Still mildly interesting “six degrees” sorta thing.
One other person I just thought of. When I was in high school, I was friends with Ron Unz, though he was a year ahead of me. He was a brilliant guy in math and science, winning all sorts of awards.
When I last saw him in person it was 1980 and he was stumping for the presidential campaign of John Anderson. Little did I know that he would later enter politics in a big, but mostly unsuccessful, way.
I used to work with Maria Bello, before she became an actress. I wouldn’t go so far as to call her a current friend, but I’m reasonably sure if I somehow obtained her phone number, gave her a call and introduced myself, she’d immediately remember me.
My High School girlfriend is the actress Erin Daniels, probably most famous for playing Dana on The L Word. We’re still FB friends. I was also friends with Jon Hamm, who dated a friend of mine in HS, but we aren’t still in touch, although she is - sometimes FB suggests that I should friend request him, which is kinda amusing. (Erin and him both have public FB accounts for fans, and private ones for friends).
My closest brush with fame is someone who didn’t know me, and while I knew who she was, we weren’t even in the same circle of friends. I was a sophomore in high school when she was a senior - she starred in the school musical that year and went on to become a Rockette, then one of Dean Martin’s Golddiggers. I looked her up on IMDB and she’s had a few minor bit parts on TV.
When I was in the Navy, I worked with Capt Giles Norrington, who had been a POW in the Hanoi Hilton for almost 5 years. I suppose he’s famous in some circles - one thing I remember vividly about him - he had the cheeriest outlook of anyone I ever knew. I guess after what he’d been thru, life’s aggravations were minor.
Due to the type of business I work in, I’m on a first name basis with with a number of pro athletes everyone would recognize, and pretty good friends with a handful, including a couple of Hall of Famers. I have dinner with someone who’s been on the Tonight Show over 100 times 5 or 6 times a year as well. I’ve just been extremely lucky to work in the industry I’m currently in, I basically fell into the job.
Ohmigod, you know a SPACE ALIEN?
I went to high school with Rebecca Romijn, she’s a couple of years younger than me. She might remember me if we traded HS stories, she was a good friend of one of my best friends (they still hung out after she got famous).
I played music in a few circles with folks that hit the almost big time (songs in play on Clear Channel Dallas radio stations, toured with Serj Takian of System of a Down fame and was produced by them) They were pretty big in Japan from what I was told.
My dad dated Mick Jagger’s first wife in high school. (“She was kinda a space cadet.” he says)
Worked for a few mobsters, and got a friend a job with one (didn’t know at the time)
The mayor of Mesquite, Texas rear ended our 1981 Honda Accord wagon when I was a kid while talking on a car phone. It was pretty awkward actually, because she was on the way to give a speech at my school. I got to meet her TWICE in one day.
My dad used to play music with a group of people that were fairly notable, Eric Johnson actually picked out the guitar that my dad gave me when I left for college, but it wasn’t for me, he picked it out in the 70s for my dad. Steve Vai apparently would come over to my dad’s house way late at night with a group of people after shows.
Wanna know about Dahmer?
Cartoonist Derf (John Backderf, who has lately been calling himself Derf Backderf) went to school with him, and wrote a graphic book about him.
(A while back, the first dozen or so pages were on-line at Derf’s site, but I can’t seem to find those there anymore.)