Best: Seeing Jensen Ackles at the Seattle airport on Christmas Day 2008. Didn't approach him since I looked like shit, had a cold, and I didn't want to bother him. Looks even better in real life.
Worst: The governor of New Hampshire and her entourage almost ran me over at a military funeral last Fourth of July. Bitch can't walk 6 inches to the left? And that hair color looks ridiculous.
BEST: Aside from Aaron Paul and Dean Norris? ;) My friend and I were driving down Sunset a few years ago and saw on the marquee that Maz Jobrani just happened to be there. My friend is from Iran and was like, oh we are so GOING. It was essentially just us two and a table upfront of two fish-out-of-water families celebrating an engagement. Bobby Lee and Maz put on great acts. Then out of nowhere, Dave Attell rolled in and did an impromptu performance to practice for an upcoming tour. His set was great but the engagement party did not enjoy his brand of humor. For example, Dave asked the future groom if his fiancée got a nice bikini wax to celebrate the occasion. After he got no response, Dave went on about how the Brazilian is a myth: "I have never seen one because I am always the guy who shows up weeks later, when whoever the lady originally got it done for didn't work out...and her pussy looks rough, like it's been up all night cracking a murder case..."
My friend and I were in the back drinking margaritas and crying from laughter. Dave was so hysterical and just got a shit crowd. He was having a really rough time but handled it so gracefully. After his set, Dave came up to us and actually thanked us for laughing (!?) and said we saved his unfortunate gig and made his day. We were like, "are you kidding, you're the fucking MAN!" He insisted on buying us our next round and we hung out with Dave and Maz for a bit. Stand up comedians make such fine company. That was such an awesome day.
The only reason I can understand Dean getting the shaft is that his character is so much like him IRL. When you meet Dean, it's like you're talking to Hank. The same cannot be said for Aaron Paul. Dean was actually the only main character that did not have to audition for BrBa. He was close with Vince, who wrote Hank with Dean in mind. Dean was very sweet, like a big burly teddy bear in a leather jacket! But yes, he deserved nominations in the very least. Hank may be similar to him but that was one hell of a role to play for so long.
Makes some sense. But to make a confession...Hubs and I (at times) watch the tube "baked" and you know how you (maybe not yourself) can "see through" peoples acting and such. I, having worked behind the scenes am always noticing lighting and how fake it looks (when I'm baked) but anyhow, I vividly remember watching him and thinking/saying to hubs "wow...man (in my Chong voice...lol)..I can't see his acting at all. This is crazy." And not baked just thinking "DAMN, that guys is so crazy talented". But now that you say this...maybe that's why. Still though...highway robbery!
I'm sad about Merriman. I know when he was playing for Buffalo, he had a hard time renting in the "nice" area because his reputation proceeded him.
As for Chargers, Leslie O'Neal is a piece of work. We went back east in the 90s to watch the Chargers play the Patriots and stayed in the team hotel. The morning of the game we watched the team load on to the bus to go to the stadium. Leslie instead took a limo by himself. Maybe it was his pre-game ritual, but seemed like he was just not a team guy.
Gena Rowlands saying in that deep voice... "Thank you" after my Mother told her she admired her work at the old Wyndham hotel in NYC. I also saw Loretta Switt there and she smiled at me. Doug and Julie from Days of Our Lives stayed there too. He was sweet to me, I don't think she liked it.
Katie Couric was an absolute sweetheart and she talked to me like I was her bff.
Chris Kattan turned his back on me when I stared at him outside Rockefeller Center. Jerk.
My professional circumstances had me sitting listening Sandler talk a lot and the only person I heard him say he didn't like was Kattan. Not sure the reason just heard him say that.
I met Ty Pennington briefly outside a bar. I was introduced to him by Michael Maloney and some of the other crew from extreme home makeover. I was in college and had ran into them all in a bar their first night in town and ended up partying with them all week. He looked really rough like a long time smoker who lived in the sun. Also met Theo from the real world (road rules?). He was nice but I wasnt really trying to talk to him. Macaulay Culkin keep popping up in town and I keep missing him.
Saw penninhton in person when they were making over house near me. Hes short, was surronded by bodyguards like 2 feet taller than him, and didnt talk to anyone. Looked stoned. I was annoyed because all mr liddy and i were interested in was the house snd how it was buily- hugely over improved for area- and not some penningtons groupies!!!! So he cld relax with his gaggle of body guards; no one was interested in him!
Best: Aside from working with Sandler on several films. A lot of his circle friends were nice. But Kevin Nealon was exceptionally sweet and fun to hang out with. Worst: Rob Schneider was not mean to me per se. He was just an insufferable ass with a severe Napoleon complex. I always found myself rolling my eyes (after I walked away) thinking what a coat-riding douche that guy is. I was lucky that I never had to get sh*t on by or treated really badly by celebs (my time in "the biz" was only 5+ years) but I worked with plenty of people who had some horrible stories. No surprise that Tommy Lee Jones is abusively mean and so is William Shatner (I've heard). "Favorite encounter"? Dabney Coleman smiled at me walking by me on the lot. Made my whole f'n year. Love him!!
Don't forget Cloak & Dagger! Wee 7 loved that movie! Dabney Coleman is awesome and I just saw that he's on Homeland, the show I'm starting after Bones is done.
Funny sidenote. The Dabney part was like 2001 and I was so giddy like a little girl (at age 31) and when I got back to my office, I was squeeling to my coworkers who most were a bit younger than me and they were like..."who's that?" and I'm like "shut up!"
Yeah I know...seems pretty obvious...but additionally David Spade is very short too but surprisingly very confident and semi-nice. He has the charm that Rob does not. But Rob is clueless.
I knew Dabney Coleman years ago in Los Angeles. He is as nasty has the characters he portrayed. I met Madonna and Stallone.Came home and wanted to shower. They were disgusting. Did enjoying working with Speilberg, Richard Dreyfus, Henry Winkler.
@Morticia Noooooo! you are killing it. I had a feeling that he would be a dick so that smile just left me with a "don't-want-to-know the-truth" feeling. I was never really star struck before I worked in the biz cuz mom knew famous athletes and such but let me tell you working in it will quickly kill anyones desire to want to meet anyone they admire. It's just better left alone in your head as a sweet dream!
I have heard that Oprah is a fake ass bitch too Pink. She's an odd woman.
Best: Pam Dawber and Polly Draper..Did a movie with Pam and she was very sweet. Polly Draper told me she was flattered when I said people said I looked like her.
I don't have a worst..I don't typically run into celebs or approach if I see them..Although, my ex had an awesome encounter with Keith Richards. We were watching Mick Taylor in NYC and as he was in the Stones, Keith offered his support and Zilla so was peeing his pants wanting to talk to him. I told him don't bother him please..So my ex phoned his friend because he was about to bust and right then Keith walks past him. He said, "Hey Keith, say hi to my friend Steve"..Keith took the phone and said "'Ello Steve? I'm not 'ere!"..Hilarious.
Watt's a total sweetheart--I took a photo of him back in the late '80s that made it onto the back of fIRHOSE's fROMOHIO album...with someone else's name attached, alas. Yes, I called up SST Records to tell them about it and sent them a copy of the ocntact sheet, and they said they'd fix it on the second pressing, but apparently there wasn't one...
@Karen- Huey was def an ass in 1984 when I was 15. Maybe he's nicer now?
@Dena- I met Simon a couple of years ago, and turned back into a 15 year old. I was expecting him to be rude because he is often snarky on Twitter, but he was a teddy bear. He gave me a big hug and happily posed for pics. On the other hand, I thought John Taylor would be nice, but he was pissy. I didn't bother to ask for a pic with him. I had tweeted back and forth with both Simon and John before I met them, and I was surprised that they were so different in person. Also, I had a nice conversation with Roger Taylor. He's as nice as he appears (and has aged very well)!
Circa the 1970s - my dad is out of town at some conference. He's at the airport catching his plane back home. He's standing at a pay phone at the telephone banks in the concourse (remember them?). He's talking to my mother, letting her know he's getting ready to board the plane.
He looks around and there's Bob Hope walking through the concourse. My dad yells, "Hey Bob!". Which is exactly the sort of thing my dad would do. Hope strolls over and my father says, "say hello to my wife". So Hope takes the receiver and says hello. My mother says "Hello, Mr. Hope. What are you doing?" To which Hope says, "Oh, I'm just walking through the airport playing the phone booths".
Bob Hope was friends with the Spanos family who own the SD chargers. We were at the game once when he was there. Our seats were on the same level as the owners box, so after the game we had to wait for the elevator to go down. Bob and his entourage walked by, and my husband yelled "Thx for the memories Bob". He smiled and then started singing. It was very sweet. He looked awful - red rimmed eyes, etc, but seemed sharp.
Best: Jon Bon Jovi - First famous person I ever saw- I was 14 and at a state competition with school. We rode an elevator together, he and two chicks, one on each arm. He later came downstairs where a bunch of us were hanging out and played the baby grand piano that was in the hotel lounge. Very cool for a teen in the early 90's!!
I physically ran into Elvis Costello once - I was walking around outside during my lunch hour and he stepped out of his hotel onto the sidewalk and bam! Pretty surprising. Unfortunately it was the scruffy 1990's Elvis Costello, but still cool to see him.
@Brenda L- I am looking at a Foo Fighters Catering Rider from 2008. Those fuckers are hilarious. It's basically filled with lines like these: "Every lunch should include a Soup of the Day. Please try to make it a vegetarian selection. Meaty soups make roadies fart..." "Please have signs visibly posted from crew entrance to catering prior to our arrival. Fat roadies have to eat immediately so they can begin their arduous 70-90 minute workday!!!!!!!!"
Me either, Colleen. The closest I ever got was probably in the early 1990s. I was in LA on a business trip and we were walking down Rodeo Drive. Here comes David McCallum approaching. This was the guy who just may have been my first crush during his Man From Uncle days, and all I could only think to myself - "he is sooooo short!". Ah, shattered dreams.
Oh I have a good story of Tom Cruise not being nice. My friend had a meeting with Tom's production company back in the early 2000's to work with them on an upcoming film. My friend got stuck in traffic, typical of LA, he should have been more prepared and known better. Alas he wasn't and was a few minutes, which from what I understand was like 5 minutes, late to the meeting. So they have their meeting, everything seems to be going great. They get a call back to meet for a second time. So they set up the meeting. Tom is now running late, so his assistant or whoever comes in and tells them he is running late. This apparently happened like two or three more times, I can't remember, but they are sitting there for hours now waiting for Tom. Last time, he calls in, and asks to be put on speaker phone. He then proceeds to tell them something along the lines of "Now you know how it is to wait" and that they didn't get the job. I don't know why but I love this story.
I think it's hilarious. It's not even my story and I just love telling it. Just goes to show the ego of this man. I think he likes it when people talk about it, to show others who is in control and not to F*** with Tom Cruise. This was pre breakdown/Katie Holmes as well, would be interesting to see if he would still go to this length to make a point.
I was a teacher and one of my former students became a porn actress and was on the cover of Hustler. I also saw her on Howard Stern and that's when I learned what she did. She was a sweet and beautiful girl.
Best: Bill Nye the Science Guy, outside a Mariners game. He was a sweetheart.
Honorable Mention: Bill Clinton, who remembered me after meeting him for only a quick handshake. It helped that I am a Monica Lewinsky type physically :-)
Worst: Andre Agassi. I sat in his box at a tournament, and he didn't come by to say hello.
When I was young my mom used to run the deli at some 7-11's in Salt Lake. My favorite one to visit was across from liberty park. I was probably around 5, minding my business getting a slurpee. I heard some guys talking and looked over to see some players from the utah Jazz. John Stockton and Carl Malone were right next to me getting drinks. I totally dropped my slurpee and looked up in awe. John Stockton laughed and tried to help me clean up, and poured me a new one. They all signed a napkin for me and just were nice. I guess they practiced around there because they came in a few more times. I had signed cards and stuff they gave them. They were some cool dudes. Greg ostretch who played for them had a baby the same day as my sisters were born. I had talked to him in the elevator, and mentioned they were in the nicu and 9 weeks premature. He sent them flowers and would ask whenever I saw him. Made me think highly of the team as a whole. My dad also was a doorman at the Hilton, and would bring me to meet various rockstars. Pretty sure my dads job was to get them the hook up haha. Back then I was like wow all these cool people like my dad, weird?! Also hung out with Adam west a few times and he got me into comic books. When I was 16 I met the guys that would be in jackass before they were in jackass. It was when the x games were just starting to be a thing, and they used to go on tour. They were all funny and cool. My bf wasn't feeling hanging out with them because he was crazy jealous. But we did go watch. I remember seeing and talking Shaun white when he was like 12 lol. I was like damn that kids 12? I've seen other celebs but I like to give them their space. The guys from cage the elephant were standing next to me at muse, I just creepily took a picture and gave the thumbs up. Pretty sure they wanted to watch muse also. Dave grohl waved at me and screamed "oh my gawd" back at me haha. I was like oh em gee, I think I'm gonna have this baby now! Because I was totally 8 and a half months pregnant. That's like a novel.. Sorry. I haven't had any bad run ins. I usually will just smile and nod or talk about normal stuff, and not ask for an autograph or picture.
I was at the Atlanta airport between flights and went to find a quiet area to use the pay phone. I was holding my 9 month old son on one side and my purse and extra bag on the other, when I am making a call to a friend I look straight ahead and who is sitting right there with his wife all by themselves?, yep Robrt Goulet! I tell my friend, "oh my gosh I think I'm looking at Robert Goulet right now", I looked at the flight schedule and it was a flight that was heading for Las Vegas, so I knew, yes that's him. At that point he stands up and walks towards me, comes over and puts his arms put to hold my little boy for a minute so I wouldn't have to carry so much!! He didn't say much, just "hello" and a smile, but I thought that was the nicest thing ever. I never would have approached him, as I wouldn't like to bother their private time, but he came to me, I'm not sure if he knew that I recognized him or not. What a nice man. I was surprised at how much shorter he is in person.
Barbara Bain - Cinnamon from Mission Impossible. I escorted her to a biker party on the Fourth of July.... the epitome of random and awesome. I was a wee Guido but well behaved.
Gina G, if you ever want an escort to a biker party.....
Worst is Morely Safer. His highness bumped in to me. On the streets of NYC and proceeded to bitch my friends and I for being in his way.
A very hung over Billy Idol was awfully nice.... he wore a hand woven poncho in earth tones... dude apparently doesn't wear black leather 24/7 as I imagined he would.
My best would have to be Mark Hoppus & Tom DeLonge from blink-182. My brother-in-law was Mark's driver and when the tour came thru town he arranged for a private meet & greet prior to the show. We hung out on Mark's bus for awhile and he signed one of the band's older posters for me. Tom, who is worshipped by my nephew, hung out with nephew and talked to him about the band's history.
@Jessi, what a horrible story! I actually like Tom Cruise but that's a douche move all the way around. He sounds like the a*hole agent he played in Tropic Thunder!
I forgot another one. I'm friends with a pretty famous writer who has had more than one of his books turned into movies. He's awesome and I've sat in some conference calls (none were interesting, they really do just talk about the production).
My best friend from college is married to a guy who is related to Tom Clancy. Tom Clancy is not nice - he's like the character Peter Dinklage plays in Elf.
I've seen a number of celebrities but never had an encounter. I was on holiday on an island with my parents when I was a teenager and Eric Bana was staying there with his fam. They seemed pretty relaxed. And then I walked past him years later on the harbour bridge.
Good to know about Bono. I was given a pass to meet him before a U2 concert, but ended up not going backstage because I was with my best friend who was the biggest Bono fan ever. I decided it would have been rude of me to meet him without her. I was only allowed one pass, and they checked your ID. Otherwise, I would have just given it to her.
Saw Sinead O'Connor out shopping,she is tiny and very pretty-this was about 12 years ago. Also Bono-tiny and not so pretty. Got chatted up by singer of a band called Del Amitri,don't think they were famous in USA but yuuuuck
Forgot this...not my story...(mid-90's) my parents where in NYC going to Broadway shows...(one Matthew Broderick was in) they were leaving and looked down the alleyway...saw everyone huddled by back door...got kinda close...saw Matthew and Sarah JP come out and get on a scooter together but they stopped and were so nice to everyone. Signed autographs, took pics etc. with no one around other than fans (like no paps etc)
My niece was dating Linda Evangelista's nephew. They were invited to a very small get together where Bryan Adams was celebrating the release of his latest CD. My niece wanted to ask if he'd sign a copy of it for her as a memento of the up until then wonderful night they'd had. Evangelista apparently bitched her out that "he wasn't there to sign autographs". She was mortified.
Nicest person I ever met was Reuben "Hurricane" Carter at a corporate event we'd hired him for. He was probably the kindest, most gentle man I'd ever met, who took a genuine interest in talking and listening to me. I didn't really know his story and years later really regretted that I was so uninformed. I would have loved to have been able to ask him more about his life.
Best encounter Steve Vai back when he was the guitar player for Frank Zappa. My best friend caught Steve's eye when they were onstage and so after the show Zappa wanted to go to a local club to hangout. I pulled my Volkswagon Dasher around to the backstage area and Steve and Ray White (also a Zappa guitar player) hopped in with me driving and my bff Rachel.
We were driving to this dinky jazz club and I was low on gas. The guys were hungry so we pulled in to a 7-11 and Steve paid for and pumped the gas while Ray and Rachel went in and got 7-11 burritos (seriously). We then proceeded to Bianca's Jazz Club (back then clubs were members only because it was liquor by the drink down south y'all.
Steve, Rachel and I end up sitting at a 4- top at the table next to Frank. Rachel was an insane Zappa fan mind you. There were maybe 25-30 people in the whole club including the waitstaff and band that had played. Eventually someone asked Frank if they'd want to jam a bit. Zappa's while band got up and jammed for over an hour in front of a handful of people. It was mind boggling.
Steve kept in touch with us (even wrote me once after I had written him). Rachel went out to L.A. And lived with him awhile and got to sit in on some Zappa recordings. Steve always got us passes when they came to town (when Rachel was back in town). Last times I saw him was in Dallas @ the Eric Clapton Crossroads festival around 2003 and again in Austin back in about 2004. The dude is an amazing freaking guitar player that's for sure and he was a 100% cool guy back in the day.
Honorable mention was hanging out with Motley Crüe when they got snowed in in Denver and taking them out to the local strip club (one of my good friends used to date Tommy Lee back in L.A. And she was a stripper). Tommy Lee was super nice back then (Shout At The Devil tour) and even was polite to my ma on the phone when he called the house.
Nick Lowe was fun as well and had some good coke (it was the 80's).
Strangely all 3 of these groups took a ride in my VW Dasher. If that car could talk!
Agreed, this was a great thread!! My "worst" celebrity encounter - even though it was not a direct encounter - was Deidre Hall from Days of Our Lives. My aunt is good friends with a relatively important job on the show and she would often visit the set and watch them tape an episode. She brought me along one time. We were in a hallway at a random coffee station helping ourselves to caffeine & donuts when Deidre came STORMING out of her dressing room, her assistant in tow, screaming at the poor girl, "How the fuck do you not know who the photographer is for the photoshoot?!! Call and find out!" Now...true it probably was part of the assistant's job to know this but c'mon. It was probably for Soap Opera Digest. Does it really matter? It's not like she was being shot by Mario Testino or David LaChappelle. I just found it very unbecoming behavior.
This has been an amazing thread indeed. RobinTMP surely woman you have some stories?! Can't address everyone's story but they are all wonder. I would kill to meet Dave Grohl. I have met a lot of Rock bands too (ex was a musician and now a tour accountant for large, huge popular bands) that I'm too tired to remember now as well as actors (I was an actor on a much smaller scale than the ex). They all run together honestly. But your stories have been so fabulous. Thanks for sharing.
Yes, I agree that this was a great thread! I don't know if any of you know who EJ Peaker is (she had a variety show in the 60's and did a lot of random TV stuff back then like Love American Style and a couple of TV movies with Larry Hagman). Anyway, she was my mom's best friend in high school in the mid-late 50's.
They didn't see each other again until the late 70's when she came to visit us in SC a few times (and slept in my other twin bed). She was also a born-again Christian by that time. Well, in the early 80's, she asked my mom to meet her in Charlotte because they hadn't seen each other in a few years and EJ was going to be singing (and whatever else) on The PTL Club. My mom was a little hesitant to go because we are Jewish and belonged to an orthodox synagogue and I went to their Hebrew day school. She had just never been exposed to anything like that. Well, she went and while EJ was on stage, she mentioned my mom's full name and asked her to stand up in the audience so that the cameras could get a good shot of her. I think she even asked everyone to pray for her that she would find Jesus. I never saw the show, but I'm sure my mom turned ghostly white because she was HORRIFIED that somehow it would get around our tight-knit Jewish community that she was on The PTL Club. It did. What was weird is that a bunch of Jews saw her on the show. Not sure why they were watching it in the first place?! Mom was bombarded with questions about it when she got home. No one condemned her or was upset with her, but they were definitely curious about how she ended up there. It became a really funny story to tell.
EJ was always extremely nice, but my mom stopped taking her calls in the 90's. Even though my family was more culturally Jewish than religious, my mom got tired of EJ trying to convert her to Christianty. Mom told her she wasn't the least bit interested, but EJ never would give it up. I guess she was just trying to save my mom's soul, but my mom could no longer handle EJ pestering her about it. Oh well!
Pat Morita, Mr. Myagi. He lived at the Hawaiian Hilton Hotel when I was there several years ago. He and his wife were drinking mai tais' and they were funny and engaging.
Oh and Ron White... Had New Years dinner with him and non of us knew who he was at the time. I am sure he found it quite amusing. He was gracious and nothing like his persona.
Oh and Ron White... Had New Years dinner with him and non of us knew who he was at the time. I am sure he found it quite amusing. He was gracious and nothing like his persona.
Pat Morita, Mr. Myagi. He lived at the Hawaiian Hilton Hotel when I was there several years ago. He and his wife were drinking mai tais' and they were funny and engaging.
Back in the 80s, I worked in a public building that was often used (after closing) to film TV shows and movies. Sometimes, the film crew let us employees hang around to watch for a bit. Most of us were in our late teens, and it was really exciting just to watch a film crew up close.
On one shoot, Eddie Murphy was there. He saw us hanging out, smiling at him. He was a big star back then. He started screaming and cursing "who the f*** are those kids? tell them to gtfo, etc." We were devastated. Joe Piscopo came over and shook our hands and apologized for him.
This isn't my story, but I love it: my best friend was eleven at the time, at an airport. She saw James Earl Jones, so she went over and stood next to him. She said, "are you James Earl Jones?" And he said "Yep," in his deep voice. She said, "Okay, cool." Then went back to her family.
I worked for Disney in Florida as a hostess for awhile when I was 21. Celebrities sometime showed up. I sat Slash (I didn't know who he was), and now everyone asks if he was wearing a crazy hat. He was not. His wife got kinda snappy at me when I accidentally banged her chair with another chair while seating another family. I don't really blame her, but that's pretty much what I took away from the experience.
Also, one time, there were a couple of young guys working with me, and they were just giddy one day. Both football players in their school days. I had no idea why they were fighting over a ticket for seating someone. The host/hostess manager lady was very exasperated and at the time the ticket printed up, she gave it to me. So I go and seat this family, and they were all super polite and nice. I got back to the desk, and the guys are just like, "Do you know who you just sat!?" "Um, no?" "EMMITT SMITH." I was like, "who??" Lol! The manager was like, "and this is why I gave the ticket to her, you boneheads." :) (You are not supposed to treat celebrities differently in this type of scenario than any other guest, so she was playing safe).
Two best: One was backstage at KISS concert (with the new members playing Ace and Peter). Gene saw me doing my impression of his tongue trick and wanted a picture of the two of us. He got one of both of us just with our tongues out and another with me with mine out while he, in full costume and makeup did the Wayne's World "We're Not Worthy" kneeling pose.
But my favorite was when I was 13. I was sitting in my room playing my NES (yeah, this was years ago) when my Dad walked in and said, "Hey, get your shoes on I need you to go somewhere with me." Being 13 and obviously smarter than him and not going to be told what to do (Puberty makes us all egomaniacs, right?) I said no. "Come on, I really need you help with this so get ready and meet me at the car." Fine. I get my shoes on and then tell my Mom not to turn off my Nintendo (damn the days before saving games on the fly) and met him out at the car. We took off and he wouldn't tell me where we were going.
Finally we got to the convention center. "What are we doing here?" I asked him. "You'll see in a few minutes" he said. So we go in and he says to the ticket taker "Two please".
So we go in and they were having a baseball card convention. Cool. We both are into baseball cards, so I started looking through a dealers stuff and my Dad disappeared for a few minutes. When he came back he said "Come on, you need to see something."
So we go towards the back of the room and we get in a line. I couldn't see what the line was for but I figured if it was a line it would probably be worth it. After a few minutes, I thought I recognized a person at a table but I wasn't sure. Until...
We get to the front of the line and there he was, in all his splendor was my hero, my idol, the greatest defensive shortstop in the history of baseball. The one, the only, The Wizard of Ahhs, Ozzie Smith. I was speechless (and those of you that know me from here, that's something.) until my Dad broke the ice and said "Ozzie, you are this boys idol. You've been his favorite player for as long as he can remember." At that point he had signed my official MLB baseball and an 8X10 of his amazing barehanded catch from when he was playing for the Padres, he sat the Sharpie down (leaving a small dot when doing it) to shake my hand and my Dad's hand. People weren't allowed to go behind the table for pictures but for me, he came out in front of it and had them take a picture of my Dad, me and Ozzie Smith while letting me wear his 1982 World Series ring. I thanked him and then the people behind us didn't know there was an autograph fee the person putting it on charged and as we left, Ozzie took a $10 bill from his wallet and told the person putting on the show that their autographs were on him. So in that one day, my Dad made sure I met my favorite player of all time who treated me like gold, I also saw that not only was he a great baseball player he was an even better person. Still to this day t was my favorite day of my life. It also got me a great story to tell any of Dad's current or future grandchildren about the kind of man he is/was. He was wrong about one thing. Ozzie wasn't my idol. No, my Dad has and will always be my idol.
Oh and worst (but the funniest) I was at a WrestleMania where John Cena won his first WWE Title. My cousin is one of the biggest stars from the 80's and 90's so I was backstage. Cena was a dick (still is surprise surprise) and pointing to the WWE Title told my cousin that "You never got this, old man!" My cousin started laughing and slapped the taste out of his mouth and said, "That belt and about $4 will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks. Fifty years from now, you'll be a footnote to the book me and a lot of other legends wrote. Word Life, bitch!" (To the people that I've told the identity of my cousin, please don't mention his name, I have gotten so many messages from people trying to get me to give them his number which I will never do lol)
Best: Robin Williams and Sally Field at Disneyland. Both were amazing and obviously fond of each other.
ReplyDeleteWorst: William Hurt. Everything you've heard about him is true.
Best: Waynes Brother
ReplyDeleteWorst: None yet
Worst: Eva Mendes. Pee-yew!
ReplyDeleteBest: Seeing Jensen Ackles at the Seattle airport on Christmas Day 2008. Didn't approach him since I looked like shit, had a cold, and I didn't want to bother him. Looks even better in real life.
ReplyDeleteWorst: The governor of New Hampshire and her entourage almost ran me over at a military funeral last Fourth of July. Bitch can't walk 6 inches to the left? And that hair color looks ridiculous.
She is a treat. Such a different attitude from her predecessor (who, full disclosure, is a family friend and great guy).
DeleteBEST: Aside from Aaron Paul and Dean Norris? ;)
ReplyDeleteMy friend and I were driving down Sunset a few years ago and saw on the marquee that Maz Jobrani just happened to be there. My friend is from Iran and was like, oh we are so GOING. It was essentially just us two and a table upfront of two fish-out-of-water families celebrating an engagement. Bobby Lee and Maz put on great acts. Then out of nowhere, Dave Attell rolled in and did an impromptu performance to practice for an upcoming tour. His set was great but the engagement party did not enjoy his brand of humor. For example, Dave asked the future groom if his fiancée got a nice bikini wax to celebrate the occasion. After he got no response, Dave went on about how the Brazilian is a myth: "I have never seen one because I am always the guy who shows up weeks later, when whoever the lady originally got it done for didn't work out...and her pussy looks rough, like it's been up all night cracking a murder case..."
My friend and I were in the back drinking margaritas and crying from laughter. Dave was so hysterical and just got a shit crowd. He was having a really rough time but handled it so gracefully. After his set, Dave came up to us and actually thanked us for laughing (!?) and said we saved his unfortunate gig and made his day. We were like, "are you kidding, you're the fucking MAN!" He insisted on buying us our next round and we hung out with Dave and Maz for a bit. Stand up comedians make such fine company. That was such an awesome day.
WORST: Shawne Merriman
I love Maz Jobrani - he's great on Wait Wait, Don't tell Me.
Delete@LH I'm still really bitter about Dean not getting an Emmy (or even nominated for that matter) for BB. Just so wrong!!!!!!
Delete@wahoowifey- Hank always gets the short end of the stick, but at least he has his minerals.
DeleteThe only reason I can understand Dean getting the shaft is that his character is so much like him IRL. When you meet Dean, it's like you're talking to Hank. The same cannot be said for Aaron Paul. Dean was actually the only main character that did not have to audition for BrBa. He was close with Vince, who wrote Hank with Dean in mind. Dean was very sweet, like a big burly teddy bear in a leather jacket! But yes, he deserved nominations in the very least. Hank may be similar to him but that was one hell of a role to play for so long.
Makes some sense. But to make a confession...Hubs and I (at times) watch the tube "baked" and you know how you (maybe not yourself) can "see through" peoples acting and such. I, having worked behind the scenes am always noticing lighting and how fake it looks (when I'm baked) but anyhow, I vividly remember watching him and thinking/saying to hubs "wow...man (in my Chong voice...lol)..I can't see his acting at all. This is crazy." And not baked just thinking "DAMN, that guys is so crazy talented". But now that you say this...maybe that's why. Still though...highway robbery!
DeleteI'm sad about Merriman. I know when he was playing for Buffalo, he had a hard time renting in the "nice" area because his reputation proceeded him.
DeleteAs for Chargers, Leslie O'Neal is a piece of work. We went back east in the 90s to watch the Chargers play the Patriots and stayed in the team hotel. The morning of the game we watched the team load on to the bus to go to the stadium. Leslie instead took a limo by himself. Maybe it was his pre-game ritual, but seemed like he was just not a team guy.
Gena Rowlands saying in that deep voice... "Thank you" after my Mother told her she admired her work at the old Wyndham hotel in NYC. I also saw Loretta Switt there and she smiled at me. Doug and Julie from Days of Our Lives stayed there too. He was sweet to me, I don't think she liked it.
ReplyDeleteKatie Couric was an absolute sweetheart and she talked to me like I was her bff.
Chris Kattan turned his back on me when I stared at him outside Rockefeller Center. Jerk.
Chris Kattan has some issues. Lol.
DeleteMy professional circumstances had me sitting listening Sandler talk a lot and the only person I heard him say he didn't like was Kattan. Not sure the reason just heard him say that.
DeleteBest: Ralphie May and Jim Gaffigan.
ReplyDeleteWorst: Oprah. She's not as nice as she wants you to think she is.
Pink, i have heard that before sbout oprah.
DeleteI met Ty Pennington briefly outside a bar. I was introduced to him by Michael Maloney and some of the other crew from extreme home makeover. I was in college and had ran into them all in a bar their first night in town and ended up partying with them all week. He looked really rough like a long time smoker who lived in the sun. Also met Theo from the real world (road rules?). He was nice but I wasnt really trying to talk to him. Macaulay Culkin keep popping up in town and I keep missing him.
ReplyDeleteSaw penninhton in person when they were making over house near me. Hes short, was surronded by bodyguards like 2 feet taller than him, and didnt talk to anyone. Looked stoned. I was annoyed because all mr liddy and i were interested in was the house snd how it was buily- hugely over improved for area- and not some penningtons groupies!!!! So he cld relax with his gaggle of body guards; no one was interested in him!
DeleteYa he seemed kind of stiff and unfriendly.
DeleteMy experience with Ty is very positive. Nice guy, but seems to hum with excess energy.
DeleteBest: Aside from working with Sandler on several films. A lot of his circle friends were nice. But Kevin Nealon was exceptionally sweet and fun to hang out with.
ReplyDeleteWorst: Rob Schneider was not mean to me per se. He was just an insufferable ass with a severe Napoleon complex. I always found myself rolling my eyes (after I walked away) thinking what a coat-riding douche that guy is.
I was lucky that I never had to get sh*t on by or treated really badly by celebs (my time in "the biz" was only 5+ years) but I worked with plenty of people who had some horrible stories. No surprise that Tommy Lee Jones is abusively mean and so is William Shatner (I've heard).
"Favorite encounter"? Dabney Coleman smiled at me walking by me on the lot. Made my whole f'n year. Love him!!
I love Dabney Coleman! Nine to Five is one of my favorite movies!
DeleteI love Dabney Coleman! Nine to Five is one of my favorite movies!
DeleteMe too! and Toostie!
DeleteDon't forget Cloak & Dagger! Wee 7 loved that movie! Dabney Coleman is awesome and I just saw that he's on Homeland, the show I'm starting after Bones is done.
DeleteDerp, I meant Boardwalk Empire, not Homeland. He was in a show called Heartland. I need more tea. :b
Delete& Wargames :) Oh really... I'll check out Homeland now. thx!
DeleteFunny sidenote. The Dabney part was like 2001 and I was so giddy like a little girl (at age 31) and when I got back to my office, I was squeeling to my coworkers who most were a bit younger than me and they were like..."who's that?" and I'm like "shut up!"
OMG, I LOVE WAR GAMES! I wish Netflix would put it in their permanent rotation!
DeleteIt doesn't surprise me in the least about Schneider's Napolean complex
DeleteYeah I know...seems pretty obvious...but additionally David Spade is very short too but surprisingly very confident and semi-nice. He has the charm that Rob does not. But Rob is clueless.
DeleteI knew Dabney Coleman years ago in Los Angeles. He is as nasty has the characters he portrayed. I met Madonna and Stallone.Came home and wanted to shower. They were disgusting.
DeleteDid enjoying working with Speilberg, Richard Dreyfus, Henry Winkler.
@Morticia Noooooo! you are killing it. I had a feeling that he would be a dick so that smile just left me with a "don't-want-to-know the-truth" feeling. I was never really star struck before I worked in the biz cuz mom knew famous athletes and such but let me tell you working in it will quickly kill anyones desire to want to meet anyone they admire. It's just better left alone in your head as a sweet dream!
DeleteI have heard that Oprah is a fake ass bitch too Pink. She's an odd woman.
ReplyDeleteBest: Pam Dawber and Polly Draper..Did a movie with Pam and she was very sweet. Polly Draper told me she was flattered when I said people said I looked like her.
I don't have a worst..I don't typically run into celebs or approach if I see them..Although, my ex had an awesome encounter with Keith Richards. We were watching Mick Taylor in NYC and as he was in the Stones, Keith offered his support and Zilla so was peeing his pants wanting to talk to him. I told him don't bother him please..So my ex phoned his friend because he was about to bust and right then Keith walks past him. He said, "Hey Keith, say hi to my friend Steve"..Keith took the phone and said "'Ello Steve? I'm not 'ere!"..Hilarious.
Best. Paul weller
ReplyDeleteWorst Pete Sampras
I love Paul Weller.
DeleteBest: Mike Watt of Firehose, class act and one of the best bassists ever.
ReplyDeleteWorst: Christina Augliera
OMG I love Mike Watt! Would love to meet him.
DeleteWatt's a total sweetheart--I took a photo of him back in the late '80s that made it onto the back of fIRHOSE's fROMOHIO album...with someone else's name attached, alas. Yes, I called up SST Records to tell them about it and sent them a copy of the ocntact sheet, and they said they'd fix it on the second pressing, but apparently there wasn't one...
DeleteBest- Simon Le Bon
ReplyDeleteWorst- Huey Lewis
OMG Simon...I die!
Delete@Karen- Huey was def an ass in 1984 when I was 15. Maybe he's nicer now?
Delete@Dena- I met Simon a couple of years ago, and turned back into a 15 year old. I was expecting him to be rude because he is often snarky on Twitter, but he was a teddy bear. He gave me a big hug and happily posed for pics. On the other hand, I thought John Taylor would be nice, but he was pissy. I didn't bother to ask for a pic with him. I had tweeted back and forth with both Simon and John before I met them, and I was surprised that they were so different in person. Also, I had a nice conversation with Roger Taylor. He's as nice as he appears (and has aged very well)!
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DeleteNot my story, but my parents' story.
ReplyDeleteCirca the 1970s - my dad is out of town at some conference. He's at the airport catching his plane back home. He's standing at a pay phone at the telephone banks in the concourse (remember them?). He's talking to my mother, letting her know he's getting ready to board the plane.
He looks around and there's Bob Hope walking through the concourse. My dad yells, "Hey Bob!". Which is exactly the sort of thing my dad would do. Hope strolls over and my father says, "say hello to my wife". So Hope takes the receiver and says hello. My mother says "Hello, Mr. Hope. What are you doing?" To which Hope says, "Oh, I'm just walking through the airport playing the phone booths".
Awesome story!!
DeleteBob Hope was friends with the Spanos family who own the SD chargers. We were at the game once when he was there. Our seats were on the same level as the owners box, so after the game we had to wait for the elevator to go down. Bob and his entourage walked by, and my husband yelled "Thx for the memories Bob". He smiled and then started singing. It was very sweet. He looked awful - red rimmed eyes, etc, but seemed sharp.
DeleteBest: Jon Bon Jovi - First famous person I ever saw- I was 14 and at a state competition with school. We rode an elevator together, he and two chicks, one on each arm. He later came downstairs where a bunch of us were hanging out and played the baby grand piano that was in the hotel lounge. Very cool for a teen in the early 90's!!
ReplyDeleteI physically ran into Elvis Costello once - I was walking around outside during my lunch hour and he stepped out of his hotel onto the sidewalk and bam! Pretty surprising. Unfortunately it was the scruffy 1990's Elvis Costello, but still cool to see him.
ReplyDeleteDave Grohl. He just seems to be an all around great guy, very down to earth.
ReplyDelete@Brenda L- I am looking at a Foo Fighters Catering Rider from 2008. Those fuckers are hilarious. It's basically filled with lines like these:
Delete"Every lunch should include a Soup of the Day. Please try to make it a vegetarian selection. Meaty soups make roadies fart..."
"Please have signs visibly posted from crew entrance to catering prior to our arrival. Fat roadies have to eat immediately so they can begin their arduous 70-90 minute workday!!!!!!!!"
Eric Clapton nuh said!
ReplyDeleteNice!
DeleteBest, Robin Williams.
ReplyDeleteThese are all making me jealous! I have had exactly zero celeb encounters.
ReplyDeleteMe either, Colleen. The closest I ever got was probably in the early 1990s. I was in LA on a business trip and we were walking down Rodeo Drive. Here comes David McCallum approaching. This was the guy who just may have been my first crush during his Man From Uncle days, and all I could only think to myself - "he is sooooo short!". Ah, shattered dreams.
DeleteI saw Kathleen Turner driving down Rodeo Dr in a convertible around the time of Jewel of the Nile. She looked like a bonafide movie star!
DeleteBest: Tom Cruise and Hilary Duff (on different occasions)
ReplyDeleteWorst: Russell Crowe (Shocker)
I have heard Tom is a nice guy in real life. I wonder if he's ever not "on."
DeleteOh I have a good story of Tom Cruise not being nice. My friend had a meeting with Tom's production company back in the early 2000's to work with them on an upcoming film. My friend got stuck in traffic, typical of LA, he should have been more prepared and known better. Alas he wasn't and was a few minutes, which from what I understand was like 5 minutes, late to the meeting. So they have their meeting, everything seems to be going great. They get a call back to meet for a second time. So they set up the meeting. Tom is now running late, so his assistant or whoever comes in and tells them he is running late. This apparently happened like two or three more times, I can't remember, but they are sitting there for hours now waiting for Tom. Last time, he calls in, and asks to be put on speaker phone. He then proceeds to tell them something along the lines of "Now you know how it is to wait" and that they didn't get the job. I don't know why but I love this story.
DeleteWow, that is a dick power move.
DeleteJessi- great story. Who the hell has time for that kind of behavior? I cldnt be bothered.
DeleteI think it's hilarious. It's not even my story and I just love telling it. Just goes to show the ego of this man. I think he likes it when people talk about it, to show others who is in control and not to F*** with Tom Cruise. This was pre breakdown/Katie Holmes as well, would be interesting to see if he would still go to this length to make a point.
DeleteI was a teacher and one of my former students became a porn actress and was on the cover of Hustler. I also saw her on Howard Stern and that's when I learned what she did. She was a sweet and beautiful girl.
ReplyDeleteMichael Jordan
ReplyDeleteBest: Bill Nye the Science Guy, outside a Mariners game. He was a sweetheart.
ReplyDeleteHonorable Mention: Bill Clinton, who remembered me after meeting him for only a quick handshake. It helped that I am a Monica Lewinsky type physically :-)
Worst: Andre Agassi. I sat in his box at a tournament, and he didn't come by to say hello.
When I was young my mom used to run the deli at some 7-11's in Salt Lake. My favorite one to visit was across from liberty park. I was probably around 5, minding my business getting a slurpee. I heard some guys talking and looked over to see some players from the utah Jazz. John Stockton and Carl Malone were right next to me getting drinks. I totally dropped my slurpee and looked up in awe. John Stockton laughed and tried to help me clean up, and poured me a new one. They all signed a napkin for me and just were nice. I guess they practiced around there because they came in a few more times. I had signed cards and stuff they gave them. They were some cool dudes. Greg ostretch who played for them had a baby the same day as my sisters were born. I had talked to him in the elevator, and mentioned they were in the nicu and 9 weeks premature. He sent them flowers and would ask whenever I saw him. Made me think highly of the team as a whole. My dad also was a doorman at the Hilton, and would bring me to meet various rockstars. Pretty sure my dads job was to get them the hook up haha. Back then I was like wow all these cool people like my dad, weird?! Also hung out with Adam west a few times and he got me into comic books. When I was 16 I met the guys that would be in jackass before they were in jackass. It was when the x games were just starting to be a thing, and they used to go on tour. They were all funny and cool. My bf wasn't feeling hanging out with them because he was crazy jealous. But we did go watch. I remember seeing and talking Shaun white when he was like 12 lol. I was like damn that kids 12? I've seen other celebs but I like to give them their space. The guys from cage the elephant were standing next to me at muse, I just creepily took a picture and gave the thumbs up. Pretty sure they wanted to watch muse also. Dave grohl waved at me and screamed "oh my gawd" back at me haha. I was like oh em gee, I think I'm gonna have this baby now! Because I was totally 8 and a half months pregnant. That's like a novel.. Sorry. I haven't had any bad run ins. I usually will just smile and nod or talk about normal stuff, and not ask for an autograph or picture.
ReplyDeleteGreat story about Stockton.
DeleteBest: Robert Goulet
ReplyDeleteI was at the Atlanta airport between flights and went to find a quiet area to use the pay phone. I was holding my 9 month old son on one side and my purse and extra bag on the other, when I am making a call to a friend I look straight ahead and who is sitting right there with his wife all by themselves?, yep Robrt Goulet! I tell my friend, "oh my gosh I think I'm looking at Robert Goulet right now", I looked at the flight schedule and it was a flight that was heading for Las Vegas, so I knew, yes that's him. At that point he stands up and walks towards me, comes over and puts his arms put to hold my little boy for a minute so I wouldn't have to carry so much!! He didn't say much, just "hello" and a smile, but I thought that was the nicest thing ever. I never would have approached him, as I wouldn't like to bother their private time, but he came to me, I'm not sure if he knew that I recognized him or not. What a nice man. I was surprised at how much shorter he is in person.
Great story. Classy guy.
DeleteBest: Matt Damon, during the filming of Dogma
ReplyDeleteWorst: Ben Afflect, also during the filming of Dogma
*Affleck
DeleteBarbara Bain - Cinnamon from Mission Impossible. I escorted her to a biker party on the Fourth of July.... the epitome of random and awesome. I was a wee Guido but well behaved.
ReplyDeleteGina G, if you ever want an escort to a biker party.....
Worst is Morely Safer. His highness bumped in to me. On the streets of NYC and proceeded to bitch my friends and I for being in his way.
DeleteA very hung over Billy Idol was awfully nice.... he wore a hand woven poncho in earth tones... dude apparently doesn't wear black leather 24/7 as I imagined he would.
My best would have to be Mark Hoppus & Tom DeLonge from blink-182. My brother-in-law was Mark's driver and when the tour came thru town he arranged for a private meet & greet prior to the show. We hung out on Mark's bus for awhile and he signed one of the band's older posters for me. Tom, who is worshipped by my nephew, hung out with nephew and talked to him about the band's history.
ReplyDeleteSooo glad to hear that!
Delete@Jessi, what a horrible story! I actually like Tom Cruise but that's a douche move all the way around. He sounds like the a*hole agent he played in Tropic Thunder!
ReplyDeleteI forgot another one. I'm friends with a pretty famous writer who has had more than one of his books turned into movies. He's awesome and I've sat in some conference calls (none were interesting, they really do just talk about the production).
My best friend from college is married to a guy who is related to Tom Clancy. Tom Clancy is not nice - he's like the character Peter Dinklage plays in Elf.
I've seen a number of celebrities but never had an encounter. I was on holiday on an island with my parents when I was a teenager and Eric Bana was staying there with his fam. They seemed pretty relaxed. And then I walked past him years later on the harbour bridge.
ReplyDeleteJealous!
DeleteBest: Stanley Tucci
ReplyDeleteHonorable mentions: Kim Cattrall; Chris Matthews; Liam Neeson; Steve Martin
Worst (tie); Bono, James Franco, and Jude Law
I might get some flack, but as creepy as Olivier Sarkozy looks, he is actually nice.
Good to know about Bono. I was given a pass to meet him before a U2 concert, but ended up not going backstage because I was with my best friend who was the biggest Bono fan ever. I decided it would have been rude of me to meet him without her. I was only allowed one pass, and they checked your ID. Otherwise, I would have just given it to her.
DeleteYeah he is a blatant womanizer and was so off-putting. You dodged a bullet.
DeleteBlech! I never found him attractive.
DeleteSaw Sinead O'Connor out shopping,she is tiny and very pretty-this was about 12 years ago.
ReplyDeleteAlso Bono-tiny and not so pretty.
Got chatted up by singer of a band called Del Amitri,don't think they were famous in USA but yuuuuck
Forgot this...not my story...(mid-90's) my parents where in NYC going to Broadway shows...(one Matthew Broderick was in) they were leaving and looked down the alleyway...saw everyone huddled by back door...got kinda close...saw Matthew and Sarah JP come out and get on a scooter together but they stopped and were so nice to everyone. Signed autographs, took pics etc. with no one around other than fans (like no paps etc)
ReplyDeleteMy niece was dating Linda Evangelista's nephew. They were invited to a very small get together where Bryan Adams was celebrating the release of his latest CD. My niece wanted to ask if he'd sign a copy of it for her as a memento of the up until then wonderful night they'd had. Evangelista apparently bitched her out that "he wasn't there to sign autographs". She was mortified.
ReplyDeleteNicest person I ever met was Reuben "Hurricane" Carter at a corporate event we'd hired him for. He was probably the kindest, most gentle man I'd ever met, who took a genuine interest in talking and listening to me. I didn't really know his story and years later really regretted that I was so uninformed. I would have loved to have been able to ask him more about his life.
Best encounter Steve Vai back when he was the guitar player for Frank Zappa. My best friend caught Steve's eye when they were onstage and so after the show Zappa wanted to go to a local club to hangout. I pulled my Volkswagon Dasher around to the backstage area and Steve and Ray White (also a Zappa guitar player) hopped in with me driving and my bff Rachel.
ReplyDeleteWe were driving to this dinky jazz club and I was low on gas. The guys were hungry so we pulled in to a 7-11 and Steve paid for and pumped the gas while Ray and Rachel went in and got 7-11 burritos (seriously). We then proceeded to Bianca's Jazz Club (back then clubs were members only because it was liquor by the drink down south y'all.
Steve, Rachel and I end up sitting at a 4- top at the table next to Frank. Rachel was an insane Zappa fan mind you. There were maybe 25-30 people in the whole club including the waitstaff and band that had played. Eventually someone asked Frank if they'd want to jam a bit. Zappa's while band got up and jammed for over an hour in front of a handful of people. It was mind boggling.
Steve kept in touch with us (even wrote me once after I had written him). Rachel went out to L.A. And lived with him awhile and got to sit in on some Zappa recordings. Steve always got us passes when they came to town (when Rachel was back in town). Last times I saw him was in Dallas @ the Eric Clapton Crossroads festival around 2003 and again in Austin back in about 2004. The dude is an amazing freaking guitar player that's for sure and he was a 100% cool guy back in the day.
Honorable mention was hanging out with Motley Crüe when they got snowed in in Denver and taking them out to the local strip club (one of my good friends used to date Tommy Lee back in L.A. And she was a stripper). Tommy Lee was super nice back then (Shout At The Devil tour) and even was polite to my ma on the phone when he called the house.
Nick Lowe was fun as well and had some good coke (it was the 80's).
Strangely all 3 of these groups took a ride in my VW Dasher. If that car could talk!
Dang girl! Props. BW
DeleteThis is a great thread!!
ReplyDeleteI can tell you guys that Geoffrey Feiger can be quite charming...if he wants to be.
That's all I got!
Agreed, this was a great thread!! My "worst" celebrity encounter - even though it was not a direct encounter - was Deidre Hall from Days of Our Lives. My aunt is good friends with a relatively important job on the show and she would often visit the set and watch them tape an episode. She brought me along one time. We were in a hallway at a random coffee station helping ourselves to caffeine & donuts when Deidre came STORMING out of her dressing room, her assistant in tow, screaming at the poor girl, "How the fuck do you not know who the photographer is for the photoshoot?!! Call and find out!" Now...true it probably was part of the assistant's job to know this but c'mon. It was probably for Soap Opera Digest. Does it really matter? It's not like she was being shot by Mario Testino or David LaChappelle. I just found it very unbecoming behavior.
ReplyDeleteBest: Lou Ferigno, mmmm mmmm
ReplyDeleteWorst: Ringo Starr - Pompous Ass
This has been an amazing thread indeed. RobinTMP surely woman you have some stories?! Can't address everyone's story but they are all wonder. I would kill to meet Dave Grohl. I have met a lot of Rock bands too (ex was a musician and now a tour accountant for large, huge popular bands) that I'm too tired to remember now as well as actors (I was an actor on a much smaller scale than the ex). They all run together honestly. But your stories have been so fabulous. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree that this was a great thread! I don't know if any of you know who EJ Peaker is (she had a variety show in the 60's and did a lot of random TV stuff back then like Love American Style and a couple of TV movies with Larry Hagman). Anyway, she was my mom's best friend in high school in the mid-late 50's.
ReplyDeleteThey didn't see each other again until the late 70's when she came to visit us in SC a few times (and slept in my other twin bed). She was also a born-again Christian by that time. Well, in the early 80's, she asked my mom to meet her in Charlotte because they hadn't seen each other in a few years and EJ was going to be singing (and whatever else) on The PTL Club. My mom was a little hesitant to go because we are Jewish and belonged to an orthodox synagogue and I went to their Hebrew day school. She had just never been exposed to anything like that. Well, she went and while EJ was on stage, she mentioned my mom's full name and asked her to stand up in the audience so that the cameras could get a good shot of her. I think she even asked everyone to pray for her that she would find Jesus. I never saw the show, but I'm sure my mom turned ghostly white because she was HORRIFIED that somehow it would get around our tight-knit Jewish community that she was on The PTL Club. It did. What was weird is that a bunch of Jews saw her on the show. Not sure why they were watching it in the first place?! Mom was bombarded with questions about it when she got home. No one condemned her or was upset with her, but they were definitely curious about how she ended up there. It became a really funny story to tell.
EJ was always extremely nice, but my mom stopped taking her calls in the 90's. Even though my family was more culturally Jewish than religious, my mom got tired of EJ trying to convert her to Christianty. Mom told her she wasn't the least bit interested, but EJ never would give it up. I guess she was just trying to save my mom's soul, but my mom could no longer handle EJ pestering her about it. Oh well!
Not familiar with her ...but still great story!!!
DeletePat Morita, Mr. Myagi. He lived at the Hawaiian Hilton Hotel when I was there several years ago. He and his wife were drinking mai tais' and they were funny and engaging.
ReplyDeleteOh and Ron White... Had New Years dinner with him and non of us knew who he was at the time. I am sure he found it quite amusing. He was gracious and nothing like his persona.
ReplyDeleteOh and Ron White... Had New Years dinner with him and non of us knew who he was at the time. I am sure he found it quite amusing. He was gracious and nothing like his persona.
ReplyDeletePat Morita, Mr. Myagi. He lived at the Hawaiian Hilton Hotel when I was there several years ago. He and his wife were drinking mai tais' and they were funny and engaging.
ReplyDeleteBack in the 80s, I worked in a public building that was often used (after closing) to film TV shows and movies. Sometimes, the film crew let us employees hang around to watch for a bit. Most of us were in our late teens, and it was really exciting just to watch a film crew up close.
ReplyDeleteOn one shoot, Eddie Murphy was there. He saw us hanging out, smiling at him. He was a big star back then. He started screaming and cursing "who the f*** are those kids? tell them to gtfo, etc." We were devastated. Joe Piscopo came over and shook our hands and apologized for him.
This isn't my story, but I love it: my best friend was eleven at the time, at an airport. She saw James Earl Jones, so she went over and stood next to him. She said, "are you James Earl Jones?" And he said "Yep," in his deep voice. She said, "Okay, cool." Then went back to her family.
ReplyDeleteI worked for Disney in Florida as a hostess for awhile when I was 21. Celebrities sometime showed up. I sat Slash (I didn't know who he was), and now everyone asks if he was wearing a crazy hat. He was not. His wife got kinda snappy at me when I accidentally banged her chair with another chair while seating another family. I don't really blame her, but that's pretty much what I took away from the experience.
Also, one time, there were a couple of young guys working with me, and they were just giddy one day. Both football players in their school days. I had no idea why they were fighting over a ticket for seating someone. The host/hostess manager lady was very exasperated and at the time the ticket printed up, she gave it to me. So I go and seat this family, and they were all super polite and nice. I got back to the desk, and the guys are just like, "Do you know who you just sat!?" "Um, no?" "EMMITT SMITH." I was like, "who??" Lol! The manager was like, "and this is why I gave the ticket to her, you boneheads." :) (You are not supposed to treat celebrities differently in this type of scenario than any other guest, so she was playing safe).
Two best: One was backstage at KISS concert (with the new members playing Ace and Peter). Gene saw me doing my impression of his tongue trick and wanted a picture of the two of us. He got one of both of us just with our tongues out and another with me with mine out while he, in full costume and makeup did the Wayne's World "We're Not Worthy" kneeling pose.
ReplyDeleteBut my favorite was when I was 13. I was sitting in my room playing my NES (yeah, this was years ago) when my Dad walked in and said, "Hey, get your shoes on I need you to go somewhere with me." Being 13 and obviously smarter than him and not going to be told what to do (Puberty makes us all egomaniacs, right?) I said no. "Come on, I really need you help with this so get ready and meet me at the car." Fine. I get my shoes on and then tell my Mom not to turn off my Nintendo (damn the days before saving games on the fly) and met him out at the car. We took off and he wouldn't tell me where we were going.
Finally we got to the convention center. "What are we doing here?" I asked him. "You'll see in a few minutes" he said. So we go in and he says to the ticket taker "Two please".
So we go in and they were having a baseball card convention. Cool. We both are into baseball cards, so I started looking through a dealers stuff and my Dad disappeared for a few minutes. When he came back he said "Come on, you need to see something."
So we go towards the back of the room and we get in a line. I couldn't see what the line was for but I figured if it was a line it would probably be worth it. After a few minutes, I thought I recognized a person at a table but I wasn't sure. Until...
We get to the front of the line and there he was, in all his splendor was my hero, my idol, the greatest defensive shortstop in the history of baseball. The one, the only, The Wizard of Ahhs, Ozzie Smith. I was speechless (and those of you that know me from here, that's something.) until my Dad broke the ice and said "Ozzie, you are this boys idol. You've been his favorite player for as long as he can remember." At that point he had signed my official MLB baseball and an 8X10 of his amazing barehanded catch from when he was playing for the Padres, he sat the Sharpie down (leaving a small dot when doing it) to shake my hand and my Dad's hand. People weren't allowed to go behind the table for pictures but for me, he came out in front of it and had them take a picture of my Dad, me and Ozzie Smith while letting me wear his 1982 World Series ring. I thanked him and then the people behind us didn't know there was an autograph fee the person putting it on charged and as we left, Ozzie took a $10 bill from his wallet and told the person putting on the show that their autographs were on him. So in that one day, my Dad made sure I met my favorite player of all time who treated me like gold, I also saw that not only was he a great baseball player he was an even better person. Still to this day t was my favorite day of my life. It also got me a great story to tell any of Dad's current or future grandchildren about the kind of man he is/was. He was wrong about one thing. Ozzie wasn't my idol. No, my Dad has and will always be my idol.
Oh and worst (but the funniest) I was at a WrestleMania where John Cena won his first WWE Title. My cousin is one of the biggest stars from the 80's and 90's so I was backstage. Cena was a dick (still is surprise surprise) and pointing to the WWE Title told my cousin that "You never got this, old man!" My cousin started laughing and slapped the taste out of his mouth and said, "That belt and about $4 will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks. Fifty years from now, you'll be a footnote to the book me and a lot of other legends wrote. Word Life, bitch!" (To the people that I've told the identity of my cousin, please don't mention his name, I have gotten so many messages from people trying to get me to give them his number which I will never do lol)
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