Bet he had a Rielgud time, yes sir!
How about royalty? I met Prince Philip once at a banquet. He didn’t insult me; I was gutted. 
Once chased Alec Bladwin out of a Sbarro’s in Athens, GA around 1991, 1992.
But was the mielgud?
I shared my mortifying moment with my close personal friend Robert Cray back in my Embarrassing Brushes with Fame thread: It's time for...Embarassing Brushes with Fame! - Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share - Straight Dope Message Board
Oy, what a dork.
Must have been 15 or so years ago the family was dining at a restaurant in Chelsea, MI (The Common Grill) and the server asked what I wanted to order and I said was having a tough time deciding. A customer passing by our table overheard and volunteered “the chicken sandwiches here are really good.”
The passerby happened to be Jeff Daniels.
I once saw a person walking down the street in my home town and thought “He looks like a short Paul Simon.” I later found out Simon is about 5’2" and his parents were living in the town at the time.
I have a pair of lavender suede work shoes that get looks on the street. I once noticed a guy coming towards me staring at them. He looked up at me as we passed, and it was Woody Allen.
Yeahbut, that’s Chelsea, MI. Jeff lives there and runs a theatre, you almost have to shoo him out of your yard!
Sammy Hagar sat across the aisle from me on a flight from LA to Seattle. He joked and talked with us for about half the flight then he fell asleep. Upon landing he signed a few autographs for us in first class. As soon as the door opened, he was up and gone.
My few encounters with some celebrities have been mostly where you would expect. Comedians after shows doing meet and greets. Penn and Teller taking the time to speak with everyone who was at their show. Stevie Ray Vaughn heading in to a gig… The one random encounter I had was with someone I have listened to so many times but is probably unknown to most people. I was at the gym in the middle of the day. There were probably 4 other people in there with me. Someone came in wearing full goofy golf attire. White and blue striped golf pants. Pink golf shirt. White newsboy golf hat. He starts to work out in this get up. I recognize him as the comedian Rich Vos. I know he lives somewhere in New Jersey but not near me. I found out later when he was on one of the Sirius shows I listen to that he was in the area for a doctors appointment and took in a round of golf and a quick workout. I went up to him and shook his hand and told him I was a fan and then left him alone.
I was going to a comedy show once and on the walk from the parking lot to the venue I noticed Greg Hahn and Costaki Economopoulos walking ahead of me to the same venue. I asked them if we were going to get a good show and they said yeah. They then asked if one of the buildings up ahead was the venue and I said yeah. I walked faster than them so I arrived at the building a little before them.
Yeah, probably not much of a ‘celebrity sighting’ from the locals’ standpoint. Kinda like being in Palm Springs in the 1970’s and spotting a movie star (yawn). Maybe a big deal for an outtatowner, but the locals are more like “Dammit, Bob Hope backed into my mailbox AGAIN…”
Sending this off to CS.
About 25 years ago I had a job delivering pizza in downtown San Jose. One day I had a delivery to the top floor of the Fairmont. When the elevator door opened, there was an older couple waiting to get on. As I was exiting the elevator, I made eye contact with the guy, who quickly snapped his eyes to the floor as the thought flashed through my head “I know who this person is.”
They got on the elevator, and the wheels were turning furiously in my head. It suddenly clicked, and I turned around to say something stupid like “hey, you’re Dick Clark!”, just as the elevator doors shut.
Bad cochrane. Bad.
Back in the early 80’s, I drove a yellow cab in New York City.
Once, I had Lauren Bacall in the back seat of my Checker.
She looked good, I definitely remember that.
That’s the whole story, nothing more to it.
James Doohan once yelled at me to get out of a handicapped parking space at a McDonalds.
John Savage asked me for directions. He probably regretted this. After he left, I realized I send him the wrong way.
I met Robert Blake when we both stopped to watch L.A.P.D search some yards for robbery suspect. This was during his murder trial.
For a couple of months, I worked part time in a Southern California Country Club Locker Room. Some guy came up to me, smoking a cigar. He asked me if it was OK if he smoked in there. Smelling the cheapest cigar ever, I replied " Honestly. I’m a Temp. If no other guest complains, it’s OK with me." Joe Pesci said thanks and gave me a very nice. tip.
Wayne Gretzky and his family showed up to use the pool. They were very demanding about getting fresh towels, but they were also very polite and nice. No tip, but a positive encounter, overall.
It was during the O.J. Simpson trial and I had to explain to him that his guest privileges had expired. Very nervous about that, but he just sighed, turned around, and left.
As a big fan of The Cars, I was awestruck at being behind Ric Okasek in a McDonald’s. He caught me glancing at him and asked if he could help me, in a kind of dismissive tone. I apologized and said I was surprised to be in the same place as one of my musical heroes and didn’t mean to bother him. After that, we talked about music briefly, and he was kind enough to sign a fry bag for me. (he offered, I didn’t ask)
My wife and I were backstage after a Broadway play (a friend of hers did the makeup). Jennifer Anniston walked in and shot us a “why are they back here” look. I like to tell people it was a n “ooooh, who’s he” look.
My stepson has a similar story. Kevin Smith is a dick.
Living in L.A. I’ve seen and chatted with a few celebrities but my story in this thread is how I sat next to Gary Busey in divorce court. The guy you see on TV? Not an act.