people like me” fame.) Anyway, he asked if we were from Minnesota, and when we said we were, he said he used to live there and had gone to Shul (sp?) in Rochester, I think.
The only other brush with greatness was that a friend of mine (at the time, have lost touch with him) was a camera man for a news team for one of the TV stations in Milwaukee Wisconsin, and was with them when they were “first on the scene” at Jeffrey Dahmer’s apartment after the police went in. He filmed them carrying out the big barrels of “stuff”, and he said, standing on the steps of the building, he could smell this horrible stench. He said he was surprised that nobody had looked into that smell sooner, although I understand that Dahmer had told his neighbor that his freezer broke down and a bunch of meat had gone bad. In retrospect, he was sort of telling the truth… (ewwwww!)
I met quite a few when I worked in the food court of a mall.
Tiffany
Leon from fame
Some of the New York Giants, but I can’t remember who they were.
A basketball player from the New Jersey Nets.
Other places, I’ve met:
Arnold Schwartzeneger
George Bush Sr.
Hillary Clinton
And, my favorite, Duncan Sheik, I’ve met several times. He’s the nicest celebrity I’ve ever seen.
Right. This one’s an actual first person experience: Carrot Top.
That right. That A-list celebrity of A-list celbrities.
He was headlining at Charlie Goodnight’s in Raleigh. A couple of friends and I were there getting piss-drunk, and we started heckelling the heck out of him. To his credit, he took it and dished it right back to us. At the end of his set, he came over to our table, and told us he had a great time, and invited us to the bar to have a drink with him.
I’m told I had a great time.
Several years ago, I spent two hours at a craps table at the Taj Mahal in AC passing the time with Drew Barrymore. She was new to the game, and I was able to chat with her a bit.
I regret now that I didn’t engage her in any “real” conversation; but I didn’t want to come across as a typical drooling fan. She was having such a fun time, and since it was about 2:00 AM and no one else seemed to even know she was there, I thought she might want to keep it that way.
The truth is, I’m not one to get caught up in the whole celebrity thing; but Ms. Barrymore has always been on the top of my list. (Yes, you could call it a crush, I guess). Maybe, that’s why I went overboard on being cordial instead of asking for autographs and such.
At one point, she actually touched my arm in a playful manner. Whoa. (Of course, when I tell this story in 20 years, we’ll have gone up to her room together to talk and such!).