Back when I was a puppetteer, I played Fanueil Hall. (Only Boston dopers will be awed at the prestige thereof)
I rode in a car with Dana Andrews. Nice guy.
And I fell asleep on Patricia Nixon. I have pictures.
I guess this a brush with celebrity, but it was really close to an infamous “personal accomplishment”
I almost hit Chelsea Clinton with my car.
[sub]I started into the intersection, and she ran the stop sign on her bike as Stanford students often do. I jumped on the brakes, and said “She looks familiar.” When I figured it out, I looked around for an agent but none to be seen.[/sub]
Reading all of these has made me remember more! How famous all of us are!!
I’m a descendent of Martin Van Buren
My mother dated the drummer from the Buckinghams
My dad peed at a urinal next to Alice Cooper
I’ve been to three aftershow parties and on the tour bus for Rammstein.
I’ve been the inspiration for one of Dave’s Raves (on the radio here in Chicago)
and…here’s my favorite…
My grandfather worked as an errand boy for Al Capone, and on Prom night, Mr. Capone let my grandpa pick up his date in AL CAPONE’S CAR!!!
Jarbaby
Thank you, thank you, thank you to ** jarbabyj ** for starting this thread. Do you know how difficult it is to work these things into casual conversation?
OK, here we go…
In the movie ** Animal House ** there is a scene where Donald Sutherland the hip teacher offers our hero Larry Kroeger and his girlfriend a joint. The scene was filmed at a turn-of-the-century fourplex still located at 6th and Lawrence Streets in Eugene, Oregon. A couple of years prior to the filming, my brother and his wife lived in that very same apartment and Mrs. HTB and I lived upstairs. Hell, we even helped them paint the bathroom that the actual toking scene is filmed in.
A couple of brushes with national TV:
Had a letter of mine read on Louis Ruykeser’s ** Wall Street Week ** on PBS back in 1984, with response by his three resident panelists.
Had my voice recorded from the phone and played on ** Sci-Fi Buzz ** on the Sci-Fi Channel in the mid-90s. (And as a 40+ year SF fan, I cringe at the term Sci-Fi)
In other arenas:
Had my picture taken with ** Dick Clark ** (the closest I’ll probably ever get to a multimillionaire) back in 1981 at a National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas. BTW, up close back then he had a fine network of wrinkles that somehow didn’t show on the camera.
At that same convention, had a drink and 20-minute conversation with ** Gary Owens ** of Laugh-In fame, who was charming and personable and willing to treat a small-town radio guy from Oregon as an equal in the broadcast business.
Met a number of SF authors at various Oregon conventions, including a couple of Westercons held in Portland: ** Larry Niven, Ursula K. LeGuin, Dean Ing, Steve Perry, Steven Barnes, Damon Knight ** and many others.
But the coolest response was from ** Kevin O’Donnell, Jr ** author of the McGill Feighan “flinger” series (Caverns, Reefs, Lava, etc.) who later spent his own money to mail me an advance reader’s copy of his 1990 novel “Fire on the Border” personally inscribed. It was a totally classy act on his part and made me feel like a million bucks.
Interviewed various Oregon and Washington senators and governors on the air and had a delightful interview with ** Kirk Alyn ** the original Superman of the Republic movie serials.
I’m a direct descendent of Ralph Waldo Emerson.
I went on a date with Andre Agassi when I was 15. He wasn’t “famous” yet, but was pretty seriously recognized. I kissed him goodnight. No tongue.
My birthday is Christmas Eve.
The back of my head is in the worst movie on the planet: Grandview USA. Stars Jamie Lee Curtis, C. Thomas Howell, and Patrick Swayze.
I once played a tournament round of disc golf with Ed Hedrick, the guy who installed the first permanent disc golf course and who was intrumental in the development and refinement of the Frisbee at Whammo.
I attended a birthday party for Irish poet and Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney, at his invitation, against the wishes of the host.
I met and shook hands with Bill Clinton on a staircase in the Arkansas state capitol building during his first term as governor.
Score one for the anonymity of the internet. Chicago Dopers will know what I’m talking about: I won the WGN Extra Effort Award - December 1992. I don’t normally tell people about it because it’s really embarrassing, to me at least. My mom somehow discovered the place I hid the tape of my spot, and showed it to my son one evening when she was babysitting. I get there to pick him up, and all night he quoted from the voiceover.
Let’s see - I briefly dated Matt Geiger (I know, I know) and I met Ron Harper in a bar. That’s about it for me, until someone tells me how to meet with Mark Grace now that he’s in Arizona.
I was interviewed by my local paper for an article about my website. Got a full half page in the biggest entertainment section of the week (the Saturday paper). It’s where they usually put the featured article, so I was proud.
I was in the Miss Teen Red Deer pageant, which no one bothered to tape when it was on TV. I didn’t win, but I guess I was semi-famous for an evening. I only have one photo taken from behind with the spotlight shining through my big hair.
I met an number of Canadian bands when I waitressed at a hotel. Also Elizabeth Manley, the silver figure skater in the 1988 Olympics.
My ex-husband is distantly related to the girl who played Nellie Olson on Little House on the Prairie. Like that’s gotten me anywhere…
My sister went on tour with Loverboy while dating one of the roadies. She also had a blind date set up with Bryan Adams, but had to move before she went on the date. I still tease her about Bryan being her soul mate and that destiny kept them apart.
There was a book written about my cousin, Kyle Brown. Included are photos of his family, and thus, my cousins and aunts.
I met Princess Diana in a t-shirt store in Martha’s Vineyard. (My family vacationed there before it was cool.)Also in Martha’s Vineyard, we almost rented a house next door to Carly Simon’s.
My grandfather is a fairly famous lawyer who is mentioned in several textbooks (don’t ask me which ones, but my dad saw them in law school).
My dad had a film class in college with Christy Hefner (Hugh’s daughter).
Forgot one …
(this is a little more on the obscure side)
Bruce Driver, former Devil and Ranger, lives in my town and I was friends with his daughter for a while.
digging through my past…
Ok, back in 1990 I was on a Boston-area quiz bowl-type TV show called “High-Q”. I led our school’s team to two wins, only to crash and burn in the final week. Still, it made me a local celebrity for a few weeks.
And I still have the T-shirt.
–sublight.
I’ve played high school Summer League games at Jacobs Field, Comerica Park, and Fenway Park.
I have hit a homerun inside the Pesky(sp?) Pole.
I won Crestwood’s District Spelling Bee four years in a row, throughout all of Middle School.
I was an Indian’s Batboy.
I gave Sandra Bullock a backrub
I worked summer stock with William ‘Father Mulcahy’ Christopher (MAS*H) in “Greater Tuna” and Joseph 'Stefano Mascolo (Days of our Lives) in “Deathtrap”
I got kicked out of the Girl Scouts.
In my senior year of HS, I dated one of the guys that was in the NYC version of The Real World.
I won the skimpiest bathing suit contest at a resort in Jamaica. I got a t-shirt, presumably to cover up.
My daughter was in a Red Sox commercial in the summer of 1999.
I live a couple of doors down from an NHL player.
My husband is regularly quoted in The NY Times and Newsweek.
My whole life is obscure claims to fame. Is someone trying to tell me something? (WARNING: ignore obscure Canadian references below.)
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Two people I played road hockey with for my entire childhood went on to be goalies in the NHL. And I played ice hockey with Eric Lindros once (he nearly knocked me unconscious, too).
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My cousin in the last few years has become one of the most controversial and well-known British artists around, with (mildly negative) coverage in all the big magazines
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Have met both Douglas Adams and Kurt Vonnegut. My dad met Rocket Richard. I “know” Justin Trudeau and Dean Cain.
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Was provincial champion in the very cheezy Reach For The Top high school trivia game ($1000!) the same year I ran in the provincial cross-country running champion
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Graduated high school with the highest average in my province, for which I won an additional $300 scholarship
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When I was five, I once judo flipped a 250 pound man.
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Was visiting England and driving with my parents down the highway when I saw the burning car of Ian Fleming.
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Once tried to impress a date by breaking into a zoo by moonlight. (Moderate success)
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Have had roommates from more different countries than anyone I know, so know I speak five languages badly! Including English, was once fired from a job by an arrogant prick dipshit who told me I didn’t speak English very well!!
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Tragically Hip played at my high school before making it big in Canada… ten people showed up to see them.
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Met Kim Mitchell and Spirit of the West.
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Was at Montreal Canadiens hockey game where Patrick Roy gave the finger to the crowd and was kicked off the team
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Had coffee with Jojo the psychic.
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Won t-shirt for being able to sing most songs while gargling tequila.
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Stephen Hawking, in a lecture hall, got his wheelchair stuck on a backpack belonging to a friend of mine and spent five minutes trying to move without success or realizing what was impeding his progress
The GodMother of my child went to HS with Gillian Anderson.
My high school was taken over by a gunman (before bringing a gun to school became the hackneyed, derivative activity it is today). I was one of the last students to leave the building, and I’m fairly certain I was on TV as I left the building.
I was on TV when I won a contest to go down on the ice after a Capitals game and receive a game sweater from one of the players.
Forgot one other brush with greatness.
** Paul Revere and the Raiders ** played at my high school prom in spring 1964. They were well known in
Oregon, but had yet to hit big nationally and hook up
with Dick Clark. I went to the dance stag just to say
I had seen them live. Pretty pathetic, but then I was
a freshman at the time…
Personal: two letters to the editor published in the Wall Street Journal.
Tangential: my great-uncle used to date Bart Starr’s grandmother.
Oh, I’ve had fantasies about this.