What's your brush with fame?

[David1961]

Who is the most famous person you have either shaken hands with or had a private conversation with - even if it was just to say "Hi"? I met Jean Stapleton at an art exhibit back when All In The Family was in it's heydey. I was pretty young, and she seemed like a very sincere, sweet person.

 

[bUU]

I consider my most significant brush with fame to be quoted in Time magazine while I was in college.

But to answer your more specific question, I worked security when I was in college, and that included several fan conventions. So I drove Adam West around one weekend, and drank whiskey with Gary Gygax (the guy who invented Dungeons & Dragons), and helped make sure Marina Sirtis and George Takai made it back and forth from their hotels to the convention center. (Sirtis: Successful. Takai went missing; we found him at a party in the freshman dorms.)

Perhaps the most memorable experience though was with Jimmy Doohan. For some reason, he attracted even more rabid fans than West or Takai, and I was the chief of security for the event so I was responsible for coordinating my staff to essentially "make a hole" for Doohan to get across the atrium of the building out to a waiting car which would take him back to his hotel. I'm doing my thing, with the walkie-talkies and a bunch of hand-signals we used (because back then walkie-talkies were mostly useless in loud crowds). Doohan grabs my arm and as I look at him he says, in his very best Scotty voice, "Cap'n! Y'ought-a be givin' me a phaser too!"

Made my day.

 

[FUEGO]

A member of the Governor's cabinet was in my meeting room right before I came in to hold me meeting. The cabinet member, in his official capacity, was signing some official resolutions for my organization. He left the pen he used to sign the resolutions on the table. I found it and picked it up. It was a pretty crappy non brand name pen so I tossed it.

 

[ER Eddie]

Um, I rode the high school bus with Heather Locklear. Does that count?

 

[Bestwifeever]

I shook the hands that shook the hands of many famous people .

 

[Nemo2]

Saw Tiny Tim at Toronto airport circa 1968......and later, (also at Toronto airport and thanks to an upgrade with Air France), sat near Patrick Macnee (of the Avengers TV series), in the first class lounge.

(Oh, did I mention that Tiny Tim spoke to me? He said, and I quote, "Get out of my way".....naah, not really.)

 

[pb4uski]

Um, I rode the high school bus with Heather Locklear. Does that count?

Was she hot back then?

 

[antmary]

I was in a hot tub with Alan Watts and company at Esalen in the late 60's....

 

[MichaelB]

I was once mistaken for someone important

 

[daylatedollarshort]

I worked with a former Soviet submarine captain who was the inspiration for The Hunt for Red October book and movie by Tom Clancy.

 

[Midpack]

That I remember off hand - I had brief one-on-one conversations with Walter Cronkite, Bobby Rahal & Sheryl Crow. I've had one-on-one meetings (about 20 min each) with about a half dozen Senators & Congressmen if you consider them famous (?) - Dingell, Lugar, Hamilton, Visclosky, Coats, Burton that I remember.

And unfortunately I saw JFK's motorcade pass by my elementary school the afternoon of Nov 21, 1963, he was assassinated less than 24 hours later...

 

[txtig]

I met Jean Stapleton at an art exhibit back when All In The Family was in it's heydey. I was pretty young, and she seemed like a very sincere, sweet person.

David - Your brush is very similar to mine. My father's first cousin was married to Carroll O'Conner, who starred as Archie on All in the Family. I met him when I was very young, (60's) prior to All in the Family, but he was already an established actor at the time.

 

[target2019]

Pacino. Nuff said.

 

[youbet]

Bob Dylan and I stood shoulder to shoulder at adjacent urinals in a men's room at Orchestra Hall, Chicago, in 1964.

 

[jollystomper]

Because of my college I have been fortunate to been students with some people before they became famous (and remain friends with some of them), and meet a few famous people through our shared alumni connection. This has included:
- Presidents and presidential candidates
- A few Congresspersons (knowing them as students I'm not surprised at the current state of things)
- Actors and actresses famous enough to have been nominated for Academy Awards and Emmys
- Physicians who have become well known beyond their specialty

Outside of that, I have been fortunate to:
- Meet Jackie Robinson when I was a kid (he was friends with our school principal and came by to give us a talk)
- Ride in first class on a plane next to Ray Lewis, and have a pleasant conversation about things other than football
- Have breakfast at an airport one morning with several WWE professional wrestlers (I had an early morning business trip, they had a show the previous night, tables were sparse, I managed to be at one by myself and they asked if I'd mind if they sat with me. You think I was going to tell them no?)
- Sing a very brief solo with Diana Ross in Las Vegas at one of her shows

 

[Keim]

I've met a couple of governors and other upper level politicians.. Once stood in line at a grocery store with Arnold Schwarzenneger and Maria Shriver. Didn't even realize it...

Was back stage with Bobby McFerrin, but didn't speak with him.

My high school principal was good friends with Elvis. So, if we were doing 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon, I'd be able to link closely to just about every 50-70s celebrity.

 

[easysurfer]

Away on Business years back in Atlantic City. So co-workers and I were hanging around in the lobby, then we realized Smokin' Joe Frazier happened to be standing around in the lobby also (in a suit and all) by himself.

 

[pb4uski]

Our MBA program did a week in DC on business and government and we (about 30 of us) spent about 45 minutes with Dick Cheney (then a congressman from Wyoming IIRC). Impressive "young" guy at the time (about 45 back then) as he had been President Ford's chief of staff at a young age (34).

Met Howard Dean a couple times when he was governor of Vermont.

Was out at the Farmers PGA event in San Diego back in February and just about ran into Dustin Johnson (literally).

 

[Major Tom]

Throughout the course of my career, I introduced on stage:

Hilary Clinton
Emmy Lou Harris
Adam Ant
Neil Diamond
(and more, but I forget who),

Stood next to, exchanged brief words with, shook hands with, or interviewed:

Mel Gibson, Dustin Hoffman, Patrick Stewart, Timothy Dalton, Kiefer Sutherland, Gael García Bernal, Penelope Cruz, Drew Barrymore, Ray Manzarek (The Doors), Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Robert Smith (The Cure), Quentin Tarantino, Madonna, Boy George, Rick James, Charlie Watts (Rolling Stones), Jakob Dylan, Neneh Cherry (daughter of Don Cherry and a musician in her own right), Ravi Coltrane, Horace Silver (one of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers), Duran Duran (taped interview with John Taylor, but was with the whole band), George Clinton, Seal, Mos Def, Echo & The Bunnymen, Bjork, Charlie Haden, Fabio, Henry Winkler, Jack Palance, Ice Cube, Jerry Casale and Mark Mothersbaugh from Devo, Jody Watley, Johnny Rotten, Kato Kaelin, OJ Simpson, MC Hammer, Malcolm McLaren, Moby, Moon Unit Zappa, Robin Willams, Cindy Birdsong from The Supremes, Terence Trent D'Arby, Brian Warner (aka Marilyn Manson), Tim Burton, Tony Bennett, Traci Lords, Morrissey, multiple members of The Funk Brothers (Motown's backing band who played on all the Motown hits), Warren Zevon, Carnie Wilson (daughter of Brian Wilson - I didn't actually meet her because I was out at lunch when she came to see me, but she did leave me a lovely hand-written note which I still have), Billy Corgan from Smashing Pumpkins, Bob Ezrin (record producer for artists like Alice Cooper, Rush, Pink Floyd. I worked for him for a while), MC Solaar (French rapper), Bono and Adam Clayton from U2, Lisa Stansfield, Lady Gaga, Angela Rippon (British news anchor for the BBC), Divine (singer and actor associated with John Waters), Terence Trent D'Arby, Julio Iglesias, Eric Burdon, Les McCann, Anita O' Day, Frances Davis (wife of Miles Davis).

There are more and as soon as I post this, they will come back to me. I have never had a particularly good memory. It was great fun though.

 

[Katsmeow]

Ronald Reagan. I actually shook his hand and briefly spoke with him a few times. And, most memorably, at one point my entire body was pressed up lengthwise against his body (no, nothing racy going on as I explain below).

This was in 1976 when he was running for president. The first time was a breakfast at the law school I was attending at the time. It was a fairly small group and he spoke and then came round and shook hands and briefly talked to everyone.

The next time was at the Republican National Convention where I was volunteer where I ran across him several times. The first time was the first day at the convention where I foolishly wore high heels. After a day on my feet I was in agony and my ankles were swollen. When he came round to where I was, I actually shook his hand while holding my stiletto heels in the other hand...

The other time was when he came to speak to the California delegation which was a key delegation at the convention. This was at the hotel where the delegation was staying. There were tons of reporters around and he and Pat Boone and his entourage where coming to address the delegates in a conference room. There were many more reporters than had been planned for, so his security asked some of his volunteers to form a human chain to separate the reporters from where Reagan was going to walk by. So I was standing there holding hands with others on each side of me. As Reagan and Pat Boone passed by where I was, the reporters behind us surged pushing me straight into Reagan. I landed against him and he reached out to steady me so I didn't fall down and for a few moments we were pressed against one another. At that point, the security got involved and moved the reporters back and he went on and gave his speech.

During those years I also met Kay Bailey Hutchison (this was before she became a Senator) and her husband who was running for state party chair. I was a delegate at the state convention and they were seeking my vote. While we were talking, Senator John Tower came up and fairly rudely interrupted us (and it was notable to me because he was so much shorter than I expected).

One of the people I went to school with and knew pretty well at the time became a Congressman and was later Secretary of Army.

 

[ER Eddie]

Was she [Heather Locklear] hot back then?

Cute and popular. Had a Farrah Fawcett style hairdo. We definitely travelled in different circles. I sat with my nerd friend discussing science fiction, and she ... did whatever popular, good-looking people do, I guess.

 

[obgyn65]

Dennis Kucinich and Meg Ryan. Not at the same time.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

I met Willy Ley.

 

[martyp]

Shook hands with Bill Richardson when he was Secretary of Energy. My robots and I were on the lab tour.

 

[grasshopper]

Had dinner with Liberace twice. Was at a Club Med in Bermuda with Johnny Rotten, kind of odd because he wrote an unflattering song about Club Med, he had been there for a month before I was there. Was a go for to Oprah Winfrey at a fund raiser in Baltimore for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. As a teen, I worked at a summer stock theater/concert venue, met lots show people.