# Famous friends **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 25, 2013, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-friends/672248 "2013-10-25T21:54:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-friends/672248/61 "2013-10-28T19:07:53Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Not sure if there are any active, but there have been in the past at least one Internet-famous member and two notable members\*. In addition, we occasionally have a notable person sign up just to answer a question, but I don’t really count that since they usually have post counts in single digits. > > \*Edited from one. I remember hearing a song from the second member on college radio a year or so ago, far from his home base, so I guess that counts. Jim Beaver being the most frequently mentioned that I know of. He was giving away moving boxes a few years ago and i picked them up. He had a truck and was ver sweet and helped me get them back to my house (he had quite a few, including big wardrobe). But he was kinda weirded out that I knew had posted on the SDMB…small world and all that. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-friends/672248/62 "2013-10-28T19:31:42Z")
> [@moejoe](#): > > People who are famous now went to my high school, but I wasn’t actually friends with any of them back then. Same with me. In particular, Adam Carolla was in my class in high school, though I don’t remember ever meeting him. But in his memoir he mentions one of my math teachers by name. Apparently, he didn’t like her. I liked her quite a lot. Of course, I did great in math and science and he – well, he is Adam Carolla. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-friends/672248/63 "2013-10-28T19:40:18Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > Jim Beaver being the most frequently mentioned that I know of. He was giving away moving boxes a few years ago and i picked them up. He had a truck and was ver sweet and helped me get them back to my house (he had quite a few, including big wardrobe). But he was kinda weirded out that I knew had posted on the SDMB…small world and all that. Wait - you didn’t connect up with him _through_ the SDMB? How did you come to know that he was giving away moving boxes? I can see how someone showing up for one thing and then dropping the SDMB might be a bit of a surprise. In terms of famous Dopers - **Phil Plait, the Bad Astronomer,** has gone on to a reasonable level of celebrity. In comics, **Xander Cannon** is an artist who has worked on some noteworthy titles and hung out here for a bit. **Eve** , as in Golden, is a wonderful Doper and author of books of talents like the Astaires… ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-friends/672248/64 "2013-10-28T20:25:11Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Wait - you didn’t connect up with him _through_ the SDMB? How did you come to know that he was giving away moving boxes? Craigslist, of course. He’d just recently moved, listed them to give away. I live about 2-3 miles away. (Very common, incidentally, CL is a fantastic source for boxes, don’t ever pay again…at least if you live in a large urban area…) ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-friends/672248/65 "2013-10-28T20:37:16Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > Craigslist, of course. He’d just recently moved, listed them to give away. I live about 2-3 miles away. (Very common, incidentally, CL is a fantastic source for boxes, don’t ever pay again…at least if you live in a large urban area…) When did you realize it was him - email/phone prior to showing up or when you showed up? How did you broach the topic of the SDMB? It sounds like a story. ---
**Author:** ![RickG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rickg/32/5174_2.png) [@RickG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickG)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-friends/672248/66 "2013-10-28T21:13:06Z")
One of the female leads of _Friends_ was a year behind me in high school. Didn’t know her, but her picture is in my yearbook. Oddly, she wasn’t a theater kid, or I probably would have known her a little (I was on tech crew, not on stage). We socialize occasionally with a Nobel Prize winner. We’re not close friends, but we’ve been to each other’s homes for dinners and parties. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-friends/672248/67 "2013-10-28T21:15:51Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > When did you realize it was him - email/phone prior to showing up or when you showed up? How did you broach the topic of the SDMB? It sounds like a story. I came back and read this and realized it might come across like I don’t believe you. Not my intent - I mean to say it sounds like an _interesting_ story, not a _made-up_ story. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-friends/672248/68 "2013-10-28T21:39:20Z")
Not really a friend, but the I went to school with Grant of Mythbusters fame, and he was always incredibly nice to me (and everyone else – just a genuinely nice guy). I went to high school with [Toby Bailey](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toby_Bailey), who had a notable college basketball career and spent a little bit of time in the NBA. Also a very nice, personable guy. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-friends/672248/69 "2013-10-28T21:53:33Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > I came back and read this and realized it might come across like I don’t believe you. Not my intent - I mean to say it sounds like an _interesting_ story, not a _made-up_ story. I realized it was him the minute I laid eyes on him, because it was very near the time I had binge-watched Deadwood. I don’t recall exactly how I came to mention it, but knowing me I am sure I just came right out and said hey, small world, I am a regular on the Straight Dope message board and you posted there a couple of times… ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-friends/672248/70 "2013-10-28T22:53:56Z")
A decently good high school friend is a pretty well known opera star in her own niche. Has a few Grammy noms. We reconnected on Facebook. My brother went to high school with Jon Bon Jovi (Bongiovi). I’ve seen the yearbook. My sister went to high school with a very well known and successful screenwriter. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2013, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-friends/672248/71 "2013-10-28T23:10:44Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > I realized it was him the minute I laid eyes on him, because it was very near the time I had binge-watched Deadwood. > > I don’t recall exactly how I came to mention it, but knowing me I am sure I just came right out and said hey, small world, I am a regular on the Straight Dope message board and you posted there a couple of times… Ah, cool. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-friends/672248/72 "2013-10-29T10:31:23Z")
Missed it by that much: About a year before my family moved to San Diego when I was 13, Tony Hawk moved out of the neighborhood we moved to. A lot of people I went to HS with had middle school yearbooks with him in it. The last year we lived in Illinois, my sister was in 9th grade at the same HS where Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine was in 12th grade. She has a yearbook with [this](http://www.metalsucks.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/tom-morello-yearbook.jpg) picture in it. And [this one](http://s301.photobucket.com/user/CodeAires/media/RATM/Tom%20Morello/139.jpg.html). ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-friends/672248/73 "2013-10-29T12:08:48Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > I realized it was him the minute I laid eyes on him, because it was very near the time I had binge-watched Deadwood. > > I don’t recall exactly how I came to mention it, but knowing me I am sure I just came right out and said hey, small world, I am a regular on the Straight Dope message board and you posted there a couple of times… Very jealous Stoid. He is one of my favorite Hollywood people. Facebook is worth having just to follow his page. He periodically does movie reviews of old mostly forgotten movies. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-friends/672248/74 "2013-10-29T12:26:25Z")
One of my longtime friends from elementary school is now a well-known local reporter who’s often on the local news. She’s well-known enough around here that she sometimes gets recognized on the street. But she’s only locally famous (and only among people who watch a certain news show I guess), so I don’t know if that counts. ---
**Author:** ![JFLuvly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac91a4/32.png) [@JFLuvly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JFLuvly)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-friends/672248/75 "2013-10-29T13:05:47Z")
Not sure if you would call him famous, but a lifelong friend who called my parents Mom and Dad and still comes to see me once or twice a year, and we played a gig together last year when he was home…[CPAC](http://www.cpac.ca/en/programs/outburst/). About as famous as you can get from Canadian television. Glen is one of the few people I know who has actually followed their lifelong dream and has been in the entertainment industry all his life. I played hockey for a season a few years ago with Doug Sulliman, [Doug Sulliman - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Sulliman) . My first thought when he came on the ice was “Who the hell is this guy all dressed in the shiny new Phoenix gear?” Really nice guy and a good player, but I am going to stick to my claim to fame that he only scored one goal on me. My cousin is quite the artist and is keeping quite busy… [Eric Orchard - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Orchard) Maybe not the most famous people, but hey, it’s Canada. Here’s a video I just posted on the Straight Dopers Facebook page of Glen and a few friends a few years ago at my place sitting by the pool having some beers and a little jam session. My son was ten at the time and just learning the harmonica. > **[Log into Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=114836902006)** > > Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know. ETA: Don’t mind the quality, we were drinking beer all afternoon. ---
**Author:** ![Scribble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scribble/32/3317_2.png) [@Scribble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribble)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-friends/672248/76 "2013-10-29T13:11:52Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > You sure she didn’t date his brother? I’m not sure that Ted ever had a date in his life. :dubious: Nope. My former roommate’s mom dated the guy who would become The Unabomber. I remember being told that they went to prom together. This isn’t an FOAF thing, either. I’m still friends with this former roommate on Facebook. If you needed to do some fact - checking, for some reason, I could point you to the source. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-friends/672248/77 "2013-10-29T13:45:01Z")
I knew 2 sports figures in high school. One won a gold medal in wrestling. The other was the first college basketball player ever named All-American as a freshman, sophomore and junior. Another good friend from high school does crime commentary all the time on various networks. She also is an interviewer on various crime shows like “Wives with Knives” etc. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-friends/672248/78 "2013-10-29T15:51:26Z")
> [@Scribble](#): > > Nope. My former roommate’s mom dated the guy who would become The Unabomber. I remember being told that they went to prom together. > > This isn’t an FOAF thing, either. I’m still friends with this former roommate on Facebook. If you needed to do some fact - checking, for some reason, I could point you to the source. How is this anything but a FOAF? The OP asked about famous people that you personally know and you told a story about your former roommate’s mom who knew him before your former roommate was born. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-friends/672248/79 "2013-10-29T16:40:05Z")
A girl I knew in high school did the weather reporting for a Denver TV station for a number of years. Another girl I knew in high school was briefly a state senator in Wisconsin. One of those conservative, family-values types. The amusing thing was, back in high school, she was the type who couldn’t keep her hands off the guys. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2013, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-friends/672248/80 "2013-10-29T16:57:24Z")
I wasn’t friends with them but I went to school with some people who are now well-known if not famous in their spheres and you might have heard of two of them. They’d likely remember me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-friends/672248.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/famous-friends/672248.md?page=5)