I vaguely remember that after Kathleen Battle performed under contract at the Metropolitan Opera and then moved onto her next engagement, that the crew wore sweatshirts or t-shirts that said, “I Survived The Battle”. She was
I was with two other guys doing some renovation work at the American embassy in Prague. Shirley Temple Black was the ambassador at the time. Her secretary came into the room where we were working and said that the ambassador wanted to come in and see what we were doing, and while she would likely talk to us that we should not bring up her childhood movie career, as she felt that her work post-Hollywood was far more important. Ambassador Black was very pleasant and chatted with us about what we were doing, and I completely understand why she would not want to have her movies brought up.
I’ve related elsewhere that I met Dave Brubeck, who was very pleasant. While I’m sure he was probably tired of people bringing up his old quartet, he talked about them with me like it was the first time anyone had asked him.
The complaints were about stereotypical I’m number 1 on the call sheet everyone else is beneath me behavior. Bad for Sarah because that might be the only movie where she’s number 1 on the call sheet. It could be dismissed as one guy’s story but I’ve since seen a lot of seemingly genuine comments from others saying she was a nightmare to work with.
I don’t have anything to contribute to the OP, but with regard to Sarah Hyland:
She was in a made-for-TV remake of “Dirty Dancing” where she played Baby’s older sister. In the original movie, the character was comic relief (as well Kellerman’s nephew Neil), but the remake dispensed with those elements and they were straight character roles.
The time that Eddie Murphy was a cast member, soon after 48 Hours came out, Nick Nolte called in and said he couldn’t do the show that he had been scheduled to host. Supposedly burned out from working constantly but likely as not fried from partying too much. So Dick Ebersol, the producer at the time, decided that Murphy, a cast member who was rapidly becoming the biggest new star in America, should host the show.
I remembered this post when I read this: 
“We never serve extra soy sauce, rude people, intoxicated people,” the sign proclaims. The line about extra soy sauce is highlighted in red.
Sushi J’s refusal to provide extra soy sauce on request has prompted bemusement in the local community, with social media users joking about smuggling in their own condiment packets.
B.C. sushi chef refuses to provide extra soy sauce — even for $1K | CBC News
Great sushi chefs are very particular about how their creations are served, and customers pouring on excessive soy sauce can drive them to madness!
Some guy on reddit purchased a lot of Ed McMahon’s stuff and it included this letter from Jerry Lewis. Looks like Jerry could also be a good guy.
I missed that when it first aired, but holy cow, what a jerk! Gene Simmons is clearly a smart guy, but he’s also clearly not as smart as he thinks he is. That doesn’t make him a jerk, but his narcissism and misogyny get him over the line.
His good quality is not taking drugs.
He’s definitely bad guy. Super self-absorbed, and absolute pig when it comes to women.
I don’t think I’ve heard anyone ever talk pleasantly about their experiences with Gene Simmons. He was on the Apprentice back in the day and I honestly thought he came off as a bigger jerk than Trump. Or at least his equal.
Do any of the other Kiss members talk positively about him?
Paul Stanley apparently gets along with him well enough in a professional context, but Simmons himself in recent years has proudly declared that he has no friends. Apparently he doesn’t want to waste time feigning interest in anyone but himself (really!).
Zappa made somewhat similar comments in later years, professing to divide people he dealt with regularly into two categories - family and employees. But Zappa was fond of cynical, sardonic pronouncements and it is apparent that throughout his life he did indeed have many people that were fond of him and vice versa.
Simmons, not so much. Actually far as I can tell, not at all. A more universally disliked musician (except by the groupies he endlessly pursued) would be hard to find.
Part of the challenge in that, especially since the late '80s, is that Simmons and Paul Stanley own the band; anyone else who has been a member since around 1987 has been their employee. So, if one wanted to remain employed by them, one would likely have had to stay quiet.
The late Ace Frehley, the band’s original lead guitarist, is one who clearly was out of fucks to give, and while he sometimes referred to Simmons and Stanley as “his rock and roll brothers,” he also occasionally criticized them. In particular, Frehley disputed that the two of them had fired him twice (a story which Simmons and Stanley repeated often, for decades): he insisted that he had quit, in part because of what he perceived as their jealousy of him.
And, as per Simmons’ Wikipedia entry:
Yep. Megadeth runs the same way now. Dave Mustaine is the owner and the rest work for him.
Having said that, I think Dave is way, way, way, way more reasonable and normal compared to Gene Simmons.
Today I read an anecdote that deserve a mention in this thread:
Billy Crystal, a huge baseball fan, was at Yankee Stadium one day as part of a tribute to Mickey Mantle, who had since died.
Among the attendees was Joe DiMaggio. At some point, Crystal had a microphone, and he was told he should introduce DiMaggio.
“Ladies and gentleman, please welcome Joe DiMaggio.” Joe goes and stands next to Whitey Ford. Crowd cheers.
Later; Crystal is standing around, schmoozing with players, when DiMaggio walks up to him and punches him in the stomach. He then growls “greatest living ball player.”
Joe DiMaggio insisted on being introduced as the “greatest living ball player”. He took offense at the slight. And punched Billy Crystal in response.
I’ve long heard that Diana Ross is a diva, personified.
A link for anyone who is interested: Gene Simmons | Fresh Air Archive: Interviews with Terry Gross
I have only heard the first few minutes, but oh my god - he shows what an asshole he is right away, and keeps on going.
Hah, Terry Gross got a good zinger off:
Gene (when Terry starts giving him a little richly deserved push-back): You’re being defensive. Why are you being defensive?
Terry: It’s contagious.
I wonder if anyone likes Gene Simmons. I see he is still married, so I guess maybe the wife likes him.
Hmmm…we almost need a “jerkiest jerk” bracket challenge. Gene would be a real contender.
Let’s not forget John Wilkes Booth. Pfft. Actors!
OMFG!
I’ve only ever heard pieces of the interview, so I wasn’t aware what a piece of shit Gene Simmons is.
Too many to remember them all, but my favorite moment might be when he nitpicks about the pronunciation of his names (there’ve been three of them) and sneers that it’s OK because “it came out through a gentile mouth”.
Terry informs him that “it’s not a gentile mouth”.
I thought Simmons was just an asshole rock star. I now realize that would be an insult to asshole rock stars (except maybe Ted Nugent).
Another nominee for this thread.
Gene Simmons is pretty smart. He knows how he comes across. He has a carefully crafted public persona. In other words he’s been a troll since long before the word has its current meaning. There’s a reason why he’s still in the public eye 30-something years after he should have been forgotten. I have no doubt he’s still an asshole in private but he’s also been able to stay married for decades and have two relatively normal children.