I know that there have been a lot of thread about famous people you know, but this one is a little different. Who do you know that has had their 15 minutes of fame or is only known by a select group of people?
Here is my list:
Melvin Dummar is the stepdad of one of my good friends. If you have ever seen the movie Melvin and Howard (the movie was on some cable station last weekend) or heard of the Mormon Will, you know who Melvin Dummar is. Melvin is a very nice guy but I have a hard time swallowing the Howard Hughes story.
His stepson (my friend) is one of the roles played by an actor in the movie although it was when he was a little boy. This same friend was featured on the television series “911” for the time he accidentally drove a sandrail off and cliff and almost died a couple of times during the rescue. He was later in a comma for a few weeks.
Sidenote - Melvin’s brother was killed in a random murder earlier this year.
Cindy Brimhall. This is one of my old highschool friends who went on to being Miss October in Playboy, was featured in David Lee Roth videos (and others), a model for Fredricks of Hollywood, and now she is doing this:
Jon Harris (Andy in Pee Wee’s Big Adventure). This is a friend who turned stalker and later on the other end of a restraining order. Tried to buy my love.
Richard Heffner. He is my mentor. I was his intern. No, not that kind of intern.
I can’t say he’s had 15 minutes of fame…he has the 2nd (or 3rd?) longest running TV show in history–the longest with only one host. So, I guess he’s had 43 years of fame, but he is only known by a select group of people.
I sort of know Stefianianna Christofferson - who was the original voice of Daphne in the Scooby Do cartoons.
She does sings and does “performance art” now.
My boss claims to have appeared in “Blame it on Rio” as Michael Caine’s body double (which is funny because now my boss would be roughly double Michael Caine’s body weight). He also allegedly had a speaking role with Hunter, which I believe because he has told me 100 stories about how Fred Dryer was a total jerk. But since I can’t find his name on the IMDB.com site - I won’t claim him as a celebrity. But he tells us stories about everyone from Meyer Lansky to Woody Harrelson’s family (he is a retired lawyer in Texas).
Holly Berger. She did the voice of Penny on Inspector Gadget after the first season. I don’t really know her in person, but we exchanged e-mails after she saw my IG site.
I practiced in front of the judge who was in the car with another judge when Woody’s dad assassinated him. (I am currently a practicing lawyer in Texas.)
A friend of mine was out on her family’s sailboat when they were filming the scene in Blues Brothers where they drop the car into the lake, so my friend was in the movie but she was really small…
One of our neighbors played a character in one episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show…
My father wrote a play which was produced by the American Conservatory Theatre; it starred Michael Learned, Peter Donat, and David Dukes (Paul Dukes? The one who’s not head of the KKK; the actor).
A girl I had a crush on in high school is one of the main dancers at the Lido in Paris.
Before I began working here (12 years ago), a statewide public television network, Tim Kaiser was an associate producer. He left shortly before I came, went to Hollywood and became one of the producers of Seinfeld and has Emmys in his possession. He is now a producer of Will & Grace.
Also, I sort of know Josh Hopkins, an as-yet little-known young actor who is beginning a role on Ally McBeal this fall. He will be playing (I gather from the promos) her new love interest in the wake of Rober Downey Jr.'s departure. So, he may become famous very soon.
My great uncle John is a doctor in Las Vegas – he’s good friends with Paul Anka and had Frank Sinatra and Elvis as patients at one time. Elvis gave him a Cadillac.
My grandfather danced with Claudette Colbert during WWII.
My aunt used to be friends with Paul Reiser’s sister.
Pavarotti touched my mother’s stomach while she was pregnant with me when she asked him for his autograph after a performance. He accurately predicted my gender.
I once wrote Adult Swim Records (owned by Minor Threat’s drummer Jeff Nelson) to ask for a catalog, and Jeff wrote me back to tell me I had nice handwriting.
I was once babysat by Clara Bow’s son (Clara was a famous silent film star).
Oh and if we’re talking about knowing people who know people, my friend from law school’s sister is country music singer Mila Mason (I spoke to her on the phone once, but never met her).
I know an Academy Award winner. A casual friend of mine won for Best Documentary Feature last year. Denorah Oppenheimer produced Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport. It was genuinely strange to be watching the Oscars and seeing this person you know waltz up the stairs and give a touching, brief acceptance speech. Now I have to get over to her house and see that little statuette…
I personally know the garbage can that supposedly will feeature prominantly in a chase scene in the new Jennifer Lopez movie “Enough”. They filmed it in our town and borrowed a friend’s trash can. I can’t wait to cheer it on when it makes its film debut. (Unfortunately it was killed durning the filming.)
I know the Spoon Man on Sound Garden’s(?) song “Spoon Man”. He lives in our town and his name is Artis.
sjc had the coolest story on this thread, hands down.
He’s not a celebrity, but Lee Goldberg was executive producer for “Diagnosis: Murder” and is now writing screenplays for the “Nero Wolfe” show. I interviewed him and reviewed his Star Trek-parody novel “Beyond the Beyond.” He’s a gas to talk to.