Who is the most famous person you've ever met?

[47of74]

Since we had the question about who was the most infamous person we've ever met, I thought I would ask who is the most famous person you've ever met?

Since I asked, I'll start.

I met Stephanie Miller twice - she had come up to Madison for the Sexy Liberal shows - yeah that's important enough for me to make the 1.5 hour drive.

[onehandle]

1. Governor Bill Clinton, President Jimmy Carter, Fran Tarkenton, And about a million actors at SciFi..

...conventions, when I helped run one of the biggest.

[NRaleighLiberal]

2. Shared an elevator with James Earl Jones in Philadelphia some years ago....

I wanted to ask him to say in his superb voice "This...is CNN" but instead just said hello. He replied "good evening".

[mnhtnbb]

35. My brother has a great James Earl Jones story.

He was on a United flight to Chicago--first class (my bro travels a lot for
work and he works for Big Pharma) and JEJ was seated across the aisle
from him. One of my brother's kids was a HUGE JEJ fan, so bro
wanted to bring him an autograph. He thought and thought how
he should ask, and finally did, asking for it for his son. JEJ did not look happy, but
asked bro what should he say on it, "May the force be with you?"
And bro said, no, just write "I wasn't here; this didn't happen"
(reference to The Hunt for Red October). JEJ burst out
laughing--in his huge voice--and happily autographed the
cocktail napkin.

[hlthe2b]

3. Famous? Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Jimmy Carter.... Willy Nelson, Al Franken,

Steeler's QB, Terry Bradshaw, Denver Broncos QB John Elway... those come to mind.. undoubtedly some others..


Infamous? In two words, Dick Cheney.... (Uggh--in the late 1990s, but he still made my skin crawl then)

Also Alan Simpson-- meh

[uppityperson]

4. Frank Herbert and Jim Whittaker.

Novelist and Climber.

[rug]

5. John Lennon.

I worked as a ward clerk on the maternity floor at New York Hospital when Sean was born. M5 North.

[cyberswede]

11. Isn't it Sean's birthday today? I thought I heard it on NPR.

[rug]

19. Yeah, same bithday as his Dad.

The NYC radios played this throughout the day.

It was a fun day.

[rurallib]

6. Obama - but really enjoyed about 10 minutes alone with Michelle

while others were scurrying to get to a tea we were there and enjoying some over the fence chatting with Michelle.
In real life she is even nicer than she seems.

Paul Krugman was another meet. Had him on the floor laughing.

But lord I would love to meet Steph!

Met Ed Snowden's cousin the other day.

[davidpdx]

8. I'd like to meet Krugman

He's a brilliant guy.

[rurallib]

9. but can explain things in such common terms

he really is good.

[avebury]

7. Maria Von Trapp, Jane Goodall, and Margaret Chase Smith - nt

[handmade34]

15. cool...

meeting Jane Goodall must have been really special... she is amazing!

I visited the Waitsfield home of Werner Von Trapp, Maria and a few of the kids... I remember they fed us apples and cheese and we went sledding that afternoon (I remember Elisabeth showing me how to put cream on my face to protect from the cold)... the nicest part was Werner showing me his Beautiful Loom... he was an avid weaver!

[frogmarch]

10. The cast of MST3K

at the 1996 MST3K ConventioCon Expo Fest-A-Rama 2: Electric Boogaloo in Minneapolis!

[cyberswede]

12. Elvis Costello

...at the Denver airport in 1983.

I've also met a bunch of politicians, including Walter Mondale, Joe Biden, and John Edwards (ugh).

[cyberswede]

100. I totally forgot...I met Pete Seeger after a concert he did with Arlo Guthrie

I don't think Arlo was in the green room with Pete...can't quite remember.

[davidpdx]

13. Mine aren't that interesting

John Davidson (this was back in the 80's when I was in my teens) and Debbie Gibson. Oregon politicians: Governor John Kitzhaber and Senator Jeff Merkley (when he was running for the Senate).

Shook hands with, but was not able to have conversations with: President Bill Clinton, Vice-President Al Gore, and President Barack Obama (although this was during his 2008 campaign so he was still a Senator).

[mucifer]

14. Studs Terkel, Rachel Maddow, and Svengoolie.

They were all great!

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

16. Svengoolie with make-up or without?

I try to catch his funny show every Saturday. And I find myself deciding to watch old shows on METV lately as most of the movie channels are showing crap.

[mucifer]

32. Without.

[TrogL]

17. various Canadian Prime Ministers, Emerson Lake and Palmer and Procol Harum

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

18. Mostly musicians

When I was young I played with drummer Louie Bellson and I met his wife Pearl Bailey. I played with drummers Shelly Manne and also Chad Wackerman and Paul Kreibich. I studied guitar with Ron Eschete and Johnny Smith and studied jazz theory with George Duke back in the late 60s. I met Kenny Burrell, Jimmy Rainey, Joe Pass, Barney Kessel, B.B. King, Frank Zappa, and Laurindo Almeida. Most these people are super famous in the world of jazz but not well-known outside of it.

The only famous person I met in politics was Wesley Clark when I worked with his campaign in 2003.

[cliffordu]

29. I met Joe Pass, Barney Kessle, BB King,

Last edited Thu Oct 10, 2013, 07:52 PM - Edit history (1)

Zappa, Stevie Vai, Jim Hall, George Jones, Doc Watson, Danny Gatton, Steve whats his name from Journey, Jesse Colin Young, Randy Neumann,
Bonny Raitt, Larry John Wilson, two of the Dixie chicks before they became famous, Robert Cray, The Psychedelic Furs, James Brown, Al Sharpton, Billy Idol,

And the best one EVAH, Nancy Wilson from Heart. Two years ago.

I was riding my bike along the waterfront in Portland and this fine redhead waved me over to ask directions to a hotel.......I looked at her for a moment and asked to see the fingertips on her left hand.

They had callouses. I've waited since 1973 to talk to that woman.....OMFG. I am a fanboi.

[cliffordu]

31. Please post an mp3 - I'd love to hear you play

Your list of guitarists are my heroes. Specially Burrell, Joe Pass (!!!!) and Eschete.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

51. I don't know how to do that

I've never posted anything on YouTube. I'm 63 years old and not very technologically oriented (I don't even own a cell phone). I haven't really played seriously with others since the 1980s although I practice several hours a day playing tunes on my own, trying my best to sound piano-like, as far as playing chords and single lines together. I'm pretty much playing fingerstyle on a nylon string nowadays. I kind of wished I had tried going further with my music. I used to hang around jazz clubs and jam with a guitarist named Carl Verheyen in the early 70s when he was a complete unknown. Now he's gone on to became a well-know session guitarist (and a member of Supertramp) and I chose other things besides music to do with my life, much to my regret.

[PETRUS]

83. Are you serious?

Johnny Smith is one of my very favorites, a special player. Never been near him.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

84. Great and humble man

He gave up touring and most recording in the late 1950s and moved to Colorado Springs to open a music store and to raise his little girl away from the big city, where he took on a few students. My dad was a career Air Force officer who was transferred to Colorado Springs in the early 60s. Johnny Smith died this past summer. May he RIP.

[Bombero1956]

20. Back in the 1970's Joe Namath

He was on the team bus that stopped at our rest area for a bathroom break. He was wearing a leather fringe jacket instead of the team blazer like everyone else. Ronan Tynan one of the three Irish tenors who was doing a concert in our city. He gave me the shamrock from his dressing room. I also worked the Basketball Hall of Fame inductions every year so I got to meet the inductees every year. My last ceremony included Micheal Jordan, John Stockton and David Robinson. Charles Barkley showed up to the ceremony with a girl he picked up in the hotel he was staying at. His limo never showed up so he had to ride to the induction dinner in a Dodge minivan. I also got to meet the members of Motley Crue and Godsmack when they did concerts in town.

[HipChick]

21. Obama when he was a senator at the airport..

I was trying to get a flight home to DC, and furious that that they had not upgraded me...they said they were going to upgrade me, and never did..then I see this tall man at the gate,flashing this dashing,flashing smile looking like he was exchanging tickets and getting upgrades..so I marched up to the desk, intending to give the agents a hard time..He paused, listening to my angry conversation...and then I spotted his pin..."Oh..that figures" and I shook my head...He then introduced himself, then I got lightly scolded by the next President of United States for trying to give the agents a hard time , as he offered to give up his upgrade to me...I had no real idea of the time who he was, he had not declared his run for President..but even then, he was trying to make peace and compromise...

[Boomerproud]

60. That's the one things about Barack Obama (the man)

He's so consistent with his temperament.

[hollysmom]

22. Greta Garbo

I was in my 20's shopping in the old Hammacher Schlemmer when she was looking for a gag gift and decided to try a prank out on me. The store clerk was in shock, she said Greta came in often in the quiet part of the day, but never talked to any one.
When I left the store, she came out and asked me which direction another store was in and then went off inthat direction.

Let me tell you, I am the stranger everyone talks to, I must look either knowledgeable or totally harmless. Or both. I can't leave my house without people asking me directions. I went to Germany for 2 weeks and had Germans asking me directions. A good deal of the time, the people asking me directions do not speak English. I do not speak many languages, so it is always interesting.

[cliffordu]

30. Wow. Not bad.

[hollysmom]

33. I know,

so little of what happens in my life impresses people. ha ha . But that usually does, except nopt so much with kids - they just don't understand.

[MuseRider]

80. That is just really cool.

What was the prank she tried on you? Somehow, for some reason she never struck me as the kind of person who pulled pranks. Don't know why. This is an awesome story.

[hollysmom]

102. this is a very old story

it pre-dates portable phones.
She walked by me with a phone in her hand and it rang, and she handed it to me, saying the call was for me. I was kind of stunned having never seen a portable phone (this was just a toy, not a real one.) She laughed at my stunned look. you might say She was amused.

[hibbing]

23. Muhammad Ali - Thumbs up!

Hey,
Met him in Winter Park, Colorado in the 80s. Was a very nice man and we were invited into the condo he was staying at for pictures and autographs. He sure had a lot of people around him though.


Peace

[Arcanetrance]

24. There's a few that stand out for me

Joe Namath which was just awesome, Pete Steele the now deceased front man for type o negative,

[BootinUp]

25. I guess General Wesley Clark

Back around 2004 in NYC.

[elleng]

46. Hey, Boot, was wondering if anyone would mention Wes!

Me too, several times, when he was in DC for political events.

[BootinUp]

63. I still think he would have made an awesome President. :)

[elleng]

64. Yes he would have.

[HarveyDarkey]

26. Jimmy Doohan, John Lee Hooker & Cindy Sheehan

Got drunk with Jimmy on whiskey at a Star Trek convention, got Mr. Hooker's autograph backstage after a show & chatted briefly with Cindy after a DC protest.

[nolabear]

27. Probably the whole Northern Exposure cast.

I was an extra a few times. It was awesome. And yes, Jeanine Turner is batshit crazy.

[ConcernedCanuk]

28. Andre Kostelanetz -

.
.
.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andre_Kostelanetz

and Joe Clarke

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Clark

Andre was a famous orchestra conductor I met in the 60's when our parents arranged a visit with him back stage.

He was delightful man.

Joe was a candidate for Prime Minister when I met him while shopping in a small town of 400 people, while he was campaigning for Prime Minister. His interest in speaking with me was abruptly ended when I informed him I was unemployed.

His term as Prime Minister didn't even last a year.

CC

[csziggy]

97. I've got several Andre Kostelanetz albums on vinyl!

Really liked his style. I'd have to dig out my vinyl collection to see which ones, though.

[Sherman A1]

34. Robert Redford & Jimmy Carter

Redord at the St. Louis Speaker Series (even got a photo) and Jimmy Carter at his Library doing a book signing (got a couple of books signed).

Stan Musial when I was a little kid at his restaurant here in STL also comes to mind.

[mnhtnbb]

36. When we lived in L.A. I had sightings or interactions with quite a few

Hollywood types: Lucille Ball, Henry Morgan, Lindsay Wagner, Gary Burghoff
(I was on a game show where Jamie Farr was my 'partner') and in
New York one time George Clooney came in to a restaurant and
sat at the table next to ours.

But my favorite interaction was with Walter Matthau. I was in
the bank, in Pacific Palisades, with my almost two year old
son. He was a handful at that point. I was standing at the teller
window, he by my side, and all of a sudden he bolted for the front
door (which opened onto a sidewalk fronting a busy street). I had
to sprint after him. Walter Matthau, who had been sitting at a desk
chatting with the bank manager, turned to me and said, "he's a real
Dennis the Menace, isn't he?" Well, I thought that a little odd (since
my son was so little) and about a year later out came the Dennis the
Menace movie with Matthau playing Mr. Wilson. Looking back on it,
he was probably shooting the movie at the time.

I keep thinking of things! Hubby is a psychiatrist/psychoanalyst
and we were in NY one time years ago for a psychoanalytic event that
was honoring the playwright, Wendy Wasserstein. So I had
a nice chat with her. She was very nice--down to earth.


Also, when I was a student at UCLA, Jimmy Connors was there. I was
a PE major (pre-Physical Therapy at the time) and we were required
to take four sports activities classes. I was already a pretty good
tennis player, so tennis was one of the classes. The teacher
had Jimmy 'helping' her with the class, and he would rally with
those of us who were 'advanced'. I learned two handed back-hand
from Jimmy Connors because of that class.

When we lived in Nebraska, Molly Ivins came to be the speaker at
a Jefferson Jackson dinner. I got to sit next to her! She was quite
a wit. We also hosted a pre-Jefferson/Jackson dinner cocktail
party at our house one year (in Lincoln, NE). Bob Kerrey sat
on a barstool at my kitchen counter for most of that party,
and JFK's speechwriter, Ted Sorensen, was there, as well as
Ben Nelson.

[raccoon]

37. I shook hands with Teddy Kennedy. nt

[CIT13]

38. Phil Collins

[In_The_Wind]

53. Awesome! Hello ~ CIT13

[img][/img]

[Jamaal510]

39. The rapper Too Short.

I met him when I was 16 years old, right outside of East Oakland's "Youth Uprising". I was so star-struck that I looked in disbelief and barely said anything when he shook my hand. This was one of the guys who I grew up listening to locally on the radio.

[Rowdyboy]

40. Gov Jimmy Carter (1975), former President Clinton (2004), Tom Brokaw, Ross Barnett and Wes Clark

[sharp_stick]

41. Three I can think of offhand

I had lunch with Midnight Oil at a truck stop in British Columbia on their Diesel and Dust tour. I was with my parents and driving to Vancouver to meet a friend when they came in and sat near us. They asked a question about the area, I answered and about a minute later figured out why the massive bald dude looked familiar. They invited me over to their table and we chatted while we ate until their bus driver came in and gave them shit for being late. My parents were surprisingly patient with me on this one.

I, and a couple of friends, got drunk with Henry Rollins after a Rollins Band show back in the early 90's. He's an impressive individual, I wish I had of made more of an attempt to stay in touch with him.

When I was a kid maybe 12 or so, my brother and my father and I went fishing at a fly in trophy fishing lodge with James Best, better known as Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane (it helps if you say it in his voice) from The Dukes of Hazzard. Well he just happened to be there at the same time but man he was one hell of a lot of fun in the lodge after fishing. He came out with us on his last day at the lodge and I'll never forget him, helped me pull in a really big Lake Trout.

[MuseRider]

82. Apparently

he writes to most people who write to him. I saw his show last year, it was wonderful and he is wonderful. He says he keeps in contact with a lot of people and tries to write individual notes to them. I thought about writing to him but just felt stupid when I read it, sounded so like a fan girl.

I bet if you wrote to him he would write back. He might not remember the incident but that would not matter. He seemed like a very approachable guy.

EDIT because I am so tired I am not thinking. Henry Rollins of course, of the three you mentioned he is the one I was talking about.

[KamaAina]

42. California Lt. Gov. and former SF mayor Gavin Newsom.

Ran into him in the hallway of the State Capitol. Everyone else in the group was clamoring for a picture with him. I steadfastly stuck to my guns and tried to drive home our point about disability policy.

[loli phabay]

43. met lots of royalty and others, spent time with a couple of a list actors

Also time with infamous bad guys.

[HERVEPA]

44. Casey Stengel

[Kingofalldems]

45. Warner Wolf and former NFL all pro Emil Karras

[elleng]

47. Robert Reich,

friend of the family, called him 'Bobby,' had him and his wife to dinner at my DC apartment in 1980-something. (His dad and my uncle were friends in college, Dartmouth.)

[First Speaker]

48. Isaac Asimov, Ted Kennedy, Herblock, Billy Martin, Kate Hepburn, Cary Grant

[BarbaRosa]

49. Bo Diddley

One of his guitar players -they kept in touch and played on occasion until Bo's passing- bought our old house.

[NightWatcher]

50. Met a few but had Coors with Kenneth Branaugh in the parking lot of a crack whore motel

They were filming The Gingerbread Man with Kenneth Branaugh (Directed by Robert Altman, who takes for freakin ever for a shot) and the scene was at a single level, road side motel. The film company had only rented out the center of the motel so the crack whores were able to conduct their business as usual. Branaugh was not please with how long it was taking so he called for a cooler of beer. I was an extra and a driver in the film, but they scratched the driving portion. Between each painstaking attempt at a shot, they had to reset the rain truck, dry off the windows...... As we sat there, he just got punchy and started passing out beer to the few remaining extras. The Prod Assts absolutely hated it, which is why I think he kept doing it. We laughed at the whores and drank Coors from the can.

[a la izquierda]

52. Carmen Cardenas...

daughter of former Mexican president Lazaro Cardenas.

As a Mexican historian, this is a huge deal.

[steve2470]

54. Michelle Pfeiffer nt

[krispos42]

55. Senator Tom Daschle

Summer of 2001, at the South Dakota State Fair. He was Senate Majority Leader at the time.

[47of74]

74. I saw Senator Harkin speak once....

This was back in 2007 at the dedication of a refurbished science hall at the university I graduated from. Didn't actually get to talk to him though. I think he had another commitment to get to (and wanted to not break any traffic laws doing so).

[WorseBeforeBetter]

56. Sugar Ray Leonard, Joe Frazier, John Riggins,

Larry King, Mike Wallace, Soupy Sales, and Adam Sandler. Oh, and some of Patty Smyth's band was in our college apartment for quarters. Goodbye to youuuuuuuuuuuu!

[MadrasT]

57. Ed Rendell.

I literally ran into him at a Philadelphia Orchestra concert. (I'm a klutz.) Plowed right into him and looked up and was like "Holy crap that's Ed Rendell!."

I apologized profusely and he was very kind.

[kwassa]

58. Before they were famous, members of Talking Heads, Gus Van Sant, Mary Boone, Chris Van Allsburg ...

I went to art school with all of them. Famous photographers Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind were teaching there, then, as well. Dale Chihuly taught glass.

Later in life I lived in LA, saw many celebs up close. They generally look smaller and older. I walked down the aisle in church arm-in-arm with Jenny Garth, who I was ushering to an event, at the peak of the 90210 show fame. Up close, she was .... stunning. Charlton Heston, Jeff Bridges, Barry Bostwick, Dyan Cannon, and her daughter with Cary Grant, Larry Fishburne, Alfie Woodard, Martin Balsam, David Brenner, Gabe Kaplan, Michael Keaton, Michael Richards. Scads of others that I will remember tomorrow.

I never bothered celebrities unless they looked like they wanted to talk. I did chat with Robin Williams because he ran at the same track as me on several occasions. He runs exactly the same way he did in Garp, with the floppy hands.

Politicians, I've shaken the hands of Bill and Hillary at different events, been up close to all the current Maryland senators and congresspeople and governor, all Dems. Including Martin O'Malley, our next President.

Way back in school, saw Ed Muskie up very close.

I ate gumbo with Buckwheat Zydeco.

What else? Like I said, I will probably remember the rest tomorrow.

[progressoid]

89. Harry Callahan AND Aaron Siskind?

Holy crap!

[kwassa]

91. Aaron was a great teacher.

He had originally been an elementary school teacher way back when.

I didn't have a class with Harry, who seemed like a rather odd person.

[yuiyoshida]

59. JACKIE CHAN!!!!

[Bertha Venation]

61. June Lockhart, Jackson Browne, Penny Marshall

I was one of the first (my mother said I was THE first) infants in California to have open-heart surgery. June Lockhart, probably in a publicity thing, visited me in the hospital. (Whippersnappers, google "Lost In Space.&quot (1963 or 64)

At age 13 I'd been playing the guitar for about a year, and performed with my teacher at my K-8 school's talent show. (I was pretty good back then. ) In the audience was the cousin of one of my classmates, Jackson Browne. With me by his side, my teacher sought out and met Browne. He told him something I didn't understand at the time; he said, "Jackson, you wrote my life, man." (1976)

My brother and I were at the batting cages one day when there was someone there handing out passes to a pre-release screening of a baseball movie. We said "hell, yeah" and took the passes. After the movie (which turned out to be "The Natural&quot , we ran into Penny Marshall in the parking lot and went to her to say hi. She was really nice. She said "What did ya think of the sco-ah?" (score - her New York accent really is that thick.) I almost said "It was 3-2, they won," but before I opened my stupid mouth I realized she was talking about the music. (1984? -5?)

[RFKHumphreyObama]

62. Well, on my last trip to the US, I met Russell Feingold

So that's probably the most famous person I've met that the predominantly American audience here would recognize. I've also met R.T Rybak -the former Mayor of Minneapolis -but he's probably not known much outside of Minnesota (he's a really nice guy, though). I met John Dean, the former Nixon White House aide, when he came over to Australia as part of a Writer's Festival and he signed a book for me

In terms of Australian politics, I've met four former Prime Ministers, a few former Opposition Leaders and two former state Premiers (the Australian equivalent of Governors)

[EX500rider]

65. Claude Colbert & Rex Harrison

Circa 1979 (at a play, "The Kingfisher" i think?)

Backstage at the Washington National Theater in DC

I was 17ish, she invited me to visit her on her Caribbean island! lol

My gf was the daughter of the producer so we got real face time.

[CitizenLeft]

66. Gene Simmons

...at an after party when Kiss played the Coliseum in... I think it was 1979. I was 19, and invited 2 friends to go with me. I got passes because I worked for the (then) famous record store at the time (this would be the Richfield Coliseum, not LA ). It was in a suite at what is now the Ritz, I think. Anyway, we went in, and there were women everywhere (all clothed, LOL). The record company rec, who gave me the passes, called Simmons out from the bedroom where he was lounging with some young ladies, and introduced him to us. Simmons shook our hands, and when he took mine, he leaned in and... licked my face.

I swear.

From working in that record store, I met Walt Frazier when he played for the Cavaliers at that time, and all the other Cavs on those teams when they shopped at Randal Mall (now nearly empty and abandoned Also met Eddie O'Jay and other musicians, but they weren't as well known. Patrick Ewing wandered in there too, along with a number of the Browns.

Shook Charleton Heston's hand when he did the book tour rounds at the Waldenbooks at the mall. Didn't know anything about his politics at the time. Wouldn't have shaken his hand if I had. Hell, wouldn't have gone down there if I had.

Also met Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, a slew of other basketball players (nope, not a groupie, just a big hoops fan back in the day ). Visiting and local athletes used to hang out at a club I used to frequent with friends.

Dennis Kucinich visited our school when I was 9 and he was a councilman, about a decade before he became mayor of Cleveland (he was only 23!). I drew his picture while he spoke to us in the library, and after his speech/presentation, he signed it. Damned if I can't find it now.

My friend and I got hit on by Clifton Davis while at a red light, right in front of that same Ritz hotel 20 years later. I swear!

[Fridays Child]

67. Warren G. Harding

Just kidding! But my dad met him.

When my father was a child, he and his parents accompanied President Harding on his fateful Alaska trip.

[monmouth3]

68. Al Pacino, 1953, my 13th birthday...

[greendog]

69. Bill Monroe

The backstage door was open so we went on in and met Bill and Kenny Baker.

[callous taoboy]

70. Hung out with Ken Kesey and Hunter S. Thompson at Kesey's house one night.

Long story, but I got to ride on "Further" out to Kesey's place in Pleasant Hill, Oregon with Dr. Thompson and some Merry Pranksters. We sat around Kesey's kitchen table as he told stories until the wee hours. This was during the first Gulf War and Thompson was in fine form. He kept passing me shots of Wild Turkey.

Met David Byrne backstage in Austin because my girlfriend's cousin was playing violin in his band.

Saw George Goble drunk off his ass at a friend's house party in my home town after he had made an appearance.

[spiderpig]

71. A bunch, because I spent 16 years working at airports

Brad Pitt (back in his dreamy Legends of the Fall days)

Alec Guinness (in London. There'd been a TV doc the previous night and I told him how much I enjoyed it. He responded "Ah yes - I understand my dogs came of rather well." Loved him.)

Kevin McCarthy (original Invasion of the Body Snatchers guy - loved him)

Charlton Heston - twice (I know, but he was actually quite handsome in real life & nice to me)

LaToya Jackson (no comment)

Bryan Brown (Aussie actor from Thorn Birds, etc.) - tanned & dress in all tan.

A lot more of varying degrees of fame. Maybe we should start a subthread of celebs we've met who were bungholes. (None of the above)

[Blue_In_AK]

72. Jerry Garcia, probably the most famous.

If you don't count Sarah Palin, who I included in the "infamous" thread.

I worked with John Glenn's son David and went on one date with him, but he was kind of grabby, and the night didn't end well. I tutored and was friends with NBA hall of famer Elvin Hayes when I was in college at U of Houston.

Shannyn Moore, who sometimes appears on MSNBC, Jeanne Devon and Linda Kellen-Beagle of The Mudflats blog are all personal friends of mine, but I'm not sure if they're famous outside the state. Senators Mark Begich and Lisa Murkowski.

[AsahinaKimi]

73. I have met a bunch...

Showbusiness: James MacArthur from Hawaii 5-0 fame, Michael Douglas, John Cleese, Jonathan Winters, Gene Roddenberry, James Doohan, Olivia Newton John, Jeff Bridges, Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Jackson, Bob Eubanks (Game show host/Host of the Rose Parade)
Others I had met over the phone at an answering service in Southern California ..but I do not recall all of them.


Sports: Jeff Barnes (LB for Oakland Raiders) Steve Young, Joe Montana, Wayne Gretzky, Steve Kariya (Vancouver Canucks), Willy Mays,
Joan Marie Laurer (AKA Chyna) Gary Plummer (49ers) Dwight Clark (49ers) Rich Gannon (Oakland Raiders) Tim Salmon (CA Angels)



Politicians: Jerry Brown, Gavin Newsom, Fiona Ma (SF City Supervisor)

[Rhythm]

75. Presidents Clinton and Reagan, a whole slop-load of rockstars...

Had lunch with Ice-T in Hollywood once...

[MuseRider]

76. Dave Brubeck, Itzhak Perlman

played with those two.

Joni Mitchell, Bela Fleck and all of the Flecktones, tons of jazz musicians including Bobby Watson who we see several times a year and know fairly well. (he taught both of our sons)

Was walking around the corner, drunk as could be and walked right into Ziggy Stardust. It was at a hotel in KC where he was playing. We had no idea he was even in town. I was too far gone to even talk to him I just excused myself and walked on.

Opera singers, Andre Watts there are too many to name or even remember I would need to look back at programs. Met a bunch of composers, Kirke Mecham for one.

John Edwards, now there is one to be proud of. Wesley Clark.

Martina Navratilova and Billy Jean King.

The best was actually Martin Sheen and Patty Duke. They were working on a made for TV movie and filming about a 1/2 block away right next to the barn and pasture my horses were in. I walked for a while with Patty Duke, she was very nice. Martin Sheen came over to my then little boys and got down on his knees and shook their hands. I told them that this was Emilio's daddy (The Mighty Ducks was their favorite movie at the time) and he was just so sweet talking about being Emilio's daddy. What a very kind man.

For someone who lives in Podunk, Kansas I have met a lot of famous people. It pays to be a musician

EDIT how could I forget, when at Camp Casey with Cindy Sheehan I met and spent a little time with Medea Benjamin and got to talk to Joan Baez. She played a free concert for us. Also Ann Wright ( what an incredible and lovely woman) also me Ed Shultz there, Anderson Cooper (and the famous hole in the pants scene). My mind just can't hold it all anymore. A long life well lived and exceptionally lucky.

EDIT again, how could I forget. We had Dan Choi here for Pride several years ago. He came up and we had a big rally in Topeka. I live right outside of Topeka in a small farm community and he spent the night at my house. What a wonderful and very young man he is. You often forget how young some of these activists are. He was so sweet and kind, we sat up after he took a nap and watched a documentary about Daniel Ellseberg. The next morning he went out on my little paddle boat and just sat in the pond and tooled around. He loved it here. I hope he comes back someday. A wonderful young man, very brave and courageous.

[Purrfessor]

77. Meadowlark Lemon hit me in the

head with a basketball during a Harlem Globetrotters' game in 1969. And my daughter (10 years old at the time) and I walked a couple holes with Samuel L. Jackson at the AT&T National Pro-Am during a practice round at Spyglass Hill G. C. He walked with us outside the gallery ropes just to talk to her, which was really nice of him.

[Autumn]

79. Hunter S Thompson, Jack Nicholson,

Obama, John Schneider, Robert Wagner, Andy Mills and a few others.

[GReedDiamond]

81. Not sure who is the "most famous"...

...some are really famous, and most are famous in their own worlds, but they include:

Leonardo DiCaprio (first time I met Leo, he was around 4 y.o. His 1st publicity photos, a few years later, were shot by my girlfriend in our art studio.)
Val Kilmer (when I met him, he was "in character" as Jim Morrison for the Oliver Stone movie.)
Dr. Timothy Leary (I worked on a Leary underground comic book called NEUROCOMICS, published by Last Gasp, 1979.)
Jack Herer (used to hang out with Jack on occasion when he was writing the "Emperor..." book.)
Arturo Schwarz (Marcel Duchamp Biographer, rode in a taxi and ate dinner with him.)
Stephen Jay Gould (built a web site for a Harvard U Symposium he and his wife, Rhonda Roland Shearer, did on Duchamp.)
Star Jones (I was on an episode of Jones & Jury, around 1994 - I won.)

Music related:
Peter Ivers (my band, B.A. & The Traitors, appeared on his Los Angeles based seminal punk music teevee show, "New Wave Theater" in 1980 or 81, we also jammed with him, he was a great blues harp player - RIP Peter.)
Ron Jeremy (Ron introduced my band - Marshall O Boy & The Well Hungarians - at a live performance.)
Rodney Bingenheimer (he used to play my records on KROQ in L.A.)
Madonna (I did costume graphics for her live tours, 1984, 2001.)
Don Preston (Zappa's Mothers & The Grandmothers - Don played on a cut on one of my records.)
Dewey Martin (Drummer, Buffalo Springfield, used to be in a band with the late Dewey, circa 1979, I own his Camco drums from the Springfield days.)
Jim Fielder (founding member of Blood Sweat & Tears, also played with B Springfield and Zappa's Mothers - I recorded with Jim for a Band called Scott Thomas Lowe & Atascadero, the 1st band I was ever in, Dewey Martin was in Atascadero, too.)
Wild Man Fischer (look him up.)

Not to mention:
Exene Cervenka
Top Jimmy
Henry Rollins & the rest of Black Flag, circa early 80s
D. Boon, Mike Watt & George Hurley aka The Minutemen
Danny Elfman & Sam "Sluggo" Phipps of Oingo Boingo (Sam played on the same tune as Don Preston, above.)
Darby Crash & Don Bolles of GERMS

Visual Artists I've met:
Mark Ryden
Robert Williams
Frank Romero
Don Ed Hardy (I printed several editions of signed/numbered official Hardy giclee fine art prints.)
Andy Warhol (Andy drew a soup can and signed/dated the first page of my sketchbook, on my first day in Art School, Chicago, 1974.)
Stanisław Szukalski (You really should check out his wikipedia link)
George Barris (yes, I consider a car customizer to be an artist.)

And tomorrow, I will be meeting:
Cheech Marin

[tabbycat31]

85. Joe Biden

Unless you count shaking President Obama's hand

[RebelOne]

86. Many because I lived and worked in Miami.

But the most memorable was Anthony Quinn. I am 74 and old now, but when I was young and beautiful at one time. I worked for a big land company on Biscayne Blvd. in Miami. I was on the elevator and who should get on but Anthony Quinn. I told him how much I loved his movies. Well, he and the owner of the land company were friends. My roommate was also the owner's girlfriend.

Later, that day she told me that Quinn would like to take me out. But he also wanted an all-night session. I said no thanks. I was never that star struck.

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

87. Admiral Dan Gallery

From wiki:

...
On the next cruise of TG 22.3, Captain Gallery took the unusual step of forming boarding parties, in case of another chance to capture a U-boat arose. On June 4, 1944, the task group crossed paths with U-505 off the coast of Africa.[4] U-505 was spotted running on the surface by two F4F Wildcat fighters from Guadalcanal. Her captain, Oberleutnant Harald Lange, dived the boat to avoid the fighters. But they could see the submerged submarine and vectored destroyers onto her track. The experienced antisubmarine warfare team laid down patterns of depth charges that shook U-505 up badly, popping relief valves and breaking gaskets, resulting in water sprays in her engine room. Based on reports from the engine room, the captain believed his boat to be heavily damaged and ordered the crew to abandon ship, which was done so hastily that full scuttling measures were not completed.


Captain Gallery's boarding party from the destroyer escort USS Pillsbury was ordered to board the foundering submarine and if possible capture her. The destroyers in range used their .50 caliber and 20 mm antiaircraft guns to chase the Germans off the vessel so the boarding party could get onto her. They replaced the cover of the sea strainer, thus keeping the U-boat from sinking immediately. The boarders retrieved the submarine's Enigma coding machine and current code books. (This was a primary goal of the mission because it would enable the codebreakers in Tenth Fleet to read German signals immediately, without having to break the codes first). They got her under control, making U-505 the first foreign man-of-war captured in battle on the high seas by the U.S. Navy since the War of 1812.

This incident was the last time that the order "Away All Boarders!" was given by a U.S. Navy captain. Lieutenant Albert David, who led the boarding party, received the Medal of Honor for his courage in boarding a foundering submarine that presumably had scuttling charges set to explode – the only Medal of Honor awarded in the Atlantic Fleet during World War II. Task Group 22.3 was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation and Captain Gallery received the Distinguished Service Medal for capturing U-505.

He also received a blistering dressing-down from Admiral Ernest J. King, Chief of Naval Operations.[5] King pointed out that unless U-505's capture could be kept an absolute secret, the Germans would change their codes and change out the cipher wheels in the Enigma. Gallery managed to impress his crews with the vital importance of maintaining silence on the best sea story any of them would ever see. His success made the difference between his getting a medal or getting a court-martial. (It is interesting that two noted naval historians, Samuel Eliot Morison and Clay Blair, Jr. are on opposite sides of Gallery's case.) After the war, Admiral King personally approved the award of the Presidential Unit Citation to Task Group 22.3 for the capture of the U-boat.[6]

Toward the end of World War II Captain Gallery was given command of the aircraft carrier USS Hancock.

[cemaphonic]

88. Dale Chihuly

At a mall, buying videogames.

I used to run into Dan Savage on a fairly regular basis.

[Broken_Hero]

90. Dale Ellis,

at the time he was a Seattle SuperSonic. I was working at a local grocery and I was looking at my hands and I say paper/or plastic, dude says plastic, and I load his groceries. When I'm done bagging his groceries I hand him the bag and I look up and I'm staring at some dudes chest, and I'm tall I'm 6'3 and I'm looking at some dudes chest....I look further up and there is Dale Ellis, and I hand him his piddle ass bag of groceries, and I feebly ask him for his autograph on a paper sack and he does so...

[Jenoch]

92. When I was 15, I was fortunate enough to attend a banquet in Washington D.C.

Last edited Mon Oct 14, 2013, 08:14 PM - Edit history (1)

with my family that was held in the same senate hearing room where both the Watergate Hearings and the Army-McCarthy Hearings were held. It was an event honoring elected officials and judicial officials from Minnesota.

I met and had my photo taken with Vice-president Walter Mondale, Vice-president and Minnesota Senator Hubert Humphrey. I also met all of the Minnesota U.S. House members and the other senator (Wendy Anderson if anybody remembers him). Last, but not least, I met the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, Warren Burger, and USSC member Harry Blackmun. Both justices were from Minnesota.

I have a photo bomb of my mother waving in the background while a took a photo of Vice-president Mondale.

Edit: I almost forgot, we met Senator Kennedy on the steps of the Capitol the next day. Our tour guide was our U.S. Rep, Rick Nolan who after being out of congress for 32 years was re-elected last year. (That's the longest gap ever in the history of congress.)

The same year I met Bronko Nagurski.

This should have probably been posted on the infamous thread, but I once met Jesse Ventura, what a prick.

[MNBrewer]

93. Former President Jimmy Carter.

[joeybee12]

94. Lauren Bacall...

No, she's not tall...I assumed she would be...she always appeared so tall and leggy in the movies.

[LiberalEsto]

95. Jerry Garcia, Pig Pen, Phil Lesh

Roy Rogers

a couple of NJ governors from the 1980s


Will Pitt

[tavernier]

96. All the Dems...

I was a party delegate on several occasions and attended lots of conventions and speeches. Of them all (including Obama) I was most impressed by John Lewis, a stunning speaker... Had us all laughing, crying and cheering.

Celebrities: Alan Rickman, Daniel Radcliffe, Fiona Shaw and the late Richard Griffiths (Harry Potter's parents in the films), Judi Dench, Tom Jones, and a bunch I've forgotten.

[AllenVanAllen]

98. Special effects wizard

Ray Harryhausen




Back in 97' at a model kit convention. He was a nice guy and on of my childhood heroes.

[riverwalker]

99. was on a plane once

from Bozeman MT to Denver. Half asleep, but two people, each traveling alone, were behind me recognized each other, and asked people to change seats so they could talk. I knew I had seen their faces before, news and political junkie that I am, (who are they? I know who they are, damn it!) They sat behind me and talked of the most fascinating subjects, Iraq War, Afghanistan, ("when I was in Kabul...&quot things you don't normally hear people discuss. and one had a distinct accent. My ears were bleeding from the stain of eavesdropping...."Why are you here? My family has a ranch....&quot
Am not certain, but to this day I think it was Samantha Power and Christopher Hitchen.

[Lil Missy]

101. Bernie Sanders, Paul Begala, Rachel Maddow, Bill Maher

[Shampoobra]

103. Rick Santorum

I had a summer place next door to Rick's in the Pocono Mountains a few years back. I avoided him at first, because I was torn between my desire to be a good neighbor, and my desire to tell him what I thought of him.

One day he flagged me down as I pulled into my driveway, and I was stuck talking to him. He introduced himself, and I was surprised at what a friendly, easygoing guy he is when he's not on stage.

He invited me to a party he was having that night, and I was still trying to be neighborly, so I didn't immediately refuse.

"I have to warn you, though," Rick said. "There will be a lot of booze, and that usually ends in a lot of fighting."

I said I thought I could handle myself in a fight. I didn't want Rick to think I was less of a man than he.

"Oh," he added, "and there's usually some sex at these things, too. I hope that's not too offensive for you."

I told him it definitely sounded interesting, and asked him what I should wear.

"It won't really matter what you wear," he said. "It's just going to be the two of us."

[annonymous]

104. Oprah Winfrey

I met her when she was doing local TV in Baltimore in 1980.