A couple summers ago, I was walking through Mass MOCA when I spotted Neil Patrick Harris. He looks exactly the same in person but a bit skinnier and taller than how he appears on TV.
My brother was sitting at a bar with Marisa Tomei and Steven Weber a couple years ago in Williamstown, MA. Apparently, western MA in the summer is prime celebrity territory.
I literally ran into Ringo Starr.
We were having drinks at the Cirque Bar after skiing one afternoon at Snowmass. My MIL parked the truck in the upper lot, so I went to go take off my ski boots and put on my regular boots. I was walking back to the bar, but forgot one of my gloves so I turned around to go back to the truck and wasn’t looking where I was headed. I bumped right in to him and said, “Oh my gosh, I am so sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.” He laughed it off and I walked away apologizing.
A second later, I realize who he is. I run in to the bar and tell the family, MIL tells me he was looking for a home in the area and supposedly bought one down valley. He looked at a property near her house, but it wasn’t “secluded” enough for him.
I’ve heard he’s a bit of an ass to fans, but he was perfectly nice to this dumbass who wasn’t looking where she was going…
BTW-he is really ugly in person. Not an attractive man in the least…
Celebs I’ve said “hi” to on the streets of Manhattan:
Soupy Sales
Rudy Guiliani
Alec Baldwin (didn’t say anything to him; he looked awfully depressed, as this was around the time of his marital/family problems)
I’ve seen in airports:
Lisa Bonet (damn, she looked good)
Donna Mills (also a head turner)
Robert Klein (on the same flight - he sat in 1st class and made his kids fly coach with the nanny)
Ned Beatty (so tempted to squeal loudly like a pig, but I held back)
Pete Rose (sat behind us on the plane when we got a 1st class bump-up - and talked the whole flight - what an opinionated MF)
The best airport story happened when I was on the customs line at the Toronto Airport. I noticed the carry-on of the guy behind me had a BB King logo design, then saw the instruments, so I asked if he was in a band. The guy said, “Yeah, we’re with him”. I saw the snakeskin boots first, then looked up to see it was Stevie Ray Vaughn. I made small talk - he said they were in town to shoot a TV show. Nicest guy, very down to earth.
On a bachelor jaunt to Vegas, we (3 guys) stayed at the Hard Rock. 2nd day there, Jeremy Piven asked if we minded if he sat with us by the pool - he was by himself and chairs are hard to come by (this was around 2000 - way before Entourage).
For those who don’t know, the pool at the Hard Rock is a girl-watchers paradise
We were doing our best not to seem too starstruck, pretending we didn’t know who he was, but after sitting quietly my buddy suddenly blurted out “You were GREAT in ‘Very Bad Things’!”…he thanked him but was quiet after that. Something tells me he gets a cabana now.
Not my encounter, but a friend of mine from my high school days. Mary ran into Tom Selleck shortly after his Magnum days and had a photo taken with him. At Christmas, she used that picture on the cards she sent out.
I’ve mentioned this one before (no new ones since or I’d not recycle!) but I had drinks with Laurence Fishburne. I was having a smoke outside a bar in west hollywood and saw him standing there. I thought I recognized him but wasn’t sure so I walked up and introduced myself and complimented his shoes. (they were pretty cool) He said “Hi, I’m Laurence.” I mentioned that I was sure I knew him and he said “yea, Laurence Fishburne.” We had a bit of a laugh and chatted for a few minutes before he went in for a drink. (Last I saw of him, a rather messy drag queen was fawning over him.)
Forgot about this one, I ran into Michael McDonald (from MadTV) at a bar in Palm Springs. He was a complete ass. He was chatting up some guy so I waited until he was by himself. Walked up and said “Hi, I know you’re here to have some fun but just wanted to say I’ve enjoyed your work. Have a great evening.” He gave me this disgusted look, rolled his eyes and turned away.
I realize that he was drunk and probably just got blown off by the guy he was after but he could have just smiled or something.
Before his accident, Christopher Reeve was a sailplane pilot (he gave this up when advised to forsake dangerous pastimes and stick to safe pursuits like horses - sheesh). I flew with him a couple of times out of North Adams, MA. At one point he asked me for help hitching his trailer to his car. It was a bit stuck and as we were trying to get it to move, I was thinking “Hey - Superman shouldn’t be having any problem with this.”
I guess I’ll lead with this one: Elvis Presley gave me an apple once. I was about 8 or 9 and was wandering around a movie set (I lived in Southern Cal and they shot movies and shows in our area all the time) and just as I was walking by, a guy opened the door to his trailer, saw me, and tossed me an apple. It took me a sec, but I told him, “Thanks, Elvis!”.
I met President Ford shortly after he took office, thanks to a friend who worked at a TV station.
I ran into - literally - Nick Nolte in the Admiral’s Club in Miami International.
I had quite a chat with Joan Baez in Nordstroms in Palo Alto once. It wasn’t until later that my sister in law told me that was Joan Baez I was talking to. I’m bad with faces.
I shot a game of pool with Eric Clapton once. Bam Boo Gut, you must be in Antigua! The pool table was in that little grocery store over by St James’s club.
I met Bob Marley a couple of times too, but I don’t remember much about that trip. 
I saw Dennis Rodman in a small Midwestern airport. He was apparently there to see off a friend, who sat across the aisle from me on the flight.
When I was a teenager and we lived in Westport briefly, we’d see Paul Newman around town regularly. My sister and I were walking down the street one day as he approached, and she embarrassed me half to death by stopping him to politely tell him she loved his work. He was very sweet to her. But then, he was just a really nice guy all the way around.
I sat across the aisle flying to Ireland from Kate Mulgrew (just before she got the part as Capt. Janeway in ST: Voyager) and her two boys. One of her sons was very chatty; we had quite a visit about the Irish money he already had. And then I even went to a Star Trek convention a few months later just to see her and ask her at the question-and-answer session about her trip to Ireland. I think she liked being asked a question about being a real person.
My creepiest encounter was in a bookstore in Santa Monica one evening when Michael Jackson swept in, wearing a ski mask, and proceeded to buy four boxes of books for a couple of kids he had with him. He’s a very small man and just deeply, deeply odd.
And I ran into Danny Glover and his kids watching a really fancy gumball machine in a mall. I didn’t speak to him, but I gave him a “Hi, I recognize you” smile and he gave me a “thanks for ignoring me” smile back. And then, what I really liked, was as the gumball finally finished winding its way through the intricacies of the machine and finally fell out, he said, “Now THAT was worth a quarter!” This from a man who makes millions was really refreshing to hear.
I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned this before on the dope.
I’ve was on a double date with Gina Torres and Lawrence Fishburne. I was dating Jennifer Sky at the time and Gina was on the show Cleopatra 2525 with her. The first time I saw him he was visiting her on set in NZ. He rode up in a BMW motorcycle, took off his helmet and said, “Hi, I’m Fish”. I’d like to think I kept my cool, being only 19 at the time. We chatted a bit throughout the next few days. Really, nice guy.
Heh, he must have quit using ‘Fish’ over the last few years.
I was once lucky enough to score tickets to a small spur-of-the-moment concert given by Prince after his bid for an American Music Award. It was in Northridge, a few miles away from the Hollywood award show venue. He showed up around midnight-ish and blew us all away with his Sign o’ the Times show. That’s another thread all in itself!
At once point, I had moved down to the front of the stage to get a better view, and the music was REALLY loud (I know - who’d a thunk it?). I had my fingers in my ears to protect my hearing, and I caught the eye of a guy standing next to me who was doing the same thing. He was a tall, dark, homely guy, and we grinned and gave each other a “I must be getting old - concerts hurt my ears nowadays” look. After awhile I returned to my seat, and my friend said, “Do you know who that was you were standing next to? That was Mick Fleetwood!”
I had a bunch all at once. In the thread on most embarrassing moments, I posted this story. I ran into a lot of celebrities that day. This was somewhere around 1990, give or take a year. Some of those that I interacted with:
Joe Namath asked me where “the can” was.
Terry Bradshaw was very friendly. He came over and shook my hand and introduced himself.
Bob Costas was also friendly and laid back.
The one person who was very full of himself was… O.J. (I knew back then he wasn’t a good guy…)
I think I’ve posted these before, but what the hell…
Met John Wayne as a kid- we went to the same dentist. Before he got so sick, he was a mountain of a man, and that booming voice!
All in one trip last Xmas, we had the following encounters-
Met a bunch of players from the Golden State Warriors, who were staying at our hotel. Couldn’t tell you who a single player was, but I was always the shortest person i the elevator!
Had a surreal conversation with Eddie Money about the complete lack of “dressing for dinner” nowadays, even at nice places like Tavern on the Green. He told me he’d seen a guy in jeans there during Xmas week, and I commiserated. I told him we were dining there that night (Xmas Eve) and he wished me a Merry Xmas!
A maid at our hotel kept trying to deliver Lakers coach Phil Jackson’s laundry to my husband. Hubby is 5’11", but still could have worn Phil’s shirt as a dress!
Met Kobe Bryant, his wife, her mom & their kids at our hotel. Incredibly nice, friendly people, and his girls are as cute as can be. We had a nice chat about kids in the city at Xmas and exchanged Happy Holidays.
Damn, but that was a fun trip! Doing it again this year!
I have lots of others- I was born and raised in Newport Beach, and we have a few famous folks around here. 
While I was a Nanny in LA, Pasadena, to be exact, I ran into a lot of celebrity types. One time I even watched a bunch of celebs kids for an afternoon at a Fundraiser for the Los Angeles Children’s Museum.
I made puppets and played with these kids:
Jaclyn Smiths boy and girl
Lucy Arness(Lucille Ball’s grands) boy and girl
Richard Dreyfuss’ boy and girl
Sandy Duncan’s two boys
I also saw Kate Jackson. She was there with Jaclyn, but didn’t have kids.
Jaclyn Smith talked to me a bit, and commented on the cute baby I was holding. He was the 1 month old boy I was a nanny for.
She had a make-up artist who followed her everywhere she sent. But I will say she is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. In person, she was flawless.
Nice lady too.
Lucy Arness on the other hand…I saw her slap her boy across the face, because he wasn’t doing a good job in the show. It was a costume show for kids, and he was dressed as Dick Tracy. Wacky lady, and horrible stage mom.
Later on when I worked in a video store in Pasadena, I waited on
Meshach Taylor and Delta Burke from Designing Women, from time to time. They lived in the area, and bought magazines at the store.
I also hung out with Don Drysdale’s(Baseball) nanny and met him and his wife Ann Meyer(Basketball) a few times when I went to their home.
This was all in 1990-91
I really wanted to be the VanHalen’s new nanny. They had Wolfie right around that time. I heard they were searching for a nanny at the same agency I worked for. Dang!
My celebrity “run-in” was with Paul Newman as well. Maybe twice.
Once at the Indy time trials and once at a lake near Michigan International Speedway. The second one…not quite sure it was him.
Funny things can happen in Wichita, KS, especially back in the 1970’s. Back then, to get more than 3.2 beer, one joined a club. I belonged to two clubs in 1974. One night, at one club, someone walked in with two friends. He was cute, so I sent him a drink. I later found out I’d sent a drink to Jim Seals, of Seals & Croft (“Summer Breeze” & “Diamond Girl”).
A few weeks later, at my other club, I sent a drink to another dude, who came over & introduced himself as Tommy Chong (yup, of Cheech & Chong.) He thanked me for the drink & bought me one.
Ah, the old days.
Love, Phil
Bob Saget and I happened to be with companions who needed to pee in the same restroom at the same time, at Disneyland. We waited outside and leaned against the same landscaping ledge.
At least I think it was him. I caught myself giving the curious head-tilt inquisitive stare at him, trying to decide if it was him, and he sighed in a very “please don’t try to talk to me” kind of way.
Wow, if ever a post on the Dope was deserving of a Wayne’s World-style “We’re not worthy!” it’s this one.