I worked with a lot of famous and pre-famous comedians in the 80s and 90s, and I have mostly good things to say. Lewis Black, for instance, who built his image around being angry and cranky, is one of the nicest guys in the business as far as I’m concerned.
Even most performers who may not have always been super chummy all the time at least weren’t outright jerks.
I can only think of two exceptions, and they’re mostly hearsay. Bill Maher and I only crossed paths for one evening and didn’t interact much. But others who did all said he was a smug, egotistical, entitled prick.
And I never had the “pleasure” of meeting Pauly Shore, but from the stories I’ve heard, he seems to have some emotional/psychological issues, if not actual sociopathic tendencies.
Don Rickles was also super nice according to almost everyone. He’s clearly kidding about being mean, though, so I don’t think it is too much of a shock.
My only celebrity-is-really-nice experience is Don Herbert, who was Mr. Wizard on TV. We lived near him when I was a kid and he was nice. Always waved at the store and so forth, no huge interactions. Just seemed very nice and normal.
Raquel Welch was gracious and actually talked to me for nearly half a hour about Marine biology (Whales and dolphins), and she knew her stuff. She was bored of course, but she picked a lowly security to be bored with. That was nice.
David Carradine borrowed $5 from me, but was very cool about it thanked me, wanted to know where he could mail it, etc. (I said it was a honor, and he did a kung fu bow)
Johnny Carson wasnt buddy buddy but was polite to the staff. Didnt treat us like dirt, called me by my first name and said please. That is how a real professional treats the staff.
Alan Hale came up to us in his restaurant, and chatted us with quite some time, even tried our stone crab to make sure it was up to his standard.
Clint Eastwood was kinda distant, but thanked me and bought us drinks in his bar.
IMO, if you’re wealthy and don’t tip(or tip an insulting amount), you are a jerk. These people probably get better service than you and I have ever seen. I mean, over the top, fantastic service, every time they go out. Who wouldn’t give Tiger Woods, Madonna, etc, great service? And they don’t fulfill their end of the social contract by giving them even a standard tip. If I had Tiger Woods’ money, or Michael Jordan’s money, I’d skip around with 100’s flying off of me like a cartoon. They have silly, silly money.
On a somewhat unrelated side note, I remember reading this article when it was first published and one thing that struck me from the perspective of 1991 was how cliquish and petty the late 60s counterculture seemed to be. Granted, I am not of that generation and it was likely an example of “you had to be there at the time” but it seemed like the worst characteristics of high school continuing on into adulthood. Basically, even if Jim Morrison hadn’t been an obnoxious drunken lout, he still would not have been unable to fit in because he was originally a movie-oriented person and movie people were crass fuddy-duddies who, even if they tried, could not hope to be part of the coolest-of-the-cool counterculture crowd who were all music-oriented. I remember thinking, “Does anybody outside of a few Baby Boomers care about this stuff now?” Reading it again in 2020, I find such distinctions even more pointless.
how cliquish and petty the late 60s counterculture seemed to be.
That was, like, liberation, man. But I also recall a saying from the time: “If you think the cops are bad, try asking a hippy for help.”
(Sir) Ben Kingsley got a bit of a name for insisting on having his honorific in credits and the like. (Dame) Maggie Smith (CH) explained on Graham Norton’s show that it wasn’t done to use
all that stuff professionally, “unlike - who is it? - Sir King Bensley.”
Steve Jobs was always screaming at Apple people and he never donated to charity . His widow now donates a lot to charity. Jobs also spent a lot of time denying his daughter was his and only admitted it after a DNA test. Not many people know he was adopted as a kid but he did meet his real father once.
I heard from Patrick Steward in a podcast (I forget which) that he sometimes chided the other actors on the show when he thought they were taking the show for granted and didn’t respect the wonderful opportunity it gave all of them. I kind of see his point.
I’ve always heard he was kind of a jerk to everyone and am glad to hear he was polite enough on the job. What did you do on that show?
I didn’t read it, but Pete Sampras is probably on the list? Andre Agassi swears Sampras tipped badly when he saw him at a restaurant.
It is completely true that he was a huge jerk about his daughter, even claiming to be infertile to prove he wasn’t her father.
He was also a social bully. Not just demanding, but very hard to work with. Results? Yes. Pleasant to deal with? Not.
May I ask what the adopted part has to do with anything? I’ve adopted two children and don’t think we’ve contributed to them being jerks from it(my kids seem nice enough). And we usually refer to biological parents as “birth parents”, not “real”.
I wasn’t questioning her professionalism. The thread is “which celebs are jerks”, and she certainly came across as a jerk, however much of a consummate professional she may have been.
Maybe the worse thing about Jobs was he used his wealth to get on liver transplant waiting lists all over the country, not just in CA. Which is why he got his liver in Tenn.
This thread is going both directions. Naughty and nice.
I’ve heard that Jason Alexander (George on Seinfeld) is a very kind, thoughtful and intelligent person. Apparently he is a very good actor too.
And a Don Rickles Story. I read this one somewhere…
He and Frank Sinatra where friends. Don and Frank where dinning at a restaurant at seperate tables. Don with a girlfriend. Don goes to Frank’s table and asks him to come to his table and introduce himself to impress his girlfriend. Which Frank graciously does.
In a perfect Don Rickles moment, when Frank comes to the table to introduce himself, Don says “Frank, how many times have I told you not to disturb me while I’m eating”. Classic.
I read Sherwood Schwartz’ book about Gilligan’s Island. He had naught but praise for six of the seven main actors on the show (he didn’t speak of Tina Louise in glowing terms), Hale in particular.
Apparently his giant teddy bear thing wasn’t just how he portrayed The Skipper – that was him in real life. Always quick with a laugh or a hug. However, he also did not suffer disrespect. My memories are hazy here since it’s been decades since I read the book, but apparently the production team had been neglecting the set of the lagoon, and it had become rancid and filled with algae and such. The producers expected them to suck it up and film their scenes in it anyway. The cast refused, some CBS bigwigs showed up to talk things over, and the execs said the same: suck it up and film it. Hale apparently got within inches of a CBS bigwig’s face and threatened to pick him up, chair and all, and throw him into the tank to see how he liked it.
Not long afterwards, a crew was cleaning up the lagoon set.
I have often recounted the experiences here, but every time I interacted with Harlan in a one-to-one setting he was friendly, considerate and quite charming.
Same here. I have also seen what happens when some idiot tried to figuratively poke him with a stick just to get a “Harlan Ellison was an asshole!” story to tell friends. If the idiot wouldn’t stop Harlan would cut the idiot to the quick and get it over with, then apologize to who he was with and continue on with his life.
