Who is the biggest celebrity you've been within 20 feet of?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
161

I did set decorating for some large production companies so I was often on site for shoots. I would see stars all the time. I also worked with many interior designers that used my shop when decorating stars homes so I had some exposure there.

My personnal life I had a few encounters. I danced with Julia Childs in a local neighborhood nightclub.

I often sat with Jack Klugman at the horse races and he knew me by my first name.

I became friends with several proffessional athletes through decorating their homes.

I put a fan belt on Anthony Quinns car as a kid when I worked in a gas station.

I had a short chat with John Goodman at a local bakery next to where he was filming a movie, while we waited for our number to be called.

Richard Geere picked up a date at my house one evening and came in for a few minutes.

I got cussed out by Sherry Bellafonte because of a very stupid mistake on my part.

162

I met Johnny Shines at a club in Knoxville, TN. He was touring with a guy named Kent Duchaine. We didn’t talk much about music, and he seemed a little bugged by some guys who tried to act like they were blues scholars. He’d had a stroke, so he couldn’t play much. His voice was still incredible, though. It would have been around 1990, around the time I saw Homesick James in Nashville.

163

Roger Federer
Rafael Nadal
Serena Williams
Maria Sharapova

We’re season ticket holders at Cincinnati’s 1000 event. Tennis players walk through the crowd to get to their courts, and we’ve had front row seats for matches featuring the most famous players in the world.

We were in a restaurant in Sedona when Ted Danson stopped by to say hi to some friends a few tables away.

And while I’ve never met George, I’ve met his dad, Nick Clooney.:o

I live in **John Boehner’**s neighborhood, and he and his SSAs jog by every now and then when he’s home.

164

Apparently we (my family) were waved at by the Queen, after she’d attended The Derby horse race in Epsom - she was in her car, driving by, and we waved back.

I had a chat with Muhammed Ali in the mid 80s, for about half an hour. Very nice man.

I met John Turturro in the 80s, an absolute gem of a guy. I’ve also met Christopher Lambert, Julia Walters, and Andrew Sachs.

165

I grew up in Hollywood, my dad took me to hang at Schwab’s all the time when I was a little girl. My mom’s best friend was Sammy Davis, Jr’s stepmother, Rita (Pee Wee) Davis, and I knew his father as Daddy Sam… he took me with his kids to Disneyland when I was 10 (1968) and we ate in the secret dining room over Pirates, which was brand new then. I was on the set of Sweet Charity and the Joey Bishop show, I slept at his house and sat is his lap while he drove his Dusenberg around Beverly Hills. There is a photo in Google Books, a digitized copy of Jet magazine, of me and my sister attending the funeral of Sammy’s grandmother, we are just a few steps away from him, couple of little white girls. (I forget now who found it, but someone here on the Dope led me to it some time back, I was so jazzed…)

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 worked in an entertainment business management firm for several years in the 80’s, we took care of **Elton John’**s tour stuff and Bernie Taupin personally… I got to tell Bernie how much I loved The Greatest Discovery. He was bashful about it. I was the personal account manager for Elton’s guitarist Davey Johnstone and his then-wife Rosa treated me to a full spa, makeup, hair day for an Elton concert with her. Limo, backstage, at one point only the two of us and Elton in his dressing room which was WAY weird. Sting was there, and he smelled great. **Roy Orbison **was, too, along with a jillion others I don’t remember.

We went to Elton’s private party at Le Dome after, and we arrived in a limo. The paparazzi were waiting when the car door opened, for just a second I got to experience what it’s like to be “shot” a thousand times at once. But they realized we were nobodies pretty quickly.

My clients included a number of mid-level stars, including** Bruce Jenner. ** (Everything you think about him is 100% true.)

I got off a bus to run up to Groucho Marx when I was 16 and he was shuffling down Wilshire Blvd with either his wife or his daughter… she pointed me out, he turned to me and said: “Do you always stop old men on the street?”

Sam Kinison hugged and kissed me and was super sweet when I met him while I was working in the delivery department of Le Petit Four, a Sunset Strip restaurant, where I saw boatloads of others. Including Dennis Quaid many times, who would come in and pick up food for for him and** Meg Ryan,** and who ALWAYS had such powerful BO it would nearly knock me off my feet.

My most recent celebrity encounter is among my all-time favorites: **Sidney Poitier (!!)**and I were hanging out at La Brea Bakery waiting to be served, discussing how fantastic the bread was.

166

[quote=“Siam_Sam, post:28, topic:703186”]

Almost certainly George HW Bush. He was in Bangkok in the mid-1990s for one reason or another, and I am as sure as I can be that he was in the ambassador’s car that drove past my wife and me at Siam Square. I could just make out someone’s arm pressed against the darkened rear window, but no telling if it was Bush or the ambassador or someone else back there./QUOTE]

Me too, although in College Station, not in Bangkok. I was in the first vehicle at a stoplight when his motorcade drove through in front of me, not 6 feet from my bumper. He’d been in town in the late spring of some year in the early 1990s, and I had packed up all my crap and was heading home for the summer, and got held up by his motorcade; I remember being kind of annoyed that I was having to wait through the green light because of the entire motorcade.

I actually met Hakeem Olajuwon during his playing days in a totally non-basketball related way. I was taking a summer school math class in high school (summer of 1990 as it turns out), and I’d gone over to a buddy’s house to study for a test, and it turned out that my friend’s father was Hakeem’s personal accountant and finance person.

So there we are, studying Algebra II at my buddy’s kitchen table, and this incredibly tall guy pokes his head down under the door frame and steps in and says “Hi <my buddy’s name>. How’s it going?” I look up and damned if it wasn’t Hakeem Olajuwon standing there. Buddy says “Oh, hey Hakeem.”, while I just sort of stared. Then later when we were done, we went into the family room where Hakeem is sitting there shooting the shit with my buddy’s parents, and buddy says “Hey Hakeem- this is Bump. He’s in my algebra class.” And Hakeem stands up and says “Hi Bump, it’s very nice to meet you.” and shakes my hand. All 5 of us proceeded to have a great conversation for the next hour or so- Hakeem was (and I assume is) a real class act- very humble and down to earth, and surprisingly gentle in mannerisms and speech. Not at all what I’d have imagined one of the top centers to ever play in the NBA would be like.

167

Oh, and I peed on Fidel Castro. Granted, I was only a few months old, but my father has always swelled with pride over that.

168

I’ve traveled much over the years and had a number of celebrity/world figure interactions, so I’ll spare you a meaning less list. I’ll just go for quality!

[ul]
[li]Jimmy Carter - talked to him for about 10 minutes before boarding a plane. he was out of office for probably 12 years or so at that point. Later at our destination, we wound up walking through the concourse near each other, and he remembered my name, and called out to me, wishing me the best in my travels.[/li][li]Suzanna Hoffs - okay, I know she isn’t an A-lister for some people, but this was at her height of popularity with the Bangles. AND I got a on-the-mouth passionate kiss! I was working as a student worker at the arena on campus where we hosted sporting events and concerts, and after the show, I was helping carry some of the band’s personal stuff out to their tour bus. I was carrying her bag, and she was, ahh, very appreciative. Okay, maybe a little buzzed too. Nonetheless it was HOT.[/li][/ul]

169

I have shopped with Allison Janney, Jon Polito, Wayne Knight and Erik Estrada.

James Doohan yelled at me to get out of a handicapped parking space. John Savage asked me for directions. I had a chat with Robert Blake. I shook hands with Penn & Teller.

That’s all I got.

170

Lady Bird Johnson (who I met, briefly, and got photographed with) and Vanessa Redgrave (during a stage performance, but I was definitely within twenty feet of her, so I guess it counts).

171

By chance, Geraldo Rivera. He happened to be visiting an aquarium at the same time we were.

On purpose, author, Jonathan Harr. What an f’ing whiner. All he did was read from his journal about how hard it was to write A Civil Action.

172

Two I’d forgotten:

A short conversation with Warren Spahn, when he was on some kind of Christian athlete engagement.

A longer conversation with Ilya Prigogine, Nobel Prize for Chemistry winner. At one point I asked if I could bring him a copy of his book to autograph, and he produced one from a drawer and signed it on the spot. A genuinely nice man.

173

Wait, dead bodies count? I did go to Stevie Ray Vaughan’s funeral. Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt and Stevie Wonder were there, but at a fair distance.
Oh, and back to live people…I had a weird conversation with Jamie Dimon about quitting smoking. At this point I’d say he’s more infamous than famous.

174

Johnny Shines lived here in Tuscaloosa, AL. I saw him perform in a small bar a few times. Kent Duchaine used to play there regularly in the early 90’s but I haven’t seen him in years.
That reminds me, in addition to the list I posted earlier, I shot interviews with blues musicians R.L. Burnside and Jessie Mae Hemphill.

175

Famous for, like, serious grown-up things? John McCain, then a Senator, spoke at my college commencement. We shook hands. I was surprised several years later when I saw him on the news running for POTUS. Politically, I am not a fan, but the man who spoke at my graduation ceremony seemed cogent and reasonably witty. A few years later, not so much.

Famous for, like, well-known TV things? I’ve been manhandled by Misha Collins. A friend and I went to a convention in Las Vegas, and decided to go for a photo op. She’s very shy and wanted me to do all the talking, so when we got to the front of the line, I stepped up and introduced her, and then introduced me and told them I was afraid of nothing. “Nothing?” says Misha. “Nothing,” I answer. I was promptly grabbed by the braid and spun around. We got a picture where my friend and Jensen Ackles were on one side, looking like totally normal humans posing for a photo, and on the other I’m being tipped backwards, held hostage by my hair, while Jared Padalecki pretended to eat my face. It’s on tumblr somewhere.

Famous for, like, intellectual things? I had a nice conversation with David Brin once at an academic conference. I had no idea who he was at the time. He was involved somehow in my instructor’s pet project, I think.

Famous in other countries? The same friend from above had been on several previous trips to Las Vegas with me, mainly to see foreign bands play in small venues at reasonable prices. The Hard Rock Casino has a “club” called Wasted Space, about the size of two postage stamps and a bar, in which we saw a Japanese band called VAMPS. It’s a side project of a guy named Hyde, otherwise known as vocalist for a band called L~Arc~en~Ciel, who hold the record for selling out the 50k seat Tokyo Dome arena – under five minutes – for one of their anniversary concerts. I managed to shove my way to the front of the crowd. Hyde is very fond of standing right on the edge of the apron and letting the fangirls paw away with impunity. :smiley:

Famous for, like, internet geek things? I just recently discovered that I know Mookie, of webcomic fame. I’ve known him for months, in fact, but I met him in a group of local performers who took months to remember to go from his stage name to “Michael”, much less tell me what his last name was. The last time I saw him in person, he was shirtless and covered in fake blood, and his very pregnant wife was standing behind him in her underwear, looming and carrying a chalice. (It made sense in context. Hilarious sense.) I had no idea until I saw one of them tag him on Facebook by his real name, and noticed he was putting out the second Dominic Deegan omnibus.

ETA: Oh, and a few months ago I was within about a foot of Johnny Weir. The Jimmy Fund people put on a charity showcase every year, and a surprising number of high-ranking figure skaters were willing to donate their time this year. Kimmie Meisner was there as well, but Weir made it a point to skate wide around the edge of the arena and make eye contact with people. I bought a front row seat for something like $30. He’s tiny in person, but you don’t notice until he’s standing next to a young lady you happen to know is five-foot nothing – he has enough personality for three or four people, even before the attention-grabbing outfits.

176

I was walking near Harvard once and got passed by a limo with tinted windows. Heard on the news that night that Nelson Mandela was there that day (getting an honorary doctorate, I think). I don’t know for sure that he was in the car, but I like to think so.

177

Oh, also shook hands with President Clinton at a campaign stop during his reelection campaign, and was at a small party and played Cards Against Humanity with Randall Munroe (of xkcd) but I didn’t know it was him until afterwards.

178

Probably Dave Chappelle. I knew him when he was starting out and living in DC. I’ve given him rides in my car before.

Coach Joe Gibbs of the Washington NFL team and Dan Akroyd with his wife Donna Dixon also came into the restaraunt I worked at and I might have gotten within 20 feet. Dan Akroyd was super nice and came back and took some pictures with people in the kitchen.

179

What was he like? One of my childhood heroes…scratch that, one of my heroes period.

Personally I’ve been within twenty feet of both Angela Merkel and David Cameron, same event but not at the same time.

And I stood beside and studiously ignored Eddie Jordan (F1 team manager) for a couple of minutes back in the early 90’s.

Edited to add that Merkel and Cameron were with their immediate bodyguards and thats it.

180

I was talking to a guy who worked at a resort in West Virginia, one of his jobs was taking people out four wheeling in the mud. He had these two elderly clients from Ohio and he said he really made a point of telling them not to be afraid, no ones getting hurt, etc. At the end of the day one of the guys told the guide that his companion was Neil Armstrong and that he doubts that he was scared.