Have you met any celebrities?

[jazzmfk]

I used to be the band director/music teacher at Columbia High School in Maplewood, NJ. This school, by all accounts a fairly normal HS in a semi-urban setting near the largest city in NJ, has had much more than its fair share of celebrities in attendance over the years. One of them, Andrew Shue, decided that he would create a "hall of fame" where graduates could return and be honored for their contributions to society. (some contributions are debateable, but that's not my point...) As the band director, we were always present at the assembly, and as a voting and nominating member of the committee, I got to do lunch with most of these folks afterwards. Here is a short list of recent inductees off the top of my head:

Andrew Shue (actor)
Elizabeth Shue (very hot actress)
Max Weinberg (more on him at the end)
Roy Schieder (actor)
Lauren Hill (singer, Grammy winner)
Alfred Kinsey (posthumously inducted)
Frank Langella (missed the ceremony)
Arthur Bartner (big deal in educational music, director of USC band?)


a Supreme Court Justice, a children's author, a poet, and more you've probably heard of but I can't think of their names right now....

and some who will be elected soon, probably:
Ahmed Best (voice of Jar-Jar Binks - I know, you hated him....)
Leigh Stevens (world's best marimba player, bar none...)
Zach Braniff (sp? the scrubs dude)
Buzzy Hellring/Joel Silver (inventors of Ultimate Frisbee, 1968)
(BTW: Joel Silver is the famous movie director/producer - but the staff at the school just hated the guy and they refuse to elect him...)

architects, artists, poets, etc...

anyway, about Max Weinberg (drummer for Conan and some guy named Bruce....)
Max's mom still lives in Maplewood. When he was elected to the hall of fame, he came back, and he brought his mom up to the band room for a tour of where he spent most hours of the day instead of going to his other classes. He also played an assembly with our jazz band - which was pretty cool for everyone involved (including me). Additionally, when Conan had Andrew Shue as a guest, Max called me and had me call his answering machine at home and sing the school's alma mater so he could transcribe it and play it as Andrew entered the stage. It was pretty funny to Max and Andrew but not very many other people.... He is a very nice, down to earth person, unlike most of the other people on that list.


Oh, and I met the pope when our school band and brass ensemble played at the Easter Mass at the vatican. Well, I kissed his ring, anyway - it wasn't like "hey, JP, how's it hangin'" or anything...

Oh, and the jazz band played for the launch party of ESPN the Magazine, and we got our picture taken with a mildly drunk Stuart Scott.

Fun thread.

 

[jxyama]

i've never had an encounter with anyone remotely famous, but my friend ran into the current govanah of kalifohnia...

she noticed him, talking to a guy at the entrance of a hotel gym...

clark: "what should i put you down as?"
govanah: "ah-nold"
clark: "ok.. mr. arnold... could i have your last name as well?"
govanah: "no... just ah-nold."



apparently, he's fairly short, but "big"...

 

[Xacttech]

Living in Utah, I've met a ton of celebs.

Sundance Film Festival every year in January...

This year I spent a few minutes talking with Jeremy Sisto.

he's a bad ass in the Indie Film world. Rubbed Shoulders with Paulie shore a few times... I'm sure you're all Jealous.

Last year ran into, Matt Damon and Ben Aflek... J-lo was with them.

If you hang out in park city during the Winter you're bound to run into someone famous. Robert Redford, and James Caan live there.

 

[wordmunger]

In New York City, you almost couldn't help running in to celebrities: Paul Newman, Billy Jean King, Robin Williams, Nora Dunn. Now that I live in Charlotte, we're pretty much limited to local sports figures. Robert Parrish shops at the same grocery store I do. I've seen Jeff Gordon around town a few times. I saw Vlade Divac at the local art film house.

As far as actually meeting people, I haven't done much of that. I used to work with Ethan Hawke's mom, and he would come into the office every once in a while (unfortunately, this was pre-Uma). I've also had a pre-brush with greatness: Pulitzer prize winning playwright David Auburn (he wrote "Proof") used to freelance for me as a proofreader. Trust me, he should stick to plays.

 

[Juventuz]

I've met a bunch as well, too many to list. Do politicians count as well because if that's the case then I've met TONS. I used to work in the Senate so I was fortunate enought to meet Sens from both sides of the aisles. You wouldn't believe how nice some of them are, politicians you wouldn't expect either.

I went to college with David Boreanaz. Gavin MacCloud is an alumn of my college as well and I met him at one of the recent Homecomig events.

 

[evoluzione]

have met and chatted too (among others)...

Patti Smith (rock star / poet - had dinner with her and a few others)
Irvin Kirschner (director of Empire Strikes Back - in Leicester Sq, London)
James Gandolfini (Tony Soprano - used to live next door to my old office)
Elvis Costello (drank beers with him down the pub whilst watching Liverpool FC play live on TV)
Jamie Oliver (TV Chef - sat on the table next to him in Pastis)
David Blaine (Magician - on a photoshoot with him)
Cast of Real World NY (before it was on air)

and have seen / passed in the street / rubbed shoulders with...

Liv Tyler (I drank her cup of tea as she had to leave before she could drink it)
Cast of Sex and the City
Harvey and Bob Goldstein (the Miramax brothers)
Ethan Hawke
Bjork
Calvin Klein
Danny DeVito
plus a bunch more, comes from living in NYC I guess

and me and a friend were mistaken for the Chemical Brothers haha

 

[ffactory]

as a photographer and photographer's assistant i get to meet (but not necessarily chat with) lots of different people, a few celebs, most just 'important'

met ceo of raytheon
met ceo of staples
met lily taylor
photographed colm meaney speaking but didn't get to meet him
met chuck palahniuk
photographed al maysles (doc film maker)
photographed quincy jones speaking
photographed greg pak (director of robot stories)
met gals from le tigre when they stayed with my ex-roommate (they were mean)
met kid koala (scratch dj)
photographed gordon willis (cinematographer of godfather trilogy)
congressman marc pacheco (MA)
photographed publisher of the boston globe
*oh* and once i made a latté for a very tired patty smith!

hmmm, i know there are others i can't recall & they're not all necessarily 'celebs' in the public sense, but more academics and such.

here's lily & no, that's not me:

 

[gwuMACaddict]

met, spoken, had lunch with various senators, congressman, representatives... also bob dole, renquist, etc... i don't know if that counts as celebrities... not that hard to meet them when youre in dc anyway... bsically any political pundit you can think of...

as for movie stars... talked to kevin costner, ben stein shops at the same safeway i shop at- talked to him once

musicians... levon helm of the band, itzak peralman, yo yo ma

writers... edmund morris, stephan ambrose, william buckley, david frum

 

[wordmunger]

Elvis Costello (drank beers with him down the pub whilst watching Liverpool FC play live on TV)

Elvis Costello sounds like a genuinely nice guy. I had a friend who accidently ran into him twice. The first time was in an airport and my friend introduced himself. The second time was on the street in Montreal, and Elvis *remembered* him from the first meeting. He gave him two backstage passes for his concert that night!

 

[g30ffr3y]

i hung out with the band gODHEAD a few years ago... if any of you know who gODHEAD are... me thinks they were the first and only band to ever be signed to marilyn mansons posthuman records vanity label... needless to say they are no longer on that label... but they did release a new album not long ago on relativity or something...

 

[ejb190]

Well, when I worked at Disney World I would meet up with a few friends from around the park and we would occasionally swap "Guess who I saw?" stories. I exchanged "Hellos" with George Lucas, but couldn't stop and chat!

I had a nice conversation with Bob Ballard (found the Titanic) after a seminar at Penn State. James Earl Jones was also part of that lecture series, but I couldn't get reception tickets for that one.

I have probably met a few other famous people, but frankly, I don't care.

And kiwi, I love that saying!!!

 

[ToddW]

great thread

On my honeymoon in vegas, I walked into the john to take a piss and took a piss next to puffy himself.

Artie Lang (ate lunch next to him at the bellagio)
Tommy Morrison (boxer who has AIDS now)
Steven Tyler (I was visiting my sister at Tower Records in Memphis and who comes down the escalator but Steven Tyler himself, he was really cool)
Issac Hayes
Bill Clinton
Carl Perkins (he was a family friend for a long time)
Played golf with John Daly
Various evil politicians

Bands:
Diffuser
Flickerstick
Oleander

 

[bousozoku]

I can only claim to have met Alan Shepherd and a couple of the other astronauts from the Mercury/Gemini era.

 

[MongoTheGeek]

Gee the closest I've come to celebrities is riding the stairmaster next to Gwen Stefani.

I kept almost meeting Alan Keyes.

I guess what counts as a celebrity.

 

[RBMaraman]

I exchanged "Hellos" with George Lucas, but couldn't stop and chat!

Believe me, you don't want to chat with him. He's an a**hole to say the least. Read the Star Wars DVD thread to see my comments about Mr. Lucas.

I've met:
1. Matt Williams - Producer (Roseanne, Home Improvement).
2. Al Pacino - Actor (While shooting "The Insider" in Louisville, KY).
3. Russell Crow - Actor (While shooting "The Insider" in Louisville, KY).
4. The Pepsi Girl - Actress (While Shooting "The Insider" in Louisville, KY).
5. George Lucas - Director/Producer (Met him at a fundraiser).
6. Jay Mohr - Actor (Met him on the street in NYC).
7. Michael Mann - Director/Producer (While shooting "The Insider" in Louisville, KY).

 

[G4scott]

I've seen Tommy Lee Jones on the set of Cheer Up! I also nodded off his double, I think... I was laying on the football field between shots, and this guy in Tommy Lee Jones's costume walked by. I looked up, and then put my hat back over my head...

Quentin Tarentino (no idea how to spell his last name) was also at the filming of Cheer Up!, and I got to see him.

I shook hands with Clinton (I was too young to know about politics), and have seen former, president Bush at a football game.

I think I've seen a couple more celebrities, but I can't remember off the top of my head.

 

[jrv3034]

I almost forgot... I worked at Disney World one summer (college program '98) and O.J. Simpson walked right past me with his kids !

Also, my fiancée was walking in NYC, and Harrison Ford slammed into her, almost knocking her into the street. He was on his cellphone and aparently wasn't paying much attention. Anyways, she said he was very sorry and extremely polite about it all.

 

[themadchemist]

I've met Jesse Jackson and Bill Bradley after speeches at my school.

My friend, who's a prof, has a funny story with Alec Baldwin. His wife, a few months after their marriage last year, was groped by Alec Baldwin when my friend and she were on a ski trip.

 

[jrv3034]

...was groped by Alec Baldwin when my friend and she were on a ski trip.

Was he trying to show her his "Shweaty Balls"?

 

[themadchemist]

Was he trying to show her his "Shweaty Balls"?

I wouldn't be surprised...But I thought it made a good story either way.

 

[Sedulous]

Hmm, I think "Cooter" from Dukes of Hazard must have been awesome!

Anyway, I lived above Natalie Portman (she seemed very shy) and played foosball with Sara Gore (Al Gore's youngest daughter). I've met Wilt Chamberlain and John McEnroe (who really is a jerk). Also met briefly with Alan Greenspan, George Bush (Sr.), Bill Clinton (twice), Eric Kandell (Nobel Prize winner), and probably could have talked with a few other "celebrity" types but thought I should leave them alone at the time.

 

[briankonar]

judging from many of your responses, i'm sure i've met or been in contact with several famous people without even knowing it.

the only famous people i've met and recognized are all locals:

Chris Farley
Michael Jordan
Scottie Pippen
Billy Corgan
and another of the Bulls but his name slips my memory...the really old one...Bill something? or Will? who knows. he obviously wasn't very spectacular .

 

[evoluzione]

oh! just rememberes, i hung out, had some beers and shot some pool with Jake Wherry, "The Herbaliser" so he got me into his gig at the Roxy in NYC.

i saw Steve Buscemi in the Chip Shop across the street from me too, i believe he lives in the neighourhood

 

[IndyGopher]

Met the Dalai Lama a few years ago, his brother owns a restaurant in Bloomington, Indiana. We were eating lunch there.. pretty unassuming person.. travelled with just a couple people, neither of whom looked body-guard-ish. Only passed a couple sentences back and forth, but was very impressed with him. Also got a lift back to my car at the track from David Letterman on his golf cart probably 15 years ago. He was a pretty nice guy, got the cart stuck in the mud and a friend and I helped him get it unstuck so he ran us back out to my car. He seemed impressed that I knew who his high school algebra teacher was (she had been mine as well) and I was equally impressed that he remembered her name, first and last, when I referred to her only as his algebra teacher at Broad Ripple (his high school)

I spilled a coke on John Mellencamp when I was working at Steak n' Shake as a teenager, does that count? He remembered it well enough to ask if I was stalking him when we ran into him at the mall a couple weeks later. I promised I had left my coke in the car and was therefore unarmed. He claimed he was only at the mall to replace the shirt I ruined, but his wife denied that. He's another very low-key person. Quite personable.

The only other person I have spoken to that I guess is something of a celebrity is Bob Kevoian of the Bob and Tom Show... He came into the computer store I used to manage and complained about how little Mac stuff we had.

I'm also told I spoke to several sports figures while working there, but since I know nothing of professional sports I both didn't know, and was totally unimpressed. One of my best friends was the manager of Jeff George's high school football team, so I guess I met him, too. That was before he was famous for being a jackass.. but not before he started BEING one.

 

[Golem]

Seen quite a few local celebrities over the years thanks to living at bondi and doing a bit light security,catering at the local Big event centre when I was young in the 80's. ie Guys like David Bowie and Billy Idol. But I tend to fairly bad with faces ,typically its like walk past a guy with hood up and head down at local shopping centre,walk past him again in next aisle hmm vague recongnition,walk past him again in 3rd Isle except he is surrounded by People.... Oops I still dont have a clue...heh once at a Ski resort I talked right though dinner with a really nice guy we shared a table with. Only problem with him was he seemed to think he was hot stuff at Sports. I found out afterwards he was a triple Olympic medalist and was expected to be back competing again in Sydney 2000 <Cough>

But I guess the ones that have really made a impression with me over the years would be Robert Muldoon... 1 Day from being ex Prime Minister of NZ and i was young...
Billy Connolly who was just chatting with a Hobo on the street,Wayne Gardener who was a really nice guy unlike his friend who's name I wont mention.