Oh, and how could I forget? I met Jared Fogle when he showed up at our local Subway once. I brought a loaf of bread for him to sign. It was all very amusing at the time.
Maybe other people haven’t actually met more famous people than me; they just have better memories.
I sat one table away from Angelina Jolie at a hotel restaurant called “Angelique” in Bangkok in 2002. I think Jon Voigt was there too, but I didn’t want to get a clear look. My wife and I debated saying hello but decided to let them have dinner in peace.
I met a Cantopop celebrity once in Hong Kong, and remember thinking she was very pretty but couldn’t tell you her name.
I have recently met Andrea Fonseka (www.andreafonseka.com) twice. She is as her website attests extremely well-known in Singapore, but I had no idea of her fame until someone pointed it out to me a few days afterwards.
Former Miss World and B-grade Australian celebrity Jennifer Hawkins passed me by in Sydney airport a few months ago.
A good friend of mine is a model in New York and has appeared in Banana Republic billboard advertisements. I have personally witnessed him getting stopped in the street by beautiful girls, lucky bastard.
I attended a lunch in Hong Kong in which Tony Blair was speaking, in 2003, and very recently attended a breakfast at which the new Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, was speaking.
I have met the new Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia many times. I guess he is famous in certain circles.
My brothers-in-law were in an Australian music reality TV show called Popstars quite a few years ago. I was overseas for it but apparently they were quite famous, for around 6 months or so.
I suppose I should mention I was once in a documentary which was broadcast on the Australian ABC TV channel and got me funny looks on the bus for the few days following. My fame, such as it was, was extremely brief.
Brits only: Zammo off of Grange Hill.
I offered him a cigarette. He declined. I said “just say no, eh?” and he replied “fuck off.”
When I was a wee-one my dad was a member of a CB club that did many volunteer activities including security for celebrities at county fairs and fund raisers, the ones I remember are:
Greg Brady/Barry Williams (he sang me a couple of songs)
Tanya Tucker
Loretta Young
I wish I still had those pictures
My dad was one of the guys fueling the steam train for “Sara:Plain and Tall” so I got to briefly meet Glenn Close and Christopher Walken. During all my moving episodes, I lost my autographed copy of the book.
A few years back I got to meet the band members of Tantric.
The drummer was really cool.
And I got to meet the band because I am friends with Toby Wright [toby wright (tobywright) on Myspace](Toby Wright)
I met Yogi Berra and Rick Cerone at the Yoo Hoo plant. Yogi was part owner. I don’t recall Rick’s connection other than Yogi probably just brought him along.
Pete Seeger a few times, once for a sloop club meeting on board the Wavertree at South Street Seaport before it was open to the public.
Hey Scarlett67, I got to be stage crew for Arlo Guthrie once. I got to talk to him for about 15 minutes and carry some of his gear to and from his car.
I was a human barrier for Bruce Springsteen at the Stone Pony, but I only shook his hand and said hello.
I met, shook hands with and requested a song from David Crosby at the Stone Pony.
I met a few others at the Pony, but nothing memorable.
I met Leonard Nimoy and Walter Koenig on the USS Ranger while they were filming Star Trek IV. (the whale movie).
I met Shatner at a Star Trek convention. Just a hand shake an a quick question though.
I also met Bill Bradley when he first ran for Senate. I had/have a signed Basketball Card that I brought with me.
I also met Giraldo, he was helping at a Clearwater Festival. As I was volunteering at the T-shirt booth he was at, I talked to him a bit. Not being a fan, I remember it being a little awkward. I mostly asked about the local paper he owned.
I think that is it. Not a long list.
I am most jealous of **Silenus **partying with Spider.
My brother was a partier and a bit older. He ended up partying with Leslie West and the Asbury Jukes if I recall correctly. I think he has several others.
I just realized, I shared some beers with Peter Tork (of Monkees fame) but he played the Clearwater Festival as a Folk Musician and was quite happy to drink our beer later that night and swap a few stories as long as it did not concern the Monkees. He seemed like a really nice guy, but then I was pretty drunk.
While arguably, he’s not ‘famous’ like Clint Eastwood or Garth Brooks, I have met and become friends with Ace Young from season 5 of American Idol.
I helped out for over a year with a charity he organized called Highrollers With Heart, we raised money to put on a family amenities unit at the Denver Children’s Hospital.
He is truly the NICEST person I have ever met, sweet, charming and funny. I have never met anyone that has met him that *DOESN’T *like him, he’s just that kinda guy.
He is playing Kenickie in Grease on Broadway right now, through mid-January. Is he famous enough?
(I have also met a couple of the other Idols from that year- Bucky Covington & Chris Daughtry)
Hubby used to work in motorsport so I have met drivers such as Jacques Villeneuve, Greg Moore, Paul Tracey, Dario Franchitti (and wife Ashley Judd), Gil de Ferran, Michael Andretti…and ate lunch once with Murray Walker, F1 broadcaster.
James Garner
Paul Gross
Donny Osmond
Ricky Gervais lives around the corner and Helena Bonham Carter/Tim Burton lined up behind me at the butcher’s for Christrmas turkey last year
Used to be Dick Irvin’s (of Hockey Night in Canada fame) bookkeeper
I’ve been within 15 feet of Bill Clinton when he was president. He waved at us. (he was jogging on Ft. McNair with a bunch of SS guys follwing him)
I met Gen. Powell in the Pentagon. I’ve also met Gen. Foote, probably not very famous, but she was a female Army general in the late 90’s which at least makes her a person of note. She was very friendly and would stop and talk to soldiers all of the time.
I met Mike Farrell of MASH fame when in High School. We were on a field trip to a TV station and he was doing an interview there.
My neighbor (when I was a kid, don’t live there anymore) is the sister of Ken Holliday from Carter Country. I met him at a neighborhood BBQ back in the day. He was pretty cool, though of course all of us kids were enthralled to meet someone that was on TV.
A buddy of mine met David Bowie once. I was pissed that he didn’t get me an autograph.
another friend met metallica. He delivered a pizza to them and was so thrilled he called me at 2 AM to tell me. I wasn’t as thrilled.
My sister played piano for Wayne Brady in Milwaukee when he and some friends were touring. She knows a lot of famous people.
I met Meredith Vieira when I was on Who Wants to be a Millionaire. She was very kind, wears a LOT of makeup.
Here’s a random one - I took a college tour with Little Man Tate. Never saw the movie, but I suppose he must’ve told me who he was (or somebody else nearby did). I see he did end up going to Wesleyan. It looked like a very cool college and I thought hard about enrolling, but I ended up looking elsewhere.
I suppose it depends on what you mean by “famous”. I’ve met lots of opera singers of moderate fame, although none of the really big timers. Christine Brewer studies with a colleague of mine, whose studio is right next to mine; I used to sit outside and listen to her couch Isolde.
Jon Cryer’s father is a fairly successful Broadway actor; he’s (last I knew) in the Broadway production of Phantom of the Opera. I had Jon’s half brother Billy in my studio for a couple of years, so I met his father.
Sarah Silverman went to my high school. She graduated the year before I started, but my sister was in school with her for three years and was in Sweet Charity with her freshman year (my sister’s freshman year, Sarah’s senior).
I sat next to Fox News correspondent Karl Cameron on a plane.
Seen in the wild:
John Goodman, Hugh Jackman.
Knew their relatives:
The aforementioned Jon Cryer (half brother)
William Kristol (daughter)
I’ve met:
Ted Nugent
Sen Richard Lugar
Gov Robert Orr (Indiana)
Bella Abzug
Former ABC reporter Bob Zelnick
NBC reporter Bob Kurr
Cokie Roberts
The Romantics (don’t know their names)
The father of NFL QB Rick Mirer was my industrial arts teacher when I was in high school.
My son regularly plays World of Warcraft with some actor named Francis Capra. I’ve never heard of him, personally.
ETA: Arie Luyendyk, and Tom Griswold of Bob & Tom
One I always forget: I got to meet Andre the Giant when I was about ten or so. He was massive.
Forgot a couple:
I held the door open for Walter Koenig once.
Just this July I shared a hotel elevator with James Carville. We talked about our haircuts. Well, I talked. He smiled and nodded.
Coach Isolde. Coach. Not couch. How does one couch Isolde? Yeesh.
All through college:
Knew Woody Harrelson, Leo Geter & Clint Allen- all through the Drama dept. Leo & Clint have had some TV & movie appearances but neither have matched Woody’s fame, and that’s a shame.
Priest-novelist Fr. Andrew Greeley- got him to autograph a couple of books.
Fr. Daniel Berrigan.
Vincent Price (toured in a one-man show as Oscar Wilde.)
Local GOP rallies:
Sen. Richard Lugar
Reagan Museum:
Sen. Bob Dole (Mom & I got our pic taken with him at his invitation)
The old AMOK Bookstore in L.A.:
Ann Magnuson
Well, I thought they couched her away in a leper colony, despite which, Tristan found a way to couch her.
And I forgot that he and some of his band members sat at the next table in a restaurant next to my family when I was a kid.
Another one I forgot in my first post: Toby Keith. I met him in a mall.
George Harrison’s sister babysat me and my brother once when I was too young to remember. She and my grandmother were friends and co-workers.
And Minnesota Fats is a far-off relation of mine. I’ve been to his house (I was about seven, at the time) and on his back patio is a pool table with “movie money” and other props and memorabilia displayed. I remember being more impressed with that than anything else.
gbear’s post reminded me that I met Donny Osmond once, and I also left out Jimmy Stewart, which doesn’t really count as having “met” him. I saw him at a book signing…he signed my book, and said hello, but he was quite old and there were a ton of people there, so they pretty much just ushered the line through as quickly as possible.
I got email from Rodney Dangerfield. Wasn’t spam either.
I had commented on a Howard Stern newsgroup about an appearance he made on the show, where he got into a big argument with Jackie the Jokeman. Jackie had borrowed $1000 from him early in his career and never paid him back. Jackie asserted that he did pay him back: “in jokes.” Rodney, Howard, et al destroyed him for that.
I said if Jackie had just acknowledged Rodney for helping him out back in the day, Rodney would have considered that payment enough. Rodney thanked me for the comment. That really made my day.