I was sitting at the bar waiting for a table in a restaurant in Chicago. From a side door someone slipped in and sat by himself. It was Joe Montana! I dug up the courage to go over and introduced myself, shook his hand, and asked for an autograph. Although I can see in his eyes that he’s heard all the compliments before, he was quite pleasant about it. A few minutes later I glanced back at the table and he was gone.
I was an extra in The Portrait, a made for TV film starring Lauren Bacall and Gregory Peck, both of whom I met several times during filming. The Portrait (TV Movie 1993) - IMDb
Here I am with Carlos Mencia a couple of weeks ago. http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w122/pimaspinner/CarlosPic.jpg
Glen Wesley at my store filming a commercial. http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w122/pimaspinner/May2008095.jpg He hangs out here a lot now.
Me and Mike Zigamanis - another NHL player. http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w122/pimaspinner/P10102841.jpg
Here I am with James Denton (Mike the plumber) from Desperate Housewives. http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w122/pimaspinner/JAMESDENTON.jpg
I met Amazing Johnathan when I went to Vegas this year. I’ve met other NHL players but don’t have pics with them - I have autographs of Cam Ward and John Grahame that they gave me after practice one day.
They were all very nice and down to earth.
Oops, forgot I had lunch with Charlie Daniels when I was a kid.
I worked at an art supply store in Palo Alto, CA. There I met Michelle Pfieffer, Steve Jobs, and a couple of 49ers*.
At my current job I’ve met Vint Cerf and Steve Wozniak.
I saw Joe Montana pretend to be talking on a cell phone while watching his daughter play basketball.
I’m pretty sure I have video footage of current Buffalo Bills quarterback Trent Edwards from his time at Los Gatos High School. I definitely have footage of his Standford teammate T.C. Ostrander, now a backup for the Saints.
I went to high school with Vienna Teng.
*: Linemen Kevin Gogan and Kwame Harris. I was out the day Ronnie Lott came in.
I am related to Mr Mens Warehouse and have met him many times.
I met Bikram Choudhury of Bikram Yoga fame. He’s famous to people who do yoga.
VERY LOOSE CONNECTION TO:
Phil Angelides (Democratic Candidate for California Governor - 2006)
MEET & GREET:
Alan Hale, Jr. (“Skipper”)
Annette Funicello (Mouseketeer / Beach Party)
Scott Carpenter (Astronaut)
Tom Landry (Dallas Cowboys)
Danny White (Dallas Cowboys)
Steve Yeager (L.A. Dodgers)
Howard Dean (Democratic candidate for U.S President)
Dick Gephardt (Democrat)
IN THE WILD:
Howard Hesseman (“Dr. Johnny Fever” - WKRP)
Ted DiBiase (“The Million Dollar Man” - WWF Wrestling)
Barbara Boxer (California Senator)
Dianne Feinstein (California Senator)
Agent Foxtrot and I had dinner with Sen. John Gianetti a few times, and he told us a really funny story that might get him in trouble if I repeat it and he ends up running for president someday. 
Also, I met the coach and a few players from the Oakland A’s a few years ago, and had no clue who any of them were.
My ex saw Dave Navarro of Jane’s Addiction in Studio City once, and said, quote, “I thought he was going to stub his cigarette out on me for saying hi to him.”
I’ve met:
- Hanson - before they were famous. They were somewhere around 9, 12 and 15 years old. They were friends of a friends. I was a couple days short of 10 years old so they sang Happy Birthday to me. They also sang Rain (a pre-MMMbop song). A bunch of us neighborhood kids and the Hanson family got in a big water fight in my back yard. My parents had the camera rolling. Just last year my mom sat next to Isaac on a plane and they talked about the water fight.
- Olympic speed skater Chad Hedrick at inline speed skating Nationals - before he converted to ice. I’ve met a few other well known speed skaters who converted from inline to ice: Jordan Malone, Kimberly Derrick and a few others I can’t remember at the moment.
- Olympic runner Madeline Manning Mims. Her daughter and I went to school together and we attended the same church for a few years.
- a few well known preachers and a few pageant winners (Miss OK, Miss USA)
I’ve seen: - Conan O’Brien
- Eve - the rapper
- Tom Hanks
Others:
- I cheered on an all-star squad with the son of one of the original American Gladiators.
- At work I correspond with Waymon Tisdale’s wife a couple times per year. She’s such a pleasant woman. I’ve never met him.
Oh, and I got pissed at Diane Lane once because she took too long in a gas station restroom while I was waiting to use it. She emerged with a couple of kids in tow and I threw her a dirty look having no idea she was a celebrity. My wife told me later it was Diane Lane … whoever that is.
Bought a drink for Alanis Morrisette once. No, I didn’t pick her up. I’ve met Dan Aykroyd a couple of times, and my sister snubbed him pretty good once. I’ve met all the guys in the Tragically Hip, who’re famous in Canada. I’ve met Wayne Gretzky, who is almost unbelievably patient with his fans.
It helps if you’re a frequent flier; famous people fly a lot, and if you’re a frequent flier you get to sit in the first class lounge, and it goes double if you fly out of LAX or a New York airport. I’ve sat beside Ben Stein on a plane, bumped into Kate Winslet in LAX, met Joe Clark (formerly Prime Minister of Canada) at Pearson Airport, and chatted up half the Toronto Raptors one day. I once helped Lindsay Lohan get a bag into the overhead compartment, though it was only afterwards I realized it was her. She was very nice and not drunk or stoned at the time. Even limiting myself to people I’ve talked to I’m forgetting two thirds of them. If you wanna meet famous people, fly a lot.
I tell this any time this thread comes up, but I got to interview Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips. he was gracious and engaging and spent a good 45 minutes chatting with my friend and I for the interview. And he called me Rasa the Patient.
Possibly the coolest thing, ever.
OMG, I seriously think I would faint dead away.
I met Mandy Patinkin once…that was very cool for me.
Met: Mercury Astronaut Scott Carpenter
Saw at reasonably close range: Joe Montana, Sidney Poitier, Ed Harris, Bill Nye the Science Guy, Tony Curtis (he walked right past me, no farther than you are from your monitor right now.)
Would Like To Meet: Jeff Bridges
Jason Alexander – I volunteered at a small aquarium when I was in high school and he came in while I was working as a docent at the touch tanks. It was a really quiet day and he and his kid were the only people over. The other docent and I talked to him and answered questions but didn’t say anything about him being famous – he seemed really nice and funny.
Also, ‘spotted in the wild’
Viggo Mortenson
Julie Andrews (I was 4 and the Sound of Music was my favorite movie. It made my year!)
Jack Nicholson
Jamie Lee Curtis
Anna Paquin
The drummer from blink 182
Zach de la Rocha (lead singer of Rage Against the Machine
Growing up in L.A. did have its highlights.
That must be a tragic and demeaning title to hold.
Miss OK.
Not Miss Good. Not Miss Outstanding. Not Miss A Really Nice Person Once You Get To Know Her.
Miss OK.
Poor girl.
That is pretty darn cool.
I’ve met James Garner of Maverick fame.
I’ve also met Tom Brokaw.
That’s it, although I used know a few guys who were rather well known in certain circles.
ADDED:
Diane Lane (Actor)
MULTIPLE BRIEF ENCOUNTERS:
Easy-E (Rapper)
Some.
Quite a few wrestlers.
One currently sitting Senator.
A former State Attorney General (while he was still in office).
One Nobel Prize winner.
Several astronauts.
Couple of Generals.
Couple of U.S. Representatives from my state.
A former Miss (mystatehere)
One candidate for Senate from (mystatehere)
One reasonably well known “Southern Rock” band
Bunch of Judges, law professors, published professors in other subjects.
More guys that have their 15 minutes of fame prior to commencing lengthy prison sentences than I care to remember.
I forgot…my other one I remember is Johnny Rotten. Also very cool.