How dare you insinuate that the QUEEN OF ENGLAND actually defecates!
Harumph!
How dare you say that? She merely had to wash her hands.
While I was doing my internship at a TV station here in Indy, my director was telling me how much of a bitch Rachel Ray was.
She told me things like: Rachel canceled appearances because she “was tired”, and then used that time to go out shoe shopping. After coming back from said shoe shopping trip she was about a half hour late and her demeanor was that of “well you should wait for me, I’m Rachel Ray”
Ray-ray is number one on my directors shit list
She could have gone number 1, of course.
I heard from a friend in the restaurant buisness that she tried to get into their La Jolla location on a crowded weekend night using a similar line. The 20-something hostess apparently honestly didn’t know who she was and wouldn’t let her jump the list.
I think I told this story before. Back in the late 60s, I was in a gay bar in Columbus Ohio with my then-boyfriend. Also in the bar was Paul Lynde, with a few of his friends. Supposedly he was a regular there, when he was in town. Apparently I was his type (I was a lot cuter 40 years ago than I am today), and he started coming on to me. He was obviously extremely drunk, and wouldn’t take no for an answer. He was physically all over me and actually tore my shirt. Luckily there was a bouncer, and with the help of one of Lynde’s friends, they managed to pry him off me. I’m sure he must have been a really sweet man when sober, but he was a really obnoxious drunk.
You just reminded me, I remember a story about him as well: Gray made an unscheduled stop in our store once and autographed a few copies of his book. Our store had a ‘New York Times bestseller’ shelf, arranged in sales order (the #1 bestsellers occupied the top shelves, #2 on the second-most shelves, etc.) While it was still a popular bestseller at the time, it had been out for a couple of years. So it was on a lower shelf. When none of the booksellers were looking, he re-arranged the shelves - putting “Men Are From Mars…” on the top shelf, and top-shelf books behind a bookrack! Not really “complete bastard” material, but sneaky nonetheless.
This anecdote is heresay, but I have heard it verified by many folks, including folks on this board. But I have a friend who lives in mid-town Manhattan, apparently on the same block as Tina Louise a.k.a. Ginger from “Gilligan’s Island.” He sees her every so often, including at that YMCA where they both work out. She’s notorious as being rude and demanding, including once when my friend stood behind her in line at a Duane Reade drugstore. She wanted to pay using a personal check, which wasn’t allowed. She used, as my friend referred to it, “the line” – "Don’t you know who I am???"
She apparently sports pigtails, a la Mary Ann, even though she’s obviously in her 70s.
For a celeb of this caliber, I’d have no problem saying “Yes, I know who you are, and no, I don’t care.”
Joe
A number of people connected with Gilligan’s Island have publicly stated that Tina Louise was a huge PITA to work with. She seemed to think that she was the star of the show, and not Bob Denver. :rolleyes:
That’s what they call a “royal wee”.
Johnny Carson was insanely generous with his money- he gave away hundreds of millions of dollars to colleges (especially his alma mater, U-Nebraska), the James Randi Foundation (I think he’s the reason they’re solvent), astronomy organizations (he was a passionate amateur astronomer- Carl Sagan said he could talk with Ph.D.s on the subject pretty much on their own level), and numerous other charities. He could also be extremely petty.
One of his sons, Chris, had an illegitimate daughter whose mother sold her story to the tabloids. They were living on public assistance and in danger of eviction at the time. Chris Carson had no money to speak of and was a deadbeat dad, and Johnny offered no help. While Johnny had no legal responsibility for the child, you would think that anyone who was worth hundreds of millions would feel an ethical responsibility to keep their immediate family off of the public dole- I can understand not bringing them to his home or buying mother and child a beachfront mansion, but it would have gone completely unfelt by him to move them into a decent apartment- but he didn’t. (The granddaughter was biracial which caused some racism allegations at the time, but I doubt that had anything to do with it- he was just unconcerned; she has since sued the estate, though I’ve no idea what the outcome was.)
Carson’s first wife, Jody, the mother of his sons, got a divorce settlement in the 1960s that was quite good for the time and based on Johnny’s then wealth, but nothing remotely like his divorce settlements for his future wives. (Joanne was nicely set up and speaks well of him, and Joanna’s divorce demands- millions per year in alimony and a huge settlement- were front-page news at the time [paltry beside some subsequent celebrity divorces], and his 4th wife, from whom he was separated at the time of his death, inherited a fortune.) Jody later sued him for an increase in her alimony from $13,500 per year to $120,000 per year based on some type of escalating scale clause in their divorce settlement (she had, admittedly, remarried since Carson), but though his income at the time was millions of dollars per month he would not voluntarily increase the amount, went to court, the judge ruled in his favor, and she was stuck with a fortune in legal fees. This again was a case of “legal responsibility- none”, but again one would think that providing a comfortable existence for the mother of his children (on whom he cheated) would seem perfectly reasonable to most men who could afford it without ever even noticing it and who would give tens of millions to charities.
Of course he had a side to the issues as well, but was famously an intensely private person. It would have been interesting to find out his rationalization, but it seems petty bitterness.
Followed by a “royal flush”.
You got molested by Templeton the Rat?
He’s not much of a celebrity, but his bastardy is enough to make up for it in this thread: Jim Rogersis an investment columnist who wrote some books (most notably The Investment Biker) and is a regular commentator on Fox News and some other money shows. He’s from Alabama and has family here and also did speaking engagements at local colleges and the legislature (usually to get paid while visiting family). He stayed in the hotels where I worked when he was in town.
He was one of the most obnoxious guests- not just celebrity guests- we ever had, damned near psychotic. Did things like:
-When told upon checking in around 3 p.m. that the restaurant was closed from 2-5 (but there were any number of places in walking distance or a very short drive), he hurled a bunch of expletives about how incompetent and what hicks we were (Rogers was born 15 miles from Montgomery), and somehow browbeat our spineless manager into having the F&B manager personally go fix him a sandwich. He then refused to pay for the sandwich because it wasn’t up to his standards. (Rogers is a multimillionaire.)
-When told by the PBX operator that there was no direct number to his room (some hotels have this- basically the hotel will have the number 555-0000, and if you’re in room 840 your direct number will be 555-0840, but at the time especially this was mainly in 4-5 star hotels and we were about a 3-4 star), he cursed and slammed the phone down, evidently pissed that she didn’t know how to rework the phone lines and immediately make this possible.
-He threw a bar of soap at a housekeeper because he said it was crap and couldn’t believe he was paying this much money for such crappy accomodations (and evidently believed the maid was the person who selected the soap for his room)
-Once upon checking in when told he had no reservation and that we were full and could not squeeze him in. He went ballistic into what a group of incompetents we were. He said he had a confirmation number but not with him, his secretary had it, and somehow he browbeat a manager into letting him call long distance to his secretary from their phone. When he hung up he slammed down the confirmation number with a “There, are you idiots happy now?” The confirmation at our hotel were something like XYZ22Jan2009654321 and this conf number was something like H54321- something I recognized from having worked at Marriott as one of their confirmation numbers- he had the wrong hotel.
This earned a lecture on how, incompetent as we were, we were the hotel he always stayed at and he didn’t intend to stay anyplace else. Told we could not and would not work him in, he left saying something about suing the place (for what I’m not sure). He never once apologized for his profanity and attitude over HIS error (and I’m guessing his secretary caught 10 kinds of hell as well, though I’m also guessing that unless he paid them insanely well he went through assistants and secretaries more than Murphy Brown.)
The man is just an insane asshole. To this day when I see him on TV I utter a profanity and change the channel.
Celebrities I’ve met who were rude, though none on par with Rogers above:
— Reba McIntyre and husband/manager (just very “oh God, whatever”) to any comment including the “OMG, You’re Reba McIntyre” from people passing by
ALL IN TOWN FOR A CHARITY GOLF TOURNAMENT:
— Leslie Nielsen- demanding and don’t dare approach him (not that I did, but others did) and traveling with a girlfriend who looked about 18)
— Evel Knievel- trashy rude prick
Some soap opera actor was also there- can’t think of his or his character’s name but he was on Search for Tomorrow. VERY obviously thought of himself as King of Hollywood- sunglasses at night, picking up girls everywhere, and constantly checking the front desk for messages (each time told it would be on his voicemail or slid under his door) and with a “tell me this, peasant…” attitude each time. Nothing specific, just attitude.
Gallagher (the watermelon comedian), though admittedly there was a major problem with his room on our end, but he was a prick and his wife was a seemingly drugged up prick. She looked like ‘The Nanny’ (Fran Drescher) but with a buzzcut and wore a skin tight leather jumpsuit.
(I hate to say it, but I will):
Rosa Parks- I know she’s an icon, but she was also a belligerent, belittling, mean old biatch, especially to white employees. She was a frequent visitor to Montgomery for obvious reasons and we all dreaded her visits; she would rarely even speak to white waiters or desk clerks or other underlings, instead relaying whatever she wanted to say to them through one of her courtiers like Queen Victoria (“Her Majesty inquires whether the Philly Steak sandwich comes with fries or baked potato” even though the person was standing right there). OTOH, I’ll give her a pass because of her historical significance and the fact she was old as granite so some may have been age related obnoxiousness, and the fact she was always surrounded by worshippers.
Edward Furlong- usually stoned, literally smelled bad, and completely p-whipped by his then concubine/tutor (who was much older and later sued him for palimony when they split up). Very demanding, rude, and so nasty the room they stayed in for two weeks had to be taken out of order for about that long for cleaning. His woman seemed to think of him, when addressing others, as a 5 time Oscar winner… “Excuse me, but I’m with Edward Furlong in case you didn’t know…”, even once to a maitre’d on the phone when told they didn’t take reservations and the other guests included Walter Matthau, Roddy McDowell, and other much bigger names (who rolled their eyes; Matthau actually told a friend of mine on the hotel staff that “I feel sorry for that kid- he has no family to run that bitch off and no balls to do it himself”).
Same movie shoot:
Mary Steenburgen- true, she’s an Oscar winning actress, but she’s far more famous for being Mrs. Ted Danson and she’s every bit the Norma Desmondish diva who doesn’t quite grasp most people didn’t recognize her and didn’t care. Always wore the scarf on her head and sunglasses as if trying not to be recognized when she could as easily have worn a T-shirt saying I’M MARY STEENBURGEN without having to worry about being recognized. She also would call the desk asking where she could purchase things anyone with bat brains should know you can’t purchase in a 3rd tier city like Montgomery (“vegetarian soy feta cheese flavored with marmalade and Moroccan garlic blends” type stuff). Very divaish. (Great thing about that stay- manning the fax machine one night I got to see a fax to her from Roddy McDowell who had just checked out and who she had asked to critique the video of a play she was in; he TRASHED it, politely but trashed it nonetheless.)
I haven’t met her personally, but I know several people who’ve had encounters with Courtney Cox. None have anything nice to say about her.
I have friends who went to school with her in B’ham and “snooty rich bitch” is about as sweet as they get: snobby, vain, self absorbed, self pitying, and mean to those who weren’t “in” and to teachers. (She seems to have been a real life version of Tina Fey’s Liz Lemon if you saw the 30 Rock episode where Liz went back to her high school reunion.)
Another friend who worked at a hotel in Panama City Beach, FL, where Cox and her husband vacationed said her keepers actually faxed a “rider” to the hotel of “Ms. Cox Arquette’s” likes, dislikes, and expectations. She wasn’t performing or anything like- just staying as a guest- yet this went into how hotel staff should address her, no autographs or photographs, her breakfast orders, etc., all as if she was going to be headlining with a new lounge act or what not. The friend said a teenaged boy who saw her in the restaurant made some kind of “Oh my God it’s Courtney Cox!” comment within her earshot and she turned to him with a “Yes! Courtney Cox! REAL PERSON! Okay!” comeback (didn’t even make a lot of sense).
Her husband was on a TV show recently telling the necessary “funny story” about domestic life that celebrities are expected to tell (and that is written and given to them if they don’t have one- that’s true, which is why some have told the same story another celebrity told on another show, similar to Michael Landon’s “zombie rabbit” story). Arquette was telling a story about buying a lot of name brand high-end clothes for their child at a Beverly Hills yard sale and being thrilled because the things cost hundreds of dollars new, he bought them for a few dollars, and their kid’s at the “what fits now won’t in 6 months” age, and Courtney refused to have them anywhere near their daughter because “We do well enough that we don’t have to wear other people’s cast-offs!”, so he gave them away to a housekeeper. I could understand and even sympathize with the attitude from somebody who grew up dirt poor perhaps and thus with a hatred of “pre-worn clothes*”, but Cox grew up in a well to do family and while he was telling the story as a “women, they’re so wacky!” type of way it just made her seem like a first class status obsessed bitch again.
*OTOH, Florence Henderson, who grew up dirt poor (her father was a very old tobacco farmer [near 70 when she was born] and she was orphaned young), is notoriously stingy. On one talk show her daughter mentioned how much it irked her that she had to wear her sister’s revamped prom dress to her own prom because her mother refused to pay for a second one (though admittedly the first one was expensive), and how any such complaint always earned a lecture about how her mom used to bite the heads off of tobacco worms for a dime apiece to entertain her brothers and their friends as a girl. Henderson herself told about taking a nightclub tour of [some Asian country] so that she could have someone else pay her way to the place where she could buy high end furniture from the factories at wholesale prices, have it shipped to her house, and still come home with money in the bank. Unlike her TV kids, she also got residuals from THE BRADY BUNCH, so I’m guessing Flo is loaded.
Whoopi Goldberg, who did live hand to mouth for several years and bought used clothes for herself and her daughter, didn’t seem as picky in the stories she told. She said that when she first started making big money her extravagance was buying her daughter two (2) pairs of new name brand (Reebok/Nike style- not designer) sneakers. A pair of name brand shoes- not the kind that come in a bin at K-Mart (I think it was Chris Rock who mentioned shoes that didn’t even deserve their own box) was a luxury, but two pairs was “we have arrived!” rich.
So I suppose even if Cox had grown up at the corner of ADC St. and Welfare Lane it wouldn’t be that sympathetic.
I was interested to see how much emphasis was put on making sure that healful food was available. I think anyone who has struggled with weight and diet issues knows that it’s a lot easier to eat properly when the right foods are at hand. There’s sort of a plus-minus for travelling performers like these. On the one hand, they pretty much have to rely on other people to arrange their food options. On the other hand, hey, someone else does it for them! I heard an interview with a famous scientist – might have been Oliver Sacks – who described how he eats properly to a large extent because his housekeeper stocks his kitchen with good food. He doesn’t have to go in search of his own food and so isn’t faced with temptation all the time.
My understanding is that Rosa Parks suffered from some form of early onset dementia.
There’s been a few threads here where people have related accounts of Ms. Parks being less than pleasant (though her assistants were said to be exceptionally polite and apologetic), I don’t remember what the time frame for those events were, so it might very well have been dementia, or there could have been other causes as well. (Insert Bill Cosby’s comments about folks in the Civil Rights movement not struggling just so that kids could wear their pants around their knees here.)
My guess is that Rosa Parks was a contentious and difficult person by nature, and that those are the qualities that led to her refusing to give up her seat on the bus.