Have you gotten up close and personal with a star?

I had a job during the dot.com era that allowed me to work with a lot of famous (and not so famous) celebs, authors, what have you.

Most were generally pretty good, some were awful!

Some that stand out - hearing Iron Maiden sing “Sweet Caroline” (the girl working with me was named Caroline.) Iron Maiden sing Neil Diamond?? Iron Maiden have HEARD of Neil Diamond?? That was weird! Came complete with vocal imitations of the trumpet part, too!

Calling Ed McMahon at home, having him answer his own phone, and be very, very sweet and charming.

The first celeb I ever spoke to, John Entwhistle, many years ago. I was veryveryveryveryveryvery nervous and he was lovely to me. Coincidentally, I was living in Las Vegas when he passed away at the Hard Rock. I was sad, because he was very nice to me and forgiving of my obvious newness at my job when he didn’t have to be.

Meeting the guys from Rush freaked me, because I am a life long Rush fan. I was really cool until I ran into Neil Peart - who wasn’t actually supposed to be at the event and I therefore wasn’t expecting - and I blurted out, “Wow, you’re Neil Peart!” :smack: He gave me an unamused stare and said, “Yes, yes I am.” and walked off. I knew his reputation for shyness, and I did just the wrong stupid thing. sigh Anyway, that whole day was very stressful because inside I was gushing fan grrrl and outside I had to be professional and blase. With the exception of meeting Peart, I almost pulled it off.

Glenn Close on the phone was lovely. So was Eddie Vedder. So was Kevin Bacon (and his brother.)

It was a long time ago now, though!

Cheers,
G

Only two and in both cases before they became well known. I was in Aviation Cadets with Jack Webb (Dragnet) and worked with Wally Schirra (Mercury, Gemini and Appolo astronaut) when he was still Lt. (SG) Schirra

This may mean something to the jazz fans among us…

[for the rest: a marvelous jazz pianist…very influential, but not very familiar to non-aficionados.]

Around 2000 a friend and I drove 200 miles, from State College PA to Washington DC, to catch the Paul Bley Trio at a club (since closed) called One Step Down. When we got there, it wasn’t clear we’d get in…it was a small club and the ticket-seller was making noises about being overbooked. Naturally, we made as pitiful a sound as we could: “But we looove Paul Bley! We just drove 200 miles to see him!” True statements, though played for more effect than necessary…

Long story short, we got in, sat down, and were chatting before the performance, when who should approach our table but…Paul Bley!

“Are you the gentlemen who drove 200 miles just to see me?”

“Why, yes, Mr. Bley, we are.”

“May I sit down?”

We had a lovely chat for about 10 minutes, then he got up and played a stellar show.

Funny thing was, my buddy, who was by far the greater Paul Bley maniac between us, was completely tongue-tied. So I chatted with Bley about his house in Cooperstown (formerly owned by Allan Ginsberg) and other scintillating topics.

Pretty unforgettable experience, though, chatting with a man who used to jam with Ornette Coleman in the 1950s.

I’ve met two men who’ve stood atop Mt. Everest: David Brearhears and** Ed Viesturs**. I sort-of met Robert Plant. He was at Fat Tuesday’s in NYC to see Les Paul’s weekly gig. Plant sat two tables away from me (with Brian Setzer in tow). He dropped a book of matches, and I picked it up and gave it back to him. For some reason, I was too tongue-tied to ask for an autograph.

That would be David Breashears, dang it!

Oh yeah. I almost forget. When I was a kid I worked in a movie theatre. Aaron Brown of CNN (or is it FOX) fame would watch movies there. At the time he was just a local newscaster on a NBC channel in town.

He was a total cock. He looked down his nose at everyone and treated all the kids there like street trash.

I guess that explains why he was ALWAYS alone.

I worked a few years in Hollywood as a film crew “day-player”. Met a lot of famous actors, except I rarely actually “met” them - it’d be more accurate to say that I worked alongside them. On film sets, “set etiquette” is paramount (pardon the pun) - you’re there to work, not make small talk, and the actors must never be subjected to gushing fan-type behavior.

As a result, the only actor I’ve spoken with for more than a few seconds was Hugh Jackman, who struck me as an unusually nice and generous guy.

Pretty much all the famous people I’ve met are New Democrats, which I guess is kind of cheating. I’ve met Jack Layton on a number of occasions; I have campaigned with Alexa McDonough; I’ve been to a round table with Libby Davies; tonight I spent the opening evening of the International Conference on LGBT Human Rights with Bill Siksay, and shook hands with Svend Robinson, whom I’ve also met on several occasions; and when I was a little kid, Gary Doer, who was one of my dad’s football buddies, removed a leech from my foot during a fishing trip.

It won’t mean anything except to SF fans, but I’ve: had long, rambling conversations with Ray Bradbury over the years; had coffee with George R. R. Martin several times; had drinks with Larry Niven on several occasions; gotten drunk and sung filk songs with Spider Robinson; and been personally and publically insulted and demeaned by Harlan Ellison. :smiley:

Ooo…this impresses me! Love love love GRRM and Ellison!

Tell GRRM to hurry it up next time you have coffee, willya? :wink: He was kind enough to respond to an e-mail I sent him, but I’m sure a “hurry it up, willya!” e-mail would not meet with the same cheerful response.

Cheers,
G

Sold sunglasses to:
John Smoltz of the Atlanta Braves, Brian Dawkins and Troy Vincent (then) of the Philadelphia Eagles, Trevor Sinclair of Man City FC, Ryan Shuck and Amir Derakh of Orgy, Hank Williams Jr., Jacoby Shaddix from Papa Roach, Jesse James from Orange County Choppers, and Alexa Havens from All My Children.

Walked by Woody Paige (from various shows on ESPN) a couple nights ago and said hello. He’s a really big guy.

I met Iain Banks very briefly when he signed my copy of Inversions.

I sat next to Daunte Culpepper a few times when he was a student at UCF, and once or twice more after he was the 11th overall pick in the '99 draft.

I’ve met a few musicians - probably the most significant for me was Johnette Napolitano of Concrete Blonde, who I sat and chatted with for an hour or two before a gig of hers in England, where no-one knew who the hell she was and so no-one except me was bugging her. I had a great time - we chatted for ages, and she asked me to mind her purse while she went to the bathroom, and then again when she went on stage. I bought her a beer, she bought me one, and she gave me a big hug at the end of the night. Being as she’s my musical hero and Concrete Blonde are my favourite band ever, I was pretty damn happy. I also met Steve Wynn of the Dream Syndicate at the same gig.

I once played pool with Graham Coxon from Blur. He used to drink in a pub in Camden located beneath a good friend’s workplace, and she used to chat with him all the time.

I’ve also met a few people in the Australian indie music scene, such Sarah Blasko, the guys from Eskimo Joe and End of Fashion, Quan from Regurgitator, Paul Mac (who I once played pool with in a local gay bar) and Cameron from Jet (I had no idea who he was when I was talking to him - just the person sitting next to me at the table in the nightclub. I realised about 10 minutes into the conversation!). I’ve also met Michelle from The Magic Numbers and, briefly, one of the guys from The Go! Team.

A good friend of mine has himself started to become somewhat famous within the Australian indie music scene - not being mobbed, but certainly enough so that he is recognised and has people come up to him all the time. These days, its pretty much every time we go out. It’s weird, but funny. I’ve taken a lot of photos for people who want a shot of themselves with him.

Speaking of photos, I was taking some shots at the Big Day Out this year, and this guy standing in front of me kept getting in my way. I had to keep bobbing over and around him to get any decent shots. It was only when he turned around to leave that I realised it was Alex Kapranos, lead singer of Franz Ferdinand, with his girlfiend Eleanor Friedberger from the Fiery Furnaces. I nearly passed out.

I once had a good long chat with Nana Visitor (Major Kira from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine). She is enchanting.

About a month ago I nearly quite literally bumped into Toni Collette at a Sleepy Jackson concert. No actual meeting, just nearly knocking her over. Ooops!

I’ve only mentioned this about fifty times, but he was my wife’s uncle. (At least, until he and my wife’s aunt divorced he was. Which was before I ever met her.) I met him just the once, very briefly at his son’s wedding, and I wasn’t celeb-hunting at the time so I didn’t thrust myself on him - obviously, he had about five thousand guests to circulate amongst.

I briefly met Peter Shilton, one of the England footie teams best-ever goalkeepers. He was in reduced circumstances at the time and happened to overnight at a bed-and-breakfast in Coventry where I was staying. I had to move my car off the drive so he could get in, and I took the opportunity to shake his hand, which connects me to an awful lot of people on the six-handshake system, I should think. (Two handshakes from the Queen for a start, since I presume he pressed the royal flesh briefly when he got his OBE.)

I briefly met Devin Townsend. I went to see the Devin Townsend Band. He was standing next to where they were selling the CDs. After I bought one, the girl selling the CDs told me that he would sign them if I wanted. I am pretty shy, so I said something like, “Really? Are you sure he doesn’t mind?” So she tapped him and asked him for me. :smack: Hehe.

Then I was quite nervous and couldn’t open them, so he said “Here, let me. I have a METHOD.” He grabbed a pen and started jabbing at the shrinkwrap, eventually getting it open.

He signed it: Rinni (underlined) METAL! heart Devin.

Not that I know him or anything, but he seems to be a pretty cool person. I’ve seen both Devin Townsend Band and Strapping Young Lad, and both times I’ve seen him in the audience, or out in the lobby… he doesn’t feel the need to hide away in the back, and there are always people talking to him. He seems to make himself very approachable.

So yes, I heartily endorse Devin Townsend in all forms. :slight_smile:

In contrast, I once met a guy from a now-defunct local band from Halifax none of you have probably ever heard of. I’m not saying this to be elitist, I’m saying this because they really just stuck around locally and I would honestly really be surprised. I asked him to sign my CD, because I just thought it would be neat. (I like to see people’s handwriting, really.) He said he would, so I went out to my car, in the winter wind and rain, to get it. When I came back he gave me some bizarre bullshit about “Well, actually, I don’t think I should. I feel weird signing it. I’m not a celebrity, and you shouldn’t think of me like one…” And blah blah blah. As if asking him to sign my CD meant that I worshipped him or something. Dude, you’re a bit full of yourself if you think that’s why I’m asking you to sign my CD. I ask my friends to sign my yearbook, and I ask my friends in bands to sign their home-printed demo tape liner notes. It doesn’t mean I worship them like gods. I just like it when people sign stuff.

I hope one of you has met Kevin Spacey. If so, I want to hear about this. :stuck_out_tongue:

I only have one, really and it wasn’t exactly the best circumstance.

My brother worked at our local hospital ( burbs of Detroit) as an Escort ( or aide) and we use to go on Saturdays to bring him his lunch and hit the chapel on the top floor for the fastest church service in town ( under 30 minutes.) I was about 11.

After the service, my brother told us that he had just taken Lee Iacocca newly dead wife to the morgue. ( she had died of Diabetes, IRC.)

So, after services, we are on the elevator down and who gets on but Lee Iacocca.

I remember feeling my mom and brother stiffen. I looked over at him and said, " I 'm sorry about your wife."
Looking back on it all, I was probably the first person outside of the doctors and staff that knew about it and commented on it.

I met Rigoberta Menchu, the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize winner. She didn’t speak English, my Spanish is poor (and my Quechua nonexistent), so our very short conversation was through a translator.

Paul Newman has held an elevator door open for me a couple of time. He is truly a gentleman. (I used to work in a building where he has an office for his “Hole in the Wall Gang” camp.)

I have met, chatted briefly, and had my picture taken with Eric Idle when he was doing his “Greedy Bastard” tour. He seemed to really like meeting people. The picture was his idea.

I’ve hung out with Scissor Sister when they were in town (DC). MY friend knew them before they were somewhat famous, so he got us backstage and we invited them all out to go barhopping with us.

I’ve also had a night out in NYC with Elton John, his partner and two friends. We ended up in a restaurant in the West End where we met up with Lauren Bacall for dessert. Man, that was one weird random once in a lifetime night out.

I once had a very nice conversation with John Kay of Steppenwolf at a rib and wing fest.

He was very nice, and we talked about a bunch of unimportant shit unrelated to music or his band in any way. It went on for probably a half hour, although I can’t remember what exactly the topics were. One thing I do remember was that he said he never rode motorcycles because his vision is very bad.

Then he gave me an autograph, introduced me to the rest of the band, who also were very nice and gave some autographs.

Although she doesn’t have the kind of name recognition that most people would think of a star as having, I also had a great time talking to [url=http://www.thelivingjarboe.com/]Jarboe** after a show she played at the Rex theater on Pittsburgh’s South Side.

She was hanging out after her show, talking to all the people who were having drinks and unlike a lot of musicians I’ve seen, actually walked around in the crowd instead of sitting at a table signing autographs.

ROGER MOORE (The saint) In Spain, I think he has a house there. Anyways I said Hi and he grunted.

BURT REYNOLDS. Also in Spain, I think he was filming. I had my picture taken with him and he bought me a beer.

NOEL and LIAM GALLAGHER (Oasis) They support the same football team as me, saw them at a game said hello, they both grunted.

CHRIS BISSON (UK actor) He’s my nephew…does that count?

also most of the cast of the abysmal UK soap “Coronation Street” 'cos Chris used to be in it.