Have you or a friend or family member ever known someone famous?

[red dog 1]

[wryter2000]

1. Just met him once

Paul Newman, and he was every bit as nice as people say.

[red dog 1]

2. He's one of my all-time favorite actors.

[blm]

32. He used to babysit my brother-in-law

back when Newman was in high school and dating my b-i-l’s cousin. Quite the coup for Newman at the time. Every guy in town wanted to spend time at the Godley house.

[Xavier Breath]

37. I and some coworkers were guests in a suite at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

for a Carburation Day back in the early '90s. That's the day the teams put their cars through their paces a few days before the race. I signed up to take a tour of the pits first thing, so I was in the pit area as the teams and drivers came onto the track. I shook hands with Rick Mears, and a few moments later was maybe twelve feet from Paul Newman. There were quite a few people between us and he was speaking with someone and laughing, and at one point he looked directly at me before returning to the conversation. That was as close as I got to him, sadly.

[Squeaky41]

3. Famous friend

My father knew Howard Zinn when Howard summered in near by Temple Maine.

[gibraltar72]

4. Met Walter Reuther and Gretchen Whitmer.

[hlthe2b]

5. For a time I went to school with brother of Terry Bradshaw (QB Steelers) & lived down the street.

from his parents. I would see them tossing the football every now and then in the street and with their older brother who was apparently even more skilled but lost his career with a broken back in college.

I was too young to know why Terry was a big deal or to care about football at all, but... He's such a dork now, I'm amused but not upset that he'd not remember me at all.

I've met quite a few famous people over the years--usually due to my political activism or professional pursuits, but I can't see I ever KNEW any of them.

[MOMFUDSKI]

6. Mike Piazza, MLB catcher.

Husband’s niece was dating him back in the day. He got us tix for 2 spring training games here in Florida. Had lunch one day and out to dinner the next. He never picked up the tab! Quite the bozo. Then had strawberries and ice cream at our house. Never picked up a tab . . .

[2naSalit]

7. A healthy...

Handful, some in the entertainment business, some in government and other places.

Most are/were really nice, a couple weren't

[Voltaire2]

8. Gordon Parks Leonard Bernstein and other very famous peoples.

My father was a journalist for a national magazine and the occasional VFP would show up at our house. We once had a dinner for some of the Moiseyev Ballet when they were touring the US. They came with their handlers and before dinner we played croquet on our lawn, which they found delightful as the game had been banned since the 1920s in the USSR.

[Niagara]

9. Known someone famous and having a personal friendship/relationship with said famous person?

No for myself.


I've met and had a photo taken with Gallagher once.



I have a second cousin that claims that she personal friends with Weird Al. He licks her face whenever he see's her in his audience, I find it bizarre. She's offered to introduce us; I'm not interested.

[mitch96]

10. My Aunt was in the off broadway theater in NYC for years. She would have people over for dinner

on occasion. While living with her for a few months in the '70's I met Geraldine Page and her husband Rip Torn. For an actor Ms Page was very shy. Rip on the other hand was "just one of the guys" We talked about sailing and flying sail plains. He was totally un pretentious. He had that knack of making you the center of attention at that moment.
m

[red dog 1]

19. Rip Torn was great in Men in Black, Defending Your Life, and The Larry Sanders Show

(He was in many films & TV shows)

[yellowdogintexas]

11. Former Speaker of the House Jim Wright and I were members of the same church

here in Fort Worth. It was my good fortune to become friends with him over the years He was a delightful man! My daughter called him "Mr Eyebrows"

Wendy Davis was my State Senator for several years and I got to know her through campaigns. We always have a hug when we see each other.

Miss Opal Lee (Grandmother of Juneteenth) ! She is just the coolest lady you would ever hope to meet, and I want to be her when I grow up.

Because I am active in politics I have met lots of political candidates/elected officials. The ones I know well are not famous - but I have lots of pictures!

Tom Ewell was from the Owensboro KY area and donated a scholarship to my college. I had the honor to pour coffee for Mr Ewell and the welcome breakfast .

My first husband knew Earl Scruggs; he worked at a small airport in Nashville where Earl kept his plane. He ended up buying one of Earl's old banjos. I went with him to pick it up and we sat in the den while Earl played it for one last time. It was very sweet.

Looking back at these I would have really enjoyed having a cellphone with camera!!

[wryter2000]

17. Come to think of it

Melissa Murray of MSNBC used to go to my church in Oakland, and both she and her husband were students of my sister at Yale law school. We're mighty proud of our Melissa.

[The Blue Flower]

12. My ex went through USMC Basic School with Ollie North

We were stationed on base with him and his wife twice.

[DURHAM D]

13. My cousin was NBA rookie of the year.

Does that count?

[MLAA]

55. Absolutely!

[sanatanadharma]

14. Nah, just an ordinary person who later gained some recognition

When we were in college, my (to be) first wife had a room-mate studying theater/ acting, with whom we hung some after graduation, before she went to Hollywood.
There she became the 'queen of scream' and mom in the movie E.T.

I suppose the only celebrity with whom I had some life-overlap would be Arlo Guthrie about 1983 at Guru's ashram.
Oh, and my third wife introduced me to Jackson Browne after a concert once. He and she had been lovers at a time.
His once love can be seen in a portrait in a book of photos by Imogen Cunningham, "The Lady and the Tiger, 1973".

[chouchou]

15. Bob Uecker (Mr. Baseball)

No comment.

[highplainsdem]

16. Yes.

[sagetea]

18. I worked

at the Caesars Casino in Tahoe. We aways had celebrities either putting on concerts, or Celebrity Golf Tournaments, never friends, but had the honor of talking to them. Never spoke first, that was one of the rules. Some were just so friendly. Joe Namath was one funny guy, but then that was then. Pretty sure he was flirting.

My favorite though, Dolly Pardon. It's still just like a dream meeting her, of course, but I will never forget that meeting, it was short, like 20-40 minutes. Ms. Pardon was just like you think she is. Kind, warm, she just radiated kindness.

There was one, I won't say who, they were horrible! rude, condescending, I mean, eating chicken wings at a blackjack table and throwing them and ashtrays across the room. the Pit Boss told them that "We have a private table for you now" Which, thank Gawd, got them off the casino floor! They were so horrible!

One time during the filming of The Bodyguard" I tapped in to a game and at first I didn't recognize who was there, and as the dealer who I was relieving, whispered "Kevin Costner" He asked how I was and I couldn't answer, just opened and shut my mouth, like a fish! my tongue was so thick I couldn't speak even if I could!!

Oh! Yeah! Santana! They gave me a ticket to come and watch them play! Actually, the drummers wife is who gave me the tickets! When I went, I was dressed in this long, bright, tie dye dress, amidst a tide of black!

I dealt to many but only talked to a few! I worked a 'high limit' table, so, of course, it's their privilege to not talk if they didn't want to.

sage

[red dog 1]

20. I'd love to know who threw the chicken wings & ashtrays across the room, & then got rewarded with a private table

Last edited Tue Apr 30, 2024, 04:54 PM - Edit history (1)

[sagetea]

21. I know!!

They ARE iconic too!!

I can't say though. I couldn't... manners. Besides, maybe it was a show just for me! I worked 2:00 - 10:00am, the end of the party! So, maybe they had something bad happen to them, I can't judge them! Every weekend there was something!

This particular person frightened me, that's why it stuck with me.

sage

[red dog 1]

22. Are his initials F.S.?

[sagetea]

25. Hmmm

Were chicken wings a thing back then?

sage

[Raven]

23. Yes, JFK.

My father was a close friend of JFK. They went back to just after WWII when Kennedy first ran for Congress. My father also handled his personal legal matters. Kennedy, after he became President, used to call the house. Often it was the White House operator, but once, I answered the phone (I was about 14) and politely asked the man "may I tell him who is calling?" and Kennedy said "The President". I gasped and he chuckled.

[red dog 1]

24. Wow!

[mvd]

26. A couple things

An uncle knew Andy Warhol. Another extended family member played in the NFL for almost 10 years.

[mvd]

31. Can't believe I forgot this one

My dad worked with Dr. Fauci when they were young at NIH.

[Laffy Kat]

61. I met Dr. Fauci when my boss, a professor of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado...

Did his sabbatical at the NIH under Fauci in 1993. One of my bosses' area of research was pediatric infectious disease. When he returned from his sabbatical he invited Dr. Fauci to do Pediatric Grand Rounds at the School of Medicine in Denver as a visiting professor. We also hosted a dinner for Fauci, and since I always arranged those events, I was expected to attend. I had some great perks in that job. That's also where Captain Kangaroo (also a Grand Rounds presenter) used my desk phone! I was so excited. LOL.

[ArnoldLayne]

27. My Father went to High School in Steubenville Ohio with Dean Martin. I briefly

met and talked to Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley, Paul Stanley and Peter Criss of KISS in Pittsburgh Pa. back in 1975.

[Chainfire]

28. Red Barber and I used to go to the same doctor. I talked to him in the waiting room many times, a heck of a nice guy.

I did some work in Pat Frank's house seveal times, he was a little standoffish to the hired help. I have had the great pleasure of knowing and talking to a number of WWII veterans, they were and are my heroes. All the ones I knew are gone now.

I never had any interest in Hollywood, political or sports figures. I was working at FSU when Jameis Winston was playing ball there, I was around him enough to know that he was a prick of the highest order and I thought that he had the IQ of a pumpkin. I could have introduced myself and shook his hand, but I had no desire to. I could have been wrong, he may have been a rocket scientist, but that was my impression.

[woodsprite]

29. Joe Biden

Our friend and his wife encouraged Joe to run for office when he first started out. Bill was one of Joe’s mentors. Despite all the secret service and logistics needed for a little church in New Castle, Joe attended both Bill and Marsha’s funerals.

Oh, someone who knew Aaron Copland. My high school friend that I sang with was a very accomplished musician. One of his letters of recommendation to further his study of performance and composition came from his teacher Aaron Copland. I get a kick out of him going from being nicknamed “mush” in school due to his conducting style to becoming Director of the Peabody Institute and currently the Principal of the Royal Scottish Conservatoire. Prince Charles visited the Conservatoire for a function not too long before he was crowned king.

And have another friend who was Jonathan Frid’s (Barnabas Collins/Dark Shadows) personal assistant. She helped him rehearse his lines, manage appearances, fans, etc.

[Auggie]

30. I worked on projects with Ronnie Lott, Diane Disney ...

Nate Thurmond, Robert Mondavi and Franklin Mieuli. Mieuli was the principal owner of the Golden State warriors from 1962 to 1986. Disney was the daughter of Walt.

Great people.

[happybird]

33. My parents frequently startle me with their friends and acquaintances

They have a long time, equestrian-related hobby that comes with a social circle of famous, stupidly wealthy, and otherwise powerful people.

[CanonRay]

34. My mother knew actor Bruce Dern when he was a kid.

He used to come into the drugstore where she worked.

[multigraincracker]

35. When I was 5 or 6, I met my 3rd

cousin, once removed, JC Penney. The same year I got to shake hands with Wilt the Stilt.
My dad was well known in the field of Animal Science.

[Golden Raisin]

36. I worked for Harry Belafonte.

[Marthe48]

38. My nephew worked at a Coffee Bean and Tea Teaf

in LA years ago. He met several stars and got to know some of them a bit. He said the famous stars preferred to be treated as 'normals' and they seemed comfortable hanging out there. I think he knows some rock stars. I think he knew Sam Kinison. I wouldn't say he was friends with them, but he had conversations with different people. He's a friendly guy.

I met Senator Sherrod Brown and Connie Schultz when he was campaigning for senator years ago. Brief conversation with each at the time.

[Eko]

39. I'm like the Forrest Gump of music and skateboarding.

Skated with a lot of the big names and sold gear to a lot of the famous musicians. Just right place right time.

[VGNonly]

40. Sir Edmund Hillary

[LudwigPastorius]

41. I've met plenty of famous folk, but really "known" them?

I am/was friends with some jazz musicians who were relatively high profile (having worked with them at some point), but I doubt your average person on the street would know them from Adam.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Byrd

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Liebman

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Shannon_Jackson

[GReedDiamond]

42. I first met Leonardo DiCaprio when he was 4 years old...

...at the time I was working on a comic book called "Timothy Leary NEUROCOMICS," which was written by his father George.

Also met with Dr. Leary several times during the course of the project, which took over a year to complete. Dr. Tim offered George and I a beer during one of our meetings with him. So we drank a beer with the Acid King!

In 1984, I started doing costume graphic design for live stage shows, movies, and tv shows.

My first project in '84 was airbrushing costume graphics for Madonna. Also did the same for a tour she did in 2001. She was very nice.

Worked on lots of other entertainment industry projects through 2010, met quite a few celebrities.

The first movie I worked on was a Lorenzo Lamas break dancing movie called "Body Rock" in '84. The last movie I worked on was "The Hannah Montana Movie" in 2010

My favorite movie projects I worked on were "To Wong Foo: Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar," "Enemy of the State" and "The Phantom" starring Billy Zane.

I met Val Kilmer when I was hired to work on "The Doors" movie around 1991. He is a "method actor" who stays in character 24/7, even when not on the set, until the completion of shooting. So it was more like meeting Jim Morrison.

In 1978, the first band I was in (Scott Thomas Lowe & Atascadero) had the former Buffalo Springfield drummer Dewey Martin as their drummer for around a year or so. When Dewey left the band, he sold me his Camco drum kit which he used for recording with Buffalo Springfield, and many other artists before he was in the Springfield. I still have those drums.

Other musical artists I met and/or shared a stage with included some well knowns of the day like X, Top Jimmy, Black Flag w/Henry Rollins, The Minutemen, Oingo Boingo, and The Mentors featuring the late "El Duce." I used to occasionally hang out with him at the Cathay de Grande in Hollywood - we mostly talked about Camco drums, which we both used. Some say Courtney Love hired El Duce to kill her husband Kurt Cobain. We'll never know since the train ran over El.

In the fine art world, I met Andy Warhol on my first day of art school in Chicago, in 1974. More recently, I met Cheech Marin, who collects the art of Jaime "GERMS" Zacarias, as do I.

In the early internet days, I developed the first significant Marcel Duchamp web site on the web. I was contacted by the (now late) scientist Stephen Jay Gould and his wife to build a Duchamp site for them. They later flew me out to Cambridge Mass. for a Marcel Duchamp Harvard symposium in late 1999 (that's what the web site I made was about).

While there, I met and shared a cab ride with Duchamp's leading biographer, Arturo Schwarz.

There are more, too many to easily remember at the moment.

[red dog 1]

50. I had to look up Marcel Duchamp, just out of curiosity

(This probably isn't your Duchamp website, but I wanted to post it anyway)

"How Duchamp's Urinal Changed Art Forever"
https://artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-duchamps-urinal-changed-art-forever

According to Wikipedia,
"In 1999, a version of 'Fountain' was sold at Sothebys, New York, for $1,762, 500, which set a record record, at the time, for a work by Marcel Duchamp at public auction.
(As you probably already knew),
"The record has since been surpassed by a work sold at Christies, Paris. titled "Belle Haleine, Eau de Voilette" (1921),
The readymade of a perfume bottle in it's box sold for a record $11.5 million"

A "copy" of a Duchamp urinal went for $1.7 million, and a perfume bottle sold for $11.5 million?

To quote Colonel Potter on MASH, "What in the Sam Hill?"

[GReedDiamond]

54. Correct, not my site...

...the site I built back around 1999 for Stephen Jay Gould (and his wife) was based on their determination, after much research, that Duchamp actually created the "readymades" himself...they were NOT store bought, mass-made objects.

What in the Sam Hill, indeed!

[MLAA]

57. You've led a very interesting life! Here's my favorite Duchamp work of art:

https://philamuseum.org/collection/object/51449

[GReedDiamond]

58. Yes, never a dull moment...

...went to the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1987 for the Centenary Celebration of Duchamp's birth.
Saw the "Nude Descending..." painting up close. Later I encountered his widow, Teeny Duchamp, purchasing Duchamp
postcards in the gift shop. She was in front of me at the cash register, and when she opened her wallet to hand the cash to the clerk, her black & white photo of Marcel was staring straight at me.
It was an interesting moment.

[MLAA]

62. Wow, that is cool.

[Rhiannon12866]

43. When my Dad was a young man, he joined the Chamber of Commerce in our Upstate New York city

On one occasion, a group of politicians from downstate came up and were taken on a tour of the city. My Dad was assigned to a tiny Black lady who he knew nothing about, so he made an effort to get to know her. He was pretty impressed since she was smart and knew her stuff and he came to like her a lot. Turns out that this lady went on to bigger things and my Dad became a lifelong admirer. That lady was Shirley Chisholm.

[mnhtnbb]

44. Gary Burghoff who played Radar in MASH

Last edited Thu May 2, 2024, 05:54 AM - Edit history (1)

lived next door in Malibu to very good friends of mine in the early '70's before MASH became a hit. He came to a Halloween party my friends had several years later after they'd bought a house in the Hollywood Hills ( where my late husband and I were married in 1985). Burghoff was quite friendly with everyone at the party.
In the mid '80's I was a contestant on a game show and oddly enough my celebrity partner was Jamie Farr, who played Klinger on MASH. We didn't win, but he was very nice during the taping.

[red dog 1]

53. I'm a big fan of both Jamie Farr and Gary Burghoff, I'd loved to have met those two guys

Burghoff was a professional jazz drummer, and he loved animals. (I think he was part of an animal rescue group)

[mnhtnbb]

68. I'll have to ask my friend

if he ever jammed with Burghoff back in the days when they were neighbors. In retirement for the last 15 years or so he's played trombone with a jazz group where they now live in San Luis Obispo.

[mopinko]

45. barack obama.

my nephew worked in the wh for a yr. liaison to jsoc.
but i met him when he ran for the senate. had a lovely chat w him, about 20 min, at the end of a night i am sure he remembers. a rally the sat b4 election day. i had an art car then, the beat bush mobile, and was driving it around the parking lot as folks were leaving. i got a wave and that famous smile.
shook his hand on several ropelines, including a rally here in chi right b4 he announced his re-elect. a very sparsely attended rally.

unfortunately, cuz my family is full of jerks, when everyone else got ww tours, i didnt. i made a button w a pic of the car that said- i saw the beat bush mobile. always wanted to give him 1.
i’m sure he’d remember, not cuz i’m special, but cuz he is.

[zanana1]

46. My father helped JFK's campaign in my hometown.

Bobby Kennedy had lunch at my house once. I was just a kid and I didn't understand what the big deal was, but I remember all of us kids and Bobby eating grilled cheese sandwiches together.

[red dog 1]

59. Bobby would have made a great POTUS

He had lots of momentum going for him after winning the California and South Dakota primaries on June 5, 1968, and would likely have won the Democratic nomination later that summer. (by defeating Humphrey)

Many RFK assassination researchers say Sirhan wasn't close enough to Bobby to have fired the fatal shot that came from behind his right ear, at very close range.(According to LA County Coroner James Noguchi)

"When he entered the pantry and the gunfire began, RFK's right arm was being held, supposedly to guide him, by armed security guard Thane Eugene Cesar, who was to the right of and close behind the senator."
https://flagpole.com/news/news-features/2019/06/19/the-real-story-of-the-assassination-of-robert-f-kennedy/

[MissB]

47. Yes

A sibling works for a very well known Hollywood person. Has for years.

Me? I know a well known computer guy.

[OldBaldy1701E]

48. Yep. (n/t)

[kozar]

49. I met, Dale Sr.

Back in the day, when, my job was , building bass boats.
I was ,on a smoke break, he sat down, lit up, and, asked some questions, about our boats.
Then asked if I had any questions, to ask him. I said..
" yep, I can drive, fast in circles, can you build a boat?"

He called me an A-hole, and paid cash, for, one of our boats.

Koz

[FarPoint]

51. Phil Donahue...

n/t ......

[enid602]

52. Mom

My Mom was a friend of Debbie Reynolds, Pat Nixon and Judy Agnew. She babysat for the Smothers Brothers and Ted Stevens, the late senator from Alaska.

[AZSkiffyGeek]

56. I have a friend who was a handyman/gopher for Mick Fleetwood

I went to high school with baseball player Tim Salmon, a Miss America winner who was held against her will by the Sultan of Brunei, and Chester Bennington from Linkin Park - although I didn’t know any of them.

[sakabatou]

60. Actually, yes.

Had a family friend who knew the cast of "Sabrina: the Teenage Witch". Got a signed script. I have no idea where it is.

[bamagal62]

64. The house where they filmed

That is near me and is currently for sale!

[sakabatou]

65. Cool. I'm sure they filmed many episodes/scenes in a row per day

[bamagal62]

67. It's in downtown Freehold, NJ.

[raccoon]

69. Some people I know who are related to my deceased BIL knew Alex Murdaugh.

My family came from the same general area Alex was from.

I guess he's infamous, not famous.

[franken-stein_]

70. Nope

Nope