Let’s see… probably the absolute most famous person would be Clint Eastwood. Years ago(2001, I believe), I worked for a helicopter manufacturer, and he was in our facility looking at buying a helicopter.
I literally ran into him as I was exiting the men’s room and he was entering. He is much taller than I’d thought- he’s definitely not exaggerating his listed 6’4" height.
The most famous person I’ve ever held a conversation with was Hakeem Olajuwon (on NBA 50 Greatest Players of all time list). It turned out that a friend of mine in high school was the son of Hakeem’s personal accountant/financial guy. So one summer afternoon, I was at my buddy’s house studying math (we were both in summer school that summer), and in pops Hakeem to say hi to my buddy. Buddy was like “oh, hey Hakeem. This is my buddy Bump” and got on me to get back to the studying. Hakeem introduced himself very courteously and let us get back to studying.
Once we were finished, we went into the other room and hung out with my buddy’s parents and Hakeem and just chatted for a while about school, summer stuff, etc… I was really pleasantly surprised to find out that he was just the most humble, down to earth and courteous guy you’d ever want to meet. Not what I’d have expected from a guy who’d led the league in blocked shots and rebounds the season before…
Saw a bunch of famous people at various Dragon*Con events. Hard to pick a “most famous,” but I’ll assume William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and Patrick Stewart are near the top of the list.
On the “actually spoke to” list we’ve got Edward James Olmos, Lance Henriksen, and Scott Bakula.
I’ve been in sit down meetings with four different Governors and have met two more.
I have seen two presidents in person.
I don’t tend to go where the movie stars go, so I don’t have any of them on my list.
I once ate dinner in the same restaurant as James Burke, but that only counts if you are a geek.
I shared an elevator with Edwin Meese once, not long after his stint as Attorney General - as a lowly intern, and a closet liberal Democrat interning at a conservative Republican think tank, I didn’t even try to talk to him.
I was an extra on an obscure movie, “Stateside”. I very briefly talked to Ed Bagley, Jr. in between a couple of takes. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy who went out of his way to make the extras feel like colleagues. Chatted a bit more with Johnathan Tucker (probably better known then than he is now - he was an up-and-comer that never quite made it as a big star), but he was more interested in the pretty young female extra I was standing with. (Other than that, I was far away from anyone in a speaking role. I was on the extreme edge of almost all of the scenes I was in - I think you can spot half of the back of my head for a couple of seconds in an airport scene…)
I’m friends with a sci-fi/fantasy author who’s well-known enough that she was recently featured in a Jeopardy! question.
If RPG designers count as famous, I’ve met several at conventions (Ken Hite and Robin Masters are probably the most famous of those), and played in convention games run by Clint Black, and Teller, of Pinnacle Entertainment (Savage Worlds RPG).
I met a nice lady in a doctor’s office at the Rusk Institute for Rehabilitative Medicine at NYU medical center and it wasn’t until Mel Brooks arrived to pick her up that I realized she was Anne Bancroft.
Edited to add: And I brought my son over to meet Yogi Berra at a signing event and got him to autograph my can of Yoo-hoo.
Bill Clinton seems to get around in more ways than one. I met him personally twice to do photo ops in 1992 at the request of the Secret Service. He has an uncanny ability to remember people, names and anything you talked about before. He was also unusually large back then in a scaled up kind of way.
I have met a ton of others as well. For example, me and Samuel L Jackson were the only two in the bathroom during a Blue Man Group show. He got there first and that is something you certainly don’t expect when you walk into the men’s room.
I’ve talked to Jay Leno on two occasions – the first while hanging around after a performance at a small comedy club, the second a few years later during an audience-participation segment of a show at a larger venue. He appeared to recognize me from the earlier encounter, and claimed “I never forget a face!”
I also stood at the next urinal as Ed Asner was using the restroom before taking the stage in Born Yesterday at the Cleveland Playhouse. I nodded, and he smiled in return, but no words were exchanged.
I once interacted at a Mets game with both Mookie Wilson (then the team’s first base coach) and David Wright. The first threw my son a ball, and the second gave him his game-worn wristband.
At George Brett’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony, I got Bud Black’s and Jamie Quirk’s autographs, alas, I couldn’t get closer than that to the big guy himself.
Akebono, Takanohana and other stars of Japanese sumo – at a tournament in Vancouver
Fred Astaire – doing a two-step to avoid my car in an alley
Ray Bradbury – in a book store
Wilt Chamberlain – emerging from a limo to attend a double feature of Point Blank and Kiss Me Deadly (we prayed he would not sit in front of us)
Roger Corman – at his studio; I nearly impaled him (and others) with a tripod
Roy Disney – in a screening room
Fabio – eating lunch alone in a restaurant
Richard Gere – on location for Breathless (1983)
Valeria Golina – in a deli
Alan Hale, Jr. – in a restaurant (how did he get off the island?)
Katharine Hepburn – At the home of some family friends
Jack Kirby – at conventions
Walter Koenig – incognito at conventions
Jennifer Jason Leigh – in a recording studio
William Marshall (“Blacula”) – at a special event
Fred MacMurray – on the street; he looked like Reagan
Mickey Mouse – at Disneyland; he had bad breath
Alan Napier (“Alfred” on Batman TV series) – buying X-mas cards
Gary Owens – in a recording studio
Robert Patrick – in a recording studio (he did not morph)
Cassandra Peterson (a.k.a. Elvira) – out of costume, sitting in a chair that was blocking the door I was coming through
Brian Setzer – waiting for pizza
Jewel Shepard – at a convention (with Dave Stevens)
David Soul – at an airport
Robert Stack - leaving work
Donald Sutherland – in an Italian deli
Robert Vaughn – in an office; he was mostly on the phone
Mae West - getting out of a limo in Beverly Hills
Gene Wilder – in a video store
Almost tripped over the very petite Jane Seymour at a department store circa 2004. She was walking a local news crew through the baby’s clothing department, showing off her own line of baby clothes. My wife and I were shopping in that section for our daughter. I saw a cameraman, but Ms. Seymour was invisible behind the racks. I apologized for my clumsiness. She was gracious and took a second to coo over our daughter. Didn’t miss a beat with her presentation otherwise.
The founder of the Wendy’s hamburger chain, Dave Thomas, once stopped into the restaurant at which I used to work. He came alone before the dinner rush, and took his meal at the bar. He conversed the entire time with the bartender and several of us waiters that had some free moments to hang around. Former heavyweight boxing champ Riddick Bowe also stopped in one time.
Saw a drunk and upset John Goodman stumble out of a limousine in downtown New Orleans the weekend before Mardi Gras in 1992. He and his crew were milling about a few feet from where me and some friends were waiting for a ride.
Didn’t even think to mention sightings and brief interactions at cons. Stan Lee, Jason Momoa, Lou Ferrigno, Henry Winkler. The principal cast and directors of Captain America: Civil War (New Orleanian Anthony Mackie [Falcon] got 'em all down here, I think). David Tennant and Jenna Coleman from recent Doctor Who seasons. Michael Rooker (Yondu from Guardians of the Galaxy and Mr. Svennig from Mallrats ). Ian Sommerholder from The Vampire Diaries (hails from nearby Covington, LA). Steven Amell from the TV series Arrow. Many more I am leaving out.
I can beat that… I’ve been in a hot tub with Pat (and her husband and my wife and some others). We had mutual friends.
Sat at the stage watching Jay Leno and he talked to me. I’ve seen David Letterman and he said good morning to my wife. She could have chatted more but didn’t think it was a good time. His mom lived in our neighborhood and he was there for her funeral.
I sold VHS tapes to John Mellencamp. Chatted briefly with Chip Foose. Almost bumped into Tracey Morgan as he was exiting a restroom and I was going in.
I met Johnnie Cash when I was young but didn’t know who he was. He was a neighbor of my great uncle.
I saw Pete Rose’s 4192nd hit, the one that broke Ty Cobb’s record.
If you are a mathematician I once had a 2 hour conversation with Alexandre Grothendieck.
I once had a conversation with future Canadian prime minister Kim Campbell. This was when she was married to a mathematician and it happened at a math meeting long before she got into politics.
I once had a long talk with future Canadian Governor General David Johnston. Real asshole.
For me it’s a toss up, depends on what crowd you run with. The first was thebpoliticisn Cecil Andrus, the second was the competitive weightlifter and Mr. Atlas Bill…crap, I obviously don’t run with that crowd, I have his autograph but cant recall his last name and can’t look it up right now…will report back
). Ian Sommerholder from The Vampire Diaries (hails from nearby Covington, LA). Steven Amell from the TV series Arrow. Many more I am leaving out.