Meeting a famous person . . . but not knowing it

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
21

Without namedropping, I have a friend who is a famous rock star. (To be fair, less OMG famous these days than he was say 20 - 25 years ago.)

It’s interesting. I can go out to dinner with him, no problem, only very rarely does he get ‘are you…?’ - unless he has a show going on within 48 hours in a local venue, then everybody notices him and asks for autographs. He says it’s always like that.

Weird.

For me, when I lived in Vegas, I was talking to my ex husband and I bumped into a guy. I said excuse me, he said no problem. But there was something about the voice…I’d walked another 10 feet and turned around and he was smiling and waving at me, being very clearly Jack Nicholson!

The other time also involved my ex-husband, shortly after we were married, so more than fifteen years ago. We went to a massive family reunion - like 100+ people, near Detroit. I chatted with lots of people in the way that you do at these things. Who are you, who are you related to, oh yes, I’m Gleena and I’m ex’s wife and C is my mother in law, she’s the daughter of…who’s your wife’s grandmother…blah, here would you like a piece of cake?

You know that sort of thing. So I talked to this guy who looked interesting, sort of sallow with dark hair. My ex’s second cousin’s husband, as it turned out. Liked golf. Didn’t even remember his name, but he was a nice guy and we were chit-chatting about nothing at all.

So we get in the car and my ex is all OMG, I didn’t know he was going to be here, and you talked to him, that’s so awesome. Who? Alice Cooper. Awesome. I talked to him for like 20 minutes with no idea at all who he was. And I am, in fact, a fan.

More recently here in Sydney we were having dinner and my current husband kept insisting the guy at the next table was Leo Sayer. I thought of a thousand reasons that it would not be Leo Sayer (too short, was one of them) and of course the guy heard them all because I am not a quiet person. My husband is also not a shy person, so when we all finished he walked up to the guy and said, “My wife thinks you are not Leo Sayer, but I’m sure you are, are you?” He was. I slunk out the door and paid my husband that 10 dollar bet I lost. :o

22

My department was out for a nice steak dinner at a reasonably fancy restaurant. It was a weekday so our section of the restaurant was pretty empty, except for the table next to our own. When it was time for desserts my boss remarked that we at least couldn’t complain about the company, as it was the country’s (Denmark) crown prince and princess that where dining next to us. No one else of us had recognized them.

23

Not me, but my sister. This was maybe 25 years ago. A friend of hers had a membership at the health club located at a swanky hotel. She’d gone with him one day to work out then was relaxing afterward on a lounge by the rooftop pool. She was having a pleasant conversation with the man next to her and then noticed a bunch of teenagers with Bark at the Moon t-shirts, lurking in the periphery. Her conversation partner was Ozzy Osbourne, in town for a concert. She had no idea who he was when she was talking to him.

24

Not only did I not know it, but even after he told me his name, I was still clueless!

Early 90’s, and I was 16 or so, flying home from my Dad’s to my Mom’s. We got stuck on the ground in the airplane for 5 or 6 hours (yes, hours) before we were allowed to take off, and then we were stuck on the other end for another 2 or 3 hours before we were allowed to disembark. So our 1.5 hour flight was 10 hours of hell on a plane.

Next to me was a young talkative chap, long curly black hair, of probable Mexican descent. Big eyes, I remember the big eyes. Name of Jorge, he tells me. He was super nice, asking me about what nightclubs to go to in Chicago, what bars were good (remember, I was 16!) what “the local scene” was like, etc. etc. I tired desperately to sound more worldly than I really was. We talked and talked, and he introduced me to his brother, who was sitting to the left across the aisle.

Brother was a quiet chap, absorbed in his reading, listening to a Walkman. He said a few pleasant words, but that was about it.

About 2 hours in, some girls come up from the back of the plane and nervously ask the guys for autographs. I play it cool, ignore it, and the move on. Then it happens again! After the third time, I couldn’t stand it, “Okay, who *are *you?” I blurt out.

“Oh, I’m in my brother’s band,” says my seatmate.

“Right,” I said, “You said you were playing a show tomorrow night.” I figured they were coming in to play one of the eleventy-three small nightclubs that host live music on any given night in Chicago.

“Name’s Jorge Santana. I That’s my brother, Carlos.”

Blank look. In 1992 had absolutely no clue who Santana was. This was just as Carlos was making it big with my generation, but not my genre of music.

Despite my lack of gushing over them (or perhaps because of it) we spent the next many hours chatting quite pleasantly, with Carlos adding a well placed soft bon mot here and there.

Nice guys. Really nice guys. I’d have been way more excited if they’d been Modern English, though! :smiley:

25

If you ever listen to The Story on NPR you might have heard this one. But you’ll get a kick out of this story which begins eerily similar to yours.

26

Walked into a crowded bar in Nashville (ouch) with my wife. We’re standing in the crowd when I see some room open up at the bar. I motion to my wife and we head to the opening, but when I get there my wife isn’t with me. She comes over a few minutes later and tells me she just met Gwynyth Paltro. She was standing next to us and I just walked away (not that I’m a huge fan or anything).
The funny part of the evening was when a Coldplay song came on, and you could see the whole bar trying not to look at her table.

27

In the late 90s I was visiting New York, and being a big hockey fan I wore one of the dozen hockey jerseys I have, of the Washington Capitals.

We were at a comic book store and at some point the Eastern European owner asked me if I know Sergei Gonchar. I answered ‘yes’ and continue browsing, a few feet away from the guy and the dude that was next to him.

A friend who was with me then mumbled “He means that’s Sergei Gonchar standing next to him”
“Oh…” I felt bad for not having a clue, and hid myself in the next aisle of books.

Gonchar was playing for the Caps at the time, and they were in town to play the Rangers.
Obviously he’s not earth shattering famous, but you might assume that a guy wearing a jersey of the team he plays for might recognize him.

28

Fantastic!

Man, it must be exhausting being famous.

29

Family legend holds that my Dad and his aunt had a drink at a hotel bar once with Bob Hope. Dad knew who he was, though didn’t mention it, not wanting to make Bob uncomfortable, and Aunt Esther didn’t catch on.

As he finished his drink, Dad quietly asked him to autograph his cocktail napkin, which Bob did. Aunt Esther said, “that was a nice young man, but what was he writing on your napkin?”

When I was visiting Disneyland one time, as I was exiting the park, a woman was going in with her entourage. She could only be described as blindingly beautiful, with absolutely unbelievable jewelry, for someone going to Disneyland for the day. I had absolutely no idea who she was, though I suspected royalty. A couple of months later, I saw her on the news when she became Queen.

I’ve got another story of meeting a celebrity and having absolutely no idea who he was, but sadly, I have to report that 7 years later I STILL have no idea who this guy was. Maybe somebody here could give me a hint. I was standing outside waiting in line to get into the Academy’s Special Effects presentation in Los Angeles. (It’s not an award ceremony, but a long, detailed movie reel of all the films that are up for the Effects Oscar that year.) Anyway, behind us in line, was this really flamboyant-looking guy wearing a fur coat (full-length fox, pink satin lining) and spiked high heeled snakeskin boots, a leather cowboy hat, and ripped jeans. A truly unforgettable ensemble. Every five seconds it seemed, someone would try to come up to him and ask him for an autograph. Several times people were turned away by members of his entourage, or security, but occasionally he did sign an autograph or two. (It was a hasty scribble that I had no hope of reading.) He appeared to be somewhere in his 40s (maybe early 50s, if he was well-preserved) and had dark hair that was curly, down to his shoulders. He had a moustache and goatee, and wore tinted glasses. Not a tall guy, maybe 5’6" and very thin. Maybe someone on here can fight a little ignorance my way.

30

In the early '90s I was at a Starbuck’s behind a pleasant-looking youngish middle-aged businessman type in a trench coat, and chatted him up. After he left, the barista told me, “*Omigod *that was Patrick Swayze!” and the penny dropped—so it was!

31

Years ago, when I worked at McDonalds, I was taking orders in the back drive through. A couple of black guys drove up, paid for their order, then the driver asked, “Don’t you know who I am?” When he identified himself as Bo Diddley, I was hardly the wiser, probably said, “Oh congratulations!” or something inane like that. I mentioned it to another employee and by the time he’d gotten up to the window to receive his food, all the workers in the place were cramming themselves into the front drive through booth to meet him.

I wouldn’t like to swear to it, but I think he ordered the Big Mac value meal. :slight_smile:

32

Macho Man Randy Savage?

33

When my best friend lived in Toronto she was walking her dog in a park one day. Her dog began playing with another dog, so that dog’s owner and my friend began chatting. My friend said that the woman was very pretty, petite and had blonde hair. After a few minutes of chit-chat about their dogs my friend realized that she was chatting with Heather Locklear.

34

My wife is completely clueless on who’s who in celebrity land. We were on the same flight as Andy Dick once and sat by him at the airport while waiting to board. She had no idea. Not that I can really blame her for that one.

35

Walked right past Paul Newman at the Indy 500 in the mid-80s and didn’t realize it was him until my girlfriend (an excise cop and not one to gush) gushed, ‘OMG, that was Paul Newman!!’

All I can say is he was short. Very very short. I was crushed. Paul Newman short? That should not be. A friend of mine who does a lot of cons across the country says most of the famous folk he meets and greets at these things are also very, very short.

36

A friend & I were on a crowded elevator that was stopping at each floor (at least 10 stories) and I made small talk with a guy about how annoying the “milk run” was. After we got out my friend asked me if I knew who I’d been chatting with. It was Michael Douglas. He looked a little familiar but I think his height threw me. He was a lot shorter than you’d think from the movies. Maybe 5’ 5".

37

Well, I knew it, but almost no one else did…

I had just gotten hired a non-profit that has a number of famous folks on its board. I figured that, as with many organizations, they probably served in name (and wallet) only. Imagine my surprise when found out that Queen Noor, Harrison Ford, and several others would actually be attending the quarterly meeting. I embarrassed myself thoroughly by introducing myself to Queen Noor before the meeting began, so I decided it would be better for me to just treat everyone in a polite, businesslike manner, as the strangers they were. After all, they knew they were celebrities, they knew I knew, and that’s not what they were there for. So after the meeting, I was talking with my boss when Harrison slid past us out of the room. I meant to ignore him entirely, but I glanced up just as he caught my eye, and I reflexively gave him a quick little smile and nod, and then turned my attention back to my boss.

A few minutes later, I was heading across the street to the drugstore, when who should I see coming toward me but Harrison Ford. Again, I gave him the smile-and-nod as he passed. He half-smiled back. A moment later, I heard two girls behind me saying: “Was that… Harrison Ford?” “Ha! Uh, no. Do you really think Harrison Ford would be just walking around Chicago by himself, going to Walgreen’s?” I turned around and and said, “Actually, it was him. I was just in a meeting with him.” But I suspect that was why no one else noticed him, even though there were throngs of people around: everyone figured there was no way someone like him would be walking to the drugstore in the middle of the day like an ordinary schmoe.

And I kind of wonder if he wondered who I was, because I gave him these little nods of recognition, like “Hey, Harry, how’s it going?” and I was at the meeting with all the other bigwigs…

38

Prince? Vincent Gallo?

39

I was thinking maybe Tim Burton?

40

I was working the ticket counter at a movie theatre one night, and we were very busy. Like, selling out busy. The phone rang, and I answered it, and it was the Boston Police. The guy told me that mayor Ray Flynn was coming to see the movie, and that I should let him in for free. I said OK then went about my business.

Maybe ten minutes later I finished selling some tickets to some people, then a coworker came up to me and said “Hey, was that Ray Flynn?!?” Uh… I guess. What does he look like?

We ended up overselling the theatre, and while Flynn’s companions (his sons?) found seats, there were none for Flynn himself. We had to get a chair out of the manager’s office so he could sit in the aisle.