Who Is The Most Famous Person You Ever Met?

By "met," I mean even in the most casual way.

I haven't met a lot of famous people. I chatted with Ken Kesey once. I was supposed to meet Tim Leary for an early morning drink, but slept through the "appointment."

I guess the most famous person I ever met was the guy in my avatar, Paul "Bear" Bryant.

I wasn't much more than a tyke at the time. It was at the tiny airport in Tuscaloosa. I was there with my aunt and uncle, and three girl cousins. I don't even remember why we were at the airport.

My youngest cousin and I were walking around the place, and we spotted the coach with his wife. We approached.

Now, I was only six or seven years old at the time, and I remember just staring at the man for what seemed like minutes, with mouth fully agape. I finally mustered up the will to say "Hey, Bear Bryant, can I please have an autograph?"

The coach didn't readily approve my apparent insubordination.

"My name is PAUL Bryant," the coach intoned in that famous gravelly drawl.

Me and my cousin were genuinely frightened of this man.

Until his lovely wife, Mary Harmon, nudged him in the belly with her elbow and said "Be nice to the children, Paul."

Then just like a switch was flipped, the coach became just as nice as I've seen anyone be. "Sure sonny, I'd be glad to give you an autograph."

I think he even said something about me playing for him one day. That never happened. I played a little football in junior-high school, but gave it up when it became apparent that I just flat out sucked.

Anyone, that's my trip down memory lane. I must say that Mary Harmon Bryant was a true lady. I hear she would even let Joe Willie hide out in the Bryants' basement when he was in the coach's doghouse. ;)

And I don't blame the coach for being grumpy. If I recall correctly, he was just returning from a bowl game, where Notre Dame had beaten Alabama for the national championship.

I had to google him. :hi:

All I know is he could knock the red off of a baseball. Jah-HEE-bus, the Giants had some serious power in those days.

One of the newspapers I used to write for is in Monterey, Calif., where the Pony League World Series is held. One year — must've been '95 — Cepeda was there, so they sent me to do a story on his involvement with Pony League Baseball. I'd read in Willie Mays' autobiography that he got the nick "Baby Bull" when he ran through Herman Franks' stop sign at third base one day and scored. I mentioned that to him, and he seemed to enjoy remembering. :)

I passed up a prime chance to meet my baseball idol, Sandy Koufax, but I've told the shit out of that story.

He was older than me by a couple of years.

We spent the night at his house once (he lived in a barn) it was a surprisingly normal evening.

I don't really remember what I talked to Kesey about -- it was probably about the politics of the day. That was when Bush Sr. was president, I think.

I remember that during the Q/A period at the talk that I saw him at, questioners were thrown a football that had a wireless mic embedded in it. Kesey was going through a period where he was fascinated with that sort of technology. Well, I guess he always was. I'd love to take a look at all that footage he amassed on Further.

This kind of reminds me of a fellow Alabama poster that says he "slept" with Sarah Silverman, because she spent the night with his daughter, when he used to live up in New Hampshire or Delaware, or wherever Sarah Silverman is from.

I lived most of my life in Pleasant Hill. They went to school together. Look at my profile. You will see that I live in Eugene.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Kesey#Final_years

I don't understand.

It was in NH.
She came to at least one sleep-over at our house that I remember.
During our recent family trip to San Diego, our daughter, her husband, and kids drove up to LA and spent a Sunday with her.

When she's not 'on', she's very sweet.
Grandson Jack (5) thought she was 'cool'.

It just popped into my head. I thought what you had said before was so funny.

I had a feeling that SS would be a sweet person. I know that a lot of people find her humor to be racist, but I've always seen her as mocking racism and assorted other "isms."

Plus, she's easy on the eyes. Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge. ;)

Or I like what I remember of her.
I haven't actually seen her since the high school years.
She and my daughter were 'taxi-dancers' in "Sweet Charity" in high school.

They've kept in touch, ever since.

At the time I was impressed with her stage presence.
It was like she was born to perform.

It's interesting the paths their lives have taken.
My daughter is a stay-at-home mom with a 5 year old and a 5 month old.
Sarah went on the fame and fortune.
My daughter wouldn't trade with her for anything.

Sarah's brand of humor is a bit over-the-top for me, but hey...different strokes.
;-)

types. Bonnie, Johnny Cash, John Cowan, Jerry Jeff Walker, Waylon Jennings, Emmy Lou, Sam Bush, Willie, the list goes on. I attended the Telluride Bluegrass Festival for 18 years in a row. Met many awesome musicians along the way.

I would like to hear about some conversations you've had!

What you did was dress up in "Dress Whites" (no matter the season: We were HOSPITAL CORPSMEN), and walk a VIP around.

What Rep. O'Neil did was get me to talk about ME. I didn't DARE ask him about anything political, other than telling him that I always supported the Democratic Party.

I also escorted John Jenrette of ABSCAM fame on his exit from congress physical at the Navy Hospital. He didn't talk a lot, and muttered "Stupid. Stupid." a lot. When I knew I was going to escort him around, I looked him up in periodicals at the base library. His wife Rita was and is a genius FABULOUSLY GORGEOUS. I remember thinking that if I were an influential and secure member of congress with an intelligent and beautiful wife, I would have turned in the ABSCAM people the moment they called me. In his own words, "Stupid. Stupid." A very depressed guy.

:)

One month before he died.

A.J. (Jay) Cooper.
He was an L.A. campaign organizer.
An Alabama native, he recently returned here and ran for state senator a couple of months ago. I worked on his campaign, but he was trounced in this overwhelmingly repug district.
:-(

At the airport. He's even shorter than you would think, but he look exactly like you would expect. Kinda greasy, smelled funny, wearing a Hawaiian shirt, cut off shorts, old tennis shoes, and tube socks with the red stripes on them.

He gave a speech in Birmingham during the '75-'76 campaign.
I chatted with him for several minutes after.

Back in '80 when she was stumping for Warner.

I used to work with one of her sons.

But I've met a lot of jazz and blues artists including Wynton and Bradford Marsalis, Keb' Mo', Pops and Mavis Staples, Bo Diddley, Robert Cray, Taj Mahal, Irma Thomas, Buddy Guy, Mercer Ellington, Los Lobos, oh, geeze my mind is going blank right now...but a lot.

I've met Billy Dee Williams, Judy Collins, Jeff Daniels, and Salman Rushdie too. And almost every NPR personality if people consider them celebrities. Bo Schembechler, Magic Johnson.

And, in October, Mo Rocca announced on the air that he loves me....:loveya:

Jack Parker.

Both were celebrities at a local charitable golf tournament when I was young.

famous people, but I suppose the most recognizable name would be Salman Rushdie.

...though I was only five at the time. We lived in Westport, Connecticut for a couple of years (65-67 due to Shell moving their HQ temporarily to NYC) and I became best friends with his daughter Melissa since we were the same age and in school together.

I had no idea who he was other than being her father. She took me over to their home (I don't remember how close they lived or how we got there now) and he was just getting out of the shower. All he had on was a towel ;) but he was very nice and all we really did was say hello to each other. Melissa and I went off together elsewhere after without much more of an interchange with him. It would be cool to get in touch with her again, but it's not that important.

When we moved back to Houston, we had a house built in Nassau Bay, a little incorporated town directly across the street from NASA-JSC. Just in the general area our street was in were about four Apollo astronauts and there families. I grew up with their children, going to school with them, being in Boy Scouts together and so on. So, the Schweickarts lived down the street and around a corner, same for the Irwins, didn't know the Beans much at all and the same for the Aldrins on the cul de sac behind us. I knew Richard Garriot and his father Owen Garriot later in high school (my mother still makes newspaper clippings of his doings from time to time as if we were best friends and we weren't! :D I just used to play D&D at their house with other mutual friends.)

So I guess though I did more than meet people that had walked on the Moon or shook hands with Russian cosmonauts, there were just neighbors to us if only ones that had done some extraordinary things in their lives for a brief moment :D

Wow!!!!!!!!! Seriously, though, I am in love with the guy (OK-admire immensely) and I adore his politics. He seems as though he's a true standup guy.

Also, welcome to DU!:hi: It's good to have you here.

I think I've been a professional lurker for too long ;)

Paul Newman would be cool to meet again, though it would be interesting to know if Melissa still remembers me ;)

So, does this thread kill the "six degrees of X" theory? :D

the Queen...before and after a performance we gave at the Sadlers Wells theater in London (around 1991.) That was pretty cool!

:)

Met Jimmy Johnson, former coach of the Cowboys. Also went to school with Lee Harvey Oswald's daughter, met the man who was handcuffed to Oswald when he was shot (granddad of one of my students), and the undertaker of Rose Hill cemetery who buried Oswald (great granddad of another of my students).

I've met alot having worked in either radio or the motion picture industry for 25 years. One thing I've learned... they're all just people..no better or worse than anyone else. :)

He used to get invited to a bunch of parties and stuff, and of course we thought that was the coolest thing ever. :D

I went to a reading/lecture by Ken in Portland in the spring of 1982, and I walked right past him before the reading, but I was "starstruck" and just smiled, I didn't say a word to him. 15 years later I became friends with a guy who, by coincidence, owns and lives on the farm adjacent to Ken Kesey's farm in Springfield, Oregon. He knew Ken well, and he handed Ken a "fan letter" that I wrote to him in 2001. He relayed to me that Ken was happy to read it. Ken used to have a large bonfire party on his farm every July. I was invited to go to the next one in July 2002, and I was planning to go, but then Ken died unexpectedly in Sept. 2001. So I never got to meet him for real, but at least I got that letter to him, which said what I would have said in person.

What a great adventure...

My grandparents lived in Chevy Chase, Maryland and were members of the National Geographic Society. They attended the monthly luncheons at the NGS headquarters in Washington DC. These always had a "guest of honor" or speaker who was famour or noted for something. One time, my grandfather was sick, so my grandmother took my Dad to it instead. I think he as about 14 and I think the year was 1933. The guest speaker/honoree was Amelia Earhart. After the event was over, my Dad and his mother were walking through the hallways and came upon Eleanor Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart having a conversation. My grandmother introduced herself and my Dad to them and they had a conversation for about 5 minutes. He told this story many times in his life.

That's like running into Tracy and Hepburn, Frank and Eleanor or Liz and Phil.

That's a double Big Time.

quite a few famous people, as they were involved in many organizations, but sadly I never got to talk to them about it, as we lived in California and I only saw them twice in my life in person. I do know that they once had Gloria Steinem over to dinner at their house. And I have a framed invitation to a White House dinner that they went to during the Taft administration. I wish I had been able to talk to them all about this stuff, but I was just 17 and 19 when they passed on.
Also, my Dad used to tell the story of when he was in high school (approx. 1936) and they had a scavenger hunt, and one item on the list was a piece of White House stationery. They drove right past the gates of the White House and up to the front door and rang the bell. A butler answered, and gave them the piece of stationery. The drove on, but a little while later drove past the White House again and noticed that the gates were closed. So they won the scavenger hunt, because they were the only team that got the stationery.

but seeing ER and AE a deux, is very cool.

I met Henny at a Holiday in in Indiana when I was 8. He asked me what I was having for lunch etc. I was scared because he was a stranger and you don't talk to them right? I look over and my parents are both smiling I said "I am having a hot dog" that was it.

I met Bill Graham at a Jerry Garcia show as he was taking a joint from he mouth of the kid next to me and stopping on it. I was shocked and said "Hey Bill" He said, "how you doin" and walked away.

Willie Nelson
Dennis Kucinich
Emmy Lou Harris
A bunch of other musicians, I can't remember who.

And he gave a talk to the students there

My grandfather also met Prime Minister Nehru, India's first Prime Minister and one of Gandhi's fellow leaders in the Indian independence movement. And my grandpa didn't even live in India! My grandfather knew Sir Robert Menzies, Australia's longest serving Prime Minister

Me? The most famous person I've met is Kevin Rudd. He was just elected Prime Minister of Australia, ending eleven years of right wing rule

The coolest for me would be Maynard Ferguson or Tommy Emmanuel, but they probably don't qualify as most famous.

Probably Howard Dean and Michael Caine.

Also Martin Landau and Bill Maher, all at the Playboy Mansion. I'm thinking they're all equally famous, depending on your era.

But Mrs. Kay has me beat...she met Rosalynn Carter (who was as genteel as you might imagine).

shook his hand on the South Lawn of the White House.

Myself, and a few thousand others, were there to observe the 4th of July fireworks in 2000. The most memorable 4th I'll probably ever have. Picnic set-up, with free drinks and ice cream.

The view is: the White House behind us, and in front, the Washington Monument, where the fireworks are set off on the Mall. Big sound system piping in the patriotic singing of Ray Charles from the other end of the Mall by the Capitol. Very moving, actually.

I've met lots of other famous people, though most were from showbiz days in Los Angeles.

met, and done shows with,many of my blues heroes (famous to some people I guess) including Willie Dixon, Jr. Wells and Albert Collins. Also played at least a dozen times with Bobby Keys (Stones sax player)... Played with Bo Diddley once too. Have met Bonnie Raitt, Del Shannon, Dixie Chicks (got to actually hang out with Bonnie, and the Chicks; both really nice, unpretentious people). Non musicians include Ernie Banks, Al Unser Jr, Bill Richardson.....Also had to laugh re: a post above about orange sunshine . Was handed my first-ever acid(and sure enough, it was orange sunshine) by someone who later became fairly famous, but don't feel like I have the right to name that person without their permission...( which I strongly suspect I wouldn't get).

Trey Anastasio, Bill Graham, Bob Weir.

Once I actually tripped with Leary, Wavy, Weir, Kesey and assorted other pranksters. in 95 at The Hog Farm PigNic. On the bus.

probably fairly similar.

but most famous? that's gotta be either Elizabeth Rex (II) or the Big Dog.

and The Hoff. More people probably know David than the rest combined. Off the top of my head.

Oh yeah, the Great George Clinton. Lacey from Cagney and Lacey.

and Bob Moog :D
Remember the big Moog Keith Emerson used? I'd love to see Kraftwerk sometime, too.

I interviewed Caspar Brotzmann once (I know most won't know who he is, other than maybe "German rock guitarist"...the music's kind of 'dark', too.)

Didn't meet him, but stood near Ray Charles when I did a roadie gig for a show he played in Beaumont, Texas.

And I'm related to Charlie Shoemake, jazz vibraphonist :)

so that would indeed be cool.

His facial expressions in the Kraftwerk videos are interesting...

Was on a ski lift with him for several minutes before I realized who he was....

Ali.

some blues greats:

Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee
James Cotton


an author or two:

George Plimpton


and I sat at Hunter S. Thompson's favorite table in the Woody Creek Tavern.

he touched my shoulder and jokingly asked where we were all having lunch. I joked back that I'd take him anywhere.

The latter two were WONDERFUL.:D

I called Alva skates to ask a question about a deck on their website and T.A. happend to answer the phone. He was cool and down-to-earth. Asked where I was from and if I had skated certain skate-parks that used to exist in Alabama.

or Billy Idol. Who's more famous?

that's all.

riding his waverunner several years ago. Cool, quiet kinda guy in real life.

I've spoken to him on several occasions. My wife is a native Arkansan, and volunteered on Clinton's gubernatorial races as a kid, so the credit really belongs to her.

I've also met one of my favorite musicians (Steve Earle), a couple of NBA Hall of Famers (Bill Bradley and Tommy Heinson), a Super Bowl winning defensive monster (Richard Seymour) and a Cy Young Award winner (Chris Carpenter).

My wife has met a bunch of the actors who play minor characters on "Lost" (Yemi, Rose, Bernard, etc)

in the 70's and 80's and got the chance to interview Governor Clinton several times. It was always a pleasure. Never tried to evade questions and always made for a great interview.

I'm not sure anyone would recognize his name: Dougie MacLean, an awesome Scottish songwriter and singer. He also wrote Ready for the Storm and recorded that with Kathy Mattea. Had a pint with him and his wife and band after they played at the Aladdin.

I've sort of met authors at book signings, but that's not like sharing a pitcher. :beer:

I met Schumer while he was campaigning for Senator in Rochester, NY. Ramadorai is the CEO of TCS. I met him when he made a surprise visit to our performance engineering lab in Minneapolis. He's a pretty down-to-earth guy for a bigshot CEO.

Bishop Tutu, an American human rights program officer, and I drove from Johannesburg to the Delmas treason trial to attend the proceedings.

Afterwards, we went into the holding cell and met the defendants, one of whom is now Minister of Defense of South Africa.

I also spent an hour or so with the current president of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, along with that same officer, but Mbeki was an ANC bureaucrat in Lusaka at the time, not a president.

or John Turturro

Who's more famous?

famous Derrida more John ? Jacques Who's or Turturro

I'm guessing you had a very bad teacher for either Philosophy 100 or Introduction to Literary Theory. Quelle dommage.

The more interesting response would be to deconstruct the famous/obscure opposition.

:-)

It was at a college lecture. I was in my senior year of high school and my parents came and checked me out for the day so I could meet my older brother on campus to go. Ellison read "The Paladin of the Lost Hour" and submitted to a Q & A session afterward--he had some great stories, including a hilarious one about a prank he and another writer played on William Shatner on the set of Star Trek.

After that, we were standing in line to get some books autographed and our friend, James, who wore an eye patch (he was born without his right eye) was getting his book signed and Ellison said, "Wow, cool eye patch! I'll bet you get laid a lot with that, huh?" James just blushed and laughed nervously and said, "Well, um, you know..." while the rest of us chuckled along with Ellison because the truth was, he did.

That was actually three words, but the point is the same: Harlan Ellison has affected our society, albeit inadvertently, more than most people can ever dream of doing.

Dane Cook, Allison Mack (Chloe on smallville), Jonathan Frakes, LaVar Burton, Michael Dorn, George Takei, The entire living cast of Lost in Space, the entire living cast of Dark Shadows, Alex Ross, Jay from Project Runway, wrestlers Virgil and Nikolai Volkoff, Lou Ferrigno, Connor Trineer, Nicole Bass, Eddie Haskel from Leave it to Beaver, Tom Guiry, Avery Brooks, Walter Keonig, the guy who played Chewbacca, MANOWAR, Iced Earth, Rhapsody of Fire, George Tenet, Lenny Dykstra, Mookie Wilson, Mike Vallely, Lynn Swann, Jim Florio, Jon Corzine, there are others I'm not thinking of right now.

My boss has spoken on the phone with Shrub twice in my presence- if I want to be fired I guess I could grab the phone and say "Hey, fuck you!" He once visited my work place about 6 months before I worked there and i know he'll probably visit again before he's out. We're expecting the repub candidate for the next election to speak here. That'll be fun.

edited to add:
My Modern European History teacher in college met Hitler when he was a kid. That's some shit right there.

When he was Governor of Vermont. And Ron Howard once at a flea market - he stopped by my table.

There's more but I can't remember...

This was a year after his glaucoma. Kirby LOVED to barbecue. We never even talked baseball the entire time.

There was not a finer baseball player to have ever played the game. :sigh:

He's a really down to earth guy-
also, I didn't realize that he was short- when I was talking to him, I felt myself bending my knees so I wasn't taller than him.
It just didn't feel right being bigger than this guy:

:7

Naw, just kidding.

I also met Johnny Bench, Pete Rose and Janine Turner.

Early 90s in Miami. I was introduced to her casually in an office where we were working on some local campaign in Miami. I acted all cool, but when I got home that evening I realized what had happened and freaked out completely.

:hi:

She is tiny! Very sweet lady.

most of the cast of The West Wing, Matthew Perry, Noah Wylie, Aaron Sorkin, uhhh...there are many more, I'm just spacing them at the moment.

but I sang at Disney's Candlelight Processional, and they use celebrity narrators to go fill in the gaps between songs. I was there when David Ogden-Stiers and Levar Burton narrated. There were a few other famous people that narrated, but those are the only two famous enough for me to remember. :)

I also got to sing with Shania Twain, although I never actually got to meet her either. We were just standing about 20 feet behind her on stage.

Didn't talk to him or anything, but we were in the same room. :shrug:

I saw Queen Elizabeth II this past spring when she came to speak at my college - sure, it was from a distance and there were lots of other people there, but it still counts, right? ;)

But probably my closest encounter to anyone famous was with the Statler Brothers when I was growing up. (I don't know if anyone here's heard of them - they started out as backup singers for Johnny Cash back in the '60s, and their song "Flowers On The Wall" is on the Pulp Fiction soundtrack.) Anyway, I grew up in Staunton, and went to pre-school with Jimmy Fortune's daughter, and later attended Governor's School with Harold Reid's grandson/Don Reid's grandnephew. The Statler Brothers themselves are some of the nicest guys you'll ever meet - always very friendly when you would see them around town, never stuck-up or anything, and they used to do a free Fourth of July concert every year in Staunton. :) :hi:

:rofl:
My family members have to say the same thing to me with small children.

haven't seen you around lately! :hi:

also..lots of movie and TV stars outside the Stage Doors of Broadway

Before Gailard Sartain and Gary Busey went to Hollywood, they had a TV show on KOTV, a Tulsa station, called The Uncanny Film Festival & Camp Meeting, starring the incredible Dr. Mazeppa Pompazoidi We also hung out at Leon Russell's home and recording studio. From that connection I met Joe Cocker, Jerry Jeff Walker, Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter, Willie Nelson, Jessie Colin Young, Johnny and June Cash.

My honey used to live in Tulsa and watch that!! We ordered the tapes from Gailard Sartain's website.

Those skits are wild!!

A character named Sherman Oaks said "Enroll at the School for the Dead. Science has proven that humans can matriculate after death. Read our underground newspaper....etc."

:rofl: :rofl:

Baseball player and coke freak. He blew his heart up a few years back while high on coke trying to free his car that was stuck in the mud.
Wavy Gravy in 1976 at the protest in Kansas City.

He lived at my father's house, when I moved in with him I got Darrel's old room, I found a vial full of blow and a spoon in the closet.

Had a 7-Up in his kitchen, believe it or not. When he was the football coach @ Indiana University.

Hell, I introduced him from the stage! He was not singing but giving a speech about his other topic of interest.

I mean special education, dammit! Get your minds out of the gutter, people! :-)

Actually, I have never met Salinger :)
However, look for Ron Rosenbaum's "The Catcher In The Driveway" for a touching and hilarious account of Rosenbaum's attempt to make contact with Salinger.

I've net a lot of famous people, but he's probably the most widely known. I made him an espresso.

As a bartender or waitress I have served:

Keanu Reeves
Chris Farley
Brooke Shields
Sade
Kim Deal
Iggy Pop
David Byrne
Lou Reed
Kristin Hersh
Diamanda Galas

I have also met Dennis Kucinich, Bill Bradley, Al Gore, Ted Danson, Paul Sorvino, Bebe Nuewirth, Robin Byrd, Whoopi Goldberg, Kim Catrall, and many, many more.

Mario Cuomo, Neil Stephenson, William Messner Loebs.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head, but I know there are others.

Most of these were casual one-offs at book signings or other affairs.

Who was also named John Lithgow.

He was a fellow volunteer at the Florida JJ Dinner.

It was sort of...random.

Dale Bozzio
Steve Vai
Todd Rundgren
Meat Loaf
Joe Jackson
Barenaked Ladies
Eric Idle
Eric Bazilian (composer of "One Of Us")

and lots and lots and lots of other musicians. I ran a record store for a decade and got lots of backstage passes. :)

PS. All the junkies were assholes - it was like a universal rule.

I've actually met her twice.

Very cool woman, down to earth. Also, very, very tall.

We talked about Florida's natural springs.

I've also met Randi Rhodes, Jane Goodall, Bill Moyers, Howard Dean, Joe Biden, Bill Nelson, Bob Graham, Evan Bayh, Steny Hoyer, and just about half of Florida's Democratic delegation.

I met Carl Hiaasen and helped contribute some material to one of his columns.

I shook John Edwards hand when he was the VP nom, but I don't know if that qualifies as "meeting" him. I once saw Pete Rose casually walking around my local sports authority but didn't have the guts to say hello.

And Tom Clancy went to my church. He kept to himself, but I actually knew his son, who was surprisingly a very nice kid.

I'm not sure she was famous, but she did like it when I called her a marginal celebrity.

so, tons of clients are famous. I'm a member of the CA Dem Central Committee , so quite a few pols and media dweebs.

I've even met NSMA and BeHereNow, sitting in my lap, (not at the same time) which is quite possibly the highlight of my existence. :evilgrin:

At the South Dakota State Fair. In 2001 or 2002. I think 2001. Shook his hand and made pleasantries.

happens in my hometown, or it did anyway. In 2001 though I was long gone and never met either Daschle or George McGovern. I talked to a staffer in 1985 and asked if he was gonna run for the Senate. He was in the House and I thought he could beat Abner. We did goto McGovern's office when we visited DC, but I cannot remember if we met the man or not.

marched with him in the Tournament of Roses parade

Jesse Jackson wears very nice cologne.

Iggy is a great guy; really funny and upbeat.

We were marching with them in Chicago's South Side Irish parade and I actually met them and talked with them before the parade started. Tipper hugged me:) Oh, gawd, I love those two.

in a Limo ride.
He drove.

I met him at a talk he gave at the Gerber/Hart Library here in Chicago several months ago. He also did a book signing at the end....I brought along a copy of one of his books. Much cuter in person. :-)

moved there in 1910. He sold cars, Duesenburgs, Pierce Arrow, Packard, Rolls etc. They knew quite a few people. They lived next door to Harold Lloyd for years.
Lillian and Dorothy Gish were a couple of my aunt's buddies.
Fred Astaire was friends with my great aunt and grand mother. My great Uncle Johnny was in business with Bing Crosby's brother. I knew both Fred and Bing at least as far as a child can. I sat on Cary Grant's lap twice during lunch. He called me "my fine young man." probably because he couldn't remember my name.
Joan Blondell was one of my great aunt's best friends, she was funny.

As an adult I kept running into Allan Ginsburg. I also used to go shopping for bow ties with the artist David Hockney, this was way before that turd tucker started wearing them.

lap...at any age!

The first two at a concert where I was invited backstage. We published Karsh's books, met him at the office. And Marianne Faithfull ... I once found myself next to her in line for the bathroom at a local booze can. Lots of boozers, one toilet; it was a long line-up.

1) Barry Goldwater held me in his arms (this was before he became a Senator-and I was a cute babe...of about 6 months and have the photo to prove it-in front of Goldwater's store in Phoenix)

2)Ravi Shankir-with my Hubby at a small concert here (have the picture-he's a nice man)

3)Vic Damon

4)Tom DeLay-back when he was a fun guy 'hot tub Tom'

5-6)Ben Barns, Price Daniels-I know lots of Texas Politico-even some current ones too.

7-8)Cissy Farenthold and Ann Richards-inspired a generation of Texas Women.

9)Bobby Brown yeah, Whitney's husband, he was a self promoting jerk

10)Earl Campbell-decent football player and a good person

11)George Foreman-easy to do in Houston-and he's a sweetie.

12)Beyonce Knowles-back before she was Beyonce. Still see her Mom all the time.

13)Zubin Mehta-thanks to hubby-they see each other when they are in the same town.

14)Jerry Jeff Walker

15)Willy Nelson

16)Lyle Lovett

17)Howard Dean-he knocked my sock off (I have a picture of him cracking up at something I told him-which will remain a secret)

18)The Chieftains-it was in a really small venue and a very relaxed show-they were like a great pub band and seemed to be enjoying us as much as we were them.

19)Selena, when she was a kid singing-man what a set of pipes. And so sweet to.

20)George H and Barbra Bush-again easy to do here in Houston.

That is all I can remember for the moment. As I am looking at it, it is a really weird and random list-well except for the politicians. Some were nice and some were jerks. I seldom bother them anymore-they usually want their peace. If I have the chance to talk to them, I am nice and polite-maybe say something nice about what they have done. Hubby, as a musician has met even more folks and has more than a few funny stories.

edited to add-DUH many of the astronauts-the latest was Scott Perezinski that went out on the last shuttle mission to patch the solar reflector. They are a top notch group. It was sad when Rod Mc Nair died, he was a good musician, role model, and a damn fine human being too. Met most of the Mercury guys and the Apollo guys too....again, easy to to in Houston.

years ago...Lucky for him. She's a real piece of work!

I also met BonJovi back in the late '80s...He recorded some music in my mother's barn. The guy who rented the space had a great recording studio and was widely known in the music industry.

1960-69 - Pierre Elliot Trudeau
1970-79 - Peter Pears (famous tenor, Benjamin Britten's partner)
1980-1989 - Emerson Lake and Palmer
1990-1999 - Prime Minister Jean Chretien
2000+ - Steve Wozniak (he signed my 1984 original Macintosh), William Gibson

I also met George Takei of Star Trek fame. Mr. Takei was extrememly nice to his fans and very gracious. He was in my hometown for a public transit meeting in the 1970s and some friends and I went down to the office where he was meeting and he came out and talked to us and took pictures with us. We were probably 14 or 15 at the time.

At the Sebring 12 Hour sports car race in Florida I met Danny Ongais, a famous race car driver, who raced Porsches and Indy cars. I also met Ted Field, the owner of Danny's race team. Ted is the heir to the Marshall Field department store fortune in Chicago.

Paul Newman walked right past me at a race at Road Atlanta. He's tiny! :)

(or so I've been told) when he was running for his first term, but I was too young to remember it.

Maybe Mickey Mantle?

Or Ringo?

But can't beat meeting a stooge...but Elvis , Ringo and Mickey; not bad.

Does the original TV lawyer Joel Hyatt count?

Lou Reed, Elvis Costello and a few other musician types.

separately

I met the Cliks at their concert in Toronto in June. They were incredibly sweet, and they signed my CD... and I hugged them all! I thought I was going to faint.

The most famous person I actually know would probably be Maggie Cassella (stand-up comedian). Dirty little secret about Maggie, she only pretends to hate everybody (If you've seen one of her comedy routines you'd know what I mean), she is actually one of the nicest, sweetest people in the world. I'm not kidding

I would say, though, Walter Cronkite was the MOST famous......

That was a great moment. Bill is a rock star.

And Oakland was the best of the Bay Area crowds. Some Nader supporters piped up during Bill's speech and ummm, quieted down rather quickly thanks to the crowd. In San Jose and SF, security had to deal with them, not in Oakland. The crowd was like we came here to listen to him, NOT YOU, so shut up! Very cool.

Met him along the fenceline after the speech. I don't notice people's eyes generally, but his are BLUE, I mean bluer than I've ever seen.

I met him, talked to him, and he had a profound influence on my life. He was just a down to earth guy who wanted to help those who were suffering like he was. He helped me kick an addiction I had by talking to me and I want to thank him, even though he's gone.
I also met Dr. Joyce Brothers at a back yard barbecue. Her and I share one thing, we both don't like onions on our burgers.

I have met Jennifer Granholm a couple times, but I wouldn't say she's more famous than Enberg.

It was awesome.

Off the top of my head.

A lot of stories.

I had just won first place in a Department of Justice photography contest.

That was the same evening Monty Hall brusquely pushed me out of his way.

what the hell did you do to make mild-mannered Jimmy Stewart swear at you?! Did he say "darn"?

It was a photo shoot at an awards ceremony. The public was not present. He bumped an easel with awards lined up on it and a pewter plate fell crashing to the floor.

"Was that mine?" he asked. "No," my boss replied. "Good," he answered. Then he turned to me as I picked up the plate he had sent crashing to the floor and he said, "Look out, you stupid son of a bitch."

My boyhood hero called me a stupid son of a bitch and left me with a memorable story. Hard to top that.

I wonder if he was just having a bad day or if he was always a jerk. Makes me think of him in a whole new unflattering light.

I think he was just having a bad day.

he said he felt kinda bad about interrupting his lunch, but he never got cussed at.

I'm not one to get "star struck" but the one person that I was in the presence of that made me feel a little spacey was Bob Dylan. I have told the story on here before and don't feel like telling it again, but in short I worked security at a show (just because it was a free Dylan show to me) and i had his side of the stage.

At one point I was standing there and he was standing about a foot away, he looked at me and gave me that grimace look he has, I smiled and he cracked a smile. Like I said, I have actually met people and talked to them, but the Dylan thing was a bit surreal.

She was married to David Justice at the time, asked to come to our house to buy Mr. D's woodturnings as Christmas gifts. Very sweet, very quiet, spent lots, paid by check, asked if we wanted to see her driver's license. We didn't. Several years later, Mr. D. wrote about her visit in his AJC woodworking column and got a very nice thank you. She was shooting a movie in Australia at the time and someone had sent her the column.

I knew Bill Moyers in college, talked to Elvis on the phone in 1958 when he missed an interview with Mr. D. and called to apologize.

I am a sports writer for a newspaper here in CT.

Joe Montana and Venus Williams are probably the most popular of the ones I met.

I had a sit down 1-on-1 with Montana. He was much bigger in person than I thought.


I also "met" a few celebrities that played in some pro-am tournaments...like Leslie Nielsen and Bill Murray.

DeNiro I spotted 100 feet away at a screening of "The Last Tycoon" last year. Didn't really "meet" him, but close enough.

Henry Winkler was my college graduation speaker, and I met Ray Manzarek at a book/CD signing -- both very nice guys.

When I lived in L.A., I was in a Starbucks (surprise) and was wearing my Clash t-shirt. I was kind of in a hurry, so I didn't immediately recognize the short Asian guy who passed me and said, "Nice shirt."

I did a double-take and noticed it was Bobby Lee (Mad TV), which was pretty cool.

I was the Director of Security of a nice big-city hotel for nearly the entire 80's, so met a huge number from many different fields; musicians, actors, athletes, politicians, CEO's. If someone was a celebrity in the 80's there's a good chance I met them. Mohammed Ali, Joe Montana and his very lovely wife, Willie Joe Namath, William Shatner, Priscella Presley, Michael Jackson, Prince and bodyguard Chick, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mr. T, Jon Bon Jovi, George Benson, Rodger Staubach, Zha Zha Gabor, Elizabeth Taylor & then husband Sen. Warner, Gladys Knight & Pips, Gen. Jimmy Doolittle (WWII AF Pilot), Ross Perot, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Sammy Davis Jr., Randy Newman (Short People), Mary Travers (Peter Paul & Mary), Howard Keel.....

In other places - John Glenn, Gene Krupa, William Kunstler, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus.

Linda Evans
Wesley Snipes
Jackie Slater
Nancy Griffiths
John Tesh
Robert Guiallme(not sure of the spelling)
Todd Eldredge
Elena Berezhnaya

If so, I'd really like to meet her. I love her music. And she has such a sweet, sweet voice, like an angel.

When she was a still a baby in a crib.

Does that count?

But I'd rather meet her now. :evilgrin:

Funny story was, I was babysitting her older brother, James, and it was at the time when their parents were separated and they kept two apartments in the same building, and Angelina stayed in the downstairs apartment with her mom, and James stayed with their dad (Jon Voight) in the upstairs apartment.

Kinda weird huh?

But I would say that Angelina is much more famous these days.

And Voight seems kind of like a freeper these days, as hard as it is to believe. I still love "Conrack." I don't think I've ever seen "Midnight Cowboy," but I intend to one day.

Is that brother the one that she French-kissed at the Oscars a few years ago? I thought that was kinda hot in a very perverted way. ;)

Still in touch with 'em?

A true gentleman.

I think I was 16 or 17. She is an alumni of the high school I attended, and she and Carol Kane came by one afternoon after the school was closed to talk to the principal and our drama teacher. Some of us were still on campus when they arrived because we had stayed for a play rehearsal, and we got to meet them!

I used to landscape right next door to Mr. Schultz's house, and did a little work for him too. He was a real quiet guy who took walks through the woods every day.

Mr. Montana came into the movie theater I was working at a number of years back. He asked me where the bathroom was and I told him. Then on his way back to his movie, he got lost and couldn't find it. LOL.

1978; he was at Tony's Diner w/ his first wife on W.117th and Lorain about 9am on a Saturday morning, and I was there w/ my older brother eating breakfast. We both shook his hand; nice guy, even though he was getting pounded by George Forbes and the PD regularly by then and the recall ballot was getting steam..

(pardon the spelling) My Dad (also a musician) worked with Sammy Davis, Sarah Vaughn, Jimmy Durante, Johny Ray & others..


I've met Robert Cummings, Frank Fontaine, Jimmy Smith, Jimi Hendrix (backstage after a '68 show in Buffalo), Greg lake (ELP), Joakim Thastrom (Steve Miller's {long deceased} keyboard player), John Hall (bass player for the band "Orleans"), Dicky Betts, Bob Seger (he was dating a female friend of mine in Fla)...


I toured Europe with "Melanie" in '92.

As a kid...
Beverly Sills (opera singer), late 1970's
Chuck Mangione, 1979 or 1980
Orville Redenbacher (Popcorn King), early 1980's :rofl:

In my misspent youth...:headbang:
Henry Rollins along with the other Black Flag band members, mid-1980's
John Lydon (Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols) the ass & Marlene Premilovich (Lene Lovich)
at a PETA sponsored event in Chicago, late 1980's
BB King at Blues Etc... Chicago, late 1980's

Random crossing of paths...
Maynard and the rest of the band, Tool, (can't remember where) in So Cal, early 1990's
Jello Biafra at the Casbah in San Diego early 1990's
William Hurt in the Denver Airport on an escalator, mid 1990's

Political Events, fundraisers, or discussions...
Noam Chomsky
(Don't kick my ass, please!) Ralph Nader
Dennis Kucinich

Writers, directors, producers, actors, & filmmakers I've met at the TCFF over the last 3 years (2005, 2006, 2007)...:popcorn:
Michael Moore
Marilyn Agrelo (Mad Hot Ballroom)
Terry George (Hotel Rwanda)
Larry Charles (Borat)
Sabina Guzzanti (Viva Zapatero!)
Jan Harlan (Executive Producer of Kubrick's Films)
Jeff Daniels

and the best for last...
*Malcolm McDowell* (A Clockwork Orange)

kind of funny he was doing a No Drug speech thing and before we went to the auditorium I was coming out of the office after picking up a couple books and when I came out around the door I ran into him--LITERALLY- fell down dropping my books and he bent down, helped me get my books together and walked me to class... It was kewl =)

My dad was a lifeguard at the Loch Raven Kiwanis Swim Club in Baltimore in the early 1960s. This was just before he ran for Governor of Maryland and subsequently was brought on by Tricky Dick. Apparently, Agnew was loitering in the pool under the diving board area, holding off people from diving into the pool. My dad, ever the dutiful lifeguard, blew his whistle and instructed Agnew to get out of the diving area.

At that point, my dad's supervisor ran over to him and somewhat flustered and upset, said: "Do you know who that was? That was Spiro Agnew, the president of the Loch Raven Kiwanis Swim Club! You can't tell him what to do!"

If he only knew what would follow....

Back in the 80's, he came to a town hall meeting in our little county, and I asked him a question about the sharp reductions that Reagan had made to student aid. I also got to meet him very briefly at the close of the meeting.

at my table in the cafeteria. I and my co-workers spent an hour or two talking with him. That is still one of the highest points of my life.

After Neil, I got squat.

Unless you count flying next to the Thompson Twins.

I should have posted here, rather than to the OP.

Check post #178.

:hi:

The same day. Gotta love New York City.

He lived near my parents, he rear ended my mother's car when she was 5 months pregnant with my little brother. he sued her in small claims court and lost. His kids used to try to mess with my brothers and me but we had more friends. By the time we were in our teens we were all partying together. Used to go to his house sometimes. He always asked how my mother was doing.

and I know Jim Wright
I met Chet Atkins
Earl Scruggs

Not the MOST famous but the latests one.

Blech.

Joe Namath, Jim Rice, Dennis Eckersley, Cam Neeley, Dale Earnhardt, Terry O'Reilly and Carl Yaztremski. Carl signed a ball for me at a food expo he made an appearance at. My son took the ball outside the following spring and ruined the signature by tossing the ball in the pool.

and a beer with John Goodman in New Orleans

Command module pilot for the Apollo-11 mission.



I sat across from him in Building 30, JSC (Mission Control Center), during Nav status meetings in preparation for STS-1, the maiden flight of Shuttle Columbia.

I love astronauts.

I miss the place, not that I'm not there.

just before the last election. It was pretty impressive, though I didn't meet him, but my friend took pix and got to shake his hand.:woohoo:

But I really did meet David Cassidy, at Saratoga Race Track back in the '80s. He was very pleasant, seemed pleased that somebody recognized him (though that was really my mother), but probably also a little drunk, LOL.:D

We used to sit in the boxes, with the rich folks, thanks to my Dad who knew everybody. So I also saw Tom Brokaw up close and personal, but I just nodded when I passed him, didn't speak. He looked pretty ornery, even though nobody bothered him. I noticed that he had a fruit plate and was struggling with a ketchup bottle for his wife's hamburger. My friend said that I should give him a break, that he probably was grumpy because he was losing and also on a diet...:rofl:

Robert Goulet
Ross Perot
Roger Staubach
Jerry Lewis
Stevie Ray Vaughn
Rudy Giuliani
Byron Nelson
Mick Fleetwood
Bob Newhart
Tony Curtis
BB King
Bernadette Peters


etc...

Although it was just a quick handshake.

Dick Durbin took time to take a picture with me - twice.

if that counts as 'meeting'.

I've met a number of people who are well-known in the academic world and/or in connection with educational policy-making, but are probably not 'household names'. Possibly the most widely known is Howard Gardner of multiple-intelligence theory.

I haven't directly met many really famous people, but am at 2 degrees of separation from quite a few; e.g. I know Harold Wilson's son slightly (through academic, not political, connections) and my mother has met Noam Chomsky. Oh, and one of my friends nearly got run over as a teenager by the tennis player Nastase!

Also Roger Fisher (from Heart) and Warren Christopher (Cliton's first Secretary of State)

Sort of a weird mix.

are probably the biggest

and Yoko Ono. I was a ward clerk at New York Hospital where Yoko was having her baby. I had to give him a message and went into her room. Lennon was on the phone and Yoko had her face buried in a gift basket of fruit.

I helped him with his luggage from a plane at Santa monica Airport.
I've met a lot of other famous folks. I'll have to make of list of them someday.

Well, I took a picture of her ghost at Hampton Court when I was in London.


No fooling, I have the picture to prove it. :)

I think you win the prize for most interesting celeb.

but seriously, I took it at Hampton Court Palace (known to be haunted), in Anne Boleyn's gateway.

I just took a picture because, hey, it was Anne Boleyn's gateway. But there looks to be the appearance of a human form. At least that's what it looks like.

People must think I'm a flake, but it sure looks like SOMETHING. :)

Ghosts have been seen and reported in every culture I know of. I grew up in a haunted house. I never saw anything but felt and heard plenty. Wish the scientific community would see clear to do some serious across the board investigation.

when she was a little girl (about 5/6) at her school in Ferndale, MI. She remembers all the kids practicing their one line, "Good Morning Mr. Louis!" He didn't say much at all. She thinks he just said, "Hello kids".

Who'd a thunk'd it?

He is a pretty regular shopper where I work, and I helped him pick out bedding once.

Hillary Clinton, John Ritter, Sonia Braga, Amy Sedaris, David Sedaris, Stephin Merritt, Holly Woodlawn, Linda Dano and Jensen Buchanan.

Gwen Stefani mocked me at a party a few years ago.

Don't know if this counts, but I literally almost knocked Madonna to the ground as we crashed into each other on a London street corner.

Heck, I don't know if I've ever met anybody else, though I did set at the same diner counter as Paul Newman, once.

Super Bowl MVP, John Stallworth; or Demeco Ryans, plays for the Texans now. I have had classes with or seen at the bars many of the football and basketball players. I've met Prothro a couple of times. Only Bama fans will appreciate that one.

But they would if he hadn't suffered that terrible injury. I honestly think he may have won the Heisman, but for that injury. And anyone that watches college football has seen "the catch." They're still using that as the template for "game-changing play of the week," or whatever it's called.

I've never met John Stallworth, but I did share a class with one of his nephews. It was freshman English at UA. I didn't get to know the guy well, but he seemed nice.

Alistair Cooke: Spotted him once in the Sam Francisco airport. I'd been reading his books, and I am still in awe of his command of English prose. I walked over to him, and I timidly said, "Mr. Cooke, I just wanted to say that I really enjoy your books." He looked up as I was standing over him. He had a ruddy face and a warm, friendly smile, and he said, "Thank you." And, I walked away overwhelmed by that brief encounter.

B.J. Thomas: I had been visiting a friend in Seattle over the weekend. As an American Airlines employee, I was able to snag a first class seat from time to time. That particular Sunday morning, I had done just that. The guy in the seat next to me turned out to be B.J. Thomas ("Raindrops Keeping Fallin' on My Head"). My friend had gotten VIP passes to a Senior PGA event in the Seattle, and we had enjoyed some splendidly sunny weather out there watchin' Arnie and Chi Chi and the others. Turns out B.J had been there, too, and he was a big golf fan. He was friendly and chatty. Nice guy.

Bill Richardson: A few months ago, I got an invite to a Richardson fundraiser at a mansion nearby. I only got to shake his hand and say, "I love New Mexico." I did get to see and hear him speak in a living room with only about 20 other people there. I was impressed, and I expect that his star will continue to rise.

Paul Bartel ("Eating Raoul"): I used to take a week of vacation and work as a volunteer for a local film festival. One year, I was the local escort for Paul Bartel which basically meant that I was his chauffeur and personal assistant for the duration of the festival. I brought the reel of his film, "Shelf Life" from the hotel to the festival screening. I took him to J.C. Penney to buy a cheap wristwatch. He was nice. A regular person. (When I heard years later that he had died, I felt sad but fortunate to have had a bit of time with him.)

both before they "made it big."

:hi:

On my way to Saudi. He was buying perfume in a duty free shop, and I was talkling to some old guy from Texas in a huge hat. He said, "Isn't that Johnny Carson?"


He was with Alex at the time. No one seemed to be giving him a second glance, except me and the Texan. I knew it was definitley him when he spoke.

I walked up and told him I was a big fan. He thanked me, and I left him in peace.

Soupy Sales and Adam Sandler. All in restaurants or airports. Scratch that, Sugar Ray was at a high school homecoming football game. Oh yeah! John Riggins at a law firm I worked at. Fabio winked at me once, but I guess that doesn't count. LOL...Fabio. ;-)