What celebrities have you "brushed up" against?

[jomar]

Something on another thread gave me the idea for this silly diversion. What celebrities have you encountered?

Sissy Spacek

William Hurt

Richard Hatem - Producer and screenwriter (The Lost Room, Mothman Prophecies)


If I've had other celebrity brushes, I can't think of them now. So how about it - how has fame touched you? If we keep score, LA residents must have 2.5 brushes to everyone else's one brush.

 

[cloudy]

I grew up in Southern California - grammar school in LA, and high school in Santa Barbara, which included Montecito, where many stars had homes.

I went to high school with Anthony Edwards:

http://entimg.msn.com/i/150/Movies/Actors3/Edwards_JM959289_150.jpg

and this guy's son (Fess Parker - his son is Eli. Eli had kick ass parties when his parents were gone):

http://www.stewartsattic.com/marx/images/FessParker.jpg

and grammar school with this guy (Brandon Cruz - The Courtship of Eddie's Father):

http://www.hollywoodiscalling.com/celebrity_photos/bcruz75.jpg

Oh, and Jay Silverheels was a frequent visitor when we lived in LA - he and my dad were buddies (he played Tonto):

http://www.nndb.com/people/131/000109801/jaysilverheels01.jpg

 

[rgraham666]

I talked to William Gibson on the phone once.

I was designing a game set in the world of his Sprawl trilogy. Nice guy, told me to go for it.

Then Mattel's (who had bought the game rights) lawyers made it clear to me I would be sleeping with the fishes if I even thought about it again.

Sigh.

 

[Just-Legal]

I'm geek girl so most of mine are Sci-Fi related. I got adopted by the stewards at a con two years running so had a lot of contact with the attendees.

Off the top of my head:

Jason Carter - totally nuts but totally sweet.
Richard Biggs - see above.
Peter Jurasik - Wonderful, enthusiastic, and totally stunned to discover I was fifteen at the time. ("I had you pegged for 20!")
Andreas Katsulas - Total gentleman, softly spoken and very lovely.
Robert Leeshock - Made a bit of a tit out of myself here as I had quite the crush on him >.< but he was very sweet about it
Von Flores - "Oh dear god you're bald. Why are you bald? Oh, for charity! You had me worried there."
Lisa Howard - A bit dizzy but totally amazing, so so friendly. I have a t-shirt she gave me autographed hung up in my wardrobe. Very nice lady.
Elizabeth Gracen - "He's not your brother, he's your dad? Wait... how old are you again?"
Lani Tupu - The first time you see him in the flesh you kinda go "woah". He's... indescribeable. And very quiet actually.

I'm missing people. I know I am. Its irritating!

Oh and Patrick Stewart is the Chancellor of my Uni

 

[rgraham666]

I'm geek girl so most of mine are Sci-Fi related. I got adopted by the stewards at a con two years running so had a lot of contact with the attendees.

Off the top of my head:

Jason Carter - totally nuts but totally sweet.
Richard Biggs - see above.
Peter Jurasik - Wonderful, enthusiastic, and totally stunned to discover I was fifteen at the time. ("I had you pegged for 20!")
Andreas Katsulas - Total gentleman, softly spoken and very lovely.

Grrrr. Lucky.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Yes, it happens a lot in L.A!

The very best brush that I can think of; Where I grew up in Los Angeles, there were several hillbilly families, transplants from Tennessee, and I dated a number of them... One day in '73 or 4, Duffy invited me to a barbecue; his cousins from out of town, he said, were coming. Nearly every teenager we knew was there, maybe thirty of us, and the barbecue was the kind you only read about- most of a cow over a fire, type of thing.
His cousins turned out to be Johnny and Edgar Winter.
During the course of the afternoon, they called all us kids together, to tell us about something. They rolled up their sleeves; Needle tracks are ugly, but on Albino skin they are gruesome. They said "We're addicts, and we can't stop shooting heroin. If any of you kids ever try it, one of us will personally come around and beat the crap out of you."
It worked for me, I can tell you that! They were doing this in every place they could, during that tour.

And one of my favourite embarrassing moments- My old man and I were crossing Melrose Avenue one afternoon, and a man was walking across the other way. The sun was going west and it made him squint in one eye. After we'd crossed, i said "That guy looked just like Popeye" and K said; "You idiot, that was Robin Williams!"

 

[Misty_Morning]

Several.

Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, Johnny Paycheck, Hank Williams Jr., John Bell, Phil Lesh, Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir to name a few.

 

[buxxxom]

Andie McDowell, Steven Spielberg, Whoopie Goldberg, Kellie Pickler and Chris Daughtry from American Idol, and the guy from Adam-12 ( not Randolph Mantooth, the other one.)

 

[Liar]

My top three:

Tim Burton at the Gothenburg book fair three years ago. Not sure what he was doing there, but there he was, trying to figure out which local network his cell phone should roam on. So I set him up with the reliable (but expensive) provider and got a signed copy of Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy.

Lou Rhodes and Andy Barlow of the band Lamb, after a gig in Stockholm. They are hands down the single most influental act on the music that I try to make, so that was a major kick. Gave them a run-down of where ythe good coffe bars were, and which clubs to avoid.

Tiger Woods, in the Frankfurt airport departure hall. I said "Hey, are you Tiger Woods?" He said "Yes I am." And then we had nothing else to talk about for five minutes, until I was ushered into tourist class on the plane.

 

[john-the-author]

Bunches of people

One of the nice things about my job is that I get to meet an awful lot of interesting people. Much of my social circle for decades has been authors and I've been a guest of zillions of SF convention, so there are more than I can think of at a sitting. My ex-wife used to do Star Trek conventions, too, so we'd hired all the original cast at one time or another. I even had the pleasure of spending a couple of hours once with George Takei and his nephew and a few folks from the con in a sauna in Anaheim, sweating out the smog and chatting LA politics. (George was running for City Council at that point and is as fine a human being as you could ever hope to know.) Jimmy Doohan lived next door to one of my oldest friends for years, but I never met him casually when we hadn't hired him.

I'd see Vonda McIntyre at least once or twice a month (she lived not too far from me and is the regular host of monthly parties), Diana Paxson, Ursula LeGuin, Greg Bear, Brian Herbert, Bill Gibson, and lots of others. (A lot of them were at my wedding--we had about 250 people.)

I've met Bill Gates a few times, which is not so much of a distinction as you'd think. I went to college with Steve Jobs, but I didn't know him, though I do remember him clearly. Dr. Demento also went to the same college I did and I had a chance to hang out with him on several occasions. He even played one of my records on his show a few times.

Actors and musicians: ummm... I sat next to a member of the band "Quiet Riot" on a flight from SoCal to Seattle some years ago and gave him a ton of computer advice on how to get his laptop with WinME to work. James Gammon the actor was on that flight, too, but I didn't talk to him. I saw, but didn't have a chance to speak to, Martin Sheen in the Dublin airport once. Gawd, I know I'm forgetting a ton of actors but I'm drawing a blank--lack of caffeine, lack of sleep, lackanookie. I'll post whoever it is that's tickling the back of my brain when I think of who it is. I used to do a lot of performing, so I've met a lot of musicians. I even have Pete Seeger's autograph on one of my banjos, something I'm still proud of.

Oh, and I'm fairly sure that I spent an evening in a hot tub with Monica Lewinsky in the early 90s before she went to Washington and became famous. Yes, there's a bit of a story there. No, I didn't have sex with her (had I, I'm quite certain I'd be quite certain ).

 

[john-the-author]

Someone I should've remembered

Brett Butler on a few occasions. I like her.

I told yuh I was suffering from a lack.

 

[impressive]

Most of mine are politicians. I won't bore you with that list.

Of the Hollywood variety - Laura San Giacomo is the most memorable.

 

[only_more_so]

I saw Bill gates at a Pizzeria Uno's when he was in Boston for the Marathon.

I was waiting for a flight in Dallas and met Pink. Actually, she was talking to some old women when I got there and I didn't recognize her at first (one of those moments when you think you recognize someone, but don't know from where), since her hair was just blonde and she was wearing sweats. Mostly I remember her bitching about having to go outside to smoke. When she left the old ladies asked me if I knew who Pink was, they had already gotten her autograph for their grandchildren.

 

[jomar]

Tonto.

Tonto! No shit? That's cool.

I'm geek girl...

Unfortunately, I'm afraid I don't recognize most of yours. i did recognize Patrick Stewart.

Did you go by geek girl?

Johnny and Edgar Winter.

"You idiot, that was Robin Williams!"

I used to love those guys. Edgar Winters Alta Mira is an old favorite.

As for Robin Williams

Monica Lewinsky in the early 90s before she went to Washington and became famous. Yes, there's a bit of a story there. No, I didn't have sex with her (had I, I'm quite certain I'd be quite certain ).

Pete Seeger I recognize, but not a most of the others. And Monica Lewinsky - that's almost as good as Tonto!

My top three:

Tim Burton...Lou Rhodes and Andy Barlow of the band Lamb, after a gig in Stockholm. They are hands down the single most influental act on the music that I try to make, so that was a major kick.

Tiger Woods.

Burton's a good one.

Nice to meet people who are personally influential.

Will Woods win tomorrow?

Andie McDowell, Steven Spielberg, Whoopie Goldberg, Kellie Pickler and Chris Daughtry from American Idol, and the guy from Adam-12 ( not Randolph Mantooth, the other one.)

Andie McDowell lives in Ashville, NC now. An Adam -12 guy: Puts you in cloudy and jta's group.

Pink.

I've liked her since her Get This Party Started video. She won me over when she sniffed her underarm - sense of humor and doesn't take herself to seriously.

Laura San Giacomo is the most memorable.

She's yummy.

Brett Butler

I liked her show.



ETA: Thanks for playing folks.

 

[cloudy]

duplicate post

 

[cloudy]

Tonto! No shit? That's cool.

My dad was very, very competitive in skeet shooting, and I think Silverheels was interested in it also. I remember him being at the house quite a bit, but at the age I was, I didn't really give a shit who he was. My mom remembers him as quite arrogant. She didn't like him much.

 

[OhMissScarlett]

I banged Ralph Fiennes in an airplane restroom. It was worth losing my job over.

 

[Jenny_Jackson]

Bob Hope in an elevator at Cesar's Palace in Las Vegas some years ago. He was very nice and thanked me for not pointing him out to everyone in the hotel.

The most memorable was Slim Pickens just before he died. I was quite young, but still remember him. He was a nice man.

I met Leon Redbone on a park bench in New Orleans. He was bombed on something and couldn't put together a sensible sentence. He did give me a tape though. Still have it

 

[rgraham666]

I banged Ralph Fiennes in an airplane restroom. It was worth losing my job over.

Lucky Ralph.

 

[SeaCat]

Celebrities?

Hmmmm, depends on what you mean by Celebrities I suppose.

I have met Johny Cash and June Carter Cash. Jean-Michele Cousteau. Cindy Lauper. Helmut Kohl. Robin Cook. Ted Kennedy. Arnold Shwarzeneggar. And Steven King. (He helped me climb out of his Rose Bushes. Long story.)

Cat

 

[TheeGoatPig]

I've only met musicians at concerts.
Incubus (the whole band)
Trey Azagthoth (guitarist of Morbid Angel)

I know I met another band, but I can't remember who anymore...

 

[S-Des]

I've met a bunch of musicians, so I don't really get excited about that. I was friends with the original line-up of Disturbed (we used to jam in the same practice space and my friends would go see their previous band). I met Vernon Reid (the guitar player for Living Color) when he was doing an art exhibition (he was a photographer as well, with amazing pics from all the places they had toured). I've bumped into politicians, TV people, and a few models while doing corporate & wedding gigs. Most of them were exceptionally nice and didn't make you feel like you should be starstruck.

 

[carsonshepherd]

Sat in front of the guy from Blind Melon at a Pearl Jam concert. They only had one hit (the Bee Girl song, No Rain) and he committed suicide later. He was kind of an ass when my ex turned around and asked him if he was the guy from Blind Melon.

Quite a few musicians, the most well known being Joan Jett. Nothing too memorable.

 

[john-the-author]

Tonto! No shit? That's cool.

I have to agree with Jomar, Cloudy, Jay Silverheels is way high up there on the "Cool Points" chart.

My stepmother had Iron Eyes Cody (you know--the crying Indian for the anti-littering campaign about 30 years ago) stay with her for a week in the 80s. She was a prominent person in the local government and he was in town for some kind of thing, so she put him up at her place. I didn't have a chance to meet him, though, damnit. She liked him and said he was quite a character.

 

[OhMissScarlett]

Sat in front of the guy from Blind Melon at a Pearl Jam concert. They only had one hit (the Bee Girl song, No Rain) and he committed suicide later. He was kind of an ass when my ex turned around and asked him if he was the guy from Blind Melon.

Quite a few musicians, the most well known being Joan Jett. Nothing too memorable.

We shoulda made out with Evan Dando before he was skeezy.