But there are extreme cases. Like Jim Morrison would have been jailed had he not been famous.
Addiction - and make no mistake cigarette-induced nicotine dependence is addiction - can drive a person to do such things.
That’s the mark of a professional actor, actually. No matter how crappy the venue treat the performance like gold.
He actually WAS sentenced to jail, but was free on bond while the appeal was pending. Then he died. If he had lived he might have wound up behind bars anyway. He wasn’t a nice guy. I’m not sure if he was mentally ill or just a mean, selfish son of a bitch.
He was jailed for actually bogus stuff he did on stage like uttering an audible obscenity. The Day Jim Morrison Was Sentenced on Obscenity Charges in Miami
He should have been charged and jailed for the actual crimes he committed in his real life such as the incident I mentioned above. Imo, he was both mentally ill (some sort of impulsive disorder, bipolar disorder and PTSD) as well as thoroughly alcoholic anbd a mean selfish son of a bitch.
One last thing that bothers me about Morrison is that in interviews and books most say he was a great guy, friendly and funny. Yet he did so many horrific things to so many people that I just dont buy it. Famous people have to be held just as accountable as working people.
It might be entirely possible for Jim Morrison to have normally been friendly, but then turn into a monster when he was drunk. I agree wholeheartedly that if the guy were around today, it would be readily apparent to anyone around him that he was a full blown alcoholic who needed to get help. He wouldn’t be the first Jekyll-and-Hyde story from the ranks of alcoholism.
I dont disagree. He had a very high IQ (149) and had his reputation protected by those around him long after his death. Eve Babitz does a good job imo of giving us a deeper look into him.
Well, until I watched South Park, I had no idea how difficult Mickey Mouse was to work with:
I never heard anything positive about Jerry Lewis as a person, except for his support of MDA.
When I was in my early 20s many, many moons ago I worked in the same building 60 Minutes taped. After a while you get used to seeing famous people on the elevator. Diane Sawyer was just a regular person. She’d hold the door for you if she saw you running and never, ever was mean or unkind to people who stared at her. She got stared at a lot. I stared at her the first few times I shared an elevator with her. She was striking. Just so lovely she was hard not to stare at.
Ed Bradley, on the other hand, was a blowhard. Very VERY loud and glad-handy with who ever was with him on the elevator and just really seemed to need to be the center of attention at all times. He got on the elevator, I got off.
But my very best story of this time was when me and my girlfriend were going to The Copa after work one Friday. The building was by the water so not right in the middle of midtown, so it was possible to catch a taxi on a Friday after work. Not easy but possible. Plus we were going to The Copa so we were all dolled up. That made it easier to catch a cab.
So there we were, standing in front of our building with out hands out, trying to hail a cab when Andy Rooney walks out of our building, past us and stands in the street in front of us, waving for a cab. Well, we weren’t going to stand for that! We sashayed 4 feet ahead of him on the sidewalk and a taxi stopped right along beside us. As we settle in the driver says, “Hey, do you know that guy?” indicating his rearview mirror. We look behind us and who do we see but Andy Rooney running up to the taxi, waving his arms and screaming about some bitches stealing his taxi. Seriously running up to the cab, waving his arms like a crazy person, screaming and cursing. We denied all knowledge and drove off. Was really expecting a segment starting off with, “Dontcha just hate it when a couple of tarted up bitches steal your taxi. . …” But it never happened.
Family friends worked with Barry Manilow recording an album. They said he was verbally abusive and difficult to work with. It could be that in other aspects of his life he was great.
Betty White was a drunk bitch to me when I spent time with her. Jimmy Stewart eventually told her to sit down and be quiet. Yes, I know there are issues with his beliefs, but I will always remember that he was a gentleman when I met him. Also, for all I know, Betty is just fine when she’s not plastered.
Stan Getz was a prick of major proportions. It always astounds me that he could play such a soulful sax.
Buddy Rich was probably the king of the pricks, at least in the jazz world. His rants and threats to his fellow musicians are legendary:
He also sucked as a drummer.
Indeed. I’ve always rather hoped that Patrick Stewart is a cultured, gracious person; and maybe he is. But he definitely acted like a jerk once and I’ve never forgotten it (in part because I found the story so disappointing).
Anyway, what happened (according to People Magazine or some such low-brow but probably reasonably reliable source) was that during the time TNG was popular he and a few other cast members were going to be interviewed on the Today Show (or something similar - this is an old story and my memory is imperfect). Some of the staff of the show made some lighthearted jokes poking fun at some of the absurdities of TNG. Apparently Stewart was furious, fuming that TNG was a wonderful show and people should never make fun of it.
Without knowing details, I can imagine that maybe the jokes were stupid and didn’t give TNG its due as a (for its time) rather bighearted and progressive TV show. But it’s jerkish to be so petulant about it that the story ends up in the popular press. You have to be able to laugh off these things, or if it really does piss you off at least keep it to yourself.
We’re heading towards “one time” stories, which I am sure there are many. I’m kind of curious how many of those listed are decent enough most of the time and how many are jerks.
Known big-time jerks:
Chevy Chase - listen, people can’t stand him
Jerry Lewis - the stories I’ve heard as he got older and meaner.
Art Garfunkel - just going on what people here have said in this thread
I would have guessed Harlan Ellison, but I concede he may just have come off that way. I did see the documentary on him and gosh, he actually made tons of valid points about how scheming and thieving the writing world is. He had to fight for every single penny for everything he wrote and I get that can wear you down over time.
I can see how spending your entire career as “the other guy” can wear you down.
But nobody’s forcing him to be a third-tier celebrity. He could have opted out and gotten a job as a math teacher.
Someone needs to see how Brian Dunkleman is doing.
Not only that, but I’ll bet that when celebrities are nice they eventually come across fans who take advantage and ruin it. Once that happens a few times you probably learn to be on guard and act like a jerk.
Or he could’ve founded the second best band in America.
I have no doubt of that, but – that’s kind of part of my joke. If you’re going to be an asshole to me, at least be Paul Simon, and not Art Garfunkel.
Years ago I took a taxi to Sonny and Cher’s house. Sonny invited me in as if I were an old friend. They were getting ready to go to a party. They gave me an autographed copy of their newest record, “The Beat Goes On” and Sonny gave me cab fare home (more than enough to cover it!). I wonder how many celebrities would be that gracious to a teen fan today.
I love these kinds of stories as well.