Question Of The Day. Saturday The 24th of January

I've got a famous neighbour.

I've never actually met him but the Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, has a holiday home near here. I wouldn't have known, but when policemen are suddenly posted on guard outside one of the houses and a TV crew turns up it tends to draw your attention.

So, today's question is Have you ever met a famous person? What were they like?

If I have, they kept a low profile. Funny how sometimes the wanna be's carry more of a need to be recognized than the people who really are famous.

I've met a lot of important people, important in the contributions they make to society--including a member of my own family-- but I wouldn't--and they wouldn't--see themselves as "famous" exactly.

I sat next to Dustin Hoffman in a NY movie theater years ago, saw Arlo Guthrie in a bar and met Joe Perry from Aerosmith backstage. Bruce Springsteen went to high school with a guy I used to work with and was at their (10th?) high school reunion. I saw Brian May from Queen catching a train at Stuttgart train station - and thought I was imagining things (those guys take trains?) till I found out the next day that he'd been in Stuttgart for a solo concert. :lol3: It's not unusual to spot German celebrities at the train station.

I couldn't tell you what they were like, though, because they were just brief encounters or simply spotting them.

I have led a very boring life, never met a famous person.  The closest I have come is one day I went to the supermarket fairly early one weekend morning and Keith Urban's tour bus was in the parking lot.  I remember two teenage girls were hanging around the bus talking to one of his entourage probably hoping to meet him.

Does Alton Brown count (from Good Eats when it was on Food Network)? We met him at a Food Expo down around Philadelphia a few years ago. He even gave me a hug!   

I've met a lot in varying places.  Being from NYC, it's easy - many of them live their life pretty normally.  From rock stars, to comedians, to actors.  Like, I saw Julianne Moore and her (then) husband out with their baby in a stroller down in Tribeca.  Nobody blinked an eye, nobody bothered them. 

Anyway, too many to list. Some walkbys some actual meeting and speaking with.  One was at the wedding of a rocker (I was his cousins date, knew the family fairly well) where I met several interesting famous persons.  

The one that stands out most, was author Anne Rice.  I guess I expected her to be kind of standoffish based on her demeanor overall but she was very warm and friendly in person.  I like being surprised like that.  And she signed one of my books so there is that   

Winchester said:

 
Does Alton Brown count (from Good Eats when it was on Food Network)? We met him at a Food Expo down around Philadelphia a few years ago. He even gave me a hug! 

 

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Oh, my, yes!!! That counts!!!! That would be AWESOME!!!!

To actually answer the question, nope.   

I've met quite a few bands. It's been quite a while since I have so some of the bands are not famous anymore. Most of the people I've met were nice.

The most memorable one would be a Canadian band called treble charger. I saw someone give the one band member money in an envelope. I jokingly put my hand out and he said "it's all 50's, nobody really accepts those" and I said "well I do." We all had a good laugh. He also talked to my friends mom using my cell phone.

When I was 13, my group won an entrepreneurial contest (we designed a personalized bookmark made out of preserved leaves) and we were invited to speak at a luncheon with the deputy Prime Minister. He wasn't anything extraordinary   and he was there for only 10 minutes.

At 16, I was part of the Rotary Club and we were organizing a charity drive for underprivileged kids with the newly-crowned Miss Universe Malaysia. She was a lot more down-to-earth than we expected. One of the kids got sick on her shoes, and she said to her, "Oh, no, I'm so sorry that my shoes ate your lunch." 

I've met Wes Craven at work. He is the director of many horror movies- namely SCREAM with Ghost Face. He came to my job because my company is the original creator of Ghost Face. He's good friends with the owner and few other people. I had no idea and just walked by him thinkingbhes another visitor. My co worker told me who it was, so I snagged my Ghost Face mask and he autographed it for me. Such a nice guy!

I've seen Geraldo Rivera but didn't speak to him. I grew up across the street from a professional baseball player.

We saw Michael Jackson coming out of Planet Hollywood at Disney years ago. Surgical mask and all. He was surrounded by his entourage. He gave a brief wave, jumped in the car and took off.

My husband met John Walsh (America's Most Wanted) in an office he was painting in Vero Beach, Florida. I guess he's lived there for years. He said he was really nice and very approachable.

I've met a few Christian artists getting autographs at concerts when I was in college. I also volunteered to work the gates at a music festival once & some of the bands came through my line. That was fun because I was 18 & single. Lol

I went to high school with a professional baseball player but I more so just knew who he was.

My FIL went to high school with a famous actor (I cant think of who off the top of my head; but my Grandmother was very impressed!). He sat in front of my FIL a lot when they were seated alphabetically. Also DHs grandfather was the principle at the school. I believe the actor was a bit of a troublemaker. Lol

I'm boring, I haven't met any big shots.

I met Margo Timmins in the basement of the Berkeley Church after a concert.

I'd really like to meet Emily Saliers...

thinking about it, i've met quite a few famous people, and know a few of them well/am friends with them. but, it depends on what "circles" you move in who is considered famous -- imo.

when i was very young, maybe 7-9 years old, i met then governor of new york nelson rockefeller. my dad worked in his administration, and my family had our picture taken with nelson rockefeller. i don't remember meeting mr rockefeller, as i was pretty young.

then when gerald ford became president, i met him -- and same, dad worked in that administration so my family had our picture taken with president ford...in the oval office. president ford was a very nice man.

in my twenties, i met and became good friends with julie moon and tom beasley then of dragon moon tattoo. they're world class tattoo artists. i was close friends with julie, tom was a more quiet and to himself type though i would consider us friends. both are very nice people. i met and became good friends with alex binnie, a tattooist originally from the UK but was living in LA when i lived there. alex is a very nice person. i met and we're good enough acquaintances that we know each other and say hi and stop and talk when we (rarely these days) come across each other several other famous tattoo artists -- ed hardy, bill salmon, bob roberts, vyvyn lazonga, and dot and dana brunson. i've met many other tattooists, some well-known and others not so well-known. they were all nice people.

i've met famous piercers -- jim ward, elayne levine/binnie. i knew elayne well. they were both nice people.

and while living in LA, while having lunch at a restaurant with some co-workers, leslie ann warren approached us asking if we'd be interested in talking with her about young people and etc -- she was getting ready to do some movie and was interested in gathering info. she seemed nice enough.

these days i live in a rural area, and i would be very surprised to see anyone famous out here. in fact, they'd probably be lost and asking for directions.

In my college days, which were a loooong time ago, I met a few famous people, mostly musicians. My roommate and I threw a party once where two of the guys from Blondie came (the band was in town to shoot a crappy movie called "Roadie"). This was at the height of their popularity, after the release of "Heart of Glass" and "One Way or Another." Anyway, I remember seeing a guy who looked familiar leaning against the wall, and I went to talk to him, thinking I had seen him at a club the night before. I told him, "You look familiar, do I know you?" and he said, "I should think so, I'm Clem Burke!" and after my blank look, he added, "from Blondie!" Funniest thing was a Blondie album was playing when I asked him, lol.

I went clothes shopping with Debbie Harry a few days later, a friend and I had (intentionally) run into the entire band at their hotel. I asked her about my party and she was staying with Chris Stein that night, who wasn't feeling well.  Also met Willie Nelson that day, he was just hanging around outside of the hotel waiting for his ride. 

I dated Junior Brown for about a year. I really liked him, but we parted ways when he left Austin to get back surgery, and then he had a job lined up some state west of Texas, I think it was New Mexico. (He met his current wife then.)  I might have gone with him if it weren't for my two cats, I could not leave them and couldn't take them with me. No regrets, though. Junior had a lot of famous friends, hung out with Stevie Ray Vaughan and his brother Jimmy are the first to come to mind. I haven't seen him since then, but mutual friends have mentioned that he wrote a song inspired by me, called "My Wife Thinks You're Dead." 

Partied backstage with the Ramones, B-52s, Talking Heads, lots of local Austin bands. Ran into Patti Smith after one of her concerts in Houston, we both had the idea to stop for a quick burrito. There were more, too, but I'd really have to dig in the memory bank… All the celebrities I've talked to have been pretty decent, nobody stands out as being a jerk.

Yes, definitely, myself #1. #2 My uncle, who is really awesome, he is a pro skier and has camped at at least 48 usa states. I'd consider him famous!!  

Got Richard Burton'student autograph when he was a Shakespearean actor at the Old Vic when I was about 10.
chased after Albert finney one morning on my way to work for his autograph. He was lovely, warm and friendly and good looking. Saw Alan bates in bond street, London. Touched rudolph nuryev on the underground. The train was crowded, lurched, I lost my balance and just grabbed out and it was his arm which he stiffened so I wouldn't fall. Sigh. All this when I was in my early 20's

- Verne Troyer at a convention. He suddenly appeared in his wheelchair just by chance and he complimented on the dress I was wearing.


Also at the same con...

-Saw Summer Glau and Leonard Nimoy from a distance.

-Got an autograph from Thomas Dekker.

-Alice Cooper walked by me when I was lounging on a floor against the wall.


I never met them personally, but my dad worked with Yoyo Ma and went into sauna with the King of Sweden.

My mom also went on a date with a guy in high school who later became a well known pro hockey player *Have to go ask her who he was, I can't remember*

I think that is all of them!