Interactions with Famous People

[Goaldeje]

I know this is kind of random, but I'm gonna share anyway. My wife and I love the show Cougartown (not as much about sex as the title implies, very funny show). Anyway, after a brief hiatus, they were back on last night, and had a fake radio commercial for a product one of the characters were selling. This fake radio commercial was complete with an 800 number you could call to order the product.

Turns out the number was live, and you could call and talk to a member of the cast who was manning the phones. Anyway, long story short, I called out of boredom this afternoon and talked with Busy Phillips for a couple of minutes. She seems very nice, her husband and I both went to JMU so we had a little to talk about. Pretty cool promotion, really.

Anyway, have you ever had the opportunity to interact with anyone famous?

 

[Neophyte]

I got to meet/talk to a lot of celebs in the music business when I worked as a stage hand in the local theater union. Ted Nugent, Bret Micheals, Jack Russell (singer for Great White), Alan Jackson, Randy Travis, Garth Brooks (showed up to help build the stage, no one knew who he was for 15 or 20 minutes) and a bunch of others. Some of these guys were cool (Ted Nugent stood around and talked till 2am with the local crew) and some not so much.

The coolest one I personally meet was David Copperfield. I walked in the back stage door for show call and he was outside the dressing room stretching out. It was my second time to work his show from the deck so I knew how all the tricks were done. I walked over and told him that I didn't want to bother him but had to tell him that as a professional theater technician and set designer, I was even more impressed with his show after seeing it from back stage. He offered me his hand (something I found out later he doesn't often do) and thanked me. He said it wasn't often that people appreciated what went into doing it after getting a peak "behind the curtain".

 

[fansince62]

I worked with one of the Apollo astronauts who was also a shuttle pilot. talk about a mind for detail! One grandfather was a famous French philosopher from the 19th and 20th centuries. Saw Joe Pa a lot at PSU. Saw Bear Bryant at one game - looked like the field shrank when he walked out! Met Larry Brown once.

 

[Lanky Livingston]

When I was in New Orleans a year or so ago, I was checking out some of the art galleries in the French Quarter with my then-girlfriend. One of the galleries we were at I was admiring some of the work, and in walks Lenny Kravitz with some uber-skinny chick. At one point he comes over and is looking at the same piece I was and said something along the lines of "amazing use of light, don't you think?" And I responded with something dumb like "yeah, I like this one a lot."

Other than that, I've been pretty "unlucky" in terms of celeb encounters. Natalie Gulbis was on the same flight I was from Vegas to Houston one time, and I saw her getting her baggage, but no real interaction. A few other boring stories like that, and that's it.

I have met Slyvia Earle on several occasions, if that counts.

 

[Elephant]

I met many high profile people over the years in the restaurant business in South Florida. Many of them were very cool, in fact most were, except Phil Simms. He was a d**k! Came in and told the GM he wanted a seat in th back and if anybody bothered him he would leave.

That same GM made Jose Conseco wait an hour for a table just after he released his book.

Jim Lampley was surprisingly short. I swear he was 5'5" tall!

Alyssa Milano, tiny woman but very pretty! Can't remember the name of the NHL hockey player she was dating at the time.

Josh Beckett was one of the most fun tables I ever served.

Keith Hernandez brought in his own Far Niente Cabarnet since we charged $150 for the bottle.

But my favorite Celeb that I ever served was Rod Stewart! He was so cool! He had been there a couple times, but this was my first interaction with him. He was with 5 hot Super Models and 2 other guys. One of those guys, who must have been a handler, was a demanding jerk! Just telling us what to do every step of the way. So when I went to pour Rod some water he leans over to me and whispers, "Don't worry about him, he's an ***hole. I am paying the bill." I received a very healthy tip that day.

 

[riggins44]

Over the years I had the opportunity to interact with several famous people. From Mark Mark, George Starke, Norm Snead, pilots, and Generals.

A few years ago I was attending some meetings and one night in my room was an invitation to have breakfast with Newt Gingrich. Myself, three others, and couple company people had breakfast with Newt. It was a breakfast I will never forget. Left very impressed with the man.

 

[Burgundy Burner]

Some football players. Some race car drivers. Members of the band Chicago back in the day. A bunch of politicians along the way. A couple of actors.

Most memorable though is astronaut James Lovell.

 

[Nobody]

We have a few major concert venues out here, one less than a mile from my house, and a few celebs and athletes from here originally. I also have rich relatives who are connected, so I have had the opportunity based on these circumstances to personally meet more celebs than most people. Here are a few stories.....

1. I have met Bruce Smith on more than a dozen occasions, and even worked out with him once years ago. As many of you surely know, he is a local guy that has always maintained his off season home here. My friend Brad's parents are actually close personal friends of his. As a result, I had several chances to meet and talk to him on a personal level - although it was all when he was with the Bills. I have always been a fan of his, and even though he doesn't know when to put down the wine, he really is a great guy that I felt honored to meet on such a personal level over the years.

2. Landstown High School is about 4 miles up the street from me. Not too long ago, Percy Harvin played his high school football there. Before he went to the NFL, my mother was roommates with his Aunt. Although I haven't seen or heard from him since he went to Minnesota, I did get to spend an Easter and a fourth of July with him and his family while he was attending the University of Florida. For the record, we all knew he'd make it when he was playing for Landstown. Phenomenal player and smart guy. As much as he loved playing with the little kids in the neighborhood, I'm amazed he doesn't have a ton of his own already, he was great with kids.

3. I have always been a huge boxing fan. All eras, all classes. When Sweetpea Whittaker was the king of his class, I was obsessed, because I loved his talent and the fact he was a local guy. Even after his career and personal life went to ****, I always liked watching his old fights, as did my daughter. When she was about 5 or 6, we were grocery shopping, and she takes off down the aisle toward who I thought was a total stranger until I looked up and she was yelling SWEETPEA!!!! Sure enough, it was him. The fact my daughter saw him first shocked the hell out of me. He was very impressed, and I tell you that you could not meet a more decent and personable guy. To this day, he was my favorite celebrity encounter, because he was so humble and so thankful for our support, and he took a lot of time to just stand there and shoot the **** with me. Since then he has opened up his own gym and begun training other boxers, and I make it a point to go up there a few times a year and just admire what he does. Whether you love or hate him as a boxer, the guy was one of the best, and definitely knows his ****.

4. 12 years ago when I first met my wife, her father was a Marine Corps CWO5 stationed in Hawaii. Several years later, he moved back stateside and settled down in Jacksonville, NC. Over the years, he always bragged about how he knew R. Lee Ermey. I had no reason to doubt him, but I never fully believed it or asked about it. So 3 years ago, they are having some type of Marine Corps display and exercise going on down at Camp Lejeune. It was sorta like an airshow, but not an airshow. Since my father in law was a retired officer, we got to go where regular people didn't. At one point around lunch time, he got a phone call. He told me he wanted me to meet his buddy. We walk across the field up to this guy, and it was ****ing R. Lee Ermey. I about completely **** myself. Full Metal Jacket is one of my all time favorite films, and I couldn't believe he was standing right in front of me. Because of my past experiences, I have never been the type to get star struck, but for some reason I was like a 10 year old female Beatles fan when I met R. Lee We hung out with him for hours, and it was insane to get to hear all of his stories. He is easily the most brash, but most hilarious person I have ever met. The **** you see on tv with him is not at all an act.

5. When I was in Junior High School, my science teacher used to brag that her husband's college roommate was George Allen. This was when he was running for Governor, so we assumed she was an attention whore. We started to tease her all the time about it, because we thought she was full of **** frankly. So we're doing our labs one day, and in walks George Allen to our class. It was hilarious, because the whole class was dead silent, and we all had the holy ****, you really do know him look on our faces. He only hung out for about 10 minutes and didn't talk about anything political, he just said he wanted to show up because he heard we were ragging her and didn't believe her about being close friends with him.

Those are my favorite stories, but other celebs I have met over the years include Missy Elliot, P. Diddy (total ****ing dick), Rudy Boesch from Survivor (he actually had a couple of tv shows afterwards too), Papa Roach, Linkin Park, Korn, 311 and several other bands (my friend's father is an executive with FM99, a huge radio station here, so I got to personally meet several huge bands over the years at station parties, meet and greets, etc.), George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Charlie Sheen.

 

[riggins44]

Met Boone years ago at a ES tailgate. My bucket list will be complete when sit down and have a beer with Miles Monroe.

One of these days Pete I'm coming your way.