Have you ever had a conversation with someone famous?

[Jenvenza]

I was at the Charlotte airport when I was around 14 years old. I had been on a school trip to Washington DC and we were heading back home. I was walking around the gift shop when a man who wasnt looking where he was going, walked right into me and knocked me to the ground. I was a pretty mouthy 14 year old, so I think I said a few things. He was apologizing and asking me if I was okay and grabbed my hand and helped me up. He apologized some more and I said I was fine. He had on a baseball hat and sunglasses, so it was no wonder he didnt see where he was going. Right about then, as we were talking, my friend comes up and starts asking - Are you really HIM?????? And he said, yes, I am. I am thinking...okay - who is this guy??? He told us, if you wait a few minutes, I will go sit down over in those chairs - points them out - and tells us to come over there.

So curiousity got the best of me - turns out it was Denzel Washington and I had NO idea who he was!!! I do now!!

 

[fluffycow333]

Does it count when you're two years old and your dad takes you with him to meet Norm Abrams of the Old Yankee Workshop or whatever it is called?

 

[Robinrs]

I use to work at a convention cenrter met some cool people Bill Gates was the coolest.
Rode an elevator with Tony Robins

Only he didn't hypnotize me. I don't think!
Though it has always puzzled me how my wife can eat 3 big macs!!!

Wow I LOOOOOVE Tony Robbins!!! He would've had me arrested!

 

[Robinrs]

I was at the Charlotte airport when I was around 14 years old. I had been on a school trip to Washington DC and we were heading back home. I was walking around the gift shop when a man who wasnt looking where he was going, walked right into me and knocked me to the ground. I was a pretty mouthy 14 year old, so I think I said a few things. He was apologizing and asking me if I was okay and grabbed my hand and helped me up. He apologized some more and I said I was fine. He had on a baseball hat and sunglasses, so it was no wonder he didnt see where he was going. Right about then, as we were talking, my friend comes up and starts asking - Are you really HIM?????? And he said, yes, I am. I am thinking...okay - who is this guy??? He told us, if you wait a few minutes, I will go sit down over in those chairs - points them out - and tells us to come over there.

So curiousity got the best of me - turns out it was Denzel Washington and I had NO idea who he was!!! I do now!!

Never met him but I did meet his wife once. I went on and on and on about how wonderful I thought her husband was and she was so happy. She told me she was going to tell him because she didn't think anyone knew who he was. He was in a small movie with George Segal called Carbon Copy and I fell in love with him!

This was in 1984!

In 1987 I was working for HBO Original Programming and they were trying to fill a spot in a movie. They needed a black actor with a bit of name recognition. Denzel was one of the 5 actors they were considering. I begged them to give him an audition due to my admiration of him but they decided on Carl Lumbly... I know, WHO??? He was on Cagney and Lacey at the time and they thought he'd be a better choice.... NOT!!!

 

[Jeafl]

Actually, quite a few.

Walter Payton--used to be neighbors. I babysat for some of the Cubs back in the late 70's, early 80's.

At my former job I've been in meetings with:

Diahann Carrol (somewhat aloof, but pleasant)
McLean Stevenson (TOTAL JERK)
John Madden (very nice)
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (Very nice!)

I also had a 2 minute conversation with Kenny Rogers outside of the AKL back in 2000.

 

[a1tinkfans]

me, not anything recent.......Many years ago, with Charlton Heston....it was business related and he was very pleasant.

 

[RitaZ.]

Back in the 80's, DH got to know Otto Bettmann. I doubt that many will know who he was, but if you've ever heard of the Bettmann archive, then you may know who he was. Anyway, DH was in his university's library looking for books on the Civil War. He happened to wander into the rare books section where he met Dr. Bettmann. At that first encounter, DH had no idea who was talking to. DH got to know Dr. Bettmann and discussed some of his hobbies with him. He gave DH a book about Bach, as a gift. He dedicated and signed the book. DH keeps that book in a glass enclosure in one of our bookcases.

 

[Tuffcookie]

fluffycow333 wrote: Norm Abrams of the Old Yankee Workshop

He is my dream man! I want a man that can build me stuff!

TC

 

[Flight]

I was at the airport when Tony Curtis (Some Like It hot, Operation Petticoat, Sparticus) came up to me and started a conversation. We chatted about 10 minutes before the flight departed. He looked great.

 

[RangerPooh]

DH has had a few opportunities to actually meet people. About 10 years ago her got to meet Sting and actually sat down to have a meal with him. DHs best friend from childhood was performing as Sting's backup drummer (I believe), so he invited DH to come out with them one night.

Last month the company that DH works for in DC was having a holiday party, and they had a special guest make an appearance. Turns out it was Michelle Obama! The company CEO who goofed on DHs secret santa gift arranged for DH to be partnered with Michelle for a round of Jeopary and then they continued talking for a good 30 minutes after the game ended. DH was stoked that he got to have a real conversation with her.

 

[LOVETHATMOUSE]

Yep. Quite a few times, actually. I grew up in Maine where a lot of celebrities have vacation homes.

Just over Christmas I was in TJ Maxx looking for maternity clothes and ran in to John Travolta (a regular in my home town) in the toys section. I had my three girls with me and he asked them what they wanted for Christmas and what girls their age (my oldest is tall, and almost 10) were into right now.

We talked for a good 15 minutes about girl stuff. It was hilarious. He had a full mustache, and I teased him saying, "You know, that mustache really isn't fooling anyone..."

He's quite a regular and is there a lot. He has two homes in the surrounding area, one on an island and our town is the pit stop. So people really just treat their family as regulars.

The very next day, about an hour from my hometown up the highway, and went into my sister's store looking for toys! She was all freaked out though. Apparently John waited until the last minute to buy presents for his daughter!

When I was in highschool, I used to bag and cashier at the only grocery store in town and we would get a lot of plain and boat orders that needed to be boxed early saturday mornings. I would go into work at 6 am just to do Martha Stewart's, because I was the only person that could put up with her cr@p. I finally lost my temper with her when she threated to have my bag boy fired because he substituted one brand of real vanilla extract with the store brand of real because we didn't have any of the kind she wanted in stock. I pretty much lost it and gave her a piece of my mine. I have a good ol' Irish temper, and after that, she didn't complain again much. That was my senior year in high school, so I didn't work there when I went to college.

I used to baby sit Mel Gibson's kids during the summer junior and senior year. He lived four houses down from us, right on the water. It's how I got to be a principle extra in Man Without a Face as "window shopper girl", although I don't think I made the scrolling credits with that one.

We've had many movies filmed in our area, and I have been fortunate enough to be in most of them. Steven King is also a regular, but it is Maine after all....

You must live near me! Did you work at the market in Northeast Harbor? I have seen John T and Kelly P many times, as well as Susan Sarandon - think she has a place nearby too - my sister ran into her at Geddy's in Bar Harbor..small world huh?

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

This one got my attention. Are they as sweet as they seem to be on TV? Why were you on the bus with them? Do you know them personally? I am super curious about this!

Lord, I don't think there is enough money in the world to pay me to do that!

 

[tonilea]

I worked at a couple of diffent theaters in Branson, Mo.

Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash. They were the nicest and most genuine celebs I have ever met.

Tony Orlando - puts on an awesome show, but IMO he is a horses hiney
Anita Bryant - color me unimpressed - she was not what she portrayed herself to be.

There were a few others, but for the most part I am not impressed by celebs. Though I was a bit awestruck with Johnny Cash. He wasn't just a celeb, he was a legend.

Oh, I worked security on a Billy Bob Thornton movie Chrystal and met him. A bit odd, but not too bad. They used some of the actual patrol vehicles from the Sheriff's Office. It was filmed between Berryville and Eureka Springs, Arkansas.

 

[mzzzh]

I agree with mrsv98.... Gordon Lightfoot is an ***.

Many, many years ago when I was in college, I was an usher at the university auditorium. Gordon Lightfoot was booked to play there one night.
The procedure for ushers was to go in to auditorium about 1/2 hour before the doors opened so we could get any last minute instructions. I arrived a few minutes early and I was the first to go into the auditorium. GL was playing a song as a soundcheck. I was a big fan of his at the time and I was so enthralled with watching him. I was also 18 and very naive. Anywho, GL stopped playing, looked right at me and told me to get the h*ll out. Boy, did my face turn red and I hightailed it outta there! I was DEVASTATED. It was one of those moments where you grew up fast.

 

[meloneyb21]

Will Smith. My aunt taught him when she was a teacher at Overbrook High School and was close to him and his family. He was at a family crab party (we have had one every August for years on top of years), I was like 13. We talked for a while about a whole lot of anonymous crap. I can't even remember. I know he said something like "and stay away from them boys. We're all dirty. No good." jokingly.

 

[DisneyJules]

Well this person was not well known to the average folk, but he was a big film producer in LA and well, it's kind of a cute story. So I was about 18, very young, just starting out in film. Had the very boring task of being a locations PA. For a few mornings in a row, this man who was probably in his 50's would say hello, sometimes chat and was always super friendly and courteous. I had no idea who he was. He told me stories of how when he was younger and starting out in the business, he did exactly what I was doing but he was in France with his dad and filming "The Man In the iron Mask" with Richard Chamberlain. Production ended and I never saw him again. Flash forward a month or so later, I'm sitting on my couch watching the Emmy's. And all I hear is "the award goes to....." and the name they call sounds oddly familiar. I look up and there's the man that I had been talking to. I had no idea he was one of the producers on the film.

 

[omghidanielle]

I worked at a Starbucks in Center City Philadelphia, PA while Dave Chapelle was in rehab/therapy/whatever in South Africa. He came into the store one day, wearing sunglasses, hat, jacket with a high collar, basically anything to hide his identity. When he was about 2nd or 3rd in line, my idiotic and very trampy Assistant Manager decided to jump up on the counter on her stomach and shout "HI MR CHAPELLE!" across the cafe. Next thing you know, people are walking up to him left and right, saying "I'M RICK JAMES, *****!" over and over again while he just kept his head down and said "Yeah, thanks, it's funny, isn't it?", trying to get away from people

By the time he got to me, all I could say was "$1.60. And I'm sorry."

 

[clovergirl5]

Adam Sandler
Allen Covert
Bill Goldberg

They shot a majority of the movie "The Longest Yard" here in NM. One day, DW and I got wind of an open set where people could go in and watch the filming of the movie. There wasn't a lot of people there, so during the middle of takes, they would come over and just strike up a conversation.

George Lopez
Chris Johnson
Luke Bryan

I work security, part-time, at one of our local event centers. Occasionally I'm assigned outside the performers dressing rooms. Every now and then, while waiting to go on stage, the performers will come out and strike up a conversation. I've met several stars there, but these are the only 3 that I've actually had a conversation with. All the others were just hi, how are you doing.

Randy Travis

Lives in my old home town (I still work in my old home town), and I used to work for one of the local grocery stores. If he would come shopping alone, he would stop and talk. If his wife was with him, she wouldn't let him.

Lucky! I love Adam Sandler!

 

[WDWBarb]

Lyle Lovett, Anne Rice and John Denver

 

[kaffinito]

Stan Kenton the jazz musician. When I was about 10 or 11 he gave a concert in our town. Dad kept telling me he knew him and I just thought "yeah right pop."

So we went to the concert and afterwards he went up to the stage and yelled out "Hey Stan!" Well the famous Stan Kenton turned around and yelled right back "Jack! How the heck are you? I haven't seen you in years!" I swear I almost fainted. We went up on stage and they talked and I talked and then I got to sit down at the piano with Stan and he gave me a mini piano lesson. What a super nice guy he was.

I almost met the guitar player for Herman's Hermits in the line for the package pick up at POP. He was a really nice guy too. It's what started DS9 in his Herman's Hermits mania. I also knew Mitch Ryder for a while too - he's a super nice guy as well. I knew his wife - that's how I met him.