What Celebrities Have You Met?

[RallyeMike]

For me, the only ones I can think of are Kenny Bernstein and Linda Vaughn. They were just brief greetings at a hospitality tent at the drags maybe 25 years ago. Not too interesting of a story   

On the other hand, my spouse was both a county and rock radio DJ and I can't even begin to list the people she has rubbed elbos with.

Do any of you have some good stories to tell?

[John_Kunkel]

I have shaken hands with Mickey Rooney, Randolph Scott and Gary Cooper. Met them while caddying for my dad at golf tournaments in the fifties.

[Drache]

John Travolta. During his really overweight years. He flew into the airport and we invited him skydiving. He gave us the "maybe next time" shook our hands. Also met a bunch of youtube celebrities like Hickock45, Matt from Demolition Ranch, etc. Oh and Doug Marcaida from Forged in Fire. He taught us knife fighting.

Oh and some singers when I ran my Personnel Protection company. No one that was super famous, mostly Canadian Talent. I think the biggest was the guys from Trooper.

[4cruzin]

I think the only one I met was Bo Duke as I had lunch with him at Carlisle.  Most probably don't know Geoffery Figer who is a high profile attorney but met him a few times.  He even remembered my name the second time.   My wife met Jim Belushi in a bar in Michigan. 

[timmycharger]

Back in 1987 when I was 14 on a family cross country trip I met Henny Youngman in Las Vegas. Of course I had no clue who he was but my mother shoved me in front of him for a picture 

Im sure he said this every time but I got the "take my picture please" from him lol.. .

[Mopar Nut]

I met Norm Abram from New Yankee Workshop 20 years ago.

[birdsandbees]

I met Stuart at Wellborns.. good enough for me! 

[Old Moparz]

Robert Conrad at the NY Automobile Show in the 1970's when Blacksheep Squadron was on the air. He was the guest signing autographs at that show.

Paul Sorvino at a Chinese restaurant in Teaneck, NJ in 1981 while in a phone booth.    It was a surprise party for my sister's 16th birthday & about 20 of us were all waiting. I finally got up to use the payphone to call my Mom to make sure they still were coming after being very late. As I was in the phone booth my Mom & sister walked in so I ducked down. After they walked by Paul Sorvino walked in while I was hiding in the booth. (He lived in town back then) I stood up & he gave me an odd look & I then realized who he was. I said, "Hi Mr. Sorvino, I remember you from your TV show "We'll Get By"

He said, Hi, And movies too!:  

Also met a bunch of musicians over the years at concerts, lectures & clinics like....

Tony Levin, bassist with King Crimson, Peter Gabriel & others. (Many times, he loves to talk....LOL)
Bill Bruford, drummer from King Crimson & Yes.
Les Paul, obvious who he is.
Carl Palmer drummer from ELP & Asia.
Robin Trower, guitarist.
Terry Bozzio, drummer from Frank Zappa, Missing Persons, UK & Jeff Beck.

Several others that are not so known but have played for decades.  

[moparjohn]

Ive met the entire living cast of DOH. including the late James Best and Don P Colley (sp)? . Erik Estrada, Cindy Williams, maybe more if I remebered.

[taxspeaker]

Jimmy Stuart at a Rotary club lunch in Studio City, CA, My table had him, Jack Elam and Stacy Keach as just regular guys at lunch.

Muhammed Ali many times-sat next to him flying in and out of Louisville and it changed my opinion from him as a draft-dodging brash jerk to a quiet, fine man.

D Wayne Lukas (horse trainer) Curtis Strange and Lee Trevino (golfers) at Louisville airport-all were jerks, particularly Strange.
Loni Anderson-sat next to her on a flight to Louisville-a very nice lady

Bobby Knight-won an auction for a round of golf with him and he could not have been more pleasant although colorful vocabulary.

Sgt. Major Bennie Adkins-awarded Congressional Medal of Honor-had the pleasure of knowing him for many years before his death this spring.

Tim Wellborn

[Nacho-RT74]

My job as a sound tech and show production ( or what it was my job, I dunno anymore now ) is based on the  the show bussiness so It could be a long list, but maybe most of them you don't know them, being from the latinamerican world. I could talk about Metallica, Elton John, Alanis Morrisette, Alan White from Yes ( I was close to all the Yes band, but certainly got a nice conversation with Alan White. Short but nice)... etc...

Most of them are not more than a respecfull salute, or maybe asking anything I could help on stage. I don't use to take selfies with them or get into a conversation... everybody is working and is focused on get the job done.

AAAAND my Ex GF is a Theater, TV and movies actress. Not HUGE celebrity, but quite enough to be walking around and ppl asking to take a pic with her ( and I was the photographer LOL )

[Q5XX29]

I met Jay Leno once, in 2012 I think it was, in the early morning in a nice Florida hotel lobby where we both were staying. It was a real dream come true, except the part about him inviting me over to his garage sometime (the part that never actually happened, damn it). A friend and my wife  noticed him first, and murmured to me "oh my God, isn't that Jay Leno?" just as he turned around and walked towards us. It was early enough in the morning that there really weren't many other people around except my group of friends that was getting ready to head out for our day. Jay walked towards us and I said "hello there Mr Leno", and he stuck out his hand for a handshake (the good old days), and noticed my shirt, which had a car print on it, and said "oh, a car guy, huh?". We talked for a solid 10 minutes, exclusively about cars. He joked that he was there to do a few shows "to pay for that new McLaren P1!", and I told him I was considering getting a McLaren 12c (I knew he had one of those, too), and he told me what a terrific car they were and that I really should pull the trigger on one (which I did, a couple of years later). We started talking about Mopars, and I mentioned that I had a Daytona, to which he responded "does it have the Hemi or the 440?" and I was impressed by that. He immediately knew that Daytonas only came with those two engine options, which is more than I can say for half of the supposed Mopar fans who ask me if my car has a 383, or 440 six pack, etc.   Jay really came off as a class act, taking the time to visit for a while with another car enthusiast, and repeatedly demonstrating that he knew what he was talking about. He also took the time to take photos and shake hands with several people, as during this time a bit of a crowd had gathered around us. I hope I get the chance to run into him again, so we can visit about Lamborghini Miuras, as I now have one of those. If I ever bring it to Pebble Beach or Concourso Italiano, that would likely happen. My Miura won those shows years ago when it was restored, and the previous owner took several photos of Jay with him and my Miura.

[Todd Wilson]

Willie Nelson.........ran into him in a parking lot heading for his bus when I was a kid.......got his autograph for my mom as she is a fan.


Todd

[XH29N0G]

Interesting discussion and fun to see the personal side of some of these people. 

Looks like it relates to being in the same place (or travels) or to our jobs.  My work and travels rarely intersect that set, but like some others here I have extended family that was in it, in show business and high-level business.  Their circle was was different.  It was a different sort of life. 

Fortunately, I can take a vicarious jump into their world with a quick google search. Seeing a grandparent, parent, or other relative in their prime, in their own image (or of a photographer) with the other glitterati from their time is a trip worth taking.  I don't do it much, but every so often when I'm bored, or when something comes up like this thread I revisit.  New things are archived and show up.  I learn little things to or confirm stories I thought were too crazy to be true.

Cannot imagine me wearing those things or dressed those ways or spending money in that way.  I ended up much more regular and much less affluent but I wouldn't trade.

[HANDM]

Met Kevin Smith (Jay and Silent Bob) at Disneyland.
Also met Don Wilson (The Ventures founding member) And bought his 04 Cadillac DTS for my daughters first car. Still have it and now my son drives it.

[will]

One night around 1988 we were watching The Blues Brothers in my parents house with some friends. My mom walks out of the kitchen just as Jake and Elwood look up and see the custodian. My mom said "Oh look there's Mr. Calloway." We all turned around and said "You know Cab Calloway?" She said "You boys know him too. You used to get Halloween candy from him. He lives up the street from my father."

[cdr]

Slim Pickens from Blazing Saddles,   went to school with Singer Clint Black

[XH29N0G]

One night around 1988 we were watching The Blues Brothers in my parents house with some friends. My mom walks out of the kitchen just as Jake and Elwood look up and see the custodian. My mom said "Oh look there's Mr. Calloway." We all turned around and said "You know Cab Calloway?" She said "You boys know him too. You used to get Halloween candy from him. He lives up the street from my father."

I love those types of stories.  Also love that movie.   

[426HemiChick]

Hi Folks,                        27 October 2020

President Gerald Ford at DFW, Ed McMahon, Robert Redford, George Burns, Mickey Rooney, Frank Bonner aka Herb Tarlek WKRP, Squiggy of Laverne & Shirley, Lee Trevino, Crystal Gayle met her at Fort Worth Meacham Field. All met on planes while flying or in/at airports. Actually met Ed McMahon and his wife on an elevator going up to the Admirals club at DFW airport. He was a big man and very nice.

Used to fly several days each week. Met many strangers, can't remember their names other than two exceptional ones: Dward Farquard, a great BS artist and Almorranas, a real pain in the ass.

If you were to meet any of these folks and asked them if they know me they'd say "Hell No" except for Dward and Al. We have stayed in touch over the years.

Best Always,

Christine

[Kern Dog]

Ron Jeremy use to raid my box of rubbers. The friggin guy was too cheap to buy his own.

[BLK 68 R/T]

 

[Seabeckredneck]

   Wow! Some pretty cool stories. I cannot complete to these levels. I can think of one 'celebrity' I ran into on a beach in Clearwater Florida back in the '70's. That was "Dr. Bellows" from I dream of Jeannie. He was a nice guy that allowed a couple photos before a crowd gathered and chased him off.
  I also met Teller from Penn and Teller in a magic shop in Pike Place market in Seattle. Teller actually talks!
  Not much, but I don't get out much either

[nvrbdn]

When I was living in Victorville California back in the 70's I was working for the NAPA shop and we were having our grand opening. I had lined up for a couple race cars to be there from the shop of the Victor Valley Jr. College where I was attending at the time. Someone there knew someone from the radio station and had them show up. The guy on the mike was Skip Young who played Wally on the Ozzie and Harriet show. He was pretty funny in person. Then I was on a bowling league and bowled against Roy Rogers. He was a great guy. And his wife Dale Evans always accompanied him. That's it for me other than what you would call local celebrities.

[KS71owner]

I used to go to a lot of conventions, met quite a few celebrities there. Lou Ferrigno, David Prowse, Kenny Baker, and a lot of other Star Wars and Trek actors. Met Chuck Yaeger at a book signing in the early 2000s. My uncle's house in Crawford, TX is just down the road from where the Bush Ranch was, we used to see W. frequently, and Marine One flew over all the time. I've also met a few Youtubers, being in Wichita I've met (and done work for) Tyler Hoover. I also met WatchJRGO through my last job.

[ACUDANUT]

Clint Eastwood, Sharon Stone and Stormy Daniels.

[Rolling_Thunder]

Celebrities
The Kardashians, Robert Redford, Cindy Crawford, Jersey Shore cast, Tom Ellis, Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Pamela Anderson, Dwayne Johnson, Brad Pitt, Selma Heyek, Bill Goldberg, Adam Sandler, Edward Norton, Sean Penn, Warren Sapp, Simon Cowell, Arnold Swartzenegger, Lou Ferrigno, Shaq, Adam Biden, Kobe Bryant, and a ton of others....

Politicians
Donald Trump, Melania Trump, The Obamas, George Bush, George H.W. Bush, Joe Biden, Bill Clinton, Chelsea Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and several Secretaries of Transportation, State, Air Force, Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Secretary of Joint Chiefs, etc

Most Memorable
Working PSD for Melania Trump (Incredibly nice lady)   
Shaking hands with SECDEF Mattis
Getting "Coined" by President Trump during his Inauguration

[chargered]

None and hopefully I never do.  Most are a bunch of hypocritical leftists. 

[ACUDANUT]

True Dat 

[ph23vo]

i don't recognize celebrities..

[RallyeMike]

i don't recognize celebrities..

Well, it looks like Rolling_Thunder could give you a tutorial.