What's your brush with fame?

DW actually knew some famous people, as opposed to me knocking them down stairs or mowing their lawns. She went to high school with Katie Couric (one year ahead of Katie, but they knew each other), and was in the same class and was friends with David Brown, who died in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. She was also in school with Eric Schmidt (ex-Google CEO and 138th richest person in the world), but doesn't remember him. They were about the same age, but he graduated early. I guess he was pretty smart.
 
I just remembered... I saw Jon Voight in the airport in Louisville, KY a few years back. He had an entourage - which surprised me.

I stood behind Masi Oka (the actor who played Hiro on the series "Heroes") in line at a gate counter after our flight was delayed for several hours. He was trying to get back to LA from Seattle to make his Monday shoot... I was less anxious to get home - I was returning to real life after a Hawaiian vacation.
 
I had a brief encounter with a celebrity a couple of years ago.

My husband and I checked into a high rise hotel in Seattle for a couple of nights. Just after checking in I went down to the lobby to retrieve a newspaper. When the elevator doors opened on our floor there was one man inside. I got on and immediately knew that I recognized him, but could not for the life of me place him. He was Hispanic, had on a tropical looking shirt and a small hat. All the way down I kept looking at him and trying to figure out who he was. When the elevator reached the lobby we both got out. He smiled at me really big and it hit me. He was Carlos Santana.
 
My brief encounter probably doesn't count.


I was working at a gas station once, when a limo pulled in, Ted Kennedy got out, used the restroom, got back into the limo, and they drove off.


He gave me a little wave when he came out of the restroom. :greetings10:
 
ca. 1964 was touring Buckingham Palace grounds (Changing of the Guard ceremony). As a side light, one of the guards who never move (you know the drill) sneezed as we stood next to him. A total breach of protocol, I am sure. BUT, the reason I mention the event - Several of our group took a short cut on the way back to our hotel (a narrow alley way leading to the palace). Suddenly, a huge (probably Rolls-Royce) blasted around a corner and bore down on us. We all dove for the walls that hemmed us in. The passenger (in the back, naturally) was Prince Philip.

Met first lady Rosalynn Carter and saw president carter at a "reception" at the White House. The President made his appearance by landing on the lawn in Marine One. He dusted off a speech (I would assume) and delivered it to us from a podium on the lawn. Cool. Tea and cookies were fantastic on the second floor of the WH (as was the whole experience.) The "royalty factor" can not be ignored.

Flew from ORD to LAX with Bobby Riggs ca. 1975 at the height of his fame - he flew first class; I flew one level above baggage. Prior to the flight, I bought some trip food and stood behind him in line.

Pee'd next to Senator Richard Lugar - Yes, he washed his hands afterwards. Enough (too much?) said.

Rubbed shoulders with numerous Grammy nominees (and eventual winners) over the years. Sounds more "important" than perhaps most would think. There was a special category for Hawaiian music (dropped for 2012 IIRC). Each year, there was a special (free!) concert featuring the nominees (held "on the lawn" of the Hawaii State Art Museum in downtown Honolulu.) The event was very informal as such things go and many performers chatted with fans in between performance sessions. A truly fun period of my life. A couple of my favorite performers in a duet:

In
 
Possibly one of those times when you were happy NOT to shake his hand.

gettingthere said:
My brief encounter probably doesn't count.


I was working at a gas station once, when a limo pulled in, Ted Kennedy got out, used the restroom, got back into the limo, and they drove off.


He gave me a little wave when he came out of the restroom. :greetings10:
Click to expand...
 
Oh..another brush with fame....back around '96 or '97...

I was with some friends attending an event and Shawn Bradley (former center for the 76ers) was there in attendance. When the event ended and the crowd dispersed, he wasn't difficult to notice as at 7'6" he looked like a walking tree :)
 
I saw Claire Dane's director's chair a few weeks ago. They were filming the tv show Homeland in front of my office and I stopped by to check things out for a minute. I accidentally stood in the extra's pool and almost got cast into being Office Worker #4. While I was standing around watching the filming, I saw the crew wheeling around a rack full of chairs and one was Claire Dane's.

I left shortly thereafter so never got a chance to see any actual famous people, just a chair that had spent a lot of time up against Claire Dane's buttocks.
 
Sold a carton of cigarettes and an ice cream sandwich to Charles Kuralt back in the early '80s.

Took a whiz next to Teller of Penn & Teller about 5 years ago in Vegas at a convention where they were the entertainment. He was talking to the guy on the other side about skydiving.
 
Met James Taylor shopping in a store around midnight after one of his concerts back in '88. We talked for a little while, I got his autograph (he signed one of my w*rk pay stubs), and walked with him back to his tour bus. A real nice guy.
 
easysurfer said:
I was with some friends attending an event and Shawn Bradley (former center for the 76ers) was there in attendance. When the event ended and the crowd dispersed, he wasn't difficult to notice as at 7'6" he looked like a walking tree :)
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That reminded me of something I had completely forgotten. Back in the 10th grade I played in a church soccer league (long before it got popular), and played one game against a church from Petersburg VA. One of their players was a huge kid named Moses Malone. It was a friendly game, but they destroyed us. Playing against a future pro superstar, even in a different sport, was eye opening.
 
gettingthere said:
I was working at a gas station once, when a limo pulled in, Ted Kennedy got out, used the restroom, got back into the limo, and they drove off.


He gave me a little wave when he came out of the restroom. :greetings10:
Click to expand...
Not quite as impressive as yours, but I popped out from work one day to get a coffee at the gas station across the street. On my way back, I saw Loretta Swit (aka Hot Lips from M.A.S.H.) filling up her sports car. I ran back into work (well, as fast as is possible when holding a coffee) to tell my co-workers.

To grow up watching M.A.S.H. and then see Hot Lips in person doing such a mundane thing as filling her car with gas seemed very out of context!
 
Too many to recall, but the one that really sticks in my mind was Marilyn Monroe & Joe DiMaggio on their Honeymoon in Miami.

I was a youngster staying in the suite a floor below them. I was out horsing around and came back and sat on the floor watching cartoons on TV. Got bored and passed by bathroom and Joe was standing at the mirror shaving. Got nervous about the stranger in the bathroom, so I ran to the bedroom and Marilyn was on the bed sleeping in a negligee.

Freaked out and ran out as fast as I could to the lobby and had the concierge call my parents to come get me. Did not learn who they were until after we checked out. My Mom was also a Buxom Blonde Beauty and in 45 years of Bedding women,nary a one was a BBB!
 
Just remembered another: Went back to school as a (cough, cough) 'mature' student and worked for a time at hotel security in Toronto........since Bonnie Bramlett's (after her breakup with Delaney) band hadn't settled their bill the front desk double locked their doors.......they apparently settled up and I was instructed to re-open their rooms.....in the elevator Bonnie gave me the "Do you know who I AM" spiel and said she could have someone "Break my F*** arm".

Charming 'lady'.

Bonnie Bramlett - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
I can only think of one time I've seen anybody famous in person (other than at concerts and such)...

Was on a business trip back in the late 90's, and staying at the Townsend Hotel in Birmingham, MI with a couple coworkers.

We were eating breakfast at a table near the front of the restaurant, when I noticed a guy at the front desk dressed in black, with dark sunglasses on, and a beard down to his waist. I joked to the table, "Hey look! ZZ Top must be in town!".

The waiter overhead me and said that actually was one of them, and that their tour bus was parked outside (I spotted it later when we left the hotel).

On a separate business trip, we were in Malibu eating lunch, and I saw a guy dressed like a plumber (work clothes, and holding some roto-rooter looking thing) walk by the window. He was the spitting image of Charlie Sheen.

I commented to my coworkers, "Hey look! That guy looks like Charlie Sheen! I wonder if they're filming a movie close by?"

But then he jumped into a plumbing truck and drove off. So I guess it wasn't him (unless he was moonlighting at the time unclogging drains).
 
When I first started dating my wife, we were making out in the elevator at sunset 5 in LA only to be rudely interrupted by Ben Stiller getting on. He is shorter in person than he seems.

Wife has me totally beat in this category -- she worked in publicity in LA for a few years so she met lots of celebrities (also as an intern at Cannes) and ran the smother's brothers fan club. Then she went to work for Michael Milken the junk bond king.

I once had to interview an old Russian guy whose job before he came (defected:confused:) to US was to design nuclear torpedoes to blow us up (not sure exactly what part he worked on).
 
Whoopie Goldberg literally walked into me, but it wasn't her fault. Her handler inadvertently pushed her into me in a crowded hallway in the US Capitol building during President Clinton's trial after he was impeached. When the trial ended for the day, everyone quickly exited the galleries. I had been in the cheap seats for the public, she had been on the other side of the Senate gallery in a reserved seat given to her by one of the senators. She was extremely gracious and apologetic, and told me I should go first. I told her to please go ahead because she needed to get out of there more quickly than me to avoid the press. She smiled, thanked me, and left the Capitol ahead of me.
 
I grew up alongside I-5 in Washington....Castle Rock. DB Cooper may have landed near me:LOL:. OK.....I'm reaching a bit.....Nobody likely knows who DB Cooper is anyway:facepalm:
 
sengsational said:
I tormented the albino in this movie trailer for over 10 years:https://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=w8mQdrQuc2M&desktop_uri=/watch?v=w8mQdrQuc2M

The movie opens tomorrow, by the way... go see my brother on the big screen :)
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Just got home from the movie... very funny flick, lots of profanity which is the only source for the R rating. My brotherwas 7 or 8 down from Bullock and his name was listed at the end as well as the start of the movie. This looks like his biggest role so far.
 
F4mandolin said:
I grew up alongside I-5 in Washington....Castle Rock. DB Cooper may have landed near me:LOL:. OK.....I'm reaching a bit.....Nobody likely knows who DB Cooper is anyway:facepalm:
Click to expand...

I do. And I think he was identified a couple of years back by his family. Tho they didn't have conclusive evidence.
 
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