# Who is the biggest celebrity you've been within 20 feet of? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 1, 2014, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-biggest-celebrity-youve-been-within-20-feet-of/703186 "2014-11-01T00:51:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-biggest-celebrity-youve-been-within-20-feet-of/703186/201 "2014-11-12T02:51:17Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > So that was the start. The list from that time to this is very long; I was good friends (and briefly lovers) with **Kelly McGillis,** which led to my spending an afternoon hanging out at \*\*Warren Beatty’\*\*s house with the two of them and Astrid Plane. I didn’t realize she’d invited me to his house when she told me to meet her up there, and he answered the door wrapped in a towel. Warren watches a lot of CNN, and I find it hard to imagine that he went on to raise 4 kids in that house without a massive overhaul, it was a serious bachelor pad. My first experience with a bidet. I’ll be in my…well, you know… ---
**Author:** ![tiescore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@tiescore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiescore)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-biggest-celebrity-youve-been-within-20-feet-of/703186/202 "2014-11-12T22:26:49Z")
I yelled at Author Larry Bond once, Larry if your reading this sorry, I was exhausted at the time, I could have been WAAAAYYY more polite, and a few other authors (just missed meeting Douglas Adams, ran into a friend not 30 seconds after Mr Adams left an interview with him. ) Bob Uecker has called me buddy on the phone about a hundred times at an old job, and met Bud Selig at yet another job and we got to know each other pretty well. But the funniest had to be being a bodyguard for Carel Struycken (Lurch from the Addams Family movies). He’s an inventor and came up with a “kinect” style motion detection for gaming like over a decade earlier than they came out on the market. My roommate and I where escorting him through a crowd. As we were trying to make a path, people kept turning on us angrily, then you could see their eyes look up over our heads and a look of shock cross their face. He is a really big guy, when we picked him up at the hotel he was sitting at a deck in the back, his head was close to the ceiling and his knees stuck over the desktop level. Very quite but intriguing gentleman. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-biggest-celebrity-youve-been-within-20-feet-of/703186/203 "2014-11-12T22:45:39Z")
I’ve been a guest in the houses of Brenda Blackmon, Bruce Harper and Al & Kathy Sharpton. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-biggest-celebrity-youve-been-within-20-feet-of/703186/204 "2014-11-13T00:03:47Z")
Beverly Hills restaurant, I sat at a table next to McSteamy from Grey’s Anatomy (can’t be bothered to look up his name). Marshawn Lynch and Desean Jackson, in their college days. Rode on an elevator with Marshawn; my son said “aren’t you Marshawn Lynch”, and he said “No.”. It was him. Served Daniel Ellsberg his lunch. ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bruce\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-biggest-celebrity-youve-been-within-20-feet-of/703186/205 "2014-11-13T00:16:28Z")
Peter Jennings about 15 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2014, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-biggest-celebrity-youve-been-within-20-feet-of/703186/206 "2014-11-13T17:35:31Z")
Jeeze, I can’t believe I forgot about walking past NBA legend Dominique Wilkins in my store. He had come to see his sister, who is one of the store managers. According to her, he’s a nice, good-hearted guy who makes poor life choices. He’s not as tall as you’d think; that is, he’s “Hunh. Big dude.” tall, as opposed to “Holy crap! He must have to duck going under highway overpasses!” tall. ---
**Author:** ![Beelzebubba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Beelzebubba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beelzebubba)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2014, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-biggest-celebrity-youve-been-within-20-feet-of/703186/207 "2014-11-15T07:03:12Z")
I have a hard time choosing just one but can narrow it down to three. My cousin and her husband both work in the television industry in Los Angeles, which is how I met all three of these lovely ladies. \*\* Angie Harmon\*\* (in baseball cap, sunglasses and ponytail she still looked stunning) **Kathy Bates** (had Thanksgiving Dinner at my cousin’s house a few years ago and was just as nice as you’d expect her to be) **Alyssa Milano** (genuinely friendly and very polite when I ran into her in Whole Foods in Woodland Hills CA) ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2014, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-biggest-celebrity-youve-been-within-20-feet-of/703186/208 "2014-11-15T15:35:28Z")
Daytona Beach, Florida, 1989 (this was when Daytona Beach was The Place To Be for Spring Break), I was at a local tourist-trap shop when in walked Downtown Julie Brown with a couple of bodyguards - MTV was in town doing live coverage of Spring Break. Very soft-spoken and very polite. ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2014, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-biggest-celebrity-youve-been-within-20-feet-of/703186/209 "2014-11-15T16:09:43Z")
I had a double date with Laurence Fishburne and Gina Torres. ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2014, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-biggest-celebrity-youve-been-within-20-feet-of/703186/210 "2014-11-15T21:20:12Z")
Melissa Etheridge (when she used to play at Vermies in Pasadena before she was famous) Larry Storch (in Vegas - ugh) Hedge and Donna (semi-famous folk singing duo) Johnny Cash (a small concert at the fair here) The Everly Bros (small concert at Silver Mtn. in Idaho) ---
**Author:** ![HyacinthBucket](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hyacinthbucket/32/3063_2.png) [@HyacinthBucket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HyacinthBucket)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2014, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-biggest-celebrity-youve-been-within-20-feet-of/703186/211 "2014-11-16T02:56:36Z")
Was at Road America during a CART/Champcar event, standing in the shade of one of the Newman-Haas transporters in the competition paddock while changing the film in my camera when Paul Newman walked past me about four feet away, explaining to a woman walking next to him that he was sorry but he didn’t sign autographs. Oh, and I kissed Art Garfunkel after one of S&G’s Chicago concerts. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2014, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-biggest-celebrity-youve-been-within-20-feet-of/703186/212 "2014-11-16T03:18:29Z")
Patrick Stewart ---
**Author:** ![CreaseMunky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@CreaseMunky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CreaseMunky)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2014, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-biggest-celebrity-youve-been-within-20-feet-of/703186/213 "2014-11-16T12:25:21Z")
I have played craps with Bruce Willis in Vegas. I have _literally_ run in to Morgan Fairchild in Central Park. Both of us had our heads turned, talking to our companions and bashed shoulders. Apologies and welfare checks happened, we all survived. She really is that beautiful. Walking up to a bar in downtown Austin, I see a woman with beautiful long dark hair. Her back is to me, and when I get to the bar I complement her on it. She turns to me and says, “Thank you! I try to take care of it.” It was Sandra Bullock. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2014, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-biggest-celebrity-youve-been-within-20-feet-of/703186/214 "2014-11-16T19:53:44Z")
This would probably be Victor Borge. I went to see him at El Camino College; I got a front-row seat. He was as funny and impressive musically as ever. At one point, when he was downstage, I laughed at the wrong time. He looked me squarely in the eye and asked, in that unmistakable voice of his, “Vhat and vhere did you eat?” I was too excited over his attention to answer. ---
**Author:** ![drewc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@drewc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewc)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2014, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-biggest-celebrity-youve-been-within-20-feet-of/703186/215 "2014-11-16T22:06:32Z")
Billy Corgan. He came to some dinky dive bar in Chicago to watch the opening band for a friend’s band. Was sat by himself - in 1994 - at the bar nursing a drink and staring at the cocktail napkin. My bud and I - big Pumpkins fans at the time - talked his ear off for 45 minutes. Cool guy. Jerry Brown - '92 prez campaign appearance at my college. Bob Mould (Husker Du/Sugar). Several times. Awesome guy. Steve Albini (famous un-producer). Bernard Sumner and Steve Morris (Joy Division and New Order). Super nice guys. Warren Buffett, several times. Well, he does own my employer… Ryne Sandberg and Shawon Dunston, at a Cubs spring training game in the 80s. Keith Van Horne, of the 85 Bears Super Bowl team. His Super Bowl ring was huge! ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-biggest-celebrity-youve-been-within-20-feet-of/703186/216 "2014-11-17T00:52:10Z")
Alex Trebek, 24 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![bartleby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bartleby/32/10491_2.png) [@bartleby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bartleby)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2014, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-biggest-celebrity-youve-been-within-20-feet-of/703186/217 "2014-11-17T21:23:53Z")
Mine would have to be Murray Cook, AKA the Red Wiggle. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2014, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-biggest-celebrity-youve-been-within-20-feet-of/703186/218 "2014-11-22T04:49:27Z")
Hugh Hefner. I was at the Gene Siskel Film Center to see a movie in one theater, and a benefit screening of a biography for Hefner was going on in the other. I was coming out of the restroom, and a bodyguard stopped me so Hef and his entourage could walk past. Didn’t get a chance to talk to him, aside from the fact that I was standing in the doorway of the men’s room. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2014, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-biggest-celebrity-youve-been-within-20-feet-of/703186/219 "2014-11-22T05:02:05Z")
I just remembered I was invited as a student journalist to see a debate at Madison Square Garden between Michael Dukakis, Al Gore and Jesse Jackson. We were allowed to ask them questions afterwards! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-biggest-celebrity-youve-been-within-20-feet-of/703186.md?page=10)