When I was in high school, I worked at a corn dog place in the mall. One day, two large, black men wearing lots of gold on their fingers and sunglasses and necks, tried to purchase something with a $100 bill and I had to tell them I had no change. Turned out, it was Dallas Cowboys' Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin in town for a celebrity fundraising basketball game!!! I was like 17 and so not into sports at the time! I only knew who it was because as they left, there was a large crowd of people that followed them out the door and my dad was in that crowd!!! LOL!
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I travel quite a bit for my job, so I see famous people at airports quite a bit, but I never speak to them.
I saw Gwyneth Paltrow at the Nashville airport a couple of years ago the week her country music movie was coming out and she sang at the CMA's. That is one super tall and uber skinnny chick. My boss is 6'4" and in her heels she was taller than him.
The wierdest sighting is from earlier this year, we took the kiddos to the local Bass Pro Shop to look at the fish tanks on a particularly dreary day. Tootie from the facts of life was there with her husband/boyfriend stocking up on shot gun shells. I guess sometimes they really are just people
I use to work in the gift shop at a big hotel when I was a teenager many moons ago. All the celebs that came into town stayed there. I was lucky enough to be on shift when Johnny Cash came into the shop. I've met a few "Canadian celebrities" but no one that anyone outside the country would know about and certainly not anyone younger than about 40ish would remember.
I've come across a couple of Kansas City Chiefs (NFL football) players... but that's not all that strange a thing in the Kansas City metro area. lol.
Many years ago we were in Burbank and met Joey Bishop and Regis Philbin while walking down the street - even got photos. Also have a pic with John Gary when I was in 5th Grade (he was a singer and even had his own show on TV). In the 1960's I started watching Days of Our Lives. In 1986 my Mom, Charles and I started going on cruises with the stars of DOOL! We went on about ten of those cruises and had great fun interacting with the stars, up close and personal, some even remembered our names from year to year. We also met Jerry Lewis in San Diego one time and saw Barbra Streisand at Disneyland but she didn't give anyone the time of day, let's just say snob!
It kind of depends on your definition of "famous". I had the privilege of stalking, er... meeting... Dr. Sharon M. Draper, author of the Hazelwood High trilogy, among many other YA books, for a couple of days at a conference I attended a couple of years ago. She even ate lunch with my friend and me, which ended up with very little eating and a LOT of talking. We even exchanged emails a few times since. I've met other authors at that same conference... Erin Gruwell (Freedom Writers Diaries teacher/author) & Chris Crutcher (author of Ironman, Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, etc.) are the two that stand out most after Dr. Draper.
When I was a young teenager waiting tables in a little cafe in the middle of nowhere a man who looked way to much like Patrick Swayze came in. He sat in my section and I waited on him, biting my tongue and not daring ask him if that was really his name, because I knew if it was I would be to nervous to wait on him. Well I mentioned it to the cook, and yes it was him. The cook peeked out, gasped, and ran out there to ask.
A few years later I was at a Sci-Fi convention that my then boyfriend (now husband) was working at. They were short handed and needed someone to sit with a celeb for a bit and be her running girl. At the time, I had no idea who Mercedes McNabb was, as I didn't watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer. We sat and talked for a few hours. She asked me if I knew who she was and thought it was cool that I didn't, because I didn't act nervous and 'fan girl'ish around her. It wasn't until years later that I got into the show and went "Oh my goodness... I met her!!!" My husband has met TONS of famous people, as he worked security and volunteers for that same Sci-fi convention for several years.
In 1992, I was travelling by plane and was allocated on an airplane with a whole soccer team. They were world champions, at the time, although I doubt any of you know them. I was only 8, loved them, but didn´t have courage to talk with him.
I went to a city tour through São Paulo With Ted Nasmith. We brought him to one of one of most important São Paulo museums, then we went to eat a giant brazilian style hot dog - Half of my hot dog toppings fell on my clothes - not fun.
I´ve met two ex-presidents: Fernando Henrique Cardoso, the guy who made Brazil an economic giant, and Felipe Gonzalez, ex-president of Spain.
I also know a bunch of brazilian YA authors, which you probably never heard about, and two editors of fantasy/terror generes are my aquietances (yes, i know how to find help to publish my books if someday I manage to write them). I also am good friends with a renowned brazilian kids and teens author: Rosana Rios. My hubby and I use to hang on her house, and her family is just adorable. My mother still don´t believe I am friends with her (and it´s been 9 years of friendship now) and still dresses "on party clothes" when she goes somewhere she is, lol.
When I was 7 heading home from California I met Ana Alicia from Falcon Crest. I met Mandy Patinkin who was on Criminal Minds, Dead Like Me, Elmo In Grouch Land, his uncle who passed away is and his aunt are really good friends of my mother and father, also met his mom who has a cook book out. She almost tripped me with her walking cane, he said she is dangerous with that thing. Cindy Hall from Survivor Guatemala and her twin sister Rock Of Love Bus Mindy Hall met them both. Cindy works at the zoo here where I live and my boys love her especially my oldest. I talk to them all the time see every so often, so I guess in away they are friends of mine but I am so busy with my kids I dont get to hang out with anyone at all.
Can we talk about someone we didn't meet? So picture this: Three girls (from 16yo to 40yo), outside a theatre, in a very cold, windy night; after a delightful, funny commedy play. We are pretty excited! And waiting for a certain actor to come out in hope he would give us an authograph, and who knows, maybe we where lucky and would even get a picture taken with him right?! Well, minutes passed, the wind blowed... And we are finally told there where some kind of misunderstanding and all the staff was gonne a long time ago! Sort of disappointing!!!! The show was great though and all things considered, we had a great time!
I did meet some (very few) brazilian celebrities, but nobody you would know.
So this past Sunday I went to my first NASCAR Sprint Cup race...I've been a fan of Nascar since I was a kiddo and I've been a fan of Kyle Busch, the guy who drives the #18 car, for like 6 years now and I'm happy to say that I had the chance to meet him on Sunday and get his autograph! I also ended up with a bag full of lug nuts from the car he drove in Saturday's race (which he won!).
And what's even funnier was I accidentally got to meet his brother Kurt. We were walking back to the car from the infield (the area inside the track where all the car's crews hang out/people with connections get to hang out) and apparently Kurt Busch and his assistant had been walking a few people behind us...we got to the top of the hill and I heard yelling behind me so I turned around to see Kurt Busch yelling at some kid (who was maybe 5 or 6)...the kid wanted an autograph and Kurt yelled at him for it (he was upset after having crashed his car earlier in the race and it took him out of the win). So I turn around to see Kurt yelling at someone then he proceeded to walk right into me and give me a death glare when I was far from being in his way. Needless to say everything the media and fans say about him being an arsehole are true.
It was a crazy day!
Hmmmm... Weird Al Yankovic, Mike Ditka, Antonio Sabato Jr., John Glenn, Chef Alice Waters, Jane Goodall, Kiefer Sutherland, Wynonna Judd
Laura... I am so green of you meeting Mandy Patinkin... LOVE HIM!
And although I haven't met her I am VERY distantly related to Marisa Tomei.
Oh, and my Dad's company had rented some old buses through a company called Star Coach and it turns out the bus we sat on top of to watch the race was Taylor Swift's old tour bus, and the one we'd been hanging out in was Tom Petty's old tour bus...which I slightly fangirled over because I've loved Tom Petty for as long as I can remember so that was pretty cool too!
When I lived in NYC it felt like every time I turned around there was someone famous. Once I was standing on the corner and heard this voice. I thought to myself, "That sounds like Emily Watson." And it was, right around the time she had her first Oscar nomination.
So many stories like that from those days. My favorite though, goes like this. I'm walking across Canal and a handsome guy is walking across too, going in the opposite direction. I think to myself, "WOW!!! He looks like Brad Pitt only with short hair." Now I'd just seen LEGENDS OF THE FALL and to my knowledge, Brad always wore his hair long so I didn't think it could be him. WRONG!!! Next morning I'm getting off the subway and at the top of the stairs was a poster for his latest movie, SE7EN, in which he is sporting a very short haircut. Then I find out the apartment he was sharing with Gwenyth Paltrow was some where near the office. Yet, I never ran into him again. Saved me from stalking charges for sure!!!!
If I ever ran into Mandy Patinkin I would be WAY too tempted to ask him how many times people have quoted "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die!" to him! LOL! I think he is pretty fantastic.
@Molly H.: OMG, I´m a huge fan of Weird Al!
@Mollie C, LOL!
In the convention I´m working in, one of the international guests was Mark Hein-Hagen, who wrote the RPG Vampire: The Mascarade. I didn´t get his autograph because I was in a busy day of work, but I saw him there. The guy who played Jiraya on the old live action of the same name was there too, but I haven´t seem him. There were other people there too, but I don´t think you know them...
I was an extra in a movie that starred Denzel Washington, although, I never talked with him personally and only saw him from a distance on set. Also, we were at the LA airport and saw Robin Williams with his family. I have an uncle that looks just like him, even as they both age, and they act alike. I forgot the name of the actor (bad with names, even famous people's names, lol), but the guy that plays the villian in Space Balls came to coach one of my acting classes one time. I also chatted with the band members to Skillet shortly one time. They really have a big heart for reaching out to the youth. They are all people too, though, so I don't get all star struck or anything like that.
Years ago I attended a Star Trek convention with a friend and got to meet Gene Roddenberry, George Takei, James Doohan, Nichelle Nichols, and Majel Barrett Roddenberry.
I am related to Alan Ball (American Beauty, Six Feet Under, True Blood). We are second cousins.
Molly, I also had the privilege of meeting Jane Goodall. When I was in college she gave a lecture and I got to meet her afterwards.