Who Is The Most Famous Person You Ever Met?

[Syrinx]

By "met," I mean even in the most casual way.

I haven't met a lot of famous people. I chatted with Ken Kesey once. I was supposed to meet Tim Leary for an early morning drink, but slept through the "appointment."

I guess the most famous person I ever met was the guy in my avatar, Paul "Bear" Bryant.

I wasn't much more than a tyke at the time. It was at the tiny airport in Tuscaloosa. I was there with my aunt and uncle, and three girl cousins. I don't even remember why we were at the airport.

My youngest cousin and I were walking around the place, and we spotted the coach with his wife. We approached.

Now, I was only six or seven years old at the time, and I remember just staring at the man for what seemed like minutes, with mouth fully agape. I finally mustered up the will to say "Hey, Bear Bryant, can I please have an autograph?"

The coach didn't readily approve my apparent insubordination.

"My name is PAUL Bryant," the coach intoned in that famous gravelly drawl.

Me and my cousin were genuinely frightened of this man.

Until his lovely wife, Mary Harmon, nudged him in the belly with her elbow and said "Be nice to the children, Paul."

Then just like a switch was flipped, the coach became just as nice as I've seen anyone be. "Sure sonny, I'd be glad to give you an autograph."

I think he even said something about me playing for him one day. That never happened. I played a little football in junior-high school, but gave it up when it became apparent that I just flat out sucked.

Anyone, that's my trip down memory lane. I must say that Mary Harmon Bryant was a true lady. I hear she would even let Joe Willie hide out in the Bryants' basement when he was in the coach's doghouse. ;)

And I don't blame the coach for being grumpy. If I recall correctly, he was just returning from a bowl game, where Notre Dame had beaten Alabama for the national championship.

[Oeditpus Rex]

1. Orlando Cepeda, I guess

[Syrinx]

2. "the Babe Ruth Of Latin America"

I had to google him. :hi:

[Oeditpus Rex]

5. Yeah, I guess he is sort of god-like in Puerto Rico

All I know is he could knock the red off of a baseball. Jah-HEE-bus, the Giants had some serious power in those days.

One of the newspapers I used to write for is in Monterey, Calif., where the Pony League World Series is held. One year — must've been '95 — Cepeda was there, so they sent me to do a story on his involvement with Pony League Baseball. I'd read in Willie Mays' autobiography that he got the nick "Baby Bull" when he ran through Herman Franks' stop sign at third base one day and scored. I mentioned that to him, and he seemed to enjoy remembering. :)

I passed up a prime chance to meet my baseball idol, Sandy Koufax, but I've told the shit out of that story.

[alarimer]

23. I went to school with his son for a while

He was older than me by a couple of years.

[Omphaloskepsis]

3. My sister was in the Girl Scouts with Ken Kesey's daughter, Sunshine.

We spent the night at his house once (he lived in a barn) it was a surprisingly normal evening.

[Syrinx]

4. That's cool!

I don't really remember what I talked to Kesey about -- it was probably about the politics of the day. That was when Bush Sr. was president, I think.

I remember that during the Q/A period at the talk that I saw him at, questioners were thrown a football that had a wireless mic embedded in it. Kesey was going through a period where he was fascinated with that sort of technology. Well, I guess he always was. I'd love to take a look at all that footage he amassed on Further.

This kind of reminds me of a fellow Alabama poster that says he "slept" with Sarah Silverman, because she spent the night with his daughter, when he used to live up in New Hampshire or Delaware, or wherever Sarah Silverman is from.

[Omphaloskepsis]

6. What do you mean by your last sentence?

I lived most of my life in Pleasant Hill. They went to school together. Look at my profile. You will see that I live in Eugene.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Kesey#Final_years

[Syrinx]

8. what?

I don't understand.

[trof]

26. That would be me.

It was in NH.
She came to at least one sleep-over at our house that I remember.
During our recent family trip to San Diego, our daughter, her husband, and kids drove up to LA and spent a Sunday with her.

When she's not 'on', she's very sweet.
Grandson Jack (5) thought she was 'cool'.

[Syrinx]

151. I hope you don't mind me mentioning that

It just popped into my head. I thought what you had said before was so funny.

I had a feeling that SS would be a sweet person. I know that a lot of people find her humor to be racist, but I've always seen her as mocking racism and assorted other "isms."

Plus, she's easy on the eyes. Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge. ;)

[trof]

163. Naw. Sarah's humor isn't to my taste, but I like her personally.

Or I like what I remember of her.
I haven't actually seen her since the high school years.
She and my daughter were 'taxi-dancers' in "Sweet Charity" in high school.

They've kept in touch, ever since.

At the time I was impressed with her stage presence.
It was like she was born to perform.

It's interesting the paths their lives have taken.
My daughter is a stay-at-home mom with a 5 year old and a 5 month old.
Sarah went on the fame and fortune.
My daughter wouldn't trade with her for anything.

Sarah's brand of humor is a bit over-the-top for me, but hey...different strokes.
;-)

[Guaranteed]

244. Nice. Great writer. nt

[laylah]

7. A lot of music

types. Bonnie, Johnny Cash, John Cowan, Jerry Jeff Walker, Waylon Jennings, Emmy Lou, Sam Bush, Willie, the list goes on. I attended the Telluride Bluegrass Festival for 18 years in a row. Met many awesome musicians along the way.

[Syrinx]

9. I envy you!

I would like to hear about some conversations you've had!

[Tyler Durden]

10. I escorted Tip O'Neil on his physical exam at the US Navy hospital.

What you did was dress up in "Dress Whites" (no matter the season: We were HOSPITAL CORPSMEN), and walk a VIP around.

What Rep. O'Neil did was get me to talk about ME. I didn't DARE ask him about anything political, other than telling him that I always supported the Democratic Party.

I also escorted John Jenrette of ABSCAM fame on his exit from congress physical at the Navy Hospital. He didn't talk a lot, and muttered "Stupid. Stupid." a lot. When I knew I was going to escort him around, I looked him up in periodicals at the base library. His wife Rita was and is a genius FABULOUSLY GORGEOUS. I remember thinking that if I were an influential and secure member of congress with an intelligent and beautiful wife, I would have turned in the ABSCAM people the moment they called me. In his own words, "Stupid. Stupid." A very depressed guy.

[Perry Logan]

11. You wouldn't recognize the name.

[Fire Walk With Me]

42. Try us, you know the level of diversity on this board.

:)

[QMPMom]

12. Bobby Kennedy.

One month before he died.

[trof]

15. I know a guy who was at the Ambassador Hotel.

A.J. (Jay) Cooper.
He was an L.A. campaign organizer.
An Alabama native, he recently returned here and ran for state senator a couple of months ago. I worked on his campaign, but he was trounced in this overwhelmingly repug district.
:-(

[LostInAnomie]

13. Ron Jeremy

At the airport. He's even shorter than you would think, but he look exactly like you would expect. Kinda greasy, smelled funny, wearing a Hawaiian shirt, cut off shorts, old tennis shoes, and tube socks with the red stripes on them.

[trof]

14. Jimmy Carter, I guess.

He gave a speech in Birmingham during the '75-'76 campaign.
I chatted with him for several minutes after.

[Orsino]

16. Liz Taylor.

Back in '80 when she was stumping for Warner.

[martymar64]

190. I talked to her on the phone once

I used to work with one of her sons.

[1gobluedem]

17. Mel Torme and RFK, Jr are probably the MOST famous

But I've met a lot of jazz and blues artists including Wynton and Bradford Marsalis, Keb' Mo', Pops and Mavis Staples, Bo Diddley, Robert Cray, Taj Mahal, Irma Thomas, Buddy Guy, Mercer Ellington, Los Lobos, oh, geeze my mind is going blank right now...but a lot.

I've met Billy Dee Williams, Judy Collins, Jeff Daniels, and Salman Rushdie too. And almost every NPR personality if people consider them celebrities. Bo Schembechler, Magic Johnson.

And, in October, Mo Rocca announced on the air that he loves me....:loveya:

[MissMillie]

18. The head coach of the BU Terriers Men's Hockey team

Jack Parker.

[NewJeffCT]

19. Joe DiMaggio or Sammy Davis, Jr

Both were celebrities at a local charitable golf tournament when I was young.

[Callalily]

20. I've met several

famous people, but I suppose the most recognizable name would be Salman Rushdie.

[kentauros]

21. I met Paul Newman once...

...though I was only five at the time. We lived in Westport, Connecticut for a couple of years (65-67 due to Shell moving their HQ temporarily to NYC) and I became best friends with his daughter Melissa since we were the same age and in school together.

I had no idea who he was other than being her father. She took me over to their home (I don't remember how close they lived or how we got there now) and he was just getting out of the shower. All he had on was a towel ;) but he was very nice and all we really did was say hello to each other. Melissa and I went off together elsewhere after without much more of an interchange with him. It would be cool to get in touch with her again, but it's not that important.

When we moved back to Houston, we had a house built in Nassau Bay, a little incorporated town directly across the street from NASA-JSC. Just in the general area our street was in were about four Apollo astronauts and there families. I grew up with their children, going to school with them, being in Boy Scouts together and so on. So, the Schweickarts lived down the street and around a corner, same for the Irwins, didn't know the Beans much at all and the same for the Aldrins on the cul de sac behind us. I knew Richard Garriot and his father Owen Garriot later in high school (my mother still makes newspaper clippings of his doings from time to time as if we were best friends and we weren't! :D I just used to play D&D at their house with other mutual friends.)

So I guess though I did more than meet people that had walked on the Moon or shook hands with Russian cosmonauts, there were just neighbors to us if only ones that had done some extraordinary things in their lives for a brief moment :D

[Sugar Smack]

60. OMG YOU MET COOL HAND LUKE

Wow!!!!!!!!! Seriously, though, I am in love with the guy (OK-admire immensely) and I adore his politics. He seems as though he's a true standup guy.

Also, welcome to DU!:hi: It's good to have you here.

[kentauros]

133. Thanks for the welcome :)

I think I've been a professional lurker for too long ;)

Paul Newman would be cool to meet again, though it would be interesting to know if Melissa still remembers me ;)

So, does this thread kill the "six degrees of X" theory? :D

[Drum]

22. Her Majesty,

the Queen...before and after a performance we gave at the Sadlers Wells theater in London (around 1991.) That was pretty cool!

:)

[Ishoutandscream2]

24. Cool. You just trumped me!

Met Jimmy Johnson, former coach of the Cowboys. Also went to school with Lee Harvey Oswald's daughter, met the man who was handcuffed to Oswald when he was shot (granddad of one of my students), and the undertaker of Rose Hill cemetery who buried Oswald (great granddad of another of my students).

[Esra Star]

147. No, I think the guy was the keyboard player.

[bluethruandthru]

25. Dave Matthews?

I've met alot having worked in either radio or the motion picture industry for 25 years. One thing I've learned... they're all just people..no better or worse than anyone else. :)

[Cabcere]

74. My friend's brother used to work for him

He used to get invited to a bunch of parties and stuff, and of course we thought that was the coolest thing ever. :D

[begin_within]

27. Speaking of Ken Kesey,

I went to a reading/lecture by Ken in Portland in the spring of 1982, and I walked right past him before the reading, but I was "starstruck" and just smiled, I didn't say a word to him. 15 years later I became friends with a guy who, by coincidence, owns and lives on the farm adjacent to Ken Kesey's farm in Springfield, Oregon. He knew Ken well, and he handed Ken a "fan letter" that I wrote to him in 2001. He relayed to me that Ken was happy to read it. Ken used to have a large bonfire party on his farm every July. I was invited to go to the next one in July 2002, and I was planning to go, but then Ken died unexpectedly in Sept. 2001. So I never got to meet him for real, but at least I got that letter to him, which said what I would have said in person.

[Bzzzz]

209. Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test...

What a great adventure...

[swag]

28. Probably Jay Leno or Mr. T.

[Bonhomme Richard]

29. Infamous....would be Kissinger.

[begin_within]

30. My Dad met Eleanor Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart at the same time

My grandparents lived in Chevy Chase, Maryland and were members of the National Geographic Society. They attended the monthly luncheons at the NGS headquarters in Washington DC. These always had a "guest of honor" or speaker who was famour or noted for something. One time, my grandfather was sick, so my grandmother took my Dad to it instead. I think he as about 14 and I think the year was 1933. The guest speaker/honoree was Amelia Earhart. After the event was over, my Dad and his mother were walking through the hallways and came upon Eleanor Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart having a conversation. My grandmother introduced herself and my Dad to them and they had a conversation for about 5 minutes. He told this story many times in his life.

[Captain Hilts]

79. Wow! THAT's a big deal!

That's like running into Tracy and Hepburn, Frank and Eleanor or Liz and Phil.

That's a double Big Time.

[begin_within]

115. My grandparents lived in Chevy Chase, MD for about 50 years and probably met

quite a few famous people, as they were involved in many organizations, but sadly I never got to talk to them about it, as we lived in California and I only saw them twice in my life in person. I do know that they once had Gloria Steinem over to dinner at their house. And I have a framed invitation to a White House dinner that they went to during the Taft administration. I wish I had been able to talk to them all about this stuff, but I was just 17 and 19 when they passed on.
Also, my Dad used to tell the story of when he was in high school (approx. 1936) and they had a scavenger hunt, and one item on the list was a piece of White House stationery. They drove right past the gates of the White House and up to the front door and rang the bell. A butler answered, and gave them the piece of stationery. The drove on, but a little while later drove past the White House again and noticed that the gates were closed. So they won the scavenger hunt, because they were the only team that got the stationery.

[Captain Hilts]

121. Come to think of it, I live in Chevy Chase and I do see famous folks....

but seeing ER and AE a deux, is very cool.

[Rambis]

31. Henny Youngman, Bill Graham

I met Henny at a Holiday in in Indiana when I was 8. He asked me what I was having for lunch etc. I was scared because he was a stranger and you don't talk to them right? I look over and my parents are both smiling I said "I am having a hot dog" that was it.

I met Bill Graham at a Jerry Garcia show as he was taking a joint from he mouth of the kid next to me and stopping on it. I was shocked and said "Hey Bill" He said, "how you doin" and walked away.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

32. Howard Zinn...Elton John....Christian Slatter...others

[graywarrior]

33. Stephen King

Willie Nelson
Dennis Kucinich
Emmy Lou Harris
A bunch of other musicians, I can't remember who.

[RFKHumphreyObama]

34. Gandhi came to the school where both my grandparents were studying

And he gave a talk to the students there

My grandfather also met Prime Minister Nehru, India's first Prime Minister and one of Gandhi's fellow leaders in the Indian independence movement. And my grandpa didn't even live in India! My grandfather knew Sir Robert Menzies, Australia's longest serving Prime Minister

Me? The most famous person I've met is Kevin Rudd. He was just elected Prime Minister of Australia, ending eleven years of right wing rule

[av8rdave]

35. Not sure who the most famous would be...

The coolest for me would be Maynard Ferguson or Tommy Emmanuel, but they probably don't qualify as most famous.

Probably Howard Dean and Michael Caine.

[kay1864]

36. Hugh Hefner

Also Martin Landau and Bill Maher, all at the Playboy Mansion. I'm thinking they're all equally famous, depending on your era.

But Mrs. Kay has me beat...she met Rosalynn Carter (who was as genteel as you might imagine).

[MrCoffee]

37. Tiger Woods

[kwassa]

38. Bill Clinton

shook his hand on the South Lawn of the White House.

Myself, and a few thousand others, were there to observe the 4th of July fireworks in 2000. The most memorable 4th I'll probably ever have. Picnic set-up, with free drinks and ice cream.

The view is: the White House behind us, and in front, the Washington Monument, where the fireworks are set off on the Mall. Big sound system piping in the patriotic singing of Ray Charles from the other end of the Mall by the Capitol. Very moving, actually.

I've met lots of other famous people, though most were from showbiz days in Los Angeles.

[HERVEPA]

39. Casey Stengel, Larry Fine

[abq e streeter]

123. I was going to post mine, maybe still will, but LARRY!!! I'm in awe...

[abq e streeter]

128. Oops, meant to put this at bottom of page..Been extremely fortunate to have met,

met, and done shows with,many of my blues heroes (famous to some people I guess) including Willie Dixon, Jr. Wells and Albert Collins. Also played at least a dozen times with Bobby Keys (Stones sax player)... Played with Bo Diddley once too. Have met Bonnie Raitt, Del Shannon, Dixie Chicks (got to actually hang out with Bonnie, and the Chicks; both really nice, unpretentious people). Non musicians include Ernie Banks, Al Unser Jr, Bill Richardson.....Also had to laugh re: a post above about orange sunshine . Was handed my first-ever acid(and sure enough, it was orange sunshine) by someone who later became fairly famous, but don't feel like I have the right to name that person without their permission...( which I strongly suspect I wouldn't get).

[Bennyboy]

40. Jerry Garcia, Ken Kesey, Wavy Gravy,Timothy Leary. Ram Dass

Trey Anastasio, Bill Graham, Bob Weir.

Once I actually tripped with Leary, Wavy, Weir, Kesey and assorted other pranksters. in 95 at The Hog Farm PigNic. On the bus.

[northzax]

43. I spent a night in Hunter S. Thompson's kitchen once

probably fairly similar.

but most famous? that's gotta be either Elizabeth Rex (II) or the Big Dog.

[Fire Walk With Me]

41. Bob Moog, Florian Schneider of Kraftwerk, BT,

and The Hoff. More people probably know David than the rest combined. Off the top of my head.

Oh yeah, the Great George Clinton. Lacey from Cagney and Lacey.

[kentauros]

50. That's pretty cool about meeting Florian Schneider

and Bob Moog :D
Remember the big Moog Keith Emerson used? I'd love to see Kraftwerk sometime, too.

I interviewed Caspar Brotzmann once (I know most won't know who he is, other than maybe "German rock guitarist"...the music's kind of 'dark', too.)

Didn't meet him, but stood near Ray Charles when I did a roadie gig for a show he played in Beaumont, Texas.

And I'm related to Charlie Shoemake, jazz vibraphonist :)

[Lethe]

267. i hear Mr Schneider is hard to interview

so that would indeed be cool.

His facial expressions in the Kraftwerk videos are interesting...

[Deep13]

44. Hillary Clinton n/t

[SacredCow]

45. Jack Nicholson....

Was on a ski lift with him for several minutes before I realized who he was....

[XNASA]

46. I've met the most famous person.

Ali.

[MnFats]

47. Jerry Garcia, Mick Jagger, Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

some blues greats:

Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee
James Cotton


an author or two:

George Plimpton


and I sat at Hunter S. Thompson's favorite table in the Woody Creek Tavern.

[Blue_In_AK]

89. I met Jerry Garcia, too, back in 1970 or so. n/t

[momophile]

48. Bobby Hull

he touched my shoulder and jokingly asked where we were all having lunch. I joked back that I'd take him anywhere.

[Sugar Smack]

49. Betty Friedan, Gwendolyn Brooks, Doug Marlette.

The latter two were WONDERFUL.:D

[southpaw]

51. Tony Alva... though not face to face

I called Alva skates to ask a question about a deck on their website and T.A. happend to answer the phone. He was cool and down-to-earth. Asked where I was from and if I had skated certain skate-parks that used to exist in Alabama.

[MonkeyFunk]

52. Either Eartha Kitt

or Billy Idol. Who's more famous?

[Bullwinkle925]

53. Sammy Davis, Jr., Smokey Robinson . . .

that's all.

[flvegan]

54. Hulk Hogan (Terry Bollea). I met him a couple times

riding his waverunner several years ago. Cool, quiet kinda guy in real life.

[SoxFan]

55. Bill Clinton

I've spoken to him on several occasions. My wife is a native Arkansan, and volunteered on Clinton's gubernatorial races as a kid, so the credit really belongs to her.

I've also met one of my favorite musicians (Steve Earle), a couple of NBA Hall of Famers (Bill Bradley and Tommy Heinson), a Super Bowl winning defensive monster (Richard Seymour) and a Cy Young Award winner (Chris Carpenter).

My wife has met a bunch of the actors who play minor characters on "Lost" (Yemi, Rose, Bernard, etc)

[BOSSHOG]

99. I worked for a TV Station in Fayetteville

in the 70's and 80's and got the chance to interview Governor Clinton several times. It was always a pleasure. Never tried to evade questions and always made for a great interview.

[Dervill Crow]

56. The guy who wrote The Gael, the theme in Last of the Mohicans, and Caledonia.

I'm not sure anyone would recognize his name: Dougie MacLean, an awesome Scottish songwriter and singer. He also wrote Ready for the Storm and recorded that with Kathy Mattea. Had a pint with him and his wife and band after they played at the Aladdin.

I've sort of met authors at book signings, but that's not like sharing a pitcher. :beer:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

57. Jerry Brown, currently AG of CA! Dennis Kucinich too...

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

58. Juan Pablo Montoya

[IronLionZion]

59. Chuck Schumer and S. Ramadorai

I met Schumer while he was campaigning for Senator in Rochester, NY. Ramadorai is the CEO of TCS. I met him when he made a surprise visit to our performance engineering lab in Minneapolis. He's a pretty down-to-earth guy for a bigshot CEO.

[scarpa43]

61. I've had dinner with Ben Affleck N/T

[HamdenRice]

62. Bishop Desmond Tutu -- spent an afternoon with him

Bishop Tutu, an American human rights program officer, and I drove from Johannesburg to the Delmas treason trial to attend the proceedings.

Afterwards, we went into the holding cell and met the defendants, one of whom is now Minister of Defense of South Africa.

I also spent an hour or so with the current president of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, along with that same officer, but Mbeki was an ANC bureaucrat in Lusaka at the time, not a president.

[alcibiades_mystery]

63. Jacques Derrida

or John Turturro

Who's more famous?

[kwassa]

85. I'll try to deconstruct that answer

famous Derrida more John ? Jacques Who's or Turturro

[alcibiades_mystery]

90. Haha

I'm guessing you had a very bad teacher for either Philosophy 100 or Introduction to Literary Theory. Quelle dommage.

The more interesting response would be to deconstruct the famous/obscure opposition.

:-)

[Rob H.]

64. Harlan Ellison way back in 1985

It was at a college lecture. I was in my senior year of high school and my parents came and checked me out for the day so I could meet my older brother on campus to go. Ellison read "The Paladin of the Lost Hour" and submitted to a Q & A session afterward--he had some great stories, including a hilarious one about a prank he and another writer played on William Shatner on the set of Star Trek.

After that, we were standing in line to get some books autographed and our friend, James, who wore an eye patch (he was born without his right eye) was getting his book signed and Ellison said, "Wow, cool eye patch! I'll bet you get laid a lot with that, huh?" James just blushed and laughed nervously and said, "Well, um, you know..." while the rest of us chuckled along with Ellison because the truth was, he did.

[Nevernose]

132. One word: cool.

That was actually three words, but the point is the same: Harlan Ellison has affected our society, albeit inadvertently, more than most people can ever dream of doing.

[Snarkturian Clone]

65. RFK Jr, Adam West, George Carlin, Lewis Black, Gerard Way,

Dane Cook, Allison Mack (Chloe on smallville), Jonathan Frakes, LaVar Burton, Michael Dorn, George Takei, The entire living cast of Lost in Space, the entire living cast of Dark Shadows, Alex Ross, Jay from Project Runway, wrestlers Virgil and Nikolai Volkoff, Lou Ferrigno, Connor Trineer, Nicole Bass, Eddie Haskel from Leave it to Beaver, Tom Guiry, Avery Brooks, Walter Keonig, the guy who played Chewbacca, MANOWAR, Iced Earth, Rhapsody of Fire, George Tenet, Lenny Dykstra, Mookie Wilson, Mike Vallely, Lynn Swann, Jim Florio, Jon Corzine, there are others I'm not thinking of right now.

My boss has spoken on the phone with Shrub twice in my presence- if I want to be fired I guess I could grab the phone and say "Hey, fuck you!" He once visited my work place about 6 months before I worked there and i know he'll probably visit again before he's out. We're expecting the repub candidate for the next election to speak here. That'll be fun.

edited to add:
My Modern European History teacher in college met Hitler when he was a kid. That's some shit right there.

[skygazer]

66. Howard Dean

When he was Governor of Vermont. And Ron Howard once at a flea market - he stopped by my table.

[redqueen]

67. John Cummings, Dave Abbruzzese, Adam West, Edward Albert

There's more but I can't remember...

[quip]

68. I barbecued with Kirby Puckett

This was a year after his glaucoma. Kirby LOVED to barbecue. We never even talked baseball the entire time.

There was not a finer baseball player to have ever played the game. :sigh:

[Amaya]

69. Robert DeNerio

He's a really down to earth guy-
also, I didn't realize that he was short- when I was talking to him, I felt myself bending my knees so I wasn't taller than him.
It just didn't feel right being bigger than this guy:

:7

[johnnie]

70. I met Jesus Christ while on a few hits of Orange Sunshine

Naw, just kidding.

[Ezlivin]

100. I met Jesus, too! And he was a bit shorter than I imagined.

I also met Johnny Bench, Pete Rose and Janine Turner.

[Inchworm]

71. Rosa Parks

Early 90s in Miami. I was introduced to her casually in an office where we were working on some local campaign in Miami. I acted all cool, but when I got home that evening I realized what had happened and freaked out completely.

:hi:

[kwassa]

86. I met her, too.

She is tiny! Very sweet lady.

[kwassa]

87. dupe

[ceile]

72. Trent Reznor and Earl Campbell n/t

[huskerlaw]

73. John & Elizabeth Edwards, Martin Sheen

most of the cast of The West Wing, Matthew Perry, Noah Wylie, Aaron Sorkin, uhhh...there are many more, I'm just spacing them at the moment.

[DarkTirade]

75. I can't really say that I 'met' these two...

but I sang at Disney's Candlelight Processional, and they use celebrity narrators to go fill in the gaps between songs. I was there when David Ogden-Stiers and Levar Burton narrated. There were a few other famous people that narrated, but those are the only two famous enough for me to remember. :)

I also got to sing with Shania Twain, although I never actually got to meet her either. We were just standing about 20 feet behind her on stage.

[Cabcere]

76. I saw Christopher Walken in an airport a few years ago

Didn't talk to him or anything, but we were in the same room. :shrug:

I saw Queen Elizabeth II this past spring when she came to speak at my college - sure, it was from a distance and there were lots of other people there, but it still counts, right? ;)

But probably my closest encounter to anyone famous was with the Statler Brothers when I was growing up. (I don't know if anyone here's heard of them - they started out as backup singers for Johnny Cash back in the '60s, and their song "Flowers On The Wall" is on the Pulp Fiction soundtrack.) Anyway, I grew up in Staunton, and went to pre-school with Jimmy Fortune's daughter, and later attended Governor's School with Harold Reid's grandson/Don Reid's grandnephew. The Statler Brothers themselves are some of the nicest guys you'll ever meet - always very friendly when you would see them around town, never stuck-up or anything, and they used to do a free Fourth of July concert every year in Staunton. :) :hi:

[sasquatch]

77. "Be nice to the children, Paul."

:rofl:
My family members have to say the same thing to me with small children.

[Syrinx]

161. nice to see you, sasquatch!

haven't seen you around lately! :hi:

[sasquatch]

164. Same here

[Captain Hilts]

78. Prince Charles. Carter. Clinton. Gorbachev. Yeltsin. Sonny Jurgensen. nt

[GalleryGod]

80. John F. Kennedy

also..lots of movie and TV stars outside the Stage Doors of Broadway

[sazemisery]

81. Let me see here....

Before Gailard Sartain and Gary Busey went to Hollywood, they had a TV show on KOTV, a Tulsa station, called The Uncanny Film Festival & Camp Meeting, starring the incredible Dr. Mazeppa Pompazoidi We also hung out at Leon Russell's home and recording studio. From that connection I met Joe Cocker, Jerry Jeff Walker, Waylon Jennings, Jessi Colter, Willie Nelson, Jessie Colin Young, Johnny and June Cash.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

210. OMG, I have those tapes!

My honey used to live in Tulsa and watch that!! We ordered the tapes from Gailard Sartain's website.

Those skits are wild!!

A character named Sherman Oaks said "Enroll at the School for the Dead. Science has proven that humans can matriculate after death. Read our underground newspaper....etc."

:rofl: :rofl:

[catmandu57]

82. Darrel Porter

Baseball player and coke freak. He blew his heart up a few years back while high on coke trying to free his car that was stuck in the mud.
Wavy Gravy in 1976 at the protest in Kansas City.

[Captain Hilts]

88. Royals? Catcher? Glasses? nt

[catmandu57]

94. That's the guy

He lived at my father's house, when I moved in with him I got Darrel's old room, I found a vial full of blow and a spoon in the closet.

[Captain Hilts]

117. Very sad. nt

[kmla]

83. Lee Corso, the ESPN College Gameday dude.

Had a 7-Up in his kitchen, believe it or not. When he was the football coach @ Indiana University.

[KamaAina]

84. Clay Aiken

Hell, I introduced him from the stage! He was not singing but giving a speech about his other topic of interest.

I mean special education, dammit! Get your minds out of the gutter, people! :-)

[mitchum]

91. JD Salinger

[A-Schwarzenegger]

192. Do tell!

[mitchum]

232. He told me to get out of his driveway!

Actually, I have never met Salinger :)
However, look for Ron Rosenbaum's "The Catcher In The Driveway" for a touching and hilarious account of Rosenbaum's attempt to make contact with Salinger.

[rbnyc]

92. Probably Ted Kennedy.

I've net a lot of famous people, but he's probably the most widely known. I made him an espresso.

As a bartender or waitress I have served:

Keanu Reeves
Chris Farley
Brooke Shields
Sade
Kim Deal
Iggy Pop
David Byrne
Lou Reed
Kristin Hersh
Diamanda Galas

I have also met Dennis Kucinich, Bill Bradley, Al Gore, Ted Danson, Paul Sorvino, Bebe Nuewirth, Robin Byrd, Whoopi Goldberg, Kim Catrall, and many, many more.

[Rabrrrrrr]

93. Bishop Tutu, Philip Glass, Henry Kravis, James Levine, Sigourney Weaver, Jon Lithgow, Harlan Ellison

Mario Cuomo, Neil Stephenson, William Messner Loebs.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head, but I know there are others.

Most of these were casual one-offs at book signings or other affairs.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

105. I met John Lithgow's nephew

Who was also named John Lithgow.

He was a fellow volunteer at the Florida JJ Dinner.

It was sort of...random.

[bbernardini]

95. Tenacious D, Geoff Downes, Zappa kids, Rick Wakeman, Christopher Cross, most of The Tubes...

Dale Bozzio
Steve Vai
Todd Rundgren
Meat Loaf
Joe Jackson
Barenaked Ladies
Eric Idle
Eric Bazilian (composer of "One Of Us")

[Phillycat]

96. Chris Cornell, Rob Zombie, Perry Farrell, Evan Dando, Ad Roc and Mike D from Beasties

and lots and lots and lots of other musicians. I ran a record store for a decade and got lots of backstage passes. :)

PS. All the junkies were assholes - it was like a universal rule.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

97. Janet Reno

I've actually met her twice.

Very cool woman, down to earth. Also, very, very tall.

We talked about Florida's natural springs.

I've also met Randi Rhodes, Jane Goodall, Bill Moyers, Howard Dean, Joe Biden, Bill Nelson, Bob Graham, Evan Bayh, Steny Hoyer, and just about half of Florida's Democratic delegation.

I met Carl Hiaasen and helped contribute some material to one of his columns.

I shook John Edwards hand when he was the VP nom, but I don't know if that qualifies as "meeting" him. I once saw Pete Rose casually walking around my local sports authority but didn't have the guts to say hello.

And Tom Clancy went to my church. He kept to himself, but I actually knew his son, who was surprisingly a very nice kid.

[Bucky]

98. I had an affair with one of the local Clear Channel radio DJs

I'm not sure she was famous, but she did like it when I called her a marginal celebrity.

[Capn Sunshine]

223. I work an investment fringe of the entertainment industry.

so, tons of clients are famous. I'm a member of the CA Dem Central Committee , so quite a few pols and media dweebs.

I've even met NSMA and BeHereNow, sitting in my lap, (not at the same time) which is quite possibly the highlight of my existence. :evilgrin:

[krispos42]

101. Tom Daschle

At the South Dakota State Fair. In 2001 or 2002. I think 2001. Shook his hand and made pleasantries.

[hfojvt]

212. the SD State Fair

happens in my hometown, or it did anyway. In 2001 though I was long gone and never met either Daschle or George McGovern. I talked to a staffer in 1985 and asked if he was gonna run for the Senate. He was in the House and I thought he could beat Abner. We did goto McGovern's office when we visited DC, but I cannot remember if we met the man or not.

[Dukkha]

102. George Lucas

marched with him in the Tournament of Roses parade

[Felix Mala]

103. Iggy Pop, Kurt Vonnegut, Elton John, Bill Clinton, Jesse Jackson

Jesse Jackson wears very nice cologne.

Iggy is a great guy; really funny and upbeat.

[sueh]

104. Al & Tipper when Al ran in '88.

We were marching with them in Chicago's South Side Irish parade and I actually met them and talked with them before the parade started. Tipper hugged me:) Oh, gawd, I love those two.

[I Dreamtoomuch_2]

106. James Taylor

in a Limo ride.
He drove.

[terrya]

107. Dan Savage

I met him at a talk he gave at the Gerber/Hart Library here in Chicago several months ago. He also did a book signing at the end....I brought along a copy of one of his books. Much cuter in person. :-)

[mikita]

108. Michael Jordan and Danny Kaye n/t

[mulsh]

109. Lots of old Hollywood people. My great aunt & her hubby

moved there in 1910. He sold cars, Duesenburgs, Pierce Arrow, Packard, Rolls etc. They knew quite a few people. They lived next door to Harold Lloyd for years.
Lillian and Dorothy Gish were a couple of my aunt's buddies.
Fred Astaire was friends with my great aunt and grand mother. My great Uncle Johnny was in business with Bing Crosby's brother. I knew both Fred and Bing at least as far as a child can. I sat on Cary Grant's lap twice during lunch. He called me "my fine young man." probably because he couldn't remember my name.
Joan Blondell was one of my great aunt's best friends, she was funny.

As an adult I kept running into Allan Ginsburg. I also used to go shopping for bow ties with the artist David Hockney, this was way before that turd tucker started wearing them.

[Quakerfriend]

114. Very cool! What I would have given to sit on Cary Grant's

lap...at any age!

[DeepBlueC]

198. Roy Orbison, Martha & the Vandellas, Marianne Faithfull, Yousuf Karsh

The first two at a concert where I was invited backstage. We published Karsh's books, met him at the office. And Marianne Faithfull ... I once found myself next to her in line for the bathroom at a local booze can. Lots of boozers, one toilet; it was a long line-up.

[DeepBlueC]

199. I put that in the wrong place

[AnneD]

110. I've never thought about it much but....

1) Barry Goldwater held me in his arms (this was before he became a Senator-and I was a cute babe...of about 6 months and have the photo to prove it-in front of Goldwater's store in Phoenix)

2)Ravi Shankir-with my Hubby at a small concert here (have the picture-he's a nice man)

3)Vic Damon

4)Tom DeLay-back when he was a fun guy 'hot tub Tom'

5-6)Ben Barns, Price Daniels-I know lots of Texas Politico-even some current ones too.

7-8)Cissy Farenthold and Ann Richards-inspired a generation of Texas Women.

9)Bobby Brown yeah, Whitney's husband, he was a self promoting jerk

10)Earl Campbell-decent football player and a good person

11)George Foreman-easy to do in Houston-and he's a sweetie.

12)Beyonce Knowles-back before she was Beyonce. Still see her Mom all the time.

13)Zubin Mehta-thanks to hubby-they see each other when they are in the same town.

14)Jerry Jeff Walker

15)Willy Nelson

16)Lyle Lovett

17)Howard Dean-he knocked my sock off (I have a picture of him cracking up at something I told him-which will remain a secret)

18)The Chieftains-it was in a really small venue and a very relaxed show-they were like a great pub band and seemed to be enjoying us as much as we were them.

19)Selena, when she was a kid singing-man what a set of pipes. And so sweet to.

20)George H and Barbra Bush-again easy to do here in Houston.

That is all I can remember for the moment. As I am looking at it, it is a really weird and random list-well except for the politicians. Some were nice and some were jerks. I seldom bother them anymore-they usually want their peace. If I have the chance to talk to them, I am nice and polite-maybe say something nice about what they have done. Hubby, as a musician has met even more folks and has more than a few funny stories.

edited to add-DUH many of the astronauts-the latest was Scott Perezinski that went out on the last shuttle mission to patch the solar reflector. They are a top notch group. It was sad when Rod Mc Nair died, he was a good musician, role model, and a damn fine human being too. Met most of the Mercury guys and the Apollo guys too....again, easy to to in Houston.

[Frosty1]

111. The real Patch Adams

[Quakerfriend]

112. Harry Belefonte....My cousin married his son. They divorced

years ago...Lucky for him. She's a real piece of work!

I also met BonJovi back in the late '80s...He recorded some music in my mother's barn. The guy who rented the space had a great recording studio and was widely known in the music industry.

[TrogL]

113. Which decade?

1960-69 - Pierre Elliot Trudeau
1970-79 - Peter Pears (famous tenor, Benjamin Britten's partner)
1980-1989 - Emerson Lake and Palmer
1990-1999 - Prime Minister Jean Chretien
2000+ - Steve Wozniak (he signed my 1984 original Macintosh), William Gibson

[CottonBear]

116. Michael Stipe, Mike Mills & Bill Berry of REM. William Shatner and Bruce Jenner (Olympian)

I also met George Takei of Star Trek fame. Mr. Takei was extrememly nice to his fans and very gracious. He was in my hometown for a public transit meeting in the 1970s and some friends and I went down to the office where he was meeting and he came out and talked to us and took pictures with us. We were probably 14 or 15 at the time.

At the Sebring 12 Hour sports car race in Florida I met Danny Ongais, a famous race car driver, who raced Porsches and Indy cars. I also met Ted Field, the owner of Danny's race team. Ted is the heir to the Marshall Field department store fortune in Chicago.

Paul Newman walked right past me at a race at Road Atlanta. He's tiny! :)

[TheCentepedeShoes]

118. Eisenhower

(or so I've been told) when he was running for his first term, but I was too young to remember it.

[leftofthedial]

119. Elvis, I guess.

Maybe Mickey Mantle?

Or Ringo?

[abq e streeter]

126. Wow..Almost as much in awe as I am of the Duer that met Larry Fine

But can't beat meeting a stooge...but Elvis , Ringo and Mickey; not bad.

[gmoney]

148. Pete Rose and most of the 77 Reds?

Does the original TV lawyer Joel Hyatt count?

Lou Reed, Elvis Costello and a few other musician types.

[Enrique]

120. Larry Storch and Cesar Chavez

separately

[lightningandsnow]

122. The Cliks... or Maggie Cassella

I met the Cliks at their concert in Toronto in June. They were incredibly sweet, and they signed my CD... and I hugged them all! I thought I was going to faint.

The most famous person I actually know would probably be Maggie Cassella (stand-up comedian). Dirty little secret about Maggie, she only pretends to hate everybody (If you've seen one of her comedy routines you'd know what I mean), she is actually one of the nicest, sweetest people in the world. I'm not kidding

[lizziegrace]

124. Carole King n/t

[Burma Jones]

125. Walter Cronkite, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Edward Albee, Count Basie, Ted Kennedy

I would say, though, Walter Cronkite was the MOST famous......

[CreekDog]

127. Bill Clinton, in Oakland at a Gore Rally (Gore wasn't there, he was in FL)

That was a great moment. Bill is a rock star.

And Oakland was the best of the Bay Area crowds. Some Nader supporters piped up during Bill's speech and ummm, quieted down rather quickly thanks to the crowd. In San Jose and SF, security had to deal with them, not in Oakland. The crowd was like we came here to listen to him, NOT YOU, so shut up! Very cool.

Met him along the fenceline after the speech. I don't notice people's eyes generally, but his are BLUE, I mean bluer than I've ever seen.

[Bluzmann57]

129. Stevie Ray Vaughan

I met him, talked to him, and he had a profound influence on my life. He was just a down to earth guy who wanted to help those who were suffering like he was. He helped me kick an addiction I had by talking to me and I want to thank him, even though he's gone.
I also met Dr. Joyce Brothers at a back yard barbecue. Her and I share one thing, we both don't like onions on our burgers.

[UrbScotty]

130. Dick Enberg

I have met Jennifer Granholm a couple times, but I wouldn't say she's more famous than Enberg.

[BlueIris]

131. I met Kesey, too! I shook his hand, and he flirted with me.

It was awesome.

[Nevernose]

134. Siegried & Roy, Johnny Cash, and Jimmy Carter

Off the top of my head.

A lot of stories.

[Robeson]

135. Gore Vidal.

[blitzen]

136. Willie Nelson or Eugene Ionesco

[RushIsRot]

137. I shook hands with Bobby Kennedy when I worked at the FBI in 1961.

I had just won first place in a Department of Justice photography contest.

[Generic Brad]

138. Jimmy Stewart swore at me once

That was the same evening Monty Hall brusquely pushed me out of his way.

[Connonym]

140. I'm stunned

what the hell did you do to make mild-mannered Jimmy Stewart swear at you?! Did he say "darn"?

[Generic Brad]

141. I did nothing

It was a photo shoot at an awards ceremony. The public was not present. He bumped an easel with awards lined up on it and a pewter plate fell crashing to the floor.

"Was that mine?" he asked. "No," my boss replied. "Good," he answered. Then he turned to me as I picked up the plate he had sent crashing to the floor and he said, "Look out, you stupid son of a bitch."

My boyhood hero called me a stupid son of a bitch and left me with a memorable story. Hard to top that.

[Connonym]

143. wow

I wonder if he was just having a bad day or if he was always a jerk. Makes me think of him in a whole new unflattering light.

[Generic Brad]

177. He was very old and shaky

I think he was just having a bad day.

[hfojvt]

213. my dad got his autograph

he said he felt kinda bad about interrupting his lunch, but he never got cussed at.

[Ptah]

139. Edgar Bergen, AKA Candice Bergen's father.

[johnnie]

142. I've met a few famous people

I'm not one to get "star struck" but the one person that I was in the presence of that made me feel a little spacey was Bob Dylan. I have told the story on here before and don't feel like telling it again, but in short I worked security at a show (just because it was a free Dylan show to me) and i had his side of the stage.

At one point I was standing there and he was standing about a foot away, he looked at me and gave me that grimace look he has, I smiled and he cracked a smile. Like I said, I have actually met people and talked to them, but the Dylan thing was a bit surreal.

[Thirtieschild]

144. Halle Berry

She was married to David Justice at the time, asked to come to our house to buy Mr. D's woodturnings as Christmas gifts. Very sweet, very quiet, spent lots, paid by check, asked if we wanted to see her driver's license. We didn't. Several years later, Mr. D. wrote about her visit in his AJC woodworking column and got a very nice thank you. She was shooting a movie in Australia at the time and someone had sent her the column.

I knew Bill Moyers in college, talked to Elvis on the phone in 1958 when he missed an interview with Mr. D. and called to apologize.

[bigwillq]

263. Lots of athletes (this is in wrong spot but I am leaving it here)

I am a sports writer for a newspaper here in CT.

Joe Montana and Venus Williams are probably the most popular of the ones I met.

I had a sit down 1-on-1 with Montana. He was much bigger in person than I thought.


I also "met" a few celebrities that played in some pro-am tournaments...like Leslie Nielsen and Bill Murray.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

145. Robert DeNiro, Henry Winkler, Ray Manzarek, Bobby Lee.

DeNiro I spotted 100 feet away at a screening of "The Last Tycoon" last year. Didn't really "meet" him, but close enough.

Henry Winkler was my college graduation speaker, and I met Ray Manzarek at a book/CD signing -- both very nice guys.

When I lived in L.A., I was in a Starbucks (surprise) and was wearing my Clash t-shirt. I was kind of in a hurry, so I didn't immediately recognize the short Asian guy who passed me and said, "Nice shirt."

I did a double-take and noticed it was Bobby Lee (Mad TV), which was pretty cool.

[Crabby Appleton]

146. Far too many to make a complete list

I was the Director of Security of a nice big-city hotel for nearly the entire 80's, so met a huge number from many different fields; musicians, actors, athletes, politicians, CEO's. If someone was a celebrity in the 80's there's a good chance I met them. Mohammed Ali, Joe Montana and his very lovely wife, Willie Joe Namath, William Shatner, Priscella Presley, Michael Jackson, Prince and bodyguard Chick, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mr. T, Jon Bon Jovi, George Benson, Rodger Staubach, Zha Zha Gabor, Elizabeth Taylor & then husband Sen. Warner, Gladys Knight & Pips, Gen. Jimmy Doolittle (WWII AF Pilot), Ross Perot, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Sammy Davis Jr., Randy Newman (Short People), Mary Travers (Peter Paul & Mary), Howard Keel.....

In other places - John Glenn, Gene Krupa, William Kunstler, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus.

[bumblebee1]

149. I didn't actually meet them but I saw up close and personal:

Linda Evans
Wesley Snipes
Jackie Slater
Nancy Griffiths
John Tesh
Robert Guiallme(not sure of the spelling)
Todd Eldredge
Elena Berezhnaya

[Syrinx]

152. do you mean Nanci Griffith, the singer?

If so, I'd really like to meet her. I love her music. And she has such a sweet, sweet voice, like an angel.

[bumblebee1]

169. Yes, Syrinx. n/t

[Duer 157099]

150. Angelina Jolie

When she was a still a baby in a crib.

Does that count?

[Syrinx]

153. I say that counts

But I'd rather meet her now. :evilgrin:

[Duer 157099]

157. Jon Voight, too - is she more famous than him?

Funny story was, I was babysitting her older brother, James, and it was at the time when their parents were separated and they kept two apartments in the same building, and Angelina stayed in the downstairs apartment with her mom, and James stayed with their dad (Jon Voight) in the upstairs apartment.

Kinda weird huh?

[Syrinx]

158. Dad is arguably a better actor

But I would say that Angelina is much more famous these days.

And Voight seems kind of like a freeper these days, as hard as it is to believe. I still love "Conrack." I don't think I've ever seen "Midnight Cowboy," but I intend to one day.

Is that brother the one that she French-kissed at the Oscars a few years ago? I thought that was kinda hot in a very perverted way. ;)

Still in touch with 'em?

[Mendocino]

154. Sir Edmund Hillary

A true gentleman.

[Pushed To The Left]

155. Probably Diane Keaton

I think I was 16 or 17. She is an alumni of the high school I attended, and she and Carol Kane came by one afternoon after the school was closed to talk to the principal and our drama teacher. Some of us were still on campus when they arrived because we had stayed for a play rehearsal, and we got to meet them!

[Downtown Hound]

156. Charles Schultz and Joe Montana

I used to landscape right next door to Mr. Schultz's house, and did a little work for him too. He was a real quiet guy who took walks through the woods every day.

Mr. Montana came into the movie theater I was working at a number of years back. He asked me where the bathroom was and I told him. Then on his way back to his movie, he got lost and couldn't find it. LOL.

[enigmatic]

159. Dennis Kucinich

1978; he was at Tony's Diner w/ his first wife on W.117th and Lorain about 9am on a Saturday morning, and I was there w/ my older brother eating breakfast. We both shook his hand; nice guy, even though he was getting pounded by George Forbes and the PD regularly by then and the recall ballot was getting steam..

[Indi Guy]

160. Now you're asking me to give away my age (I'm a middle aged musician)...

(pardon the spelling) My Dad (also a musician) worked with Sammy Davis, Sarah Vaughn, Jimmy Durante, Johny Ray & others..


I've met Robert Cummings, Frank Fontaine, Jimmy Smith, Jimi Hendrix (backstage after a '68 show in Buffalo), Greg lake (ELP), Joakim Thastrom (Steve Miller's {long deceased} keyboard player), John Hall (bass player for the band "Orleans"), Dicky Betts, Bob Seger (he was dating a female friend of mine in Fla)...


I toured Europe with "Melanie" in '92.

[Gonzo Gardener]

162. Ok, but you pick who is MOST famous.

As a kid...
Beverly Sills (opera singer), late 1970's
Chuck Mangione, 1979 or 1980
Orville Redenbacher (Popcorn King), early 1980's :rofl:

In my misspent youth...:headbang:
Henry Rollins along with the other Black Flag band members, mid-1980's
John Lydon (Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols) the ass & Marlene Premilovich (Lene Lovich)
at a PETA sponsored event in Chicago, late 1980's
BB King at Blues Etc... Chicago, late 1980's

Random crossing of paths...
Maynard and the rest of the band, Tool, (can't remember where) in So Cal, early 1990's
Jello Biafra at the Casbah in San Diego early 1990's
William Hurt in the Denver Airport on an escalator, mid 1990's

Political Events, fundraisers, or discussions...
Noam Chomsky
(Don't kick my ass, please!) Ralph Nader
Dennis Kucinich

Writers, directors, producers, actors, & filmmakers I've met at the TCFF over the last 3 years (2005, 2006, 2007)...:popcorn:
Michael Moore
Marilyn Agrelo (Mad Hot Ballroom)
Terry George (Hotel Rwanda)
Larry Charles (Borat)
Sabina Guzzanti (Viva Zapatero!)
Jan Harlan (Executive Producer of Kubrick's Films)
Jeff Daniels

and the best for last...
*Malcolm McDowell* (A Clockwork Orange)

[Flatline]

165. Isiah Thomas when I was in middle school in the 80's

kind of funny he was doing a No Drug speech thing and before we went to the auditorium I was coming out of the office after picking up a couple books and when I came out around the door I ran into him--LITERALLY- fell down dropping my books and he bent down, helped me get my books together and walked me to class... It was kewl =)

[Tommy_Carcetti]

166. My dad once told Spiro Agnew to get out from under the diving board

My dad was a lifeguard at the Loch Raven Kiwanis Swim Club in Baltimore in the early 1960s. This was just before he ran for Governor of Maryland and subsequently was brought on by Tricky Dick. Apparently, Agnew was loitering in the pool under the diving board area, holding off people from diving into the pool. My dad, ever the dutiful lifeguard, blew his whistle and instructed Agnew to get out of the diving area.

At that point, my dad's supervisor ran over to him and somewhat flustered and upset, said: "Do you know who that was? That was Spiro Agnew, the president of the Loch Raven Kiwanis Swim Club! You can't tell him what to do!"

If he only knew what would follow....

[GaYellowDawg]

167. Al Gore.

Back in the 80's, he came to a town hall meeting in our little county, and I asked him a question about the sharp reductions that Reagan had made to student aid. I also got to meet him very briefly at the close of the meeting.

[electron_blue]

168. Neil Armstrong. He was being filmed at an observatory I was working at and had dinner

at my table in the cafeteria. I and my co-workers spent an hour or two talking with him. That is still one of the highest points of my life.

After Neil, I got squat.

Unless you count flying next to the Thompson Twins.

[Xipe Totec]

179. Nice!

I should have posted here, rather than to the OP.

Check post #178.

:hi:

[RedSpartan]

170. Drew Barrymore and Robert DeNiro

The same day. Gotta love New York City.

[mulsh]

171. Jpe Bonano Jr.

He lived near my parents, he rear ended my mother's car when she was 5 months pregnant with my little brother. he sued her in small claims court and lost. His kids used to try to mess with my brothers and me but we had more friends. By the time we were in our teens we were all partying together. Used to go to his house sometimes. He always asked how my mother was doing.

[yellowdogintexas]

172. Al Gore

and I know Jim Wright
I met Chet Atkins
Earl Scruggs

[ronnykmarshall]

173. Glenn Close

Not the MOST famous but the latests one.

[Fox Mulder]

174. The only famous person I met was former MN Governor Arne Carlson.

Blech.

[Bombero1956]

175. Ted Kennedy, John Kerry

Joe Namath, Jim Rice, Dennis Eckersley, Cam Neeley, Dale Earnhardt, Terry O'Reilly and Carl Yaztremski. Carl signed a ball for me at a food expo he made an appearance at. My son took the ball outside the following spring and ruined the signature by tossing the ball in the pool.

[NightWatcher]

176. Had a hotdog with Clint Eastwood on the set of Midnight in the Garden, Beer with Bruce and Demi. ...

and a beer with John Goodman in New Orleans

[Xipe Totec]

178. Michael Collins

Command module pilot for the Apollo-11 mission.



I sat across from him in Building 30, JSC (Mission Control Center), during Nav status meetings in preparation for STS-1, the maiden flight of Shuttle Columbia.

[electron_blue]

181. wowie!!

I love astronauts.

[Xipe Totec]

186. Glad you liked that

I miss the place, not that I'm not there.

[Rhiannon12866]

180. I saw Bill Clinton, when he spoke in my small town, campaigning for my Congressional candidate,

just before the last election. It was pretty impressive, though I didn't meet him, but my friend took pix and got to shake his hand.:woohoo:

But I really did meet David Cassidy, at Saratoga Race Track back in the '80s. He was very pleasant, seemed pleased that somebody recognized him (though that was really my mother), but probably also a little drunk, LOL.:D

We used to sit in the boxes, with the rich folks, thanks to my Dad who knew everybody. So I also saw Tom Brokaw up close and personal, but I just nodded when I passed him, didn't speak. He looked pretty ornery, even though nobody bothered him. I noticed that he had a fruit plate and was struggling with a ketchup bottle for his wife's hamburger. My friend said that I should give him a break, that he probably was grumpy because he was losing and also on a diet...:rofl:

[MilesColtrane]

182. a few...

Robert Goulet
Ross Perot
Roger Staubach
Jerry Lewis
Stevie Ray Vaughn
Rudy Giuliani
Byron Nelson
Mick Fleetwood
Bob Newhart
Tony Curtis
BB King
Bernadette Peters


etc...

[LSK]

183. Barack Obama

Although it was just a quick handshake.

Dick Durbin took time to take a picture with me - twice.

[LeftishBrit]

184. I attended a lecture by Stephen Hawking...

if that counts as 'meeting'.

I've met a number of people who are well-known in the academic world and/or in connection with educational policy-making, but are probably not 'household names'. Possibly the most widely known is Howard Gardner of multiple-intelligence theory.

I haven't directly met many really famous people, but am at 2 degrees of separation from quite a few; e.g. I know Harold Wilson's son slightly (through academic, not political, connections) and my mother has met Noam Chomsky. Oh, and one of my friends nearly got run over as a teenager by the tennis player Nastase!

[cemaphonic]

185. Sir Neville Marriner

Also Roger Fisher (from Heart) and Warren Christopher (Cliton's first Secretary of State)

Sort of a weird mix.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

187. Bono, Willie Nelson, Bill Cosby

are probably the biggest

[rug]

188. John Lennon

and Yoko Ono. I was a ward clerk at New York Hospital where Yoko was having her baby. I had to give him a message and went into her room. Lennon was on the phone and Yoko had her face buried in a gift basket of fruit.

[martymar64]

189. Shook hands with Dean Martin

I helped him with his luggage from a plane at Santa monica Airport.
I've met a lot of other famous folks. I'll have to make of list of them someday.

[Darth_Kitten]

191. Anne Boleyn..........

Well, I took a picture of her ghost at Hampton Court when I was in London.


No fooling, I have the picture to prove it. :)

[rosesaylavee]

200. Cool... can you post it here?

I think you win the prize for most interesting celeb.

[Darth_Kitten]

216. one of these days, I'll have to get it scanned.......

but seriously, I took it at Hampton Court Palace (known to be haunted), in Anne Boleyn's gateway.

I just took a picture because, hey, it was Anne Boleyn's gateway. But there looks to be the appearance of a human form. At least that's what it looks like.

People must think I'm a flake, but it sure looks like SOMETHING. :)

[rosesaylavee]

218. Nah, you are not a flake.

Ghosts have been seen and reported in every culture I know of. I grew up in a haunted house. I never saw anything but felt and heard plenty. Wish the scientific community would see clear to do some serious across the board investigation.

[MrScorpio]

193. My great uncle, Joe Louis, Heavyweight Boxing Champ of the world

[GigiMommy]

240. My Mom met your Uncle...

when she was a little girl (about 5/6) at her school in Ferndale, MI. She remembers all the kids practicing their one line, "Good Morning Mr. Louis!" He didn't say much at all. She thinks he just said, "Hello kids".

[MrScorpio]

250. Small World

Who'd a thunk'd it?

[haf216]

194. Sammy Kershaw

He is a pretty regular shopper where I work, and I helped him pick out bedding once.

[JackBeck]

195. The ones I've had a conversation with:

Hillary Clinton, John Ritter, Sonia Braga, Amy Sedaris, David Sedaris, Stephin Merritt, Holly Woodlawn, Linda Dano and Jensen Buchanan.

Gwen Stefani mocked me at a party a few years ago.

Don't know if this counts, but I literally almost knocked Madonna to the ground as we crashed into each other on a London street corner.

[crim son]

196. Stephen King, I guess.

Heck, I don't know if I've ever met anybody else, though I did set at the same diner counter as Paul Newman, once.

[ellisonz]

197. O.J. Simpson

[bamacrat]

201. Awesome, I would have loved to meet the Bear, mine is either..

Super Bowl MVP, John Stallworth; or Demeco Ryans, plays for the Texans now. I have had classes with or seen at the bars many of the football and basketball players. I've met Prothro a couple of times. Only Bama fans will appreciate that one.

[Syrinx]

221. most people don't know the name Tyrone Prothro...

But they would if he hadn't suffered that terrible injury. I honestly think he may have won the Heisman, but for that injury. And anyone that watches college football has seen "the catch." They're still using that as the template for "game-changing play of the week," or whatever it's called.

I've never met John Stallworth, but I did share a class with one of his nephews. It was freshman English at UA. I didn't get to know the guy well, but he seemed nice.

[ooga booga]

202. Alistair Cooke, B.J. Thomas, Bill Richardson, Paul Bartel

Alistair Cooke: Spotted him once in the Sam Francisco airport. I'd been reading his books, and I am still in awe of his command of English prose. I walked over to him, and I timidly said, "Mr. Cooke, I just wanted to say that I really enjoy your books." He looked up as I was standing over him. He had a ruddy face and a warm, friendly smile, and he said, "Thank you." And, I walked away overwhelmed by that brief encounter.

B.J. Thomas: I had been visiting a friend in Seattle over the weekend. As an American Airlines employee, I was able to snag a first class seat from time to time. That particular Sunday morning, I had done just that. The guy in the seat next to me turned out to be B.J. Thomas ("Raindrops Keeping Fallin' on My Head"). My friend had gotten VIP passes to a Senior PGA event in the Seattle, and we had enjoyed some splendidly sunny weather out there watchin' Arnie and Chi Chi and the others. Turns out B.J had been there, too, and he was a big golf fan. He was friendly and chatty. Nice guy.

Bill Richardson: A few months ago, I got an invite to a Richardson fundraiser at a mansion nearby. I only got to shake his hand and say, "I love New Mexico." I did get to see and hear him speak in a living room with only about 20 other people there. I was impressed, and I expect that his star will continue to rise.

Paul Bartel ("Eating Raoul"): I used to take a week of vacation and work as a volunteer for a local film festival. One year, I was the local escort for Paul Bartel which basically meant that I was his chauffeur and personal assistant for the duration of the festival. I brought the reel of his film, "Shelf Life" from the hotel to the festival screening. I took him to J.C. Penney to buy a cheap wristwatch. He was nice. A regular person. (When I heard years later that he had died, I felt sad but fortunate to have had a bit of time with him.)

[Pacifist Patriot]

203. Bill Clinton and Julia Roberts

both before they "made it big."

[Rocinante]

204. Syrinx n/t

[Syrinx]

220. I know you can do better than that!

:hi:

[madeline_con]

205. Johnny Carson Charles Degualle Airport in about 1978

On my way to Saudi. He was buying perfume in a duty free shop, and I was talkling to some old guy from Texas in a huge hat. He said, "Isn't that Johnny Carson?"


He was with Alex at the time. No one seemed to be giving him a second glance, except me and the Texan. I knew it was definitley him when he spoke.

I walked up and told him I was a big fan. He thanked me, and I left him in peace.

[Kat45]

206. Elton John. Lemmy. Tom Scholz. Wes Clark. Bobby Orr. n/t

[WorseBeforeBetter]

207. Lynn Swann, Sugar Ray Leonard, Mike Wallace, Larry King...

Soupy Sales and Adam Sandler. All in restaurants or airports. Scratch that, Sugar Ray was at a high school homecoming football game. Oh yeah! John Riggins at a law firm I worked at. Fabio winked at me once, but I guess that doesn't count. LOL...Fabio. ;-)

[Bzzzz]

208. Stephen King...

Buddy Ebsen, Bill Russell and Babyface.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

211. Lyndon Johnson and John Connolly.

It was in a jammed ballroom at the Rice Hotel. My dad had to pick me up and carry me. I saw no security, and no Secret Service guys. This was in early 1963.

Johnson gave me a pass to the Senate Gallery, which I still have, signed by him, since he was Vice President at the time.

Connally was governor of TX at the time. He asked me my name and I told him and he said his daughter's was the same.

Bill and Hillary during the '92 campaign. Bill is a rock star, a force of nature. That was when they both talked like liberals. Hillary is a formidable speaker with no notes, and just as smart as Bill, as far as I can tell. She spoke over an hour without any notes in '92.

Bill Bradley when he was campaigning. Bob Krueger, a smart Texas politician who speaks Spanish fluently and is too educated to get elected to the Senate. He has charisma too.

Sissy Farenthold who ran for governor in 1972.

Met Mickey Leland in the Courthouse hallway. Saw Craig Washington argue two court cases, after he was a Congressman. He is one of the most brilliant lawyers I have ever seen.

Saw Barbara Jordan speak at a Johnson-Rayburn Award Dinner honoring outstanding Dems, when she was in a wheelchair. She was the guest of honor that year. Every old Dem politician was there, including Gephardt, Smilin' Ralph Yarborough, and others. The media ignored everybody except Barbara--they swarmed around her.

At the symphony: Aaron Copland, when I was a kid. I said "I saw you on TV last week" and he said "Was I good?". He was on PBS conducting his piano concerto.

Others at the symphony or recitals: Roberta Peters, Andre Previn, Dory Previn, Robert Shaw, Samuel Ramey (melt), Vladimir Viardo, pianist, Gatemouth Brown, James Galway, The Tallis Scholars, Chanticleer, Marie-Madeleine Durufle (widow of Maurice Durufle, organist-composer), Joan Sutherland, Stephan Grapelli, Leo Kottke (several times), Pepe, Angel and Celedonio Romero and their father; Horacio Gutierrez, Ella Fitzgerald, Jean Luc Ponty, Chet Atkins, Pat Metheny, Gary Burton. I didn't get to meet any rock stars--as a regular fan, security was too tight.

My parents and I picked up and dropped off Leonard Shure at the airport for a recital--pianist.
Very nice man.

Alexei Sultanov, pianist, after a recital. He died not too long ago, and was an incredibly powerful pianist, although quite short. He practiced martial arts too. He was from Uzbekistan.

Played in orchestras, in high school or college, under: Victor Alessandro of the San Antonio Symphony, Nicholas Slonimsky the musicologist, Carmen Dragon of the Glendale Symphony and father of Daryl Dragon. Carmen Dragon was an incredibly nice man. This was long before his son became famous as The Captain of The Captain and Tennille, pop stars ("Love Will Keep Us Together"). Carmen Dragon made the lovely arrangement of America the Beautiful that TV stations used to sign off with.

Saw lecture in the 70s: Dr. John Lilly (did lots of dolphin research that was fascinating), Daniel Ellsberg (met him just a few years ago after he wrote his book Secrets), Dr. Andrew Weil, Buckminster Fuller.

Met at book signings: Molly Ivins, Gloria Steinem, Alistair Cooke.

Lady Bird Johnson was my college commencement speaker.

Went to summer school for high school students at Rice University with Edgar Mitchell's daughter. Lovely and brilliant and sweet.

When my dad was a kid he was a paper boy throwing the Cleveland Plain Dealer and saw William Jennings Bryan. In the early 1930s he saw Clark Gable doing tent theater in Houston.
I think he may have seen Art Tatum when he was young, since Art Tatum was from Cleveland.

My honey can trump ALL of my celebrities. His grandpa was a General and he has scrapbooks with pictures of Grandpa with Field Marshall Montgomery, Patton, Winston Churchill, Mark Clark, General Eisenhower, and all those movers and shakers who were busy stomping Hitler's army.

[Awsi Dooger]

214. Muhammad Ali

I saw him at plenty of fights here in Las Vegas, and finally managed to get his autograph and talk to him briefly. That was maybe 15 years ago. He spoke slowly and in low decibel level but it was understandable, and featured that great smile.

Ali is a big guy with huge shoulders. So is Foreman. Such a contrast to the many times I've seen Tyson, who is a midget, no taller than 5-7. It's shocking to see him in person.

[donheld]

215. Your mom

:D

[Syrinx]

219. she says hi!

:D

[LuckyTheDog]

217. Bill Clinton (nt)

[Kixel]

222. Former Vice President Mondale

Love him! I was at a benifit and he sat at our table for a bit. Talk about a real statesman!

[Kutjara]

224. Queen Elizabeth II.

She and Prince Philip toured my college back in the early '80s, and I got the job of welcoming them at the front door.

Our entire conversation follows:

Me: Welcome to Queen Mary College, Your Majesty.
QEII: Thank you.

I think we connected.

[TheMightyFavog]

225. Ken Burns

He came to my alma mater this last spring, and since I was studying video production, I was allowed to sit in on a special talk he gave to students in video production classes.

I asked him how Tom Hanks got involved with him, ans he said that Hanks came up to him one day and asked him if he could be involved with his next project, Burns said yes, and let him let him voice Horatio's Drive. Hanks has been involved with most of Ken Burns's productions ever since.

[MattSh]

226. Springsteen and band, Jesse Jackson

In the most "casual" ways...

A friend of mine got me entry to a private event Springsteen had at a food bank way back in the late 1970's. The band played a bit and spoke about the work the food bank does, but since it was about the food bank, there was nothing like chats with the band or autographs or stuff. They wanted all the focus on the work of the food bank.

Jesse Jackson at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. The first day the Olympic park reopened after the bombing, there he was. Didn't get to speak with him, (what would I have said anyway), but did get a couple of pics.

My sister was actually in the same HS as Springsteen for two months. Never met the guy, though.

[pokerfan]

227. Buzz Aldrin

No politician or movie/rock star trumps that for me.

I was at a Mars Convention in Boulder and I sat out a lecture and there he was: A Fucking Moon Walker! I touched a man who touched the Moon!

We had about 50 minutes of just shooting the shit. All the media and press were inside the auditorium. We mostly talked about fishing.

Then there was this time I caught Warren Zevon for a smoke in an alley at intermission. We mostly talked fishing then as well. And how we should quit smoking.

And I shared a cab with Paul McCartney once at Wimbledon. A short 3 minute ride at most. I spent most of it slack jawed. No fish talk.

[bac511]

228. Bill & Hillary, Tipper Gore, Blair Underwood, Marcia Cross, Hulk Hogan

[China_cat]

229. Marty Robbins

and I worked for a family who lived down the road from Bing Crosby. His daughter Mary went to school with the youngest son of the family I worked for and was often in the house.

[AnneD]

241. My mom went to

high school with Marty....Peoria HS, Peoria AZ.

[China_cat]

243. I met him and some of his band

when I was on the road with the carnival. We were playing a state fair, so was he. The group of them were checking out the girl shows. (If I remember right, it was too early for a show and by the time we would have opened, they needed to be onstage.)

[maveric]

230. Shook hands with 2 who became presidents.

1960. JFK, when I was 4. though I have no recollection of this but my parents,who were on one of his campaign committees, told me that they took me over and he shook my little hand.

Then, in 1979, GHWB(Poppy),came through the plant I worked at in Salem NH, shaking hands, trying to get the GOP nomination.
His handshake was limp and cold. He really creeped me out.

1976, I hung out with the Southern Rockers "The Outlaws", for a week in a Tampa bar. They were cool guys who were amused by a bunch of unruly Boston boys with funny accents.

[mitchum]

231. I shook Bill Clinton's hand and pissed beside Joseph Heller...

and once challenged James Walcott to a fight
I have known or met tons of musicians and writers

[denem]

233. Joseph Stalin

Ahh no - it just seems like that.

[charlie and algernon]

234. Barak Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and John Kerry

[Rosemary2205]

235. George Clooney was in most of my classes until 9th grade.

He was sweet and awkward and a little funny. His dad was a news anchor so they had money but the kid was just like the rest of us. At jr high dances he was over in the corner with us other 'misfits'. There was a group of about 10 of us who were all friends with each other. He and I were not "buds" just in the same "group" you could say. No one ever in a bazillion years expected him to be "George Clooney".

Met "Aunt Rosemary" a couple times at his house, us having the same name she slathered a little attention my way and I ate it up - I knew she was famous so I was all proud and everything. Wherever I saw her everyone was smiling and laughing. She was just so generous and happy toward everyone.

They moved to another school district and I never saw him again. By the time he was on TV I had moved to Georgia. Even then no one had any idea he would become "George Clooney".

[hyphenate]

236. I cheated, and worked at a studio for over 8 years

so I've met a lot of people through that. Through conventions, I've met (at different times) all the Star Trek people, including having a party one night that Gene Roddenberry, Majel and Robert Lansing were at, with Gene spending lots of time talking with Harry Stubbs, whose writing name is Hal Clement. He writes "hard" science fiction, as in RL he was a chemistry teacher. Had dinner with Jimmy Doohan, George Takei and Mark Lenard at various times.

Another con person was Robert Englund--most know him as Freddy Kreuger from the "Nightmare" movies, but we got to know him as "Willy" in the series, V.

On the sports side, my brother took me to LAX one time when I was coming back home to Mass., and we met Lyle Alzado (prob. spelled wrong) and my brother got his autograph for my nephew, Billy. I met Katherine Helmond in the airport coffee house as well.

There was a function going on at the local elementary school once, and I met Randy Vataha and Jim Plunkett. I am not a football fan, so I didn't really know who they were at the time.

I met my idol Rod Taylor finally, in 1995--wonderful man. Had a good long talk with Scott Bakula on set once, and met a director that I admired quite a bit, who had won an Emmy for his work on that specific TV show--The Lawyers segment of the Bold Ones, an episode called "The Invasion of Kevin Ireland." Darren McGavin played this guy who breaks into this office and thrashes all the equipment, and you find out that his credit report had all kinds of allegations and stuff, and the credit agency caused the breakup of this guys marriage, the loss of his home and his career. Very sad episode, and it was at a time before laws were passed to protect people from agencies that put all this crap on your credit report, so the episode actually generated some discussion.

I did meet Mike Dukakis once--very nice man, my current Rep, and the former mayor of Worcester, Tim Murray, who is now the Lt. Governor of Mass.

[cuke]

237. Too many to count

Miles Davis, all members of The Grateful Dead, Hot Tuna, and Phish. Neil Young, Albert Collins, the Allman Bros (they played Little Martha for me while waiting in an airport), BB King, the Brecker Bros., Buddy Cage, David Crosby, Wavy Gravy, Jaco Pastorius (almost punched me out), Zappa

Non-musical includes both Clintons, Schumer, John Lindsay, Ed Koch, Giuliani, Dinkins, Elle McPherson, "Monica" from "Friends",

[jgraz]

238. Steve Jobs

And by "met" I mean "in my office ranting about why our latest feature IS SHIT."

[bertha katzenengel]

239. Penny Marshall. Asked for her a'graph on back of a check; she said, "What am I endoasin' heah?"

[greymattermom]

242. Newt

I shook hands with Newt Gingrich in November. He gave a talk supporting NIH funding that was impressive. I forgot that some members of the republic party support science.

[NoPasaran]

245. Fred Halstead

One of the leaders of the anti-Vietnam War movement and 1968 presidential candidate of the Socialist Workers Party. "Big Red Fred" we called him. A hell of a nice guy with a good sense of humor, although the comrades at whose house he stayed said his snoring was something to behold.

[SPKrazy]

246. Buzz Aldrin

got his autograph as a kid

:P

[helderheid]

247. You tell me - Helen Thomas, Howard Dean, Dennis Kucinich, Mimi Kennedy, Paula Poundstone

I also sat on the plane with a couple guys from the 80s show 21 Jumpstreet and once lounged at a pool where the entire cast of Dynasty was also lounging.

[Syrinx]

254. eight degrees...

I have a friend, who has a sister that used to be a waitress at a Shoney's in Tuscaloosa that brought food to that actor that played on 21 Jump Street. It wasn't Johnny Depp, but the other guy that seemed somewhat Deppish. I don't remember his name. He was visiting his brother, who was a student at UA. Small world. :D

[L. Coyote]

248. Kennedy, Johnson, Humphrey, and Kesey. LOL

[Syrinx]

252. that Kesey dude sure got around

:D

[L. Coyote]

259. He was a very accessible commoner. He sold ice cream at the Oregon Country Fair

every year and would just hang with everyone, trying to just be one of the crowd. He sold a lot of ice cream, and like everyone, put in his hours working and playing. We miss him there.



http://jqjacobs.net/photos/fair/index.html

[ashling]

249. "I mean even in the most casual way."

that would be really tough:

Thomas Jefferson, George Washington,Abraham Lincoln, oh, and then there is Cleopatra and Julius Ceasar, Henry II and Elanor of Aquataine, some others too, but those are just of the top of my head ... or rather, the top of my bookshelf.

:hi:

if you mean in person, there's Gov. Dean, John Edwards, BigBird (really), John Dingel (my wife used to work for him on the hill, Cong. Ron Wyden, I was in a cub scout honor gaurd for JFK, but never actually met him, Sen. Raph Yarborough, Sen. Patty Murray

[Syrinx]

253. I've heard that Big Bird can be a real bastard off-camera

Was he nice to you?

:hi:

[ashling]

256. Several Years ago

when my wife worked for the House of Rep, The Corp. for Public Broadcasting had a big to do up there that my wife coordinated with them. She helped them a lot and so she arranged a special one on one meeting with big bird for my 5 year old daughter. He gave her an autographed picture and a feather, which we still have.

My daughter was just thrilled. Big Bird was very nice.

[Syrinx]

257. I can imagine how excited your daughter was!

And I'm sure you were excited by seeing your daughter so happy.

You mentioned a feather. I'm just curious. Did Big Bird come with the extra feather, or did he break it off his costume?

[ashling]

261. I was thinking about that as I posted

my wife said that he hugged her and whispered in her ear with his beak. He only had a private meeting with her - nobody else. They sent the picture later to my wife with the feather.

[Mythsaje]

251. Damn impressive list here...

Me, I've never met anyone remotely famous.

Though I find it funny that I know a LOT of people who hope that they can say someday that they knew ME before I was famous.

Now THAT'S amusing.

[Syrinx]

255. I call it!

I know you! :hi:

[TZ]

258. Art Monk, of the Washington Redskins...

He and some other players participated in a charity basketball game agaisnt the staff of my Junior High School. That was really fun.
And I must say, Art Monk is just as nice and classy in person (somewhere I still have his autograph) as he came off as on TV...:)

[Arugula Latte]

260. Holly Hunter and ... Erik Estrada.

Don't hate me because I've met Erik. :P

[Oddball]

262. Johnny Mize.

My family used to run a restaurant in Northeast Georgia and this really big guy used to eat there fairly often. i didn't kine who he was and he and I would just talk and visit about general stuff. Then I noticed one time when I was giving him his change that he was wearing a World Series ring. Played with the yankees back in the fifties. Hall of Fame, etc. etc. He was a really nice man.

[stuntcat]

264. Emmylou Harris

it was just at a signing, I also met Tori Amos that way. But I hung out a while with Milla Jovovich, it was at a nightclub, the year after her album was released.

Once I passed Tracey Thorne on the stairs at a club in London, I wish I'd had the nerve to stop her and say something.

[Alexander]

265. Probably Bill Clinton.

But also Howard Dean, John Kerry, Dennis Kucinich, Peter Graves and Weird Al Yankovic.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

266. A few world class rock musicians

I was a landscaper in Nashville for many years, and that gave me the opportunity to meet many musicians at their homes. Among my favorite dropped names are Peter Frampton, Lee Greenwood, Ray Stevens, and Alan Jackson. Also, while I was still a grass cutter I worked alongside some of the future stars of The Grand Ole Opery- some of the members of Diamond Rio had to pay the rent before they met fame, and they did so behind push mowers and weed eaters!

I also crossed over into politics when I met Don Sundquist's future Lt. Governor, one Ms. Peaches Blank. Now THERE'S a woman with a past!

[Mojorabbit]

268. Greg Allman

Delta Burke and a lot of base players in bands but I won't go there. :blush:

[Syrinx]

271. I have a relative who dated Gregg Allman

But that was before he was really famous. He was in a little band called the "Allman Joys" at the time.

[opiate69]

269. Christopher Dodd,

Joe Lieberman (ages ago, when he was AG for the State of Connecticut, and my step-grandfather was a big-wig in the state Dem party), the guys from Alice in Chains, Ron Jeremy, Jenna Jameson, Chris Cornell.

[uppityperson]

270. Frank Herbert, author of Dune, etc, Jim Whittaker

Met him when he visited co-workers in a clinic I worked in. Just popped in to say hi. And Jim Whittaker.

[MikeH]

272. I have met several famous or somewhat well-known people

I was thinking about some well-known people I had met at one time or another in my life, and was a little surprised at how many I was able to come up with.

I have met Karl Haas, the late host of the long-time running radio program Adventures in Good Music. I saw him at a bookstore when he was at his annual recital here in San Diego one year; he autographed for me a copy of his book Inside Music.

I met the prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi when he came to give a talk at a local community college in late August 2001 (a couple of weeks before the 9/11 attacks) about the Supreme Court theft of the 2000 election. He autographed for me a copy of his book The Betrayal of America.

I met Thom Hartmann this last spring. He signed for me a copy of his book Screwed.

I met Sarah Brady, wife of former Reagan press secretary James Brady, and gun control advocate, a number of years ago, in 1996.

I met Granny D when she was in San Diego several years ago. She signed for me a copy of her book Walking Across America in My 90th Year.

Quite a number of years ago, in the 1970's, I met country and pop singer Jerry Wallace, some of whose best known songs are Primrose Lane, Shutters and Boards, and In the Misty Moonlight. He was a good friend of a man who went to the church I was going to at the time, and who was an extremely fundamentalist Christian, and somebody with whom I would have absolutely nothing in common now.

I met the Christian writer Keith Miller a number of years ago, in the 1980's. He is best known for his books emphasizing the relational aspects of the Christian faith, and sharing his own personal journey and struggles; one of his best known books, and his very first book, is The Taste of New Wine. He signed for me copies of a couple of his books. He was one of my favorite authors when I was a Christian, and I still like and respect him a lot even though I am no longer a Christian.

Robert Zoellick lived half a block from where I did when I was living in Naperville, Illinois, where I lived from later grade school to the time I graduated from high school. I knew Robert, his older brother, and his mother.

And I can think of a few others I have met who are a little less well-known than the people I listed above.

[proud2BlibKansan]

273. My favorite is Cindy Sheehan

Others in the anti-war and peace movement: Ann Wright, Adam Kokesh, Daniel Ellsberg, Rev Joseph Lowrey, Medea Benjamin, Diane Wilson, and probably a bunch of others I can't think of right now.

And David Swanson, my favorite impeachment activist.

When I was a kid, my dad was sort of friends with Kit Bond, who was governor or MO and is now a Senator (and an ass, even my dad said so). He also knew Tom Eagleton, who was briefly McGovern's running mate.

My dad was also best friends with Whitey Herzog, who was manager for The Royals. And through Whitey, we knew Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Hank Bauer and George Brett. We also knew Len Dawson and Hank Stram and Lamar Hunt.

[MikeH]

274. I just remember I saw Cindy Sheehan

I saw her at a big gathering here in San Diego a couple of years ago; I can't remember the particular group that that was with.

I saw Cindy Sheehan, but did not meet her or speak with her.

[proud2BlibKansan]

276. She is incredibly warm

I saw her in New York at a march a couple years ago and she was on the phone talking to a reporter. I had only met her a couple times before that and didn't even know if she would remember my name. I waved at her and she said goodbye to the reporter on the phone and came over and hugged me. I will never forget that.

[midnight armadillo]

275. Noam Chomsky

I even shook his hand.

[yvr girl]

277. Princess Diana n/t

[cemaphonic]

278. I forgot a couple upthread - famous Seattle locals.

Dan Savage (who lived in my old neighborhood) and Dale Chihuly (didn't so much meet him as stand behind him in a checkout line at a mall).

[Strawman]

279. Chris Elliot

[AspenRose]

280. I've seen Gene Hackman at a restaurant in Santa Fe

But I didn't bother him so since I didn't "meet" him I guess technically that doesn't count.

[Neoma]

281. I've never met anyone famous.

Not sure if I care to either.

[JoePhilly]

282. Brooke Shields in the LA House of Blues ... for like 5 seconds ..

And she winked at me :-)

[CTyankee]

283. Eleanor Roosevelt, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, while I was living in New York.

I was 21 when I met Eleanor Roosevelt. She had an office at the UN Association and I worked there briefly. We got to go to her little apartment for cocoa at Xmas time. One staffer was so nervous she spilled her cup of cocoa on the carpet. Mrs. R. was just lovely about it.

The Burton's I met at a party of the cast of Hamlet, which he was starring in on Broadway at the time. My best friend was dating a cast member and invited me cuz I lived in the neighborhood (Greenwich Village). I was 7 months pregnant at the time. I remember thinking that she was so tiny and he was so short and barrel chested (not very good looking to me!).

[truebrit71]

284. Roger Moore. Barack Obama. Telly Savalas. Ronnie James Dio. Margaret Thatcher.

Michael Jackson. Sinbad. Mickey Dolenz. Janet Jones (Mrs Wayne Gretzky...grade-a witch btw) Joan Collins. Marcus Allen. Michael Schenker. Nigel Mansell.