I’ve met very few celebrity folk, as I live in West Virginia, which doesn’t seem to breed as many as some states. Apart from local politicians and news reporters, the list is sparse.
Tony DiTerlizzi - Fantasy Artist
Larry Elmore - Fantasy Artist
Richard Garfield - Inventor of Magic : The Gathering
Burt Ward - TV’s Robin!
Wil Wheaton - TV’s Wesley Crusher!
And most recently, this past Wednesday, Weird Al Yankovic! Just in passing, for an autograph… his chief roadie said not to tell any stories to Al or anything, because he wanted to get back to the hotel where the band was staying, to be with his wife and child. Seemed a reasonable request to me. Didn’t stop one guy from doing that anyway, though.
And Al even complimented me on my t-shirt. (“Cool shirt.”) I get more compliments on that shirt… I don’t know why.
Woody Harrelson and I met as freshmen in college and became roommates in sophomore year until we both moved into our respective fraternities. Really great guy.
Also in college I got to meet Vincent Price when he did his Oscar Wilde one-man show. I was in theatre and helped do the setup. After the show, Mr. Price talked to the crew for about 40 minutes. He could not have been more gracious to a bunch of wide-eyed kids.
When I worked at Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, I got to meet a few celebrities, like Paul Hogan, his wife, and his son by his first marriage. Hogan looked a LOT older than he did in the Crocodile Dundee movies. He kept to himself and didn’t want to be recognized. Danny Glover was really great and very pleased to talk with people in the dining hall. Maxine Hong Kingston and her husband, who was performing as John Wesley Powell in an NPS-sponsored one-man play on the South Rim and who was friends with a co-worker, came down and had dinner with the employees.
I missed meeting then-Vice President Quayle and Tony Danza. I heard from the folks who did that Quayle was very a nice man and in great shape, but Tony Danza was a raging asshole.
I also met Chubby Checker during a stint as a cashier in a gas-and-go convenience store. Apparently, he was performing at a club down the street. I had no idea who he was, but my black female co-worker stated screaming, “Oh My GAWD, it’s Chubby Checker! WHOOO!”
I’ll add my story although the players involved would not be considered celebrities.
I met a couple of players of the Slovakian World Junior Hockey team in Winnipeg in 1999. I even got to hold the bronze medal they had just won.
I had just finished seeing Canada lose in OT to Russia in the gold medla game. I had a package of tickets so I had seen the bronze medal game just previous to that where Slovakia beat Sweden. I was driving out of the parking lot which was packed so I decided to cut through the back way as most people who attend the Winnipeg arena don’t use it. The players’ entrance is right there and buses were lined up to take the players back to their hotels. The Slovakian team was just coming out to the buses as I’m sure they were celebrating their country’s first medal in hockey, ever. I stopped and let them go by. They were cheering as they walked out and I honked my horn (in a nice way), rolled down my window and started cheering with them and giving them the thumbs up. A couple of them saw/heard me and came over to my window showing me their medals. I don’t speak their languange and they definately didn’t speak english but I did get to hold a bronze medal
