About a year ago, there was an awards thing in my hometown called the Elsie Awards. My mom got tickets, so we went and as it turned out Michael Keaton was getting one of the awards.
He came out to mingle with us common folk and my mother chased after him, in an attempt to get Jester and myself to meet him. She failed, but later that night, one of her friends (who was helping with the awards) called me over and introduced me to him. He said I was “charming”.
Oh, and I also saw Liza Minelli, Molly Shannon, and Kevin Spacey all eating dinner with a bunch of other people. They were sitting about ten feet from me and he smiled at me. That’s mt story.
The greatest mom ever: Barbara Billingsley. She was at a Mother’s Day breakfast my ex-wife’s employer (a radio station) put together. She was just as nice as you would expect. Over the years at the station, I also got to meet Paula Poundstone, Pam Stone, and Jeff Foxworthy.
Former Senator (now President of the University of Oklahoma) David Boren is an old friend of the family. When my dad was in law school, he studied with David’s current wife and IIRC, introduced them to each other. When Dad graduated, David asked him to join him in his law practice but Dad decided to go back in the Army as a JAG officer since he had a wife and two kids to support. David ran for Governor of Oklahoma that year(1974) and won.
Gil Morgan’s (SPGA) late father and my grandfather used to play golf together occassionally and I got to meet Gil once when they were playing. My dad is a member at Oaktree Golf & Country Club and we see some of the touring pros from there every once in a while.
I used to see Barry Switzer all the time at a particular restaurant where a friend of mine worked. He was always an incredibly good tipper. This was before he went to Dallas.
I had a class with Brian Bosworth back in 1985. He was usually a decent guy.
I once met Steve Largent (US Rep and former Seahawk) at a fundraiser. He was really nice but politically makes me wonder just how Republican I really want to be. He’ll probably be our next Governor.
I met Ben Johnson at a rodeo. He was by far the nicest celebrity I’ve ever met. And a much better actor than Brian Bosworth.
I’ve had a few beers with Dave Haynie. If you know who he is, you know that was a great time.
Warren Beatty, Annette Bening, Elliot Gould, George Lucas, Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, John Glover, Sheryl Lee, Karl Malden, Kevin Brownlow. All were nice enough, though most were interactions in a professional capacity and not some random encounter.
I met Hank Aaron when I was four years hold, but I don’t remember it very well. He was making a guest appearance to throw the first pitch at the baseball field next to our back yard.
I was going to meet Douglas Adams when he came to speak at my college’s graduation ceremony this spring, but he died one day too soon.
My grandparents own a bookstore not far from Hollywood and have served, among others, Anthony Hopkins, Tom Cruise & Nicole Kidman, and Monica Lewinski.
I had supper with Bret “The Hitman” Hart, back when he was the WWF champion. My dad had done some electrical work for his aunt, so when he was coming for a visit, she invited us to join them. And boy-o-boy does that man eat a lot! Also, while he looks pretty small in comparison to other wrestlers, he’s actually a pretty dang big guy.
I’ve met quite a few different punk bands, as the venues here are pretty laid-back in terms of security and being able to chat with the bands.
I’ve met and talked with Penn & Teller in Las Vegas. I talked with Teller for quite a while more, though, as Penn is rather intimidating. Both were really cool, though. Other famous magicians I met and talked with in Vegas include Lance Burton and Peter Wonder (sat with him at a magic meeting for a couple of hours).
I’ve met quite a few magicians, because when they come through here, I usually went with my employer (I worked in a magic shop). I briefly met Copperfield when he came through here quite a few years back, actually.
Besides that…I think there are a couple of others, but I’m not sure. I know an actress who is now a celebrity (she has a couple of TV shows). However, I knew her before she was a celebrity, so I don’t know if that counts.
I recently chatted with Billy Crudup for quite a while after a screening of “Jesus’s Son” at the Roger Ebert Film Festival. Never got to actually speak to Ebert, though.
I worked for my college activities board, and I still work for a local music series, so I’ve met quite a few folks that way. I had dinner with the Indigo Girls. I took Andy Richter out to dinner and then introduced him when he spoke. Others I’ve met: Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Bruce Hornsby, David Crosby, John Prine, Suzanne Vega, Alison Krauss, Del McCoury (actually getting to know his wife fairly well), Arlo Guthrie, Rickie Lee Jones…and quite a few I can’t think of.
I’ve been on the sidelines to photograph some San Francisco 49ers games, and a few celebs have popped up there. My favorite was Jason Newsted, who was the bass player for Metallica at the time. The “Reload” album had just been released, so I asked him if the cover art was as interesting as the cover art of “Load,” which had featured a picture by controversial artist Andres Serrano of blood mixed with semen. He looked at me quite proudly and said, “Blood and piss!”
At other games, I ran into the bass player for Pearl Jam, Jeff Ament – couldn’t figure out why he was there, since it wasn’t a Seahawks game – and Donny Osmond.
I had a very brief email correspondence with Peter McWilliams just before he died. A very nice, genuine guy. I wish I had met him in person. As I’ve never really lost anyone close to me, his death hit me about as hard as any death ever has. A horrible, unnecessary tragedy.
