When I was in high school, one of my best friends baby-sat for Dennis Rodman’s daughter. After the Piston’s won the title Dennis invited us to a practice to meet the guys.
John Sally started out very nice. He told me one of his daughters was half puertorican, that she kind of looked like me, how much I reminded him of her, etc. He then invited my friend & I to a party. Before
we had a chance to answer, he asked how old I was. I told him 17 & he said “Never mind about the party. Come back when you’re 18.”
Fine.
Two years later I was waiting in the airport with a friend who was headed to London when he walked by. She wanted to meet him so we approached. I walked up to him and said “You probably don’t
remember me…”
He then interrupted me & said “Yes I do. You’re that puertorican friend of Dennis’. Maria or Teresa. You’re all named one or the other.”
:rolleyes:
So I said, “This is Amy. She wanted to meet you.”
And walked away.
Pat Sajak: is nice on-camera, but seemed aloof and cold during commercials
Vanna White: Very kind and friendly. She had her baby with her at the time (I’m sure this baby is much older now) and was letting everyone see it.
It’s funny how short some celebrities are in real life and how big they look on tv. There’s this Christian singer, Miss Angie. I saw her music video on tv and she looked so tall. Then I went to her concert and afterwards went up to have her sign my cd I had brought. I was almost a head taller than her! I wanted to laugh. I told her how much I love her music and she seemed surprised but happy, as if no one tells her that. She’s very quiet and shy in public.
Well I haven’t met many famous people… one person I don’t think many people would know and the other they might… maybe.
Frank O’Keefe: Author of kids books such as “Guppy Love or the Day the Fish Tank Exploded” and “School Stinks” he was quite a nice guy. I met him more then once actually because he was a substitute teacher for the town I lived in so once I had him for a sub and a couple of other times I met him when he was doing readings and such for kids.
Jim Hoey: Head singer of Oscar Wild (a local band in Calgary) and the producer/star of a tv show with his buddy called “The Dimestore Fisherman”. Jim is a really cool guy I babysat his daughter when him and his wife went out for supper, when his band opened for April Wine etc. If you want to know who I am talking about his show is on Outdoor Life Network on Saturdays at about 10 am MST.
Thats all my star encounters, and even then they aren’t that famous… sighs and shrugs Ah well at least I know I knew someone slightly famous.
I met Weird Al after a show at the Warwick Musical Theatre a few years back. You could tell he was tired and pressed for time, but he still took the time to sign some autographs and talk to the people who waited behind for him. You could tell that this is a guy who really loves his fans.
I met Peter Townsend and Roger Daltrey of The Who many years ago, they were waiting for their car to take them to the airport after the concert. A cop was yelling some kind of abuse at Peter Townsend but I forget what about. Roger Daltrey was wearing a floor length purple leather coat with a huge fox fur collar, also fur trim around the hem and on the cuffs. He was UNBELIEVABLY SHORT! I saw Sandra Dee , the 1950’s actress once married to Bobby Darrin, walking back to her hotel room after performing in a play in our city, she may as well have been carrying a placard saying “do not approach me”.
Alright, about 5 years ago, I was at this swap meet in Costa Mesa (beach city outside of L.A.), and I saw Cindy Crawford walking with some guy. She was wearing sunglasses, and had her hair kinda messy and in a pony tail, but I could still tell.
We followed her around for a few minutes to see what kinda things she looked at. She kept looking at ornamental things, like small sculptures and stained glass, and things of that nature. Anyway, she got boring, so we stopped following her.
My parents tell me I met Gerald Ford in a grocery store in Aspen, when I was about 5. I don’t remember, but they say he was the nicest guy, he even told the secret service not to kick everybody out of the store for him.
I smoked pot with a couple of the Fab Five at Michigan.
I met Richard “Lord British” Garriott at E3 one year. For a guy who lives in a dungeon he was very down-to-earth, nice and personable. He even asked me – a jackass kid who had no legitimate business being at the event – how things were going professionally before I had a chance to tell him that Ultima 6 kicked ass.
I also met Douglas Adams, briefly, at that show. I had never really gone up to anyone out of the blue and asked for their autograph before, but he signed my ‘Infocom Masterpieces’ CD for me. (I made sure not to mention digital watches, so I think we were both pleased with the outcome of our brief meeting.)
Oh, and I don’t have a personal experience to report, but my best friend recently ended up being in a photo shoot for an advertisement at a restaurant with Howard Hesseman (Johnny Fever from WKRP). It was completely accidental - the scheduled models didn’t show up and she and her friend were the only other customers in the restaurant. HH arrived with his entourage and the owner desperatedly pressed my friend into agreeing to be photographed since, presumably, they only had HH for a certain number of minutes and couldn’t wait. She said that he was not outright rude but was extremely stand-offish and unapproachable, clearly bored, there to earn his fee and not willing to chat or sign autographs. He wouldn’t talk to anyone but his own “people”. She also said he looked old and didn’t seem very happy in general.
Wait! I do have a personal encounter! Several years ago I met Al DiMeola after a guitar workshop. He seemed surprisingly small in person, both in height and build. He was, however, the very picture of graciousness. He spoke to anyone who approached him, signed autographs, posed for pictures, asked people questions as if he actually cared about the answers, and acted as if he had all the time in the world and nothing he’d rather be doing than talking to a bunch of strangers. Even when people said incredibly stupid stuff to him or asked him questions that were almost offensive in their ignorance (including, painfully, one asked by the person I was with :rolleyes: ), he never seemed irritated or impatient. He was soft-spoken but seemed very intense; seemed like a genuinely kind and unpretentious person, someone who would be a good friend.
I played fake blackjack for hours with Leslie Neilsen at a hotel in Denver. He was absolutely hilarious. He carries a little “fart noise maker” thing with him and uses it at the most inappropriate times.
I’ve met several members of the local minor league hockey team too, but I don’t guess they’re famous enough for this thread (none of them seem to have made it to the NHL yet).
Thanks to my job, I’ve met a bunch of media people, though also thanks to my job, I haven’t really gotten to talk to most of them-- I get rushed away to do something else while my boss schmoozes them.
Anyway, so far I’ve chatted briefly with Dick Cavett (seemed very polite), searched a crowded reception to hand Mike Wallace an envelope (he was extremely nice), and been in the same room as Ted Koppel (who either has a really weird skin tone, or had way too much make-up on).
I met Joel Grey once at a theater program I worked for, and he seemed ok to me (even signed something for my mom), but it was a two-second conversation.
At sci-fi fantasy conventions, I’ve met (among others) Richard Biggs, Jason Carter, Pat Tallman, and Peter Jurasik (sp?). All from Babylon 5, and all nice folks, especially Jurasik. What an absolute sweetheart! Just charming, even after two days of hours and hours of signing and chatting with fans. I have a picture of me and my friends Kat and Deb sitting next to him, getting hugs.
I got hit on by the Glad Garbage guy ( the all in white guy) at a trade show Ohhh lucky me! I also got hit on by some retarded wresters. The DOA or something stupid like that. What class! “Come on baby, give us a ride.” EWwww!
Ed Bradley (of 60 Minutes) seemed nice enough when I sat on his hand.
Colin Powell seemed nice enough when I met him, but it was a public event with tons of cameras around so you can’t be sure.
Saw Ron Jeremy at Disney World. Didn’t meet him so I can’t say if he was nice. All I can say is that he is just as ugly in person as on film (not that I have ever seen him on film). But he must have a great personality or something considering the woman that was hanging off of his arm. Also, it was really interesting to follow him for a while watching the crowd to see who recognized him.
He ain’t kidding about the dungeon, kids. It’s real. (Floorplans are public documents filed with the zoning folks, so I guess I can say it.) His Lordship is a wacky, fun fellow, apparently. And shows what can happen if a D&D fan gets a few bucks.
Ooh ooh, I thought of one! A friend of Dave Matthews did a Web page for my friend’s bookstore/coffeeshop. Dave and his friend and some other people came in one day when Mr. Scarlett and I were hanging out here. They went to sit on the patio out back, and Dave drew a cartoon on my friend’s young daughter’s hat (she’s a big fan). He seemed like a nice guy.
Oh, and there’s an Italian guy who used to work at the bookstore who, I’m told, is a famous movie star in Italy. (Sounds like B.S., I know, but my friend is pretty reliable with her facts.) He’s freakin’ hilarious and a real sweetheart.
I met Cliff Robertson in '75 - he was rather brusque and stand-offish till the cameras came out - then it was “Arm-around-the-girls-let’s-take-some-pictures” - I was not impressed.
I ran into Harry Chapin in a hallway in the theater after he performed at Purdue. I heard him whining that people just wanted his autograph but wouldn’t buy the stuff he was selling for whatever cause he supported. Like college kids could afford $20 for a program in '78/'79…
