I met Rupert Murdoch once. Who have you met?
I met Rupert Murdoch once. Who have you met?
Lot's of car people, Bob Lutz, Jim Press.
Met Augie Bush IV (III?)...Sarafeena may have met him at the same time.
Some Chicago radio celebs, most notably Steve Cochran and Steve and Johnnie.
I was in the same movie theater as one-time Illinois gov. Jim Thompson.
Attended a conference with Rich Daley. He spoke, I listened.
My list is really only cool if you're into cars.
"I won't kill for money, and I won't marry for it. Other than that, I'm open to just about anything."
-Jim Rockford
Coin toss: Pete Seeger or Yogi Berra. Yogi was a quick meet when I was a kid at the Yoo Hoo plant.
Pete was as an adult, twice, once real quick and the other time a meeting for the Sloop Clubs of Clearwater which he founded. There was about 10 of us and Pete and the planning session got surprisingly loud.
Oh! Ernie Banks! I met Mr. Cub!
"Let's play two."
"I won't kill for money, and I won't marry for it. Other than that, I'm open to just about anything."
-Jim Rockford
Does shaking hands with Bruce Springsteen and saying, "Hi" count? I tend to not think so.
I actually did not meet Augie Busch when Oliveloaf did. I can't think of any celebs I've ever met. Oh, wait...I did meet former Cubs pitcher Ferguson Jenkins once. He's pretty low on the "super famous" scale, but it was a special moment for me.
Funny you mention Jim Thompson, Oliveloaf. I haven't met him, but I have also come into close proximity. There's an auction house I go to sometimes that deals in a lot of mission/arts & crafts stuff, including Frank Lloyd Wright items. I saw Big Jim there once, not surprising, as he his a major collector of FLW. The Big Jim moniker is appropriate...he is really tall.
Last edited by Sarahfeena; 08 Sep 2009 at 03:32 PM.
Last edited by Oliveloaf; 08 Sep 2009 at 03:34 PM.
"I won't kill for money, and I won't marry for it. Other than that, I'm open to just about anything."
-Jim Rockford
Lots of authors: I've gotten drunk with Spider Robinson, had coffee with George R.R. Martin, had snacks with Terry Pratchett, had several lunches with Ray Bradbury, had drinks with Larry Niven, etc. Go to enough conventions and you meet people.
I produced a concert starring Buffy St. Marie. Met Jimmy Buffett backstage at another concert. Rode in an elevator with James Carville. Held the door for Walter Koenig. Shook hands with Fred MacMurray on the observation deck of the Empire State Building.
"The Turtle Moves!"
I guess I'd have to say my brother. He's a cop, and investigated a crime that became the subject of an Ann Rule book. Oh, wait, I guess I've met Ann herself, too.
Henry Cooper, long after Ali KO'd him. Very genial and humerous man.
Margo Timmins (Cowboy Junkies) - she is just lovely.
- Sen. John Glenn, the former astronaut
- Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez, future Hall of Fame catcher
When I was a cocktail waitress at a casino I met quite a few famous people. Most famous would probably depend on you. Gwen Stefani. Ben Affleck. Sean Penn.
One I was most excited about? Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, and Bernie Williams at Yankees games
Terry Pratchett, at the first international Discworld convention, Nullus Anxietas.
Nobody of actual instantly recognisable world renown, but if you've heard of the Stone Roses, I'm a pal of the bass player, Mani and I've rubbed shoulders with many minor music celebs at their gigs.
Gee.
I spent parts or all of a day within 10 feet of these people. Shooting them with a Steadicam meant I had to work in close proximity. Usually that meant exactly zero. However, working face to face with a few of them was either harsh or very very pleasing for some reason.
In no particular order chronologically...
President Clinton
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Leonardo DiCaprio
Billy Joel
Sarah Jessica Parker
Matthew Broderick
James Gandolfini
Charlie Pride
Christie Brinkley
Dan Rather
Peter Jennings
Terry Hart ( Shuttle Astronaut )
Notorious B.I.G.
Mary J. Blige
Sean " P-Diddy" Combs
Brian Williams
Anne Meara
Jerry Stiller
Ben Stiller
Kyle McLaughlin
Rosie O'Donnell
David Spade
Dennis Leary
Will Ferrell
Chris Kattan
Christopher Walken
Molly Shannon
Martha Stewart
Bryant Gumbel
Denzel Washington
Spike Lee
Donald Trump
Barbra Streisand
Barbara Walters
Dianne Sawyers
Robin Roberts
John Saunders
Julie Moran
Kristie Yamaguchi
Halle Berry
Hugh Jackman
Missy Elliot
Carly Simon
The B-52's
If you want to kiss the sky, you'd better learn how to kneel.
Neil Gaiman. Hung out with him for some hours when he was a guest of the Salt Lake Library, I brought him water (for his throat, for his speaking engagement), and tea (for his Englishness). He doesn't like Earl Grey.
Either Penn & Teller or Jeff Tweedy (lead singer of Wilco). Everybody else I've met counts as "minor celebrity" at best.
ETA: You know what? I once served pizza to Joe Mantegna. He was very nice.
Last edited by pepperlandgirl; 09 Sep 2009 at 08:07 PM.
I'm still swimming in harmony. I'm still dreaming of flight. I'm still lost in the waves night after night...
Do you have an idea or an article you would like to see on the Electric Elephant? Email me at theelectricelephant(at)gmail.com!
Leonard Nimoy
Pete Seeger
Ursula Le Guin
Raymond Carver
Oh! One more. Forgot. Scottie Pippin used to work out at the health club I go to. I'll never forget the first, and only, thing he said to me, "How's it going?"
"I won't kill for money, and I won't marry for it. Other than that, I'm open to just about anything."
-Jim Rockford
I had a brief conversation with Chris Reitsma last fall at a baseball banquet we were both attending and speaking at. Chris spent 7 years pitching in the Major Leagues, although he was never a superstar.
I shook hands with and got autographs from The Fixx earlier this summer. Cy Curnin is a pretty cool guy.
I met Calgary's mayor back in the 90s - Al Duerr - at a WBL basketball game that I was reporting on. During my time covering the Calgary 88s I also interviewed and was on a first-name basis with one of their stars, Chip Engelland, who had a pretty successful college career at Duke and went on eventually to coach in the NBA -- he's been the shooting coach for the Spurs since 2005.
A couple years ago I met Norman Winter, who is the PR genius who made Elton John a star and who also worked with a bunch of other stars, including Michael Jackson, Dr. Dre, and a host of others.
Hell is other people.
I am a total, complete, and utter tard. I forgot the two biggest and most awesome celebs I've met...Jimmy Stewart and Johnny Rotten. I must have been in the ozone yesterday. I've told these stories before, but here goes again:
Both of them I met at book signings. Mr. Stewart was getting up there in years, so we weren't allowed to stop and talk to him. But was very sweet. Johnny Rotten was very friendly and nice, talking to everyone and seemingly genuinely touched by his fan base. He signed anything anyone wanted him to, including items of clothing and even skin. (I still have the leather biker jacket I was wearing, which now has his signature on the sleeve, and a young girl behind me had him sign her back so she could have it tattooed on. She was going right away to have it done.)
I also met Dr. Drew Pinksy at a book signing and discussion session. He was very nice, as well, and seemed so genuinely concerned about everyone who attended...a lot of them had personal issues they wanted to discuss with him.
Plenty of minor league metal musicians (Type O Negative and Cannibal Corpse and Deicide amongst them, it’s easy to meet death metal guys after shows) and a few major leaguers like Dimebag from Pantera (seriously the coolest guy ever) and Glenn Danzig (he’s like 4 feet tall) and Kerry King from Slayer (inhuman alcohol consumption machine, even bigger than he looks).
For movie and TV folks, nobody I can think of besides local news casters whom I either don't care about or are super hot and make me all goofy, Sports world I’ve met tons of Cubs and Bears, they’re not hard to meet either if you hang around the right places or go to the team conventions. I met Steve Garvey once at a K-Mart back when he was with the Dodgers. He was also like 4 feet tall.
Hell, if I didn't do things just because they made me feel a bit ridiculous, I wouldn't have much of a social life. - Santo Rugger.
Under a very strange set of circumstance:
Oliver North
Marilyn Quayle
No, I wasn't a fan of either one. Yes, I was polite. I even have a pic of me and Marilyn somewhere.
I graduated from grad school with some relative of Andy Shaw (political commentator here in Chicago, and a bit of dick, IMO), so I saw him and walked by him. That doesn't count, probably.
Why can't I meet cool people like Roger Ebert (who DID reply to some of my posts on his blog, though) or Viggo Mortensen?
For several minutes I chatted with Dennis Weaver, at a very small fundraiser for George McGovern's presidential campaign in New Hampshire ("very small" being the only possibility for that candidate in that location in that era) when I was too young to even vote. Afterward my mother yelled at me for not acknowledging who he was or acting impressed. In fact I had no idea who I was talking to, as I was not allowed to watch TV and thus had only a hazy knowledge of pop culture.
I used to know a past president of the Federated States of Micronesia pretty well, but I don't think he's famous.
I'm a little better with the criminal element, as I met Perry Marsh in Mexico where he was hiding out avoiding the law. My mom used to bus Perry and think, "I'm air-kissing a murderer!"
I also went to high school with Forbes Smiley. We were not in the same class but we were in a lot of drama and music productions together so I recall him quite well. He was quite overweight as a teen, but looks like he became a lot more attractive as he aged.
I once served coffee to Jackie Chan; he was super nice and chatted with me while I made it.
I've met a few members of the Australian cricket team, which is considered much cooler by other Aussies than it will be by much of the Mellophant population.
Last edited by Higgs Boson; 11 Oct 2009 at 08:06 AM. Reason: I was one 'n' short of a comprehensible sentence
Micheal Hedges, John Denver and Elizabeth Montgomery.
I met Eric Idle outside of a Spamalot performance. I cracked a joke and made him laugh too! I made Eric Idle laugh, holy crap!
I also met Michael Palin in a bar across the street too. Very nice guy, he wanted to sneak a beer to me because it was a week before I turned 21 and he wanted to treat me.
Lot's of small time musicians and bands. Like Cluricaun says, Its easy to meet people after shows. The drummer from the ska band The Toasters sucks at pool and owes me a bunch of beers. I almost got into a fight with the singer from the chicago band, The Tossers. I bought him a drink and we made peace. The singer from Gogol Bordello is kind of a dork and not very much fun to talk to. I've hung out with pacific NW punk rock band The Spits. It turns out the the singer and I went to the same high school. D'arcy from Smashing Pumpkins also went there, she's kind of spaced out these days.
I've also met Gordon Gano from the Violent Femmes at one of their concerts. He's very shy and later I found out he's also agoraphopic.
Give me whiskey when I'm thirsty,Give me a cold beer when I'm dry, Give me root beer when I'm sickly, Give me a headstone when I die.
Oh, yeah. The wife reminded me of the time I met Penn Jillette at a Space Shuttle landing.
I had many conversations with John Denver. I was managing a small chain of cheese shops/delis in the monterey area at the time. John used to come in at least once a week and always ordered turkey and swiss on a croissant. He'd always have stories about his plane and his latest flights over the bay, and share pictures he had took.
A couple times I stopped by the airport at his invitation and even sat in his plane. He'd asked me to fly with him a few times, and I was scared of flying at that time, and told him so. One day he came in and ordered split pea soup and grilled cheese. I joked that this was an odd thing for him, but he said he was in the mood for something different, and again invited me to fly. I said sure, I'm in the mood for something different too.
Shortly before lunch a toilet overflowed and before we could figure out how to turn the water off, the entire shop was flooded. I wasn't able to make it to the airport that day. I do wonder if I'd been with him if somehow I'd have been able to change things, or if I would have died as well.
No really huge names. I would think the most well known person I have met was Scottish comedian Billy Connolly.
Most famous sports person would have been Robert de Castella, when he was World Marathon champion. Much more famous in Oz than anywhere else I expect. Being a distance runner myself (albeit an extremely slow one) it was almost a "meeting your idol" moment.
I know someone who said he'd had sex with Olivia Newton-John. Does that count?
( He said she was wearing really flimsy white lace panties, so it must have been true.)
Last edited by ivan astikov; 12 Oct 2009 at 06:11 AM.
To sleep, perchance to experience amygdalocortical activation and prefrontal deactivation.
I've met a few celebrities at the Decatur Book Festival.
Michael Malone
Terry Brooks
Amiri Baraka
Tina McElroy Ansa
I met Earl Hyman (Cosby Show) walking on Madison Ave in NYC.
India Irie sat one seat away from me at a show at The Tabernacle a few years ago. We spoke, but didn't have much of a conversation.
I knew Run DMC from my neighborhood.
I met Kool and the Gang backstage at The Garden.
I met Cyrus Vance (such a sweet man), Angie Eberhart (not so much), Raul Julia (a wonderful man) and Phoebe Cates(who talked to me a long time - very nice) when I worked at Mt. Sinai Hospital.
They weren't singing....they were just honking.
Glee 2009
I met Jacques Cousteau as a kid at something of a convention sponsored by the New England Aquarium. Even shook his hand.
I spent a lovely evening with Ursula LeGuin and her husband while helping to chauffeur them from Logan to a con.
I've met Terry Pratchett at a book signing. We had a longish chat about Angua. Met Stephen Hawking when he ran over my foot in his wheelchair. And most recently I met a few astronauts and a Nobel Prize winner (Riccardo Giacconi).
The most famous person I've actually spoken to would be Bill Johnson, who won the Gold Medal in the Men's Downhill ski event at the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics. This was after he won the medal but before he suffered the horrific ski crash that has apparently left him permanently disabled.
I also met Boston area weatherman Pete Bouchard and a couple of other Boston area TV news personalities but exactly who else I don't remember.
I shared a cable row machine with Hulk Hogan. I shook hands with Sen. Rod Grams. I bought Norman Spinrad a cup of coffee and a brownie (he autographed my copy of The Iron Dream). That's about it.
Regards,
Shodan
Heh, a very good friend of mine is Mr. Rotten's cousin, and she thinks he's a total ass.
Jeff Daniels invited me, Mr. S, and a few other people up on stage to do a little dance while he played one of his songs at a folk concert, and we all shook his hand at the end. Probably doesn't count.
Met Dave Matthews when he was visiting my friend's coffeeshop (one of his bandmates was her Webmaster at the time). He drew a cartoon on her daughter's hat. No sign of the tail.
I'm no huge Dave Matthews fan or anything, but that's pretty cool! I hope your friend's daughter liked getting a cartoon on her hat and wasn't just randomly accosted by a musician.
I met the Rev. Jesse Jackson a few weeks ago.
I have also met Tommy Lasorda.
I was within touching distance of Bill Clinton, too, does that count for anything?
I'm pro-choice and I shoot back.