Have you ever been neighbors with a celebrity? Before or after they got famous? Extra points if you grew up with them.
As for me, I was David Bowie’s neighbor for 3 days when I lived in Kingston, NY. I quickly packed off to Woodstock, but it still counts, damnit. He lived in a mansion up the road from my house, atop a mountain. The entrance was no doubt closed, but then I never went trying to snoop around his property.
So dish.
Is it a brush with greatness if you can’t even feel it?
William Faulkner’s daughter lived down the road a piece. “A piece,” in this case, being a couple miles and a turn or two but that was close enough to piss off my father, who couldn’t stand Faulkner’s writing.
The couple who wrote the themes for “America’s Funniest Videos” and “America’s Funniest People” lived (live?) across a park from me.
Apparently I live next door to Christina Milian. I’ve never heard of her, but she’s supposed to be very popular with the kids.
Well, my Aunt lives down the road from WonderWoman Kinda Carter. I think Sly Stallone used to have a house there in Maryland too.
Just be glad you didn’t live next to Jack Nicholson a few years ago in Omaha, NE. He used to walk around his house naked with the curtains open for the world to see (I’m not sure if he does that now).
I live across the street from Beth Nielsen Chapman’s Dad. Does that count?
I used to live in the same building as William Peterson of CSI fame. This was in a vintage condo building in Evanston.
He probably was living in LA primarily, only stopping back into town once in awhile. I think I actually saw him once or twice going to and from his car. However, I am convinced that his sister helped me carry an old sofa down into the laundry room, good Samaritan that she was!
Umm… I’ve never lived next to anybody famous, but one of my friends in LA lives kiddy (kitty? catty?) corner to John Williams, of movie scores fame. They used to get a kick out of hearing him humming music and then hearing it at the movies later.
Never me.
One of my best friends lived next door to NY Met shortstop Bud Harrelson.
I lived near, walked past, and even played street hockey with Olympic gold medalist and NY Islander Ken Morrow.
Another of my best friends lived in the same apartment building as Jerry Orbach, pre L&O.
Ahh… so that’s why she’s performed at St. Bede’s on Christmas Eve a couple of times. I just thought it was some odd form of community service regarding Catholic churches in capital cities or something. (I’ve seen her at midnight mass there on Christmas Eve.)
Speaking of Montgomery, I lived in the same apartment complex as Thomas Gibson (of Dharma & Greg fame when he was a repertory actor at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. I didn’t really know him, but I do remember having an interesting conversation about Egyptian mythology and reincarnation while we were both doing our laundry one day.
She’s long dead now, but my current apartment (which I vacate tomorrow) borders Andalusia, the plantation home of Flannery O’Connor (a southern writer who almost all scholars of American literature would agree is dead) and I deal with her papers daily in my work.
I don’t know if this counts or not.
In my neighborhood, there was a hill which was home to an old Spanish-style mansion built back in the early 1900s. All the surrounding houses were little mass-produced 60’s style ranch homes, so the mansion really was an oddity. It was kind of spooky, because it was surrounded by big dark trees and had a kind of haunted feel to it. Nobody knew much about it, who lived there or who owned it.
A couple of years ago, as you know, a woman was murdered in Phil Spector’s home. The news mentioned it took place in a mansion in Alhambra, which was my home town. I called my brother, who still lives in Alhambra, and asked him whereinhell was there a mansion housing a Hollywood celebrity. He told me it was the gloomy old mysterious Spanish castle. I guess Phil Spector had taken possession of it a couple of decades ago, but nobody in the neighborhood ever saw him or for that matter knew he was, probably.
I used to live a couple of blocks from John Mahoney in Oak Park, IL. He had an apartment where he stayed when not filming Frasier, since he did a lot of work with the Steppenwold Theatre in Chicago. I saw him once walking around downtown.
I went to high school with and lived one street away from a nephew of Ray Bradbury (of Farenheight 451 fame). I also grew up in Waldorf, which means Good Charlotte went to my high schools arch-rival. My mom shook Jimi Hendrix’s hand and he complimented her on her dress. Joe Theismann (you know that dude who’s leg was ripped in half by L.T.) bought flowers from my aunt’s flower shop in Tyson’s corner.
Before I was born my family used to live next door to the Cusacks. Apperently my oldest sister was very good friends with Joan.
This sucks now for me because John Cusack is one of my favorite actors. Way to stay in touch guys.
I taught high school with a guy (english teacher) whose cousin was head script writer for The Flash tv show. Does that count?
Any brit dopers watch Corronation Street?
Transexual Haley (Julie Hesmondhalgh) lived on my street in Accrington at the same time as me.
Her son Anthony was good friends with my brother. His nickname was ‘ezzie’.
He didn’t live next door, but my dad did grow up with Janis Joplin. He used to mow the family’s yard.
My friend used to live in Oak Park, and was almost run over by John Mahoney whilst jaywalking. (Apparently he drove a very ‘normal-person’ car).
Don Sweeney of the Boston Bruins grew up across the road from my Dad. I never met him, but Dad grew up with him. My grandmother passed away nearly ten years ago, but her house is still there, and the fellow she lived with keeps it up now. Sweeney’s Dad used to yell at us to stay out of the road when we went up to visit, but he was a really nice guy.
The guy that used to be on the 700 Club with Pat Robertson (the older black man) rents office space in our building from my bosses. I see him a couple of times a week.
I was an altar boy at the wedding of parents of the kid who was in The Ref and Jack the Bear (older son in the latter.) His uncle and I were really good friends in junior high, and I remember when his parents brought him home from the hospital, and when they moved to Chicago.
My very good friend does voice-overs on radio, and on TV for shows and movies trailers. I have driven from SE Virginia to Lake Michigan and was able to hear his voice in every market along the way. He makes six-figures now, but for several months he slept on my couch (years ago.)