# Name Famous People You've Met **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 21, 2019, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-famous-people-youve-met/835863 "2019-06-21T21:37:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-famous-people-youve-met/835863/61 "2019-06-25T23:43:32Z")
Frank Shorter, 1972 Olympic marathon gold medal Larry Sabato, political commentator Tommy Lasorda, Los Angeles Dodgers baseball manager ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2019, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-famous-people-youve-met/835863/62 "2019-06-25T23:53:57Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I had dinner once with **Persi Diaconis**. He’s pretty big in Statistics and Magic circles. > > [Persi Diaconis - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persi_Diaconis) The way you capitalized this I thought you meant he made spreadsheets about mana and lands. ---
**Author:** ![boson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boson/32/11407_2.png) [@boson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boson)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-famous-people-youve-met/835863/63 "2019-06-26T01:45:43Z")
[quote=“Jim\_Taggart, post:1, topic:835863”] Name famous people you’ve met, not seen in person but actually had a conversation with. Don Meredith (interviewed by him) ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2019, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-famous-people-youve-met/835863/64 "2019-06-26T16:44:57Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > The only famous person I would actually claim to have had any meaningful interaction with is [Richard Herd](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0378800/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1), who is an absolute prince. I have done a great disservice to [John Billingsley](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0082517/?ref_=tt_rv_t1) by forgetting a fine conversation I had with him once at a convention. He’s also a prince, and his wife [Bonita Friedericy](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0295041/?ref_=nmbio_sp_1) is a wonderful lady with whom I did not get to chat nearly as long as I’d have liked. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2019, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-famous-people-youve-met/835863/65 "2019-06-27T15:53:32Z")
I didn’t think about former Labor Secretary and current DNC chair Tom Perez. He lives nearby and our kids went to school together, so he’s someone who says hello when we run into each other at the grocery store. Within an hour or so of his nomination as labor secretary I saw him standing in line at the cash register. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2019, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-famous-people-youve-met/835863/66 "2019-06-27T16:07:44Z")
Far too many at Broadway stage doors to list. Hal Prince is a prince. I met John Travolta once. Vinnie Barbarino was not an act. the man is dumber than a doorknob. I cashiered for Carol Channing about a year before she died. I baby-sat for Rev. Al & Kathy Jordan Sharpton’s daughters. ---
**Author:** ![Royal\_Nonesutch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecb155/32.png) [@Royal\_Nonesutch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Royal_Nonesutch)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2019, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-famous-people-youve-met/835863/67 "2019-06-27T16:44:28Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I met John Travolta once. Vinnie Barbarino was not an act. the man is dumber than a doorknob. Perhaps it was just a cunning ruse to lull you into a false sense of security. To be on the safe side, you probably should have “beat the crap out of him in a surprise attack.”, y’know, just to be sure. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-famous-people-youve-met/835863/68 "2019-07-04T01:34:24Z")
Oh heck, a news story reminded me: in the 90s I had a pleasant enough conversation with plutocrat Jamie Dimon. He was trying to quit smoking, and I wasn’t, so that’s basically what we talked about. ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-famous-people-youve-met/835863/69 "2019-07-04T03:11:02Z")
Have met lots of Australia celebs but will try and only point out world famous ones. Dame Elizabeth Murdoch - (yes Rupert’s mum) friend of my mum Queen Elizabeth - presented her with a Scout badge in 1977 Chris Hemsworth, well all the Hemsworths as they lived near us Phil Rudd - Drummer for ACDC, we went to the same school Olivia Newton John at her cancer clinic fundraising events (so much plastic surgery) Prince in a small nightclub in Sydney, man he was so short Michael Hutchence from INXS was a local band back in the day Andrew Bogut - local lad and came and coached our kids bball team one time Liz Cambage - the first woman in Olympic history to slam dunk a basketball Her team, the Dallas Wings but she used to play at Dandenong and we saw her a lot Yeah that will do. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2019, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-famous-people-youve-met/835863/70 "2019-07-04T19:27:47Z")
Mel B (Scary Spice). Sang the national anthem for her in front of all my office mates at the time, and she chose me to be on her team for “The Singing Office” in 2008. Joey Fatone (N’SYNC). The celebrity whose teams opposed Mel’s in the sing-offs. He came to spy on us while we were learning our dance routine, so I handed him my cell phone and got him to go into the next room and call my daughter (eleven years old at the time). We lost the sing-off on performance day, so I Immediately quit my job and went to work for the Post Office the next morning. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-famous-people-youve-met/835863/71 "2019-07-05T15:46:08Z")
Jay Leno (a towering specimen of a man; way bigger in person than he appears on TV) Alex Trebek (by comparison, a wee little man) Downtown Julie Brown (very nice, soft-spoken) – I’ve also exchanged a head nod with Jim Thompson, at the time the Governor of Illinois. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-famous-people-youve-met/835863/72 "2019-07-05T15:50:18Z")
I also got to hang out backstage with the E Street Band. Clarence Clemons was huge, but a nice, soft spoken guy. One of the most amazing conversations I ever had in my life was talking with Rudy Isley of the Isley Brothers about touring Europe with The Beatles in 1962. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2019, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-famous-people-youve-met/835863/73 "2019-07-05T17:15:01Z")
These are fun! Let’s see: Debbie (excuse me - ‘Deborah’) Gibson, pop singer - I was introduced to her on the beach by a mutual friend. I knew she was a singer, I just didn’t know who she was specifically (my friend was teasing me by asking me to sing one of her songs). But a guy she was with tore out a picture of her from a magazine and she signed it and gave it to me before I left. Dan Marino (and his dad), NFL quarterback - When I was a teenager, my dad ran a hotel. They hosted a ‘retirement party’ for wide receiver Mark Clayton, which also served as a silent charity auction. Lots of players - many retired - showed up, including Marino. Since my dad worked there, I got to be ‘security’, which meant they gave me a badge and a walkie talkie and I got to wander around. In the back, Marino posed for a photo. He has a reputation of being a jerk, but he was gracious, although he prefaced his pose with, “Be quick.” Later, while milling about, a friend and I were making small talk with his dad (I recall my friend asking about Dan’s height and his father saying that he got it from his mom’s side). Shortly thereafter, Marino walked by and said “come on dad, let’s go.” Senior Marino followed, but not before waving to me and my friend with a friendly, “bye guys.” Mark Clayton, NFL wide receiver - Same party; I got to bring him his sunglasses, which he had left in his limo. Not much of a conversation, but he thanked me… Mark Duper, NFL wide receiver - Same party, again. Mark Super Duper came up; he had been arrested about a week prior for cocaine possession. My buddy asks if he minds taking a picture with our ‘security guard’ (me!) and he responds, “Just as long as he doesn’t have handcuffs. I’ve seen too many of those lately.” We laugh. Later, he comes up and thanks me on the way out, telling me how much fun he had. Bill Cosby, serial rapist - This probably shouldn’t count, since we didn’t really speak and, if I’m being honest, I’m not entirely sure it was him. But (same hotel as before) my dad tells me that they are hosting a family reunion for Cosby’s wife’s family; rumors are that he will be there, but it isn’t confirmed. A few days later I’m in the elevator when an older black man gets on wearing a reunion t-shirt. He has on a hat and what looks to me to be a fake beard. He is holding a stogie and is wearing the biggest diamond ring I’ve seen. For years I kicked myself for not mentioning “picture page”; now? Fuck that guy! Jeff Gordon, racecar driver - I was working at a bookstore in Daytona, the heart of Nascar race car driving country. Jeff Gordon was coming to the store to do a book signing. Since this had everybody (else) super excited, and since I don’t care about car racing, I volunteered to do the bank run that afternoon. I was walking out the back door as he was walking in, so I had to shimmy by. He seemed nice enough (and his ‘handler’ had made a point of telling me that they needed to use the back door that I was leaving because of the rush of fans if he came through the normal entrance). Mike Shanahan, NFL football coach - Coach Shanahan is a friend of my boss, so they were having a meeting in my office’s conference room. I made an excuse to come in so I could be introduced to the coach. David Duval, former PGA golfer - Same office, same boss. I met Duval when we were helping his wife; he was leaving to go to the ProAm at Pebble Beach and made reference to the fact that he was going to be playing with a muckety muck at FedEx (part of the issue we had involved an employee who worked there). Seemed perfectly nice and down-to-earth, although his focus was on his wife’s concerns. Steve Spurrier, ole’ ball coach - I am a graduate of the University of Florida. When walking across campus, we’d cut through the stadium (which was never locked up) and would regularly pass Spurrier’s car, which was an older model Oldsmobile with a faded Gator stuffed animal sitting in the back window. One day, we were walking past when he saw Coach Spurrier, so we yelled out an enthusiastic “hi coach” which was met with a friendly wave and greeting. (I know, not the conversation the OP wants, but he did talk to me!) Tim Raines, baseball player - He was watching his son’s football practice a field over from where my little league team was practicing. When he was discovered, he came over and signed for us. Gary Sheffield, baseball player - Again with the hotel my dad ran. I worked at the beach one day when Sheffield, then playing for the Florida Marlins, came to rent a jetski (well, actually, asked to use it for free). He was gracious with an autograph. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2019, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-famous-people-youve-met/835863/74 "2019-07-06T13:40:53Z")
Julia Roberts Richard Gere Garry Marshall Wes Unseld John Glover Don Mattingly There were also several guys with short-lived NFL or other pro (CFL, Arena, etc) careers who went to my school and/or coached for some of my son’s sports teams over the years, but no one I would consider famous. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2019, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-famous-people-youve-met/835863/75 "2019-07-06T15:00:41Z")
I also got to konw James Taylor and his siblings when they were just starting out, mostly because one of my brothers looks just like James. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2019, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-famous-people-youve-met/835863/76 "2019-07-06T19:42:19Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > James Jesus Angleton Cool! Before or after he was discovered? ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2019, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-famous-people-youve-met/835863/77 "2019-07-06T23:46:57Z")
**Alan Parsons** (and the rest of the AP live band) - hung out with them backstage at a Yes concert during a fan-club event, chatted briefly with him on several other fan-club occasions. He’s an absolute gentleman. **Alice Cooper** - nice guy. Did a VIP meet-and-greet thing with him. **Richard Hatch** (from Battlestar Galactica) - met him very briefly as a teenager, in the parking lot of my hometown hamburger place. Too scared to talk beyond asking for an autograph. **David Tennant** - briefly, during an autograph signing. That time I was brave enough to ask for a handshake. 🙂 **Berkeley Breathed** (cartoonist of Bloom County) - briefly at San Diego Comic Con **Greg Evans** (cartoonist of Luann) - chatted with him for a while at SDCC **Larry Hagman** - he lived in my home town. Met him during a Fourth of July parade/picnic there. We talked about Harleys (he was riding a big one). **Steve Wozniak** - post-Apple, he worked in the same building as I did. He drove a giant, extra-wide Hummvee, which struck me as odd since he always seemed like kind of a hippie type. I think that’s about it. I don’t tend to hang out where famous people are. My spouse met **Stan Lee** at a comic con and got an autograph on his Captain America shield, and also **Lou Ferrigno** (twice–once he ran into him, literally, at SDCC) and **William Shatner**. He also got presented with an iPod by **Steve Jobs**. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2019, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-famous-people-youve-met/835863/78 "2019-07-07T01:44:44Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > Broderick wasn’t famous? This was after War Games and Ferris Bueller, right? No, before. I don’t remember the exact dates when I worked with him, but it was around 1982. This was the original stage production, in a basement theatre in Greenwich Village. Before the Broadway hit, before the movie. Broderick didn’t complete the original off-Broadway run of Torch Song Trilogy. He left early to do a movie. It probably was War Games, although I don’t specifically remember that. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2025, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-famous-people-youve-met/835863/79 "2025-07-13T16:00:06Z")
I know we’ve had several of these threads. This is the most recent one I found to bump. Last night we were at dinner in a nice restaurant when several cast members of _Real Housewives of New Jersey_ were seated next to us. It’s not fake. There were no cameras and they were still loud and obnoxious. My wife recognized them. I wouldn’t have been able to pick them out of a lineup. ---
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2025, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-famous-people-youve-met/835863/80 "2025-07-13T16:17:14Z")
Christopher Lloyd (eating at a restaurant in Montecito, CA) Julie Kavner (eating at one of Wolfgang Puck’s restaurants) John Hiatt (outside of Madame Wong’s in Chinatown, Los Angeles) Jackson Brown (sat at their group table at a small pop-up Prince concert in 1987) Darryl Hannah (ditto) Mick Fleetwood (met him in the mosh pit at same concert) Whoopi Goldberg (met her in the ladies’ room at same concert) Paul Winfield (met him at a pug dog show because he was a pug breeder. He saw me wandering around looking for the table handing out programs, and he helped me find it. What a nice gentleman! And his pugs were cute, too.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-famous-people-youve-met/835863.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-famous-people-youve-met/835863.md?page=5)