Non-TK famous people you've met

[Dave2112]

Do any of you have any stories about meeting a celebrity? I thought it might be a cool thread.

I worked as a studio musician in the '80's and early '90's so I've been lucky to have met quite a few professional musicians. The few that really stand out were Dweezil Zappa, who was recording in Studio C in Paramount Studios when I was recording in B. He was a very laid back, cool guy.

Blackie Lawless of W.A.S.P. was a neat guy, they used to rehearse at SRI when my band did.

My favorite had to be meeting the guys in Rush backstage at a concert in '83. I won tickets on the radio, and passes were included. Marillion was the opening act, but I never got to meet them.

Anyone else?

 

[Sandman]

I met Lou Ferigno the other night at a Halloween fetsival thing. Scariest human I have ever seen. The guy is enormous. I took a pic of my girl with him, and I think he almost crushed her when he put his arm around here. I was ready to throw down, but he kind of backed off...😉

Anyone ever seen the movie "TigerLand"? Almost everyone in that movie I have met.

Do wrestlers count? Met the Rock, Stone Cold(at a local gas station), Mick Foley and both Harby boys and Lita.

Met over 50 NHL hockey players.

good thread.

 

[MN Tikl]

I met Clint Eastwood at a film director's syposium, sponsored by my then-employer. Had a nice conversation with him -- he's a very down-to-earth fellow.

I also met Rodney Dangerfield on the set of "Back to School," filmed in Madison, Wisconsin. I was an undergraduate student at the time, and was hired to be an extra in the movie. I can actually be seen clearly in 4 different scenes. In one scene, I walk behind Dangerfield and the actor playing his son -- I'm on screen for a good 5-10 seconds. Guess that's my claim to fame!

 

[Daumantas]

I've met Jimmie Walker (of TV's "Good Times"; DY-NO-MITE for those old enough to remember). Mrs. Daumantas and I saw him at a comedy club in New York and got his autograph after the show. Seemed like a genuinely nice guy.

 

[QBWeaver]

Famous People I've met?

Being around the racing circuit I've met many television and movie celebrities as well as drivers. Paul Newman, Tom Cruise, Jay Leno, Clint Eastwood, David Letterman, Bill Cosby, Joe Montana (49er QuarterBack) and Jason Priestly to name a few. Paul Newman is my favorite. He would always bring me goodies to pass out to my workers during the testing day depending on who his sponsor was. And he loved to hang out with the workers at the end of the day.

Drivers - Gosh... too many to mention but some of the names you might know are Mario and Michael Andretti, Al Unser and Al Unser Jr., Emerson and Christan Fittapaldi, Roger Penski, the late Juan Fangio (5 times F1 champion), Danny Sullivan, Dan Gurney, Bob Bondaurant, Carol Shelby (Cobra/Shelby creator), Dr. Porsche, Brian Redman, George Follmer.

Nascar Drivers I've met and chatted with at the track include Richard and Kyle Petty; Bobby, Davey and Clifford Allison (Davey and Clifford are gone now); Bill Elliott, Darryl Waltrip, Bobby Labonte, the late Alan Kulwicki and it goes on and on.

 

[guitman69]

I met Steve Vai when he took a tour at Full Sail (a school for recording engineers) while I was going there. He did a concert there and afterwards a little Q & A. He signed my copy of "The Ultra Zone" and I got to shake his hand. He seemed a little stand-offish, but then again, he was surrounded by about a hundred people at the time.


I also met Mike Kenealy (he played with Frank Zappa and is now doing a solo career when not touring with Steve Vai) at Full Sail. He was doing our success seminar where people from the industry come in and talk to us about what it's like in the real world. He performed with his band Beer for Dolphins. He signed my guitar and my copy of "Sluggo". He was really cool, and even remembered my name when I saw him again later that evening.

 

[dvnc]

Famous folk? Musicians, only, near as I can remember. Then again, like Dave, I used to be a musician in the 80s and early 90s. There are some that stand out, to me, but seem somewhat trivial, otherwise.

Met Billy Joel once, ages ago, in the bar on the Portman in SF (it's the Pan-Pacific now, but the bar's still there, with a great view). He was with the woman who was reportedly the one that helped break up his marriage.

Met the singer from Sister Machine Gun, Chris Randall, after a performance, and hung wit' him and some others in SF on the Sunday after. Cool guy, too.

Oh, and Big Audio Dynamite had a number of us backstage. Far as I was figurin', it was 'cause a few of my friends were lookers, and they grabbed me when they got invited back. They were too stoned for me to feel like I much met 'em, though.

Accordin' t'my mother, I cried when Grace Slick came near me, and cooed at Joan Baez. I apparently had different interests back then.

Much later, some of the guys in one of our apartment complexes were part of the Doobie Brothers. The used to perform as "The Donuts" in local bars. They let us kids play in and on a broken down VW bug of theirs, too. As a kid, that was SUCH a big deal, oddly.

Met a few writers, and even met, recently, some folks that worked in the comic business. Found out a former coworker at Apple was one of 'em. Kinda cool.

Met a 49er, Charles Haley, at a bar that used to be in Cupertino. The man was eating two plates of food. Nice guy, but I feared to sit too close, as he was cranky about some team politics, and the way he ate made me nervous about getting 'caught in the process and inhaled. That is one HUGE fellow. Very genial, though. Hands were nearly twice my size, and shakin' hands wit' him brought to mind bein' a little kid, again.

Don't recall meeting any actors, though. I guess I don't have that kind o' luck.

dvnc

 

[ManInBlack]

Famous People I’ve Met

It’s hard not to trip over them in Hollywood and Beverly Hills, so I won’t mention the dozens of ones I’ve sighted, or the ones who are friends of friends. I actually sat with Olivia Hussy (Juliet from Romeo and Juliet) and chatted with her in my back yard. She was trying to get a part in the Thorn Birds television miniseries and was offended that they had asked for an audition. She was married and had a son with Dean Martin Jr.. Shortly after I met her, he flew his National Guard Jet Airplane into a mountain.

I was the first to greet and introduce Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard Parks at a function. I escorted him from his car into an impromptu press conference on the lawn, then into the auditorium where he took part in a town hall meeting panel discussion I had helped organize. He came to power on the heels of the Rodney King beating.

I have a friend on the Council on Foreign Relations. As few know, every major presidential candidate for decades has been a member of this council.

I went to school with the band Fishbone.

MB

 

[Strelnikov]

Science fiction authors, mainly. Robert A. Heinlein, Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Gordon Dickson, Clifford Simak, Sprague DeCamp, Ray Bradbury. Poul Anderson drank me under the table in Ann Arbor, Michigan 25 years ago - it was kinda like the Tibetan bar scene in "Raiders of the Lost Ark", but without the gunfight. Plenty of newer folks too - Tim Zahn, Scott Card, David Weber, Lois Bujold, Sharyn McCrumb (OK, she's not a SF writer), David Drake.

Years ago, when I worked on the western side of Birmingham, I patronized the same barber shop as Bobby Allison and saw him there occasionally.

Had a chance to speak briefly with William F. Buckley Jr. and Edward Teller almost 30 years ago.

I met Timothy McVeigh back when he was just out of high school and thinking about joining the Army. Never saw him again, and wouldn't have remembered him if I hadn't been reminded. He was just another regular kid then.

Strelnikov

 

[tkrexx]

I met Heather Locklear in Carlsbad, CA at the opening of a health spa back in '83...Both of her bodyguards would dwarf Arnold Swarzenegger, so don't ask if I tickled her...Also met Playboy Playmate Roberta Vasquez ( That's right, the LA cop ) at an auto show in Anaheim, and a friend got a photo of the two of us...Unfortunately, I don't have that photo...She was a VERY sweet, personable individual.I met Andre the Giant in the '70's at a local wrestling event...Anyone remember Ken Curtis? I met "Festus" at a local Rodeo around 1970, and got an autographed pic...A few years ago I met 2 of the Georgia Satellites at a local rock promotion, tho they weren't in the the mood to socialize...And a year later, was that me, drunk on the stage with Bachman-Turner Overdrive???...Not for long...

 

[nerdness]

I met Dino Cicerelli when he was still on the Red Wings. I was so excited... he was my hero at the time. He signed my t-shirt and a hockey card for me.

I also met the band American Pearl after they opened for Creed. I hung out with them for most of the night. They signed everything I had with me, literally. Those were some cool guys.

I've talked to Ashley Olsen before... which was pretty damn cool.

I've also met the lead singer of the band Nonpoint.

 

[MadKalnod]

When I was 13, my brother (who was then 9) and I were pulled out of the audience by Bill Cosby at one of his shows in Atlantic City in order to provide first hand evidence of why children make you crazy. My mother still has the photo that was printed in the local paper.

I used to work at the Radio Shack in Atlantic City and once sold a tape recorder to impressionist/stand-up comic Louise DuArt. She was tickled pink (pardon the expression) to find someone who had not only heard of her, but remembered the syndicated late night sketch show where she got her first break.

I've met Comics writer Tony DiGerolamo of South Jersey Rebellion Productions, creator of Jersey Devil, Travelers, & The Fix, who is quite a nice bloke.

I went to college and did theater with Jennifer Makris, who was Miss New Jersey 1994 and placed 3rd in the Miss America Pageant that year. She later became Miss New Jersey USA 1997 and placed 7th in the Miss USA Pageant. (She's the girl I mentioned in the "Tickling Dreams" thread) She now runs a "Miss America Boot Camp" of sorts training young girls to win in pageants (So they can burn out before reaching 25 like she did...).

I went to grade school with Mark Scarfo, the younger son of Philadelphia Mob Boss "Little Nicky" Scarfo. Mark was a bully growing up, and as the fat kid I was a preferred target. One day in 8th Grade after he slammed me repeatedly into the shoolyard fence, I told him that his father was a criminal and an evil man, and he would grow up to be no different. He could beat me up all he wanted, but it wouldn't change that truth. He stormed off and looked like he was about to cry. He attempted suicide our Freshman year at High School, reportedly to escape inheriting "the Family Business" and has been in a vegetative coma ever since. I've always wondered if that was partly my fault.

When I spent a week in London in 1987, our tour guide was dating the son of late Doctor Who star Jon Pertwee, but that probably doesn't count.

 

[njjen3953]

The summer of 1984 I did summer stock at the Berkshire Theater Festival in Stockbridge, Mass. In one summer I had the opportunity to meet and work with:

Kaye Ballard(TV's The Mother's In Law). What a warm and talented lady. It was so much fun hanging out in her dressing room.

The late Bill Rourick(Guiding Light's Henry Chamberlin)

Shirley Jones,very sweet and great to the fans.

Shawn Cassidy, Da don't run run. What a snob. Mom did not teach him well.

The late Carol O'Connor.

and my personal favorite< still shaking my head in disbelief> Carol Kane(Simcha on Taxi). She was NOT acting on that show. She is really like that.

A few years later I was at an audition in NYC and rehearsing at the same studio was Robin Williams. He was on a break and came out to mingle. I have never had so much fun at a cattle call.

 

[elaah]

lets see....

I met Wilt Chamberlain in a bar in Hawaii. Mike Tyson in an event near me, had the pleasure of bringing Jay Leno onto a stage at a surprise B day party held at the Convention Hall where I used to work. He was really early and a bunch of us got to hear his stories about the buddy he was there to surprise. My ex was there also. Without Jay knowing he was my hubby. Jay whispered to me, hey you are so bubbly and full of life, don't ever get hooked up with that guy - he is way to serious for you! I just said where were you 5 years ago? We laughed so hard when I told him who he was! He was a riot!!! Michael Bolton and Kenny G doing a series of promos for NY Television, NYS Gov Cuomo on a daily basis back then. I used to bring staff to check fire extinguishers at the Govs Mansion. One time I walked up some stairs and there he was in his gym shorts playing basketball in the Family Room! Jerry Brown when he was running for office, then Gov Bill Clinton when he visited Cuomo, I worked at Gov Hugh Careys wedding reception....and then all you people from here!

: )
Donna

 

[Oddjob0226]

Who have I met?

I've met a few people in my life, but I guess the biggest "name" was working with the group Destiny's Child. I work for a video production company, and we shot a hair care video with the group ( when they were an original quartet, rather than the trio they are now). The best part, in the shoot, 3 of the four were barefoot!