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Nico's post about Roy Scheider got me thinking - have I ever met anyone famous? Well, kind of. During the 90's I had an exciting career selling futons and furniture for a while. And sometimes local celebrities would wander in. Here are a few I remember -
Halle Berry - actually bought a futon before she moved to L.A. I never met her, but we kept a copy of her invoice.
William Petersen - was really nice and had pretty eyes. Did not buy.
Jeff Garlin - came in futon store and gave me a flyer for his one-man play.
Bill Kurtis - hosts American Justice on A&E. I stood with him in line at Starbucks once.
Mr. T - drove a red Rolls Royce. Went into a candy store across the street.
Please post your chance celebrity encounters and the like.

Nice idea, lanie.

During the 90's I had an exciting career selling futons and furniture for a while. And sometimes local celebrities would wander in. ...Halle Berry - actually bought a futon before she moved to L.A. I never met her, but we kept a copy of her invoice.

Well, speaking as a generally enlightened Metrosexual (Metroplexual, actually) but on occasion also a stark, raving, drooling, male chauvanist pigdog, screw that: I'd keep the futon Halle Berry planted her ass in when she came into the joint, if at all possible with her ass still planted in it. Under glass and in the basement, with a sign on the door saying 'Beware of the Leopard '.

God, I'm sounding more and more like Greg Gutfeld (And this is talented Maxim model Jamie-Lynn Sigler. If she was a bran muffin, I'd drink lots of water, and make sure I eat her each and every day. Sick!) Have to get my agent to book me on that show. (Yeah... riiiiiiiiight.)

Erm, not to be a prig, but there's too many to remember, let alone count. However, the most memorable one was totally off-the-wall: I was sitting parked at a Jack in the Box (my old nemesis) customer service window at four in the morning or so when a friggin' STRETCH LIMO (really, is there any other kind?) tried to pull through the narrow, curving drive-thru lane. It ran over bushes and knocked over a sign, tried to back out, pulled forward again and somehow managed not to hit me, the restaurant or the giant menu. Then it pulled up and over the (until that very moment) planted lane divider and around to the front of the building, when a big guy dressed like Superfly (purple and gold cape, leopard-patterned velvet hat, shades, everything) jumped out of the driver's seat and started banging on the front door (it was locked, of course). Then another guy dressed all in back gets out of the front passenger side -- if there was anyone in the back of the limo, I never knew it -- and joins him, where they waited for, I guess, the night manager to come out and open up, so they could go inside and order and eat. I was by then so curious I couldn't help myself: I might get shot (this was urban Dallas, mind you, in the wee hours), but I had GOT to find out who these turkeys were. As it turned out, the guy in black was a bodyguard or something, and Superfly was -- can you guess? -- DENNIS FRIGGIN' RODMAN. He was so cool, so approachable, so other-friggin-'worldly. He signed my Jack in the Box bag, added the words: DON'T DO CRACK / JUST RIDE IT, and went in the place and had his dinner (a Mavericks home game had ended a few hours earlier not far from there). And then, some months later, my wife threw it away, just because it had grease stains on it and it smelled like old feet wrapped in bacon, and was covered in profane language. I wish I'd had it framed.

Some other random encounters: Terrence Malick, both Presidents George Bush, Mikhail Gorbachev, Margaret Thatcher, Ian McKellen, DeForest Kelley, Janine Turner, 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin and Jessica (Jennifer?) Simpson. Not to mention, Debbie (Deborah) Gibson and Renée Zellweger, but those are, erm, longer stories and not terribly interesting. And my wife used to date Lance Armstrong (boy, did she trade up, or what? [Grin]N), though she can't stand it when I tell people that. Oh, well. She never reads these boards anyway. [Looking around furtively]

I remain, as always...

Nico.

The only celeb "encounter" really I have had was seeing Kevin Costner in the grocery store when he was in town to film on the Ferry for the ending of Wyatt Earp. I've always loathed people who react to stars by bowing and scraping, even autographs bother me, its like acknowledging they are somehow better as a human simply for being famous, which to me is ridiculous.
Other than that my personal run-ins with fame are pretty limited to hanging out with small time bands on the Christian music circuit, of which a few became big(ish)... ala POD, Chevelle, MxPx... and probably a dozen others you'll never hear of.

..Oh also, Jack Palance is my grandma's second cousin, which means a whole lotta nothing to me.

I shook hands with James Earl Jones in Mackinaw Island. I have no idea how it came to be and he was just as shocked as well. Me and my parents were walking into the hotel dining room and all the waiters and hots were like "Did you see Arsenio Hall?" "Oh My God! Arsenio Hall is here!" "He eats here all the time!" And then when "Arsenio" came walking up to us, I thought "Wow, that's not Arsenio that's Darth Vader!" He kinda looked at us 2 big eyes and said hello and extended his hand. I intercepted my dad's and smiled, trying not to act like a creepy fanboy. Then he just left. That's the closet I ever been to celebrity type person . . .

A couple of years ago I was at a Star Wars convention in the UK. Now, of course I had already had the pleasure of meeting Jeremy Bulloch and David Prowse, and had had my Boba Fett statue signed by Mr Bulloch, who was very polite and rather interested in the figure, commenting on how accurate the detailing was. I tried my best to appear unfazed by meeting one of my heroes, im sure I looked a geek though. Well of course I did, I had brought a 12" Boba Fett Statue to a Star Wars convention. How more of a geek could I have looked.

Anyway, I digress.

So after taking an enormous amount of photographs of various props such as scout trooper bikes and trade federation droids, as well being quite disturbed seeing Boba Fett with breasts (dont worry it wasnt Jeremy Bulloch, it was someone in costume. He was wearing a very nice shirt and tie.) I left the convention.

However, as I was leaving, I happened upon seeing a mother struggling with her 3 children trying to get out of her car. I thought I should give her a hand, considering they were all very young. Following this, we got talking about her husband, who was upstairs back in the convention centre attempting to set up a digital projector. This excused why he could not help her with the children. Now, at this point, I should explain that, as well as me not being very insightful, the lady in question was a dwarf. Now I thought nothing of this. But when her husband emerged from the convention centre, it was non other than Warwick Davis. He was originally not specified as attending the convention. But here he was, in the flesh. And I had been speaking to his wife for 10 mintues. And not even been able to put 2+2 together. Well, suffice to say, Warwick was a delight, and chatted about his dislike for motorway traffic and how he tries not to let his work get in the way of his children's life.

Well that's the only famous person I have ever unitentionally met. I dont think I can include the many hundreds that I have stalked over the years...

I met a couple. Like Becs, most of mine are musicians although not nice musicians. Disturbed, Slipknot, Korn, Dee Snider of Twisted Sister (That was cool since I owned their tape when I was

, my favorite Singer/Songwriter Anna Nalick (wow talk about a heartbeat in my chest, love her!)

I have met 2 MMA/UFC fighters at motorcycle shows. Travis Luter at the Dallas/Ft. Worth Cycle World show (Nico's part of the world) this year and Paul Ceasar "Giant" Silva at the NYC Cycleworld show 2 years ago.

Honky Tonk Man of WWF wrestling "fame" who I went to see at a festival a few years ago. I dressed like Elvis and walked around in a sequined jumpsuit drunk of course. Needless to say he autographed the suit. LOL

Only actor I ever met was Jared Leto and that was when he was performing with his band. I thanked him for his role in Fight Club and told him that he was spectacular in Requiem. He was kind of speechless since he was getting mobbed by girls/women wanting his autograph on account of his hotness and then smiled, thanked me and shook my hand. He seemed nice. Not as hot as I am but he was cool.

'Stalked' hahaha lol

i feel ya, surfer...

does it still qualify as a "chance encounter" when you follow them home and accost them in their sleep?

bruce campbell doesn't seem to think so

I have met I think 4 celebrities in my lifetime that I can remember.

A few years back, I met Ray Romano in L.B.I. while my brother and I were playing mini golf and we talked to him for a little bit because his kids were playing golf right behind us.

Another time, I was doing extra work for a local independent movie at my high school and who happens to be the star of said production? That's right...Joseph Cross. Haha, you know the kid from Running With Scissors. Anyway, I had no idea he would be in it, and this was before Running With Scissors came out. The extras and the main cast were seperated the whole shoot, but one day it started raining while we were shooting outside, so we all were moved into a classroom in the school and I ended up sitting right next to him and talking to him about the school for a few minutes. It was hard to be starstruck when I didn't recognize him until I went home and a few nights later Jack Frost came on TV. When I realized that was him, I was like...Oh, cool.

A friend of mine is an intern at The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and they were shooting a segment for an upcoming special not too long ago. My friend asked me to come up to the city to hang out with them while they shot, because they needed people to make the bar in which they were filming look full. So, I went, had a few beers, hung out with my friend and some patrons at the bar, not even paying attention to the correspondents doing their things...When my friend comes up to me and says, "Hey, we're going to have John Oliver interview you." So, I was pretty drunk being interviewed by John Oliver about the presidential election...when the interview was over I was like, "Oh, my god! That was horrible. I was so drunk and stupid, they're gonna have to burn that tape." Five minutes later, my friend comes up to me and says, "John Oliver loved you! He thought you were hilarious, they're probably gonna use it for the show."

And the last one is not someone I have actually ever physically met, but Red Skelton is, or was, my cousin.

I'm sure I have met other celebrities before, but these are the ones I remember best.

Let's see...

Robert De Niro: I met him by sneaking backstage at a taping of Chris Matthew's Hardball here at George Mason campus. (It's my campus, not theirs. If they think they know what entrances to block off, I know all the ways around them.) I only really got to introduce myself and mommentarily kiss ass about how awesome he is before rushing off because the security people were looking at me suspiciously.

Dave Matthews: Once at Barnes and Nobles, once backstage at a concert, and once at a party thrown by his connection to RCA records. I babysat the RCA guy's kids just so I could get great tickets to Dave. He has also gotten me floor tickets to a Rolling Stones concert, and front row seats to a Chilli Peppers concert. I am kinda obsessed with Dave Matthews, though. Being that he is from Charlottesville, my hometown, whenever he plays in Virginia, I know he will be staying in Charlottesville, so me and two of my friends go "Dave stalking," which is actually quite harmless; we go to all the different places that he is regularly seen at for a chance to meet him. Barnes and Nobles, Ben and Jerry's, the tea place Greenberry's, the comunity theater Live Arts, the bar Millers, etc. He is awesome.

Howie Long: I'm assuming y'all know this one? Football MVP, commentator on FOX? Anyway, his kids went to my school, and he was my Football coach when I was in 9th and 10th grade. He was the D-line coach and I was a defensive tackle. That was pretty cool.

Sissy Spacek: Very down to earth, very nice. She talked with me for a bit. I sold her fried chicken. A breast and two wings.

John Grisham: I've had a number of conversations with him. His kids went to my school. I would talk with him durring lacrosse games. He is very amiable, also likes smoking cigars. Last year he saw a production of a play that I wrote. He said he thought it was really funny. But, then again, he kinda had to out of social politeness.

Death Cab for Cutie: The whole freakin' band. Me and my friend were waiting for autographs and the bassists Nick came out for a cigarette. He sat down and just chatted with us for 30 mins. Talked about his wierdest concert moment and about awesome and shitty tatoos he has seen. We just sat around and talked. It was awesome. Ben Gibbard came out later. A picture of him and me was my profile picture on facebook for a long time. He is up their with Dave for me.

Also note, although I really just barely met these ones: Barack Obama, Amy Milan and Torque of the band Stars, Jessica Lang, Bill Clinton (met him just last night, actually), David Lynch, Franz Ferdinand (the whole band; they asked me directions to some bar in D.C.) and Tom Selleck.

There are a suprising amount of famous people in Charlottesville. It's wierd. Apparently The Rock is moving out there two. That will be weird to see him at the grocery store.

I saw John Grisham on the PBS interview show (it like Inside the Actor Studio but with all sorts of people) just like 2 weeks ago, he seems super cool and very down to earth, definietly jealous of you having met him.

I also met Regis Philbin, but he was a dick.

And then I've also met a whole bunch of local celebrities, but technically I'm one of those too. That would be weird. If someone on here were to post about having met me...I'd have to pretend to recognize their font.

Some responses / comments...

becs:

I've always loathed people who react to stars by bowing and scraping, even autographs bother me, its like acknowledging they are somehow better as a human simply for being famous, which to me is ridiculous.

Normally I'd agree, although right up through high school I was one of the biggest baseball autograph and memorabilia collectors I'd ever known, of any age (or means). I understand doing it as a business, but I rarely get starry-eyed, these days. (When I met Rodman, however, I was a much younger man -- that was, what, eight years ago? Almost one-quarter of my life... Well, truthfully, closer to a fifth of my life ago. And, I just couldn't resist.)

My friend, who's a huge LOTR fan (and scholar) and who's (pretty much) married to Mia Sara, has never, ever forgiven me for not getting Ian McKellen's autograph some years ago for him. But I met the man who portrayed Gandalf "professionally," and he gets that sort of crap all the time I imagine -- I remember the famous story of Alec Guiness being shocked and outraged once, after being accosted by some young fan who claimed he'd seen Star Wars in theaters more than one hundred times -- so I was emphatic about dealing with him, well, professionally. (Like I said, though... he's yet to forgive me.)

...[M]y personal run-ins with fame are pretty limited to hanging out with small time bands on the Christian music circuit, of which a few became big(ish)... ala POD, Chevelle, MxPx... and probably a dozen others you'll never hear of.

[Nodding] Don't forget, becs, once upon a time I was a college radio deejay and programming director. P.O.D.'s in my car's CD changer right now, and, I mean, come on... Magnified Plaid? Genius. (Not too familiar with Chevelle, though.)

...[A]lso, Jack Palance is my grandma's second cousin, which means a whole lotta nothing to me.

Well, I miss the old coot, even if you don't. Ol' one-armed was a heckuva character, a real man's man, a gaunter, grizzled Hemingway. ("Who would you fight? Any celebrity." "Hemingway. You?" "Shatner. I'd fight William Shatner.")

Jack0:

Me and my parents were walking into the hotel dining room and all the waiters and hots were like "Did you see Arsenio Hall?" "Oh My God! Arsenio Hall is here!" "He eats here all the time!" And then when "Arsenio" came walking up to us, I thought "Wow, that's not Arsenio that's Darth Vader!" He kinda looked at us 2 big eyes and said hello and extended his hand. I intercepted my dad's and smiled, trying not to act like a creepy fanboy. Then he just left. That's the closet I ever been to celebrity type person...

[Chuckling] Arsenio Hall... James Earl Jones. Switched at birth? (I mean, forget about their incredibly disparate physical attributes, they're, like, what? Twenty, twenty-five years apart?)

Anyway... That's a really priceless story, Jack0. (Oddly enough, I've met Arsenio, too... A really nice guy, not at all like he seemed on his late-night talk show. I wonder why he hasn't done more... I mean, he did fine work in Coming to America -- where he costarred with James Eart Jones, natch -- I thought he had a shot at becoming another Ernie Hudson...)

Herald:

...[Being] quite disturbed seeing Boba Fett with breasts...dont worry it wasnt Jeremy Bulloch...

[Laughing] Scary visual, there.

...[W]hen her husband emerged from the convention centre, it was non other than Warwick Davis. He was originally not specified as attending the convention. But here he was, in the flesh. And I had been speaking to his wife for 10 minutes. And not even been able to put 2+2 together. Well, suffice to say, Warwick was a delight, and chatted about his dislike for motorway traffic and how he tries not to let his work get in the way of his children's life.

Well, how 'bout that: Nice guys can finish first. Great anecdote, Herald.

...I dont think I can include the many hundreds that I have stalked over the years...

Er. Hm. Awkward.

...Nico's part of the world...

You from 'round these parts, Donte?

...Only actor I ever met was Jared Leto... Not as hot as I am but he was cool.

I wanted to destroy something beautiful...

Spannaus:

[I feel] ya, surfer...

Captain, please. Not in front of the Klingons.

[D]oes it still qualify as a "chance encounter" when you follow them home and accost them in their sleep? ...[Bruce C]ampbell doesn't seem to think so

[Spewing milk out nose] ROTFLMAO!!!

StnMan:

...[A] few nights later Jack Frost came on TV...

God, I'm sorry. I had no idea.

...A friend of mine is an intern at The Daily Show with Jon Stewart...

Stan: "You BASTARD!!"

My friend asked me to come up to the city to hang out with them...

Kyle: "You BASTARD!!"

[N]ot even paying attention to the correspondents doing their things...

[Reaching through PC screen, Ring-like, to throttle StnMan]

...[M]y friend comes up to me and says, "Hey, we're going to have John Oliver interview you." So, I was pretty drunk being interviewed by John Oliver about the presidential election...when the interview was over I was like, "Oh, my god! That was horrible. I was so drunk and stupid, they're gonna have to burn that tape." Five minutes later, my friend comes up to me and says, "John Oliver loved you! He thought you were hilarious, they're probably gonna use it for the show."

Awesomeness, that puts my Dennis Rodman story to shame. Did they? (...Use you? ...Stop snickering, guys.)

...Hey, this is sort of how Toby Radloff became a mini-celebrity, sort of. Something to shoot for, yeah?

...Red Skelton is, or was, my cousin.

Holy cow... That is, like, really really COOL, man! Skelton was a genius.

mooreland:

...I met him by sneaking backstage at a taping of Chris Matthew's Hardball here at George Mason campus.

mooreland, you are too cool for school, buddy. (Was he wearing pants?)

(It's my campus, not theirs. If they think they know what entrances to block off, I know all the ways around them.)

Awesomeness. You are the Carl Spackler of GMU.

DIGRESSION ALERT: I'm watching Tin Cup -- another one of my favorite comedies -- right now, and, oddly enough, this snippet of film dialogue chose this exact moment to float, omen-like, over my laptop:

"Is this normal behavior for him?"
"Well, the words 'normal' and 'him' don't often collide in the same sentence."

...

I am kinda obsessed with Dave Matthews, though.

Wait... I'm starting to discern a pattern, here... Are there ANY Matthewses you don't like?

...[M]e and two of my friends go "Dave stalking," which is actually quite harmless...

I'll tell Letterman. He'll be really happy to hear it.

...[A]ll the different places that he is regularly seen at for a chance to meet him. Barnes and Nobles, Ben and Jerry's, the tea place Greenberry's, the comunity theater Live Arts, the bar Millers...

His bathroom... Seriously, mooreland, I love ya, guy, but you're scaring me here just a smidge.

Howie Long: I'm assuming y'all know this one? Football MVP, commentator on FOX?

Star of Broken Arrow?

Anyway, his kids went to my school, and he was my Football coach when I was in 9th and 10th grade. He was the D-line coach and I was a defensive tackle. That was pretty cool.

That IS cool. I bet Long was a great coach.

Sissy Spacek: Very down to earth, very nice. She talked with me for a bit. I sold her fried chicken. A breast and two wings.

Wait... WHO's a breast with two wings? Spacek? Or her friend? I'm confused.

John Grisham: I've had a number of conversations with him. His kids went to my school. I would talk with him durring lacrosse games. He is very amiable, also likes smoking cigars. Last year he saw a production of a play that I wrote. He said he thought it was really funny. But, then again, he kinda had to out of social politeness.

Well, as I'm sure you've figured out, there are plenty of celebs who WON'T show politeness to "little people," social or otherwise.

On another note, if he smokes cigars, he's all right in my book.

Barack Obama...Bill Clinton...

That's two Presidents, right there...

...David Lynch...and Tom Selleck.

There's two guys I'd like to meet.

Apparently The Rock is moving out [to Charlottesville] [too]. That will be weird to see him at the grocery store.

I wonder if he thumbs through US in the checkout aisle. Well, actually, no, I don't, not really.

...and, finally, back to StnMan:

I also met Regis Philbin, but he was a dick.

[Snort] I mean, go figure. Dog bites man!

I've also met a whole bunch of local celebrities, but technically I'm one of those too.

Delusions of mediocrity... [Grin]

That would be weird. If someone on here were to post about having met me...I'd have to pretend to recognize their font.

[Chuckle] I so cannot tell if you're being serious or not.

I remain, as always...

Nico.

Living out in LaLa Land, I get to see celebs probably more than others.

I worked at an indoor glow in the dark mini golf course, and this meant celebs and kids. I've met Dermot Mulroney, Jamie Lee Curtis,Camryn Manheim and Rick Fox.
J.J. Abrams came with his kid to a party, and me another employee just about freaked out. Were like "fucking JJ is here". Of course, some other employees had no idea what I was talking about.
Cameron Crowe rented out the store for a day.
I wasn't in on that particular night, but Jim Carrey came in about 10 minutes before the place was closing. I watched it on a security camera.

================================
I got hit on by Gary Coleman at the golf course. It was Easter Sunday and no one was in the place. I am cleaning up the party area in the place. My manager comes over, and says that Gary Coleman is here.

So, I go to the front of the store to hang out with my manager. Gary comes over and starts to talk to us. He says "Are you seeing anyone?", I said "No". He said "What a redhead like you doing single?" I don't respond. He says "You know? I can take you out for a nice steak dinner." I said "No, that's okay". I look to my manager to help me get out of the situation. He says to Gary "She's a vegetarian". Gary says "Well, I know a place with great Cajun Catfish". I tell him "No, thanks".

After that, everyone at work knows what happened and I was called Coley or Mrs. Coleman for about 9 months.
=============================

Anyway, I have run into DJ Squalls two times. Once in a Subway by my school. And I saw him the other night, when I was out with my friends at a bar in West Hollywood. At the same place, Bryan Singer was there. Mind you, this is a gay bar. Lots of mixes of everyone.

I saw Hilary Swank when I was filming something with my friend. She was coming out of a restaurant.

The following I sat at P.F. Chang's as a host: Martin Short, William Baldwin, Bob Saget, and Sissy Spacek. I'm sure there are a few more I've sat, but I can't think right now.

At another work place of mine, Rachel Leigh Cook came in.

I auditioned for 1 vs. 100, and was in one of the final groups, and got to play the game with Bob as the host of the run thru game. He is a very, very dirty man. I knew that going in, but its funny in real life.

Sorry for the long list of some semi celebs and not so semi.

This will be an interesting post, just to see how many "celebs" the average person meets in a lifetime.

Probably the biggest celebrity I've met was Harold Pinter. I was pretty damn nervous, considering I consider him to be the greatest living playwright. I sat down next to him, attempting to say something about the lack of passion in modern writing. He grinned patronisingly at me and waved his fist in the air until I ran out of steam and backed away. Oh well.

I interviewed Neil Jordan for about an hour a while back. He's not the kind of guy you feel comfortable around.

I asked David Lynch a question at an open Q and A, and his response lastd about 15 mins. That was cool.

I've worked with the writer of Gangster No. 1, if anyone knows that film. I ended up getting drunk at an awards ceremony and insulted him, but I regret nothing.

I occasionally work with a director who has made feature films starring the likes of Johnny Knoxville, David Thewlis, and Dan Ackroyd, but I wouldn't consider him famous.

I've met plenty of musicians, and while they meant something to me, I doubt they would for many others. I spent an evening chatting to the lead singer of Iclandic post-rockers Sigur Ros. I had a brief chat with the main guy from A Silver Mt. Zion. I have met the excellent minimalist band Low on a few occasions. I interviewed Interpol before they became famous.

I was once given the opportunity to interview Face from the A-Team. I said no, as I wouldn't know what to say. I regret my decision.

On Saturday I'm going to a Q and A with Daniel Day Lewis and PTA, but I can't think of anything to ask him.

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