But my mother used to work in a B&B in Manchester in the 70s near the television studios. Passing celebrities often stayed there for filming, so she got to know some quite well.
Micheal Parkinson who was “nice but slimy”, a womaniser with a different girl every night - and she would know being the maid. Don’t know if his wife ever found out, but I can never view him as the squeaky clean, paternal star everyone else does.
Tom Jones was arrogant, but apart from that alright. He was having an affair with Lulu at the time.
David Bowie was lovely, very chatty and friendly - this could be biased, seeing my mother had a thing for him, and still does to a certain extent. He was her favourite.
Paul McCartney who was very shy, but still a nice guy.
A friend of mine went to see Jude Law in a play in London and met him afterwards in the pub. He was very down to earth and friendly, even bought her a drink and spent about twenty minutes talking to her. He had no attitude problem about talking to a fan and was a genuinely nice erson.
Other friends of mine have met Tom Cruise, Ringo Star and the Bee Gees but only in passing - all seemed to be pretty friendly people.
So I’m waiting for the day I get to mmet Jude Law. Not fair!
I’ve been sitting in quiet desperation, cursing my dreary life for having never met any famous people. Then it hit me.
I met Secretary of Defense William Cohen. Really nice guy, but that’s what you might expect from a man running for state governor.
It was in the seventies, I was but a young tyke of around 12 or so. Bill was the Govenor of Maine. Every year during his campaign, he would do a “walking tour” of the state. He’d go to almost every town in the state, and walk down Main Street just shaking hands and being a politician. Our house just happened to be on Main Street, so I rushed out as he was walking by. He shook my hand and talked to me for a few moments. “Stay in school, don’t do drugs” and all that rah-rah stuff.
I like to think it was my charm that rubbed off on him enough to allow him to become Secretary of Defense.
I was so glad to read this. He’s one of my favorite actors.
My encounters? I was security for a Gin Blossoms concert once, so I met the lead singer. He seemed okay, but I was with a gorgeous female friend, so maybe that had something to do with it. He didn’t seem to mind signing autographs or posing for pics.
I also wrote an article for my college paper about Jerry Springer when he visited campus. He was extremely friendly-I wasn’t surprised to learn that he used to be a politician. But there were TV cameras everywhere, so it might’ve been an act. I thought he was short, but I’m 6’4", so maybe it was only me who thought that.
As I have let drop at least once before, I interviewed the late rock critic (back when rock critics “mattered”) Lester Bangs for a J school paper. Very nice; spent forty minutes on a Sunday night talking to a fan about life, rock, and his literary influences. Liked Celine, as I recall. I wanted to send the tape of the conversation to one of his friends when he died, as some sort of remembrance, but never did.
I didn’t really meet him, but once, I swear, Michael Stipe was sitting behind me at a Patti Smith concert, smoking a joint.
Another time, my friend and I were at a Cure concert, and about a half an hour before it began, we went outside, near one of the back enterances, because she wanted to smoke. Robert Smith walked by and made small talk with us, even though we really couldn’t say anything back. When he was walking away, I took off my hat and threw it at him. He caught it and said “Thanks!” It was the best night of my life.
I met John McCain once when we was campaigning in the south. He was doing a book signing at this bookstore, and a friend of mine asked him some questions for his school paper. McCain was a really great guy, super polite, not annoyed at all. Of course, he was running for president. . .
I met Molly Shannon (from SNL) once in Washington, DC. She was really cute and full of energy.
My cousin met Jim Carrey once, and said he was a really nice guy (this was about five years ago; I don’t remember how famous he was then).
I met Tom Arnold at a wedding once. He was cool, but by the end of the night I felt sorry for him because people kept crowding around him expecting him to do something funny every minute, and they would not leave him alone. I could tell it was bugging him but he remained gracious the whole time he was there.
The only famous person I’ve ever met: Werner Von Braun(ex-Nazi rocket boss). Nice, down to earth guy.
My dad once met Buddy Ebson (of the “Beverly Hillbillies”)-says he was a nice guy.
I guess I don’t get to meet too many famous people (here in Waltham, MA).
Harland Williams (Rocketman, There’s Something About Mary) was really nice. He performed at a comedy club under a different name, and my friend recognized him. He was SOOO funny! We went to talk to him after and he was really cool.
I know this is an old thread, but I was about to post this very question on MPSIMS and didn’t want to get it kicked off. I thought I’d throw in my two newbie cents:
i used to work at a radio station here in Chicago, and my husband worked book signings so I’ve had encounters with several famous people, and I’ll admit it, I still get jittery and star struck when I see someone famous. My face gets red and I start giggling.
The Nicest Famous People I’ve Met:
Gary Sinise: Very nice, very helpful, gave me good advice on starting a theatre company.
Rammstein: Amazingly enough…sweet as pie, gorgeous, polite, speak lovely accented English, and are VERY accessible to fans.
Emeril Lagasse: Friendly, considerate, smiley
Others:
Todd Bridges
Anthrax
Chris Zorich
The Biggest Egos I’ve Ever Met:
Faith No More: Awfully arrogant and downright mean for a band whos days were numbered
Veruca Salt: YIKES
Black Crowes: Total dicks, refused to sign autographs WHILE THEY WERE IN AN AUTOGRAPH BOOTH
I’m sure there’s others, but these are the folks that stick out in my mind.
I met Sara Gilbert from Roseanne. She went to school in New Haven when I lived there. She was really cool. I have met more bands and musicians than I can remember. Most of them were pretty cool. The biggest jerks I ever met were a band called Nuclear Assault. They were your typical 80’s thrash metal band, and they played a local club in about 94. All the band did was talk about how huge they were and the new wave of music just didn’t match up to them. They requested all sorts of rock star treatment and made fun of the opening bands. They were real pissed when there were only about 50 people that actually stayed to see them.
Sir Ian Mckellen - One of the nicest stars I met, down to earth, likeable, a real gentleman. He was on his way to film LOTR and was a gracious receiver of praise for his acting ability.
No Doubt - knew them before they were huge when they did backups at Whiskey and Palladium. The drummer is the hilarious one. Gwen is a absolute doll up close.
Reggie Bannister from the Phantasm movies - a real down to earth guy, willing to do anything for his fans and fun to talk too. Got into a real in depth with him on horror in general and had a good chat for over a hour
Mike Ness of Social Distortion - Talked cars with him for a hour at the Hootenanny. Drives the most tricked out gorgeous Caddy.
Forrest J Ackermann - Editor of Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine. A real gentleman and has the most amazing house you will ever see. Likable and can wrap you in a story of horror movie history like no one
Second on Perry Farrel - a real nice guy, quiet demeanor but a real piercing gaze. The guy talk like a genius
Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers -met him skateboarding around Melrose. A guy anyone could talk too and find him funny and very nice.
Chris Carter (creator of the X Files) - hilarious guy, shy and kinda in a “stunned that people like his stuff” sort of way.
Bad ones-
Jean Claude Van Damme - cokehead, tried to hit on my g/f then called her a bitch when she turned him down. Still thinks he is the hottest shit on earth.
Eddie Van Halen - aloof, jerkoff
Val Kilmer - a real ass on the set and in general I wish he were like his character in Real Genius
I went to see the Kids In The Hall perform their sketch comedy in San Francisoc about 10 years ago. Afterwards, my then-wife and I waited around for autographs with a few other attendees. They came out, signed the autographs, then asked if anybody knew anywhere to eat around there. We did, so they invited us out to dinner (actually only two of them went out to eat - Dave Foley and Kevin McDonald). They were thoroughly charming and witty. Even paid for our meals. Dave Foley was one of the nicest, most down-to-earth people I’ve ever met, period.
On the other hand, I met Jerry Seinfeld, and he was smug and condescending (and unfunny). Pretty much a jerk all around.
The only other famous people I recall meeting were the Replacements after a show. They were polite, and Tommy Stinson was very amicable, but they seemed fatigued and not all there, espescially Paul Westerberg (understandable for right after a show when you’re on tour, I guess). Still, no “star trips” that I could see.
