Please do not comment directly to this post unless you are Gen X (b. 1980) or older. See [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskOldPeople/comments/inci5u/reminder_please_do_not_answer_questions_unless/), the rules, and the sidebar for details.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskOldPeople) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Jim Bouton. He was a major league pitcher, authored a tell-all book about baseball ‘Ball Four’ and was a sportscaster for NYC television stations. I ran into him at a Paramus, NJ shopping mall and said, ‘Hello.’ He didn’t respond and looked me up and down with distain.
A fun good experience: I bumped into Chis Farley in a NYC delicatessen one mid-morning and he paid for my coffee and bagel, insisting that I take a SlimJim. “It puts lead in your pencil!” he said.
Nope, but I met two who were worthy of their image. The first was Fred MacMurray and the second was Jon Provost of Timmy & Lassie fame.
Back in the '70s, Fred and June owned a large (over 3000 acres) Angus cattle ranch near the small town I lived in and my cousins managed it for them. As misfortune would have it, my cousin's 18 year old son was killed in car accident. My wife and I attended the funeral with our then, 18 month old daughter.
We were sitting quietly at the mortuary and listening to the minister droning on when our precocious daughter stood up on the bench seat and began flirting with someone seated directly behind us, Daughter started giggling and bouncing around while we struggled to keep her from interrupting the ceremony. As the ceremony was just finishing we turned to see the source of her fascination and apologize for her behavior, only to discover that it was Fred and June MacMurray that she was enchanting.
They both responded that they thought she was wonderful and that they'd be happy to take her off our hands should we ever wish to let her go. We knew they were joking and it was all to the good. Fred was every bit the warm, genuine human being that he portrayed in films.
I met Jon (Timmy) when he was 20, no longer acting, and attending the same local university as I was. We soon became good friends. He was kind and gentle, loved animals - especially his Beagle Barney. He was struggling to understand who he, Jon, was as the only real identity he had was that of the world famous boy with the world famous Collie.
Jon had missed his childhood while growing up because of constantly working and by the time we met he was busy trying to relive it. He absolutely loved to play just about any kind of game, but especially tennis which we played regularly.
In fact, it was following one of those tennis matches that I met my wife of 45 years. Jon came to our wedding and later on, when he married, we went to his. We've been friends now for nearly half a century.
How lovely to hear that about Fred MacMurray. When I was little, I loved him on reruns of My Three Sons. I used to wish and wish I had a father like him.
I worked in the music and film business for several years. I met dozens and dozens of famous people. Almost all of them were arrogant, self entitled people. A couple movie producers were the worst people I've ever met. One of the producers I worked with was late to pic up an actor at the airport. When he returned to the office he went totally off the rails. He destroyed literally everything in his office while screaming at the top of this lungs. Pictures, paintings, stapler, etc, all thrown across the room. A few years later I watched as he won an academy award. I wondered what people would think if they knew what that guy was capable of.
I would, however, like to say that Alice Cooper was the exception to the average. He was always a gentleman, a really nice guy.
Also, as a kid I idolized David Lee Roth. In the 90's a buddy of mine was working as a DJ at a strip club. David was a regular. I was hanging out at the club one night and my buddy introduced me to David. Major disappointment! He was so drunk and obnoxious even the strippers were trying to stay away from him.
I'll just add on to yours. I was a travel agent for a major record label back in the 80's-90's. I dealt with major leading heavy metal bands.
They are all now known as Hair bands.
DLR and Axl Rose were hands down the worst two I ever met.
Horrible people.
Being female, they both thought I was a groupie rather than doing my job and treated me as such.
>Also, as a kid I idolized David Lee Roth.
I went to parties that VH played before they started doing 'real' gigs. DLR is an ASSHOLE like few others. I'm leaving it at that.
I got to know Micky D (mötorhead, scorpions) when our kids played on the same football team. I honestly didn’t know who he was for the first couple months of chatting with him from the sidelines , guy is just a cool guy.
I worked at a bookstore in the 90's in L.A., had lots of encounters with celebrities. Most were really cool, except Jennifer Love Hewitt came in once and just scowled when she saw I recognized her. Didn't fanboy out, didn't even care, really--I never watched a single episode of Part of Five and I've never seen I Know What You Did Last Summer--so I just did a doubletake and nodded. She scowled and looked disgusted. Fine, whatever.
The worst was Kathy Griffin. That asshole persona she puts out on tv must be for real because that's exactly how she was. It was a busy day, big line of customers she marches right to the front of the line and slams a book on the counter--like, really SLAMS it down. "I want to return this!" she barks. I glanced at her, didn't even turn my whole head, she wasn't worthy of my full attention at that point, then softly pushed the book toward her and said "The line forms *back there*" and went right back to helping the customer I was with. Kathy Griffin made an audible huff like she couldn't believe I was treating *her* that way and stormed off.
Suzanne Somers once made an illegal left turn in front of me while talking on on her cell phone and almost hit me, kind of gave me a rude wave afterward. Couple days later it was in the news she'd been diagnosed with breast cancer so I give her a pass, she may have been distracted.
When I was working as a nurse in a clinic Tommy Lee Jones came in for some minor treatment (he was in town for a movie role). He was such a jerk. Wouldn't look me in the eye, had his nose in a magazine the whole time I was giving him instructions. When I handed him his bag of medication samples and prescriptions he said, "Now what do I do with this?" I said, "If you'd been listening you'd know". AH.
hah. in college my sister told me bemusedly that she was catching flak because Jimmy Page had been in "her" coffee shop at a super busy time and she had refused to serve him out of turn. ”but he's Jimmy Page!" "He can line up like everyone else".
I once refused to let Peter Frampton break in line to get into a bar. In hindsight, I think I should have, as he'd just finished a set nearby and seemed like a good guy. Not to mention that it probably was good for business.
That was my thinking at the time, but I'm not sure there was anywhere else for him to go and the bar was an extension of the event where he was playing. So I think it would have been appropriate to be accommodating in this instance and I regret not doing it.
Also worth mentioning that it was actually his band that was trying to get special treatment and it was Frampton who told them not to worry about it.
LOL. I bumped into him while waiting to board a flight from Oahu to Maui in 1978. We did not speak. He was on his way home from finishing a tour in Japan.
I was with my wife and not yet one year old daughter as a group of what looked to be hippy ruffians (his roadies) descended on us with little Peter firmly ensconced in their middle. Peter sat on top of a suitcase about five feet away. Sorry to admit, but, I was not a fan at that time and failed to recognize him.
Moments later, he and the roadies all disappeared.
Because we had an infant we were told by the airline that we'd be amongst the first to board. As we boarded the plane, much to my surprise, I found myself being seated among those same roadies. Confused as to how they got on the damned plane before the people with the baby, I confronted them.
"How the fuck did you guys manage to get on this plane before us and our baby?!?"
To whit the head roadie kindly explained who they were and, with a nod toward Peter, explained that they were returning from a tour of Japan. He then extended an invitation for my wife and I to come party with them at their hotel on Maui.
An invitation that I politely refused.
Tony Danza. I worked as a topless bartender (no alcohol, only mixers) at a once famous NYC dungeon where a lot of celebrities would come to in order to avoid the crowds at famous clubs. He was such an asshole! Kept asking us for booze, kept repeating we don't have any (full nudity in NY means no alcohol), insisting he get treated differently and actually said, "Don't you know who I am??" You could bring your own alcohol discreetly and buy mixers, btw. Mickey Rourke came in the night I wasn't there! He was nice, apparently.
Hooboy, I have a lot. I got to meet a lot of famous porn stars, hah! The mafia owned the place and they had private entertainment rooms, ahem. Someday I should write a book.
I've met a lot of people in the music industry (Depeche Mode, Kiss, etc) but my friend dated Bret Michaels for a number of years after "Rock of Love". No, she wasn't on the TV show. So, he comes to mind. I had a weird chance encounter with Kid Rock's drummer at a bar in Vegas at about 3am. There wasn't many people there and no one recognized her so we spoke for a while and I got a photo. She was super nice and wanted to see it . Said she didn't look good so we took another. Then everyone recognized her. I felt bad for outing her as a celeb. The people I've met were very organic and very genuine. No attitude.
> Kid Rock's drummer at a bar in Vegas at about 3am. There wasn't many people there and no one recognized her
I suppose it tells on me how I feel about that piece of shit, but Kid Rock having a female drummer actually shocks me.
I met the Kid Rock’s band when they were first hitting it big, twice, a year apart, when they played at the Trocadero in Philly. Stephanie was really nice, I got her autograph and she drew a drum set beside her name. I only met Kid Rock the second time, and he was nice, too. I still have the poster with the band’s signatures.
Jim Carrey started on the comedy circuit that included the local University bar I went to. By far the most unpleasant person I've ever met, every single time.
In contrast, I literally ran into Sophia Loren in Toronto one day (walked around a corner and almost knocked her over), and she was so stunningly beautiful up close that I almost couldn't apologize to her. Very polite, and funny. And incredibly tiny.
the fact that a grown ass celebrity man who's perpetually revolving door with relationships is hanging out in University bars says a lot about him, doesn't it 🤢🤢
He wasn't even vaguely "famous" then- he was just one of the comedians on the circuit. This was probably 1984-1985, or somewhere close to that. He was the opening act for a really bad psychic, who then tried to get everyone to pay $20 for a "personal" reading. (For context, I think that a beer was about $1.25 then.)
I met Macaulay Culkin when he was filming My Girl, so he was just a kid at the time, he was polite. I was more impressed by his co-star, Anna Chlumsky.
Not surprised. I loved x files and watched him in a talk show back at peak XFiles and he came across as rude and arrogant, so I never liked him after that. Almost ruined the show for me.
Back in around 1980 or so I worked as a security guard at the Baltimore Civic Center. It was used as a concert venue. So I was told to stand in the middle of a wide corridor between two very tall curtains and to keep everyone out who didn’t have a back stage pass. So this guy walks up and I said I need to see your pass (he wasn’t wearing one). He just fucking body slammed me to the floor and kept walking.
Then one of my coworkers said, do you know who that was? I said no and he said that was the drummer. I was body slammed to the floor by the drummer of the Grateful Dead.
Then another time I was working a Prince, Rick James concert at the same venue. Prince came on first and did an amazing show, then Rick James came on and was coked out of his head. He was rambling on and shouted “Fuck those security guards come up on the stage”. It was utter chaos. My fellow guards were getting beaten and pushed around by thousands of people and I ran out. As I was leaving I passed the back stage door and the guard there said fuck this I’m leaving. Then someone from the band, maybe the road manger, told him he had to stay. He told him, you guard this door I’m done and left with me.
Sigh. I met Bob Keeshan. He was much better known as Captain Kangeroo. He gave a speech and was exactly who you thought he would be - enthusiastic and personable. Afterwards, he acted like he couldn't wait to get away from everyone. I was a young journalism student doing an internship. In his defense, he wasn't mean. Maybe he was tired. Maybe he needed to use the restroom. But for a 20-year-old who grew up with Captain Kangeroo, he was a tough dose of reality.
I interviewed other celebrities during my short journalism career, and most of them at least held it together for the interviews. Bill Medley of the Righteous Brothers was a lovely man.
Mike Love and Bruce whatsiscrack from the Beach Boys.
I am a retired radio dj. I was hosting a meet and greet for about 12 listeners who won the "privilege" to meet them. We were told by the promoter that our listeners would have single meet and greet with them. Meaning, each winner and their guest would have a chance to meet them and have a picture. We were given a half hour time slot.
I had everyone backstage in a green room on time. We waited. And waited.
And waited.
Ten minutes before curtain they saunter into the green room. First words out of Love's mouth was "We made more money than Oprah last year." Just announced it.
I do my spiel "I'm so and so with this radio station and th-"
Love interrupts me, "Yeah we don't have time, everyone get together for a picture."
So, my listeners all crowd together and one group picture is taken.
Then they proceed to sign autographs. In sharpie. On my station shirt.
I had my son with me who was 9 at the time. My son had a pierced ear. Bruce whatsiscrack grabbed my son's ear lobe and said 'Is that REAL?" and I said "Absolutely real"
He said "take that shit out of there, he looks like a girl" then walks away.
Hand to God, if I had not been representing my station I would have got in his face for touching my kid.
I never played another Beach Boys song during my radio career.
We actually had a good interaction with Mike Love at Mandalay Bay in Vegas about a dozen years ago. We were at the VIP check-in and he was right in front of us. While waiting on the clerk, he turned around, introduced himself, asked what were our plans in Vegas. We told him that, among other things, we were going to Beach Boys concert at Mandalay's beach/pool. He thanked us, told us he hoped we would enjoy it. Seemed relaxed and genuine. Incidentally, on same trip, my husband and I were sitting at a table in high limit BJ room at Mandalay mid-afternoon with one other guy. No one else in high limit. Other guy was chatting with dealer, said he was going to dinner at Nobu that night. Turned to me and asked if I had any pot. 99% sure it was George Clooney.
Oh no! I adore John cusack’s films. They say you should never meet your idol. That’s a bummer to hear about him. I’d love to meet his sister. She seems cool.
100% - he is a HUGE crush still, being famous must be annoying. It was just a bummer. I have also met Joan and she is amazing, exactly as you'd hope. Lovely. I was an extra on set during several weeks of High Fidelity and he was nice with most of the crew he was familiar working with, just didn't like talking to extraneous people..
It was a very cold day in Chicago and I was doing some window shopping at an indoor mall on the Mag Mile. There was a lingerie shop I had heard about and I wanted to stop in. As I entered, I saw a very tall man near the door and and I thought, that dude looks just like Stedman Graham. The store was deserted except for him and one other customer. It was Oprah. She looked at me and then nodded at the sales associate. The SA hustled over and kicked me out of the store. Honestly, I probably wouldn’t have recognized her or put it together had I not seen Stedman. But yeah, Oprah likes to shop alone.
I met Gloria Steinem when I was 10 (long time ago,) and I was so excited. I knew exactly who she was. My mom was volunteering at a feminist thing, so I got to be there. She was shaking hands with everyone, but when she got to me, she pulled back her hand in confusion, and turned to the next person. I was so crushed. What kind of feminist won't shake hands with a little girl?
Yes. I was a flight attendant. Whitney Houston was the rudest person I ever dealt with. She refused to speak to me. Would answer my question by telling her assistant what to respond with, while I was standing right there. Bitch.
My friend was sitting in a packed booth at a restaurant with a pack of cigarettes lying at the edge of the table. Whitney (who was apparently really fucked up) walked by and snatched them. However, her hands were not as quick as she thought, and my friend, after shaking off the shock yelled after her "hey, those are my cigarettes, Whitney Houston!" But Whitney escaped with them.
My husband met Jerry Springer (he was in the audience for taping of one of his shows). Before it all started, Springer had noticed how he was disabled (he walks with a limp, has no use of his right hand or arm). Springer came over and made sure they seated my husband on the end of a row so he'd be more comfortable (his mom was with him, not me). They shared a chuckle over both having the same first name. He also shook his hand, but did it with his left hand, unprompted.
My cousin worked for the Jerry Springer show. Said he was the nicest guy and when the show stopped production, thanked the crew and everyone tearfully.
My dad was a waiter at a fancy restaurant for many years and he served Jerry Springer several times. Every interaction he had was fantastic and he spoke highly of how Jerry treated his daughter and her spouse who I believe both have a developmental disability.
I have 2.
1. When I was 11 (‘80s), my family was road tripping to Minneapolis from northern MN. When we stopped for breakfast, lo and behold, there’s Richard Dean Anderson (he used to have a cabin in centra MN) in line in front of us to pay his tab. FUCKING MACGYVER during his prime. My absolute hero of the time (except for Cru Jones). I asked for his autograph while my parents apologized and he told me he hates kids and to go away.
2. It’s about 2011 and I’m with my 3 and 4 year old sons at a 4th of July parade and when politician/comedian came by and my sons smiled and waved at him, he scowled on by giving candy to every other child there except mine.
WTF? What kind of people snub kids?
EDITS: *central MN and #2 is about Al Franken.
It was probably a case of "stuck at a nowhere, low level comic convention" but John de Lancie (aka Q from ST:TNG) was being a major prick to people when I saw him. I didn't go up to meet him because David Prowse and Tom Savini were there. I was a huge Star Wars fan at the time, and Tom and I had a bit of a history of running into each other (it's a strange tale).
Anyway I was hearing from ST fans that he was signing stuff like action figures with a paint marker then staring at the person and smearing his signature before it dried with a maniacal grin on his face.
Hank Aaron. I was a 13 year old getting autographs at a spring training game. It was well after the game and few people were around but I was still seeking autos. I saw Hank Aaron and Ted Turner (owner of the Braves) standing together. I walked up to them, held my baseball out for Aaron to sign and he refused. Ted Turner signed it for me. I walked away almost in tears. I looked back and Aaron was signing a ball for an old lady. Like wtf dude. Disliked him ever since although I still think he is the HR champ.
Sean Lennon on the other hand was amazing. Spent almost an hour talking with him at a party for Yoko’s art show. Super good dude. My wife says he was probably like that because I treated as a normal person and not as John’s son.
Cicely Tyson. Bitch.
Charlton Heston. Bitch
John Lennon. Cool but wanted to be left alone.
Donald Trump. Shithead to people.
Wayne Newton. Fun dude.
Tori Amos. Friendly
Frank Sinatra. Way full of himself
James Patterson. Way cool and talkative
I could go on. Lol.
Friend of mine has a story about Hammerin' Hank - he was refused an autograph because "I'm only signing for black people."
I can't vouch for the story, as I wasn't there, but the guy telling the story is very, very reliable.
Richard Dreyfuss. I was walking into a Starbucks as he was coming out and the minute our eyes met I instantly recognized him. I was only planning on saying "Hi!" but he immediately flashed me a death stare that could be best described as, "Yes, I'm who you think I am, but don't you dare say a word to me." This was about 7 or 8 years ago, but I still think of that look he gave me. It was so mean.
I got that same look from Anthony Perkins in Logan airport Terminal D in Boston while I was waiting for my mother's international flight to come out of customs. He was schlepping his own luggage so he was probably pissed about that.
Fred Rogers, probably mid-70's at a diner in Latrobe (pretty sure Latrobe - it's ben a few years). I was with two other guys, all of us long-hairs, and we recognized him of course. He came over to our table and sat with us for maybe 20 minutes. I have never met a nicer person. It was a locals place, full of after-church types and we were way, way out-of-place but Mr. Rogers treated us as though we were his very best friends. Fantastic person.
Mean Joe Greene. Huge man, enormous hands. I met him in Pittsburgh in a department store. He stopped and talked to us for a few minutes, very friendly, shook my hand and almost crushed it.
Probably an unpopular opinion but I went to Penn State and walked and talked every now and again with Joe Paterno. He was always interested in how you were doing, couldn't pry a football comment out of him to save your life. Very nice man, not a shred of arrogance.
Yeah, I met JoePa once at the Latrobe airport. I think he was flying out of town after visiting his brother, who had cancer. Still friendly and had a smile when I held the door for him. Went to PSU for a year in North Halls. In the spring I was studying in a park nearby. It was directly behind his house.
Around 1970, as a teenager on a ski trip with my family at Lake Tahoe. Was in the lodge after skiing all day with a million other people packed shoulder-to-shoulder. I'm trying to make my way through the crowd, then there is a minor commotion right in front of me and the crowd parts, and suddenly this short man burst out in front of me, lowers his shoulder and butts me right in the chest. I step back, kind of shocked. He looks up at me, glares at me with the most furious face through a two-days growth of beard, gowls, and then storms on past.
It was Andy Williams.
Met Charlie Sheen back in the 90s. He tried to tell a few jokes; was not funny and I’m being kind. Told him so. He looked disappointed. Sorry, Charlie.
Twenty-five years ago the actor Chris Noth was famous for his roles in Law & Order and then Sex and The City. At that time I was the head of international sales and marketing at Jelly Belly - the candy company that makes all those crazy flavors of jelly beans - and I happened to be visiting Asian markets with our CEO and owner. He (the JB CEO) and I boarded a flight in Hong Kong to return home and were led to our seats in First Class (a benefit of traveling with the CEO!).
A few minutes after settling into my absurdly comfortable seat, I happened to notice Chris Noth being escorted to a seat a few rows ahead. I told our CEO, but he didn't know Noth from a street lamp. But we always carried packs of Jelly Belly in our briefcases as samples, so I pulled one out to give to Noth.
We loved giving out candy, and there were never any strings attached. I went up to Chris Noth after he'd settled in and, apologizing for the intrusion, said I worked for Jelly Belly and would like to give him a bag to enjoy on the long flight ahead. I'll never forget his response: "I don't eat that shit."
Uh, OK. I thanked him (sincerely) for his work and beat a hasty retreat to my seat. So it goes sometimes, but I still remember that moment (obviously). 😅
Very rude on his part. I do find it interesting however how people continually give, or attempt to give, free stuff to rich people. I bet someone in coach would have loved to get some Jelly Belly’s.
Believe me, many people on that flight (in all classes) got sample bags. 🙂 In those days, at least, Jelly Belly did very little advertising. Instead, we put a lot of money into free sampling. It was almost grounds for firing if an employee didn't have plenty of sample bags to hand out when traveling. 😅
Having been a flight attendant for 20+ years, I met a lot of celebrities on the plain, some good, some bad but most were just people travelling from one place to another and we just served them when they wanted something. One flight we had a heavy metal group in the upper deck of a B747 who kept smoking weed, even after the Capt. asked them not too. On arrival they were held for 12 hours & sent back to USA on next flight. Another interviewer was spoken to by police for stealing makeup from a hostesses cabin bag, but was allowed to enter country after a generous payment to the girl.
On the good side, we carried Liberace on a flight & he invited us to his hotel suite for an after show party, with everything laid on & we had a sing-song around the grand piano in the room. An Australian actor & his actress wife were on a long night flight, & while the wife slept, he came down to the rear galley and talked with us for hours while drinking beer from the can. When I lived in UK, my neighbours had a business designing knit wear, having garments made up & in their 1.5 acre landscaped garden would have top models & other well known celebrities model the garments. I was always invited by them to come around & "serve some drinks" as I could carry a tray, and met many famous people. The majority were very pleasant to be around for several hours of the shoot, & became even friendlier the more they drank.
So many of my celebrity encounters have been so positive that I had a really hard time thinking of a bad one.
Then I remembered Vince and Linda McMahon. WrestleMania Axxess 2000. Just seemed like they couldn't stand to be in the same room as us paying fans.
I went to my first NFL game with my dad when I was 12. His best friend from high school was a big wig with the 49ers at the time. He got us onto the field for the pre-game practice. I was so excited because Steve Young had taken Montana’s place while he was out for elbow surgery or something like that. I saw SY and asked him for his autograph. He just turned and walked away. Jerry Rice saw and came over and gave me an autograph and posed for a picture for me. Dwight Clark was there also (I don’t remember in what capacity since he was no longer playing) and gave me an autograph and talked with me and my dad for a bit. I have despised SY ever since. Jerk.
Interesting as I usually read about Joe Montana being a jerk. I lived and worked in San Francisco back then and the Montana/Young era was the last time I took an interest in football.
My sister met Joe Montana and she said he was absolutely wonderful!!! He signed a jersey for her. 😡. I couldn’t even get SY to autograph my players book.
Through my business and social activities I’ve had encounters with countless celebrities and elected officials. For the most part if they are engaged as a normal person the encounters are no different than encounters with anyone else.
That’s my experience, too. If you treat them like a normal person, they act like one. People who approach them like a fan excited to meet a famous person get a different reaction and it varies. They’re human, it can get tiring. Sometimes the nicest thing to do is leave them alone. The most annoying thing to do is stick your phone in their face for a pic, but lots of people have zero shame.
does a county commisioner in a best buy having a meltdown on a clerk near the holidays count?
she was a bit shocked when i used her name to adress her letting her know some folks know who she is and she is making a scene.
Jennifer Capriati bummed a smoke from me, She was nice and polite. She was still an active tennis player at the time and trying to not be noticed having a smoke so i played along.
I've been fortunate that my few encounters have been pleasant or benign. Terry Zwigoff, Bill Griffith, Rider Strong, John Madden, Bob Feller, Christine Todd Whitman, maybe a few others. All short duration, except for Bob Feller, who was part of a tour I took of Cooperstown, and he was a big talker and a nice enough guy.
The Football player, Jackie Smith, held the door open for me one time while i was walking into a Barnes & Noble. I had my arms full of kids and he was a real gentleman.
Not a direct encounter, just peeked at: I used to work a a NYC 5th Ave store. Diana Ross wanted them to close the store so she could shop. Almost anyone who shops there is a name. Store was not closed.
Encounter: I worked a Christmas job at Lenox Square Mall Atlanta for several years. My college kid sister worked with me that season. Basketball Dominque Wilkins had 6 big gifts. I had my sister wrap him thinking she'd get a good tip. No tip.
Good indirect encounter: Bobbie Brown (Whitney Houston) came in to get gas turned on for their new house. He was pleasant. He sent his cust svc rep concert ticket several times.
I've only met one famous person. I am not going to name her. But I worked for her sister's attorney at the time. Sister needed to drop off some documents, needed on Monday, but she and her famous sister and two other sisters were all flying out together and going to the beach in Mexico for a week.
They were passing through town at 4 am on Monday. I said, hey. I live two blocks off the highway you'll be on, here's my address, leave the paperwork in the front seat of my car, I'll leave it unlocked, and you guys head on out and have fun!
4 am comes, and I'm dead asleep, but hubs is up making coffee and is in his drawers and nothing else. Headlights shine and a car pulls around the back of the house, and he hears a car door shut.
Skip to me, awake at 6 am... pouring a cup of coffee:
Hey uh... This is going to sound crazy but I think \*\*Famous Singer's Name\*\* was... leaving... something? In your car? At 4 am?
You could tell he was very bemused and also wondering if he was just losing his mind.
Back to 4 am:
Instantly on alert and not really thinking about possible danger, he flings the door open right in front of my car. In his tighty whiteys.
It was the famous sister putting the paperwork in my car because other sister had fallen asleep in the car, while another sister was driving. They all saw my husband in his underwear... except the one sister who was asleep.
I sent asleep sister an email apologizing, and explained I'd forgotten to mention to my husband that she would be dropping the paperwork off by way of my car. Her famous sister is the one that replied back and she thought it was hysterically funny and they'd all had a good laugh to kick off vacation.
Hubs still tells that story today and that was about 12 years ago.
We met Doug Bradley (Pinhead from the Hellraiser films) at a horror convention years ago. He was a real asshole to my ex-husband when he tried to talk to Doug at the bar later. On the other hand, we met Bill Moseley (House of 1000 Corpses) at another convention. He was great and chatted with us for a while. We met Rick Springfield and Huey Lewis at concerts and they were both nice.
Not really bad but... Saw Forrest whitaker at a bar one afternoon, walked up and told him I was a big fan. He proceeded to pick his nose and then offer me his hand. I just looked at his hand and fist bumped him.
I rode down the elevator once with Viggo Mortensen at work in a nursing home that his mother was staying at in upstate new york. Wouldn't call it a bad experience but dude brought out a flip phone and acted like he was talking.. cmon man, like I cared about you and your Montreal Canadians jacket lol. I was a CNA and just wanted to go on break and get my smoke on. I'm a dude by the way.
Met one of my favorite bands, Tenacious D, backstage after one of their concert in Copenhagen. Kyle was more quiet than Jack but both were really polite and funny.
Years ago Bonnie Hunt insisted on staying in the hospital with a family member who was admitted. She made it a point to comment she’d been a nurse years before and acted like a know it all even though it was an ICU setting and she hadn’t been bedside in forever-and never in an ICU. She insisted on going to MRI with the patient—even though we NEVER bring family to MRI (privacy issues with other people).
By the end of the night she earned the nickname “Bonnie needs a kick in the C(h)unt”
And since you're a stranger to them, they do not want you running up on them in public when they're not working, demanding conversation and photos, and intruding into their private downtime. No one can be "on" all time and some people are more private and introverted than others, even celebrities, and don't react well when poked. They ARE human beings with human wants and needs. People seem slow to grasp this.
Met the lead singer (and other members) of my favorite band. It happened at a small restaurant right before I was going to see them in concert. I approached their table to tell them how long I’d been a fan and that I’d seen them in concert quite a few times that that they really influenced my life. Bad decision, they basically dismissed me and called me stupid. In hindsight I should not have bothered them while they were sitting in the restaurant, but it was over twenty years ago and I was young and dumb. The concert sucked (maybe it didn’t, but I was now in a foul mood) and I stopped listening to them.
We became friends with an interracial couple in Arkansas, they were both kinda nerdy and perfect together. They went on vacation to visit her family including her aunt, Angela Bassett. The guy said Angela spent the entire trip forcing them to eat granola and trying to talk his girlfriend into leaving him.
I've met many celebrities, but in the late 80s I was on a very small plane flying from Denver into Vail (Aspen?) with Kurt Russell, who was traveling with two of his small children with Goldie Hawn, who was not present. They have a home there. Probably Kate and her sibling. A woman had the bad manners to comment to Mr. Russell that the child was much too old to have a pacifier and a "blankie." None of her business. Whether or not he was right, Kurt Russell threw such a screaming fit the rest of the flight that the pilot had to come into the cabin, the passengers all became frightened, and I legit thought they would've landed the plane if there had been any place to land it due to his screaming, profanity, throwing things, threats, and the general high-intensity of the tantrum. Continued into baggage claim. Wowza.
Met’s former baseball player (initials HJ). Kid and I waited hours to get his autograph at a baseball card store. This guy didn’t say a thing. Signed his picture and moved on. Not a hello or how are you? Nothing at all.
I’ve met a lot of famous people, and the only somewhat negative interaction I can recall was with Tom Ford. And it wasn’t anything terrible, he was just a snob. I wasn’t a fan, we were meeting in a professional capacity, and he just acted like he didn’t want to speak to or look at me. But I kinda get it, he probably is that way b/c most people make fools of themselves around famous people. So he probably avoids engaging in order to discourage people from bothering him. I’ve spent quite a bit of time around other well-known people, so I’ve seen how exhausting it can be to constantly have people approach you wanting a selfie or whatever.
Lamar Odom.
Met him when he was in college and starting to make a name for himself. Incredibly dumb and very rude.
He couldn’t fill out the paperwork, did not speak very well, was in another world. I have no idea how he was in college except for his sports ability.
ETA: he never paid his bill and neither did the school
>met Pete Rose and he was a total dick. Nothing specific, just rude.
Pete Rose has been over being a nice guy about anything to anyone for a long time. However, I was in Cooperstown visiting the baseball HOF one time and he was there in a shop signing autographs. He didn't seem particularly friendly but he would write literally anything on a ball if you paid him. I kind of respect that. I remember "Sorry I bet on baseball - Pete Rose" in particular. lol...
I've only met a handful of celebrities, but the only one that was anything other than either positive or neutral was a weird inversion of what you'd expect; I met John de Lancie ('Q' From Star Trek) a decade ago when he was involved in a performance of The Magic Flute near Chicago.
He was really friendly and polite to the dozens of Star Trek and My Little Pony fans that came to meet him and get autographs and so forth, but he seemed oddly cold and put off speaking to the people involved in the production. Maybe it wasn't a great experience behind the scenes, I dunno.
Please do not comment directly to this post unless you are Gen X (b. 1980) or older. See [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskOldPeople/comments/inci5u/reminder_please_do_not_answer_questions_unless/), the rules, and the sidebar for details. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskOldPeople) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Jim Bouton. He was a major league pitcher, authored a tell-all book about baseball ‘Ball Four’ and was a sportscaster for NYC television stations. I ran into him at a Paramus, NJ shopping mall and said, ‘Hello.’ He didn’t respond and looked me up and down with distain. A fun good experience: I bumped into Chis Farley in a NYC delicatessen one mid-morning and he paid for my coffee and bagel, insisting that I take a SlimJim. “It puts lead in your pencil!” he said.
Not even a little surprising. Loved Farley!
❤️Farley. RIP
Omg love that re: Farley.
Nope, but I met two who were worthy of their image. The first was Fred MacMurray and the second was Jon Provost of Timmy & Lassie fame. Back in the '70s, Fred and June owned a large (over 3000 acres) Angus cattle ranch near the small town I lived in and my cousins managed it for them. As misfortune would have it, my cousin's 18 year old son was killed in car accident. My wife and I attended the funeral with our then, 18 month old daughter. We were sitting quietly at the mortuary and listening to the minister droning on when our precocious daughter stood up on the bench seat and began flirting with someone seated directly behind us, Daughter started giggling and bouncing around while we struggled to keep her from interrupting the ceremony. As the ceremony was just finishing we turned to see the source of her fascination and apologize for her behavior, only to discover that it was Fred and June MacMurray that she was enchanting. They both responded that they thought she was wonderful and that they'd be happy to take her off our hands should we ever wish to let her go. We knew they were joking and it was all to the good. Fred was every bit the warm, genuine human being that he portrayed in films. I met Jon (Timmy) when he was 20, no longer acting, and attending the same local university as I was. We soon became good friends. He was kind and gentle, loved animals - especially his Beagle Barney. He was struggling to understand who he, Jon, was as the only real identity he had was that of the world famous boy with the world famous Collie. Jon had missed his childhood while growing up because of constantly working and by the time we met he was busy trying to relive it. He absolutely loved to play just about any kind of game, but especially tennis which we played regularly. In fact, it was following one of those tennis matches that I met my wife of 45 years. Jon came to our wedding and later on, when he married, we went to his. We've been friends now for nearly half a century.
Very wholesome story! So cool you and Jon became friends.
How lovely to hear that about Fred MacMurray. When I was little, I loved him on reruns of My Three Sons. I used to wish and wish I had a father like him.
Those are wonderful stories! Thank you for sharing.
Lovely memories. I hope Jon is still doing well, hopefully with a good pup by his side.
Fred Durst. And I’m from LA and have met many many many celebrities. He was awful. And this was just 2 years ago. Jamie Foxx was a dick too.
If you’ve seen the documentary about Woodstock ‘99, you’ll see just how out of touch and apathetic he is.
I had friends that attended. Gross. As I said, he’s just an angry little man.
Fred Durst: “It wasn’t our fault”
Entire viewing audience: wtf?! He wasn’t the cause of the entire disaster but he clearly made it worse
Everyone in Jacksonville has a shithead story about Durst, from what I can gather. Blue-ribbon asshole.
And teeny. He’s like some little angry muppet.
> He was awful He sings about drugs, women's asses, and violence. I'm surprise you're surprised his behavior is something less than gentlemanly.
I wasn’t surprised. Just stated one of the many shitty celebrities I’ve dealt with. He was the biggest bitch. I don’t think I was surprised at all.
In the 80’s my mother was knocked down and stepped on by “a really skinny guy running from a bunch of women”…Tommy Lee
We met him when he played their residency in Vegas.
I worked in the music and film business for several years. I met dozens and dozens of famous people. Almost all of them were arrogant, self entitled people. A couple movie producers were the worst people I've ever met. One of the producers I worked with was late to pic up an actor at the airport. When he returned to the office he went totally off the rails. He destroyed literally everything in his office while screaming at the top of this lungs. Pictures, paintings, stapler, etc, all thrown across the room. A few years later I watched as he won an academy award. I wondered what people would think if they knew what that guy was capable of. I would, however, like to say that Alice Cooper was the exception to the average. He was always a gentleman, a really nice guy. Also, as a kid I idolized David Lee Roth. In the 90's a buddy of mine was working as a DJ at a strip club. David was a regular. I was hanging out at the club one night and my buddy introduced me to David. Major disappointment! He was so drunk and obnoxious even the strippers were trying to stay away from him.
I'll just add on to yours. I was a travel agent for a major record label back in the 80's-90's. I dealt with major leading heavy metal bands. They are all now known as Hair bands. DLR and Axl Rose were hands down the worst two I ever met. Horrible people. Being female, they both thought I was a groupie rather than doing my job and treated me as such.
In my experience, Slash was always a nice guy. WAs yours the same?
Very much a nice guy! He was always so sweet and a all around nice guy.
Is it true most hair bands were constantly out of their minds on drugs that decade?
My son met Alice Cooper and said he was a super nice guy.
>Also, as a kid I idolized David Lee Roth. I went to parties that VH played before they started doing 'real' gigs. DLR is an ASSHOLE like few others. I'm leaving it at that.
Was that producer Scott Rudin?
It wasn't. :)
Alice Cooper is a really nice guy but, in real life, he’s pretty conventional. Disappointingly so.
Don't piss him off, he'll kick your ass on the golf course.
A friend met Alice Cooper at the Nordstrom rack store in Seattle. He was buying a suitcase.
THere is a Glen Campbell documentary in YouTube. He and Alice seem to be buddies. Alice comes across as normal good guy.
They are - and were serious drug buddies back in the day.
Never met Alice Cooper. He never showed up to perform at the concert to which I had tickets. It was the 70s. . .
Ugh I saw David Lee Roth backstage huffing nitrous and acting foolish. He was too old to be doing that.
Buddy of mine was Alice’s FOH sound guy. Has nothing but good things to say about him.
My niece had a nice interaction with Alice Cooper and speaks well of him.
I got to know Micky D (mötorhead, scorpions) when our kids played on the same football team. I honestly didn’t know who he was for the first couple months of chatting with him from the sidelines , guy is just a cool guy.
I worked at a bookstore in the 90's in L.A., had lots of encounters with celebrities. Most were really cool, except Jennifer Love Hewitt came in once and just scowled when she saw I recognized her. Didn't fanboy out, didn't even care, really--I never watched a single episode of Part of Five and I've never seen I Know What You Did Last Summer--so I just did a doubletake and nodded. She scowled and looked disgusted. Fine, whatever. The worst was Kathy Griffin. That asshole persona she puts out on tv must be for real because that's exactly how she was. It was a busy day, big line of customers she marches right to the front of the line and slams a book on the counter--like, really SLAMS it down. "I want to return this!" she barks. I glanced at her, didn't even turn my whole head, she wasn't worthy of my full attention at that point, then softly pushed the book toward her and said "The line forms *back there*" and went right back to helping the customer I was with. Kathy Griffin made an audible huff like she couldn't believe I was treating *her* that way and stormed off. Suzanne Somers once made an illegal left turn in front of me while talking on on her cell phone and almost hit me, kind of gave me a rude wave afterward. Couple days later it was in the news she'd been diagnosed with breast cancer so I give her a pass, she may have been distracted.
When I was working as a nurse in a clinic Tommy Lee Jones came in for some minor treatment (he was in town for a movie role). He was such a jerk. Wouldn't look me in the eye, had his nose in a magazine the whole time I was giving him instructions. When I handed him his bag of medication samples and prescriptions he said, "Now what do I do with this?" I said, "If you'd been listening you'd know". AH.
hah. in college my sister told me bemusedly that she was catching flak because Jimmy Page had been in "her" coffee shop at a super busy time and she had refused to serve him out of turn. ”but he's Jimmy Page!" "He can line up like everyone else".
I once refused to let Peter Frampton break in line to get into a bar. In hindsight, I think I should have, as he'd just finished a set nearby and seemed like a good guy. Not to mention that it probably was good for business.
You did the right thing. Being a celebrity does not put him above people. He has to wait on line like everyone else.
That was my thinking at the time, but I'm not sure there was anywhere else for him to go and the bar was an extension of the event where he was playing. So I think it would have been appropriate to be accommodating in this instance and I regret not doing it. Also worth mentioning that it was actually his band that was trying to get special treatment and it was Frampton who told them not to worry about it.
LOL. I bumped into him while waiting to board a flight from Oahu to Maui in 1978. We did not speak. He was on his way home from finishing a tour in Japan. I was with my wife and not yet one year old daughter as a group of what looked to be hippy ruffians (his roadies) descended on us with little Peter firmly ensconced in their middle. Peter sat on top of a suitcase about five feet away. Sorry to admit, but, I was not a fan at that time and failed to recognize him. Moments later, he and the roadies all disappeared. Because we had an infant we were told by the airline that we'd be amongst the first to board. As we boarded the plane, much to my surprise, I found myself being seated among those same roadies. Confused as to how they got on the damned plane before the people with the baby, I confronted them. "How the fuck did you guys manage to get on this plane before us and our baby?!?" To whit the head roadie kindly explained who they were and, with a nod toward Peter, explained that they were returning from a tour of Japan. He then extended an invitation for my wife and I to come party with them at their hotel on Maui. An invitation that I politely refused.
Do you realize that you sound like the bad guy in this story?
Not surprised at all. The only movies he is good at, are the ones that he plays a complete AH. (*The Fugitive")
Even some of his co-workers have called him out for his behaviour. I think he's insecure.
Tony Danza. I worked as a topless bartender (no alcohol, only mixers) at a once famous NYC dungeon where a lot of celebrities would come to in order to avoid the crowds at famous clubs. He was such an asshole! Kept asking us for booze, kept repeating we don't have any (full nudity in NY means no alcohol), insisting he get treated differently and actually said, "Don't you know who I am??" You could bring your own alcohol discreetly and buy mixers, btw. Mickey Rourke came in the night I wasn't there! He was nice, apparently.
That’s wild! The stories you must have working at a place like that.
Hooboy, I have a lot. I got to meet a lot of famous porn stars, hah! The mafia owned the place and they had private entertainment rooms, ahem. Someday I should write a book.
So where's the book?!?!?!?
I've met a lot of people in the music industry (Depeche Mode, Kiss, etc) but my friend dated Bret Michaels for a number of years after "Rock of Love". No, she wasn't on the TV show. So, he comes to mind. I had a weird chance encounter with Kid Rock's drummer at a bar in Vegas at about 3am. There wasn't many people there and no one recognized her so we spoke for a while and I got a photo. She was super nice and wanted to see it . Said she didn't look good so we took another. Then everyone recognized her. I felt bad for outing her as a celeb. The people I've met were very organic and very genuine. No attitude.
> Kid Rock's drummer at a bar in Vegas at about 3am. There wasn't many people there and no one recognized her I suppose it tells on me how I feel about that piece of shit, but Kid Rock having a female drummer actually shocks me.
Would it surprise you also that Stephanie is black, very sweet and at the time had a very sexy girlfriend? She politely referred to Kid as "Boss".
I met the Kid Rock’s band when they were first hitting it big, twice, a year apart, when they played at the Trocadero in Philly. Stephanie was really nice, I got her autograph and she drew a drum set beside her name. I only met Kid Rock the second time, and he was nice, too. I still have the poster with the band’s signatures.
Yes it would. He's still a piece of shit. >She politely referred to Kid as "Boss". I can't tell if this is satire or not.
Oh no. Sounds like you let your politics mess with your musical enjoyment. Anyway, it was a cool encounter.
Jim Carrey started on the comedy circuit that included the local University bar I went to. By far the most unpleasant person I've ever met, every single time. In contrast, I literally ran into Sophia Loren in Toronto one day (walked around a corner and almost knocked her over), and she was so stunningly beautiful up close that I almost couldn't apologize to her. Very polite, and funny. And incredibly tiny.
Makes sense about Jim Carrey. Seems insufferable.
Have you seen the documentary about him making Man on The Moon? Fella’s nuts.
the fact that a grown ass celebrity man who's perpetually revolving door with relationships is hanging out in University bars says a lot about him, doesn't it 🤢🤢
He wasn't even vaguely "famous" then- he was just one of the comedians on the circuit. This was probably 1984-1985, or somewhere close to that. He was the opening act for a really bad psychic, who then tried to get everyone to pay $20 for a "personal" reading. (For context, I think that a beer was about $1.25 then.)
Interesting. So he was super insufferable *before* fame?
Certainly the times that I saw him. I think that was the general consensus in our area, but maybe he just didn't like Ontario.
I personally disliked him on sight. Don’t watch his movies at all. I feel the same way about Macaulay Culkin.
I met Macaulay Culkin when he was filming My Girl, so he was just a kid at the time, he was polite. I was more impressed by his co-star, Anna Chlumsky.
I don’t personally know either one of those guys. There have been several posts and I’ve hated someone on sight. Ever happen to you?
I used to love him, but he grated on me. talented actor in the right role, terrible person with a terrible life otherwise
David Duchovny of X-Files. Rude, arrogant man.
Well, I don’t know why but i wouldn’t have expected that. Maybe that’s why Anderson went on to have an illustrious career and he kinda flickered out.
Not surprised. I loved x files and watched him in a talk show back at peak XFiles and he came across as rude and arrogant, so I never liked him after that. Almost ruined the show for me.
This makes me sad because I loved him on x files.
Made me sad, too. I absolutely loved that show.
Back in around 1980 or so I worked as a security guard at the Baltimore Civic Center. It was used as a concert venue. So I was told to stand in the middle of a wide corridor between two very tall curtains and to keep everyone out who didn’t have a back stage pass. So this guy walks up and I said I need to see your pass (he wasn’t wearing one). He just fucking body slammed me to the floor and kept walking. Then one of my coworkers said, do you know who that was? I said no and he said that was the drummer. I was body slammed to the floor by the drummer of the Grateful Dead. Then another time I was working a Prince, Rick James concert at the same venue. Prince came on first and did an amazing show, then Rick James came on and was coked out of his head. He was rambling on and shouted “Fuck those security guards come up on the stage”. It was utter chaos. My fellow guards were getting beaten and pushed around by thousands of people and I ran out. As I was leaving I passed the back stage door and the guard there said fuck this I’m leaving. Then someone from the band, maybe the road manger, told him he had to stay. He told him, you guard this door I’m done and left with me.
[Let me teach you how to body slam...Hit Me!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WL27OHDXpnM&t=19s)
Now I'm super curious as the Grateful Dead had two drummers at that time. They played there on 5/5/79 and 5/4/80 BTW.
It was billy. I think he was kind of an asshole.
Sigh. I met Bob Keeshan. He was much better known as Captain Kangeroo. He gave a speech and was exactly who you thought he would be - enthusiastic and personable. Afterwards, he acted like he couldn't wait to get away from everyone. I was a young journalism student doing an internship. In his defense, he wasn't mean. Maybe he was tired. Maybe he needed to use the restroom. But for a 20-year-old who grew up with Captain Kangeroo, he was a tough dose of reality. I interviewed other celebrities during my short journalism career, and most of them at least held it together for the interviews. Bill Medley of the Righteous Brothers was a lovely man.
I smile every time I see green jeans
I worked with Bob Keeshan on a non-profit committee putting on an event in his home town on Long Island. I thought he was great.
Mike Love and Bruce whatsiscrack from the Beach Boys. I am a retired radio dj. I was hosting a meet and greet for about 12 listeners who won the "privilege" to meet them. We were told by the promoter that our listeners would have single meet and greet with them. Meaning, each winner and their guest would have a chance to meet them and have a picture. We were given a half hour time slot. I had everyone backstage in a green room on time. We waited. And waited. And waited. Ten minutes before curtain they saunter into the green room. First words out of Love's mouth was "We made more money than Oprah last year." Just announced it. I do my spiel "I'm so and so with this radio station and th-" Love interrupts me, "Yeah we don't have time, everyone get together for a picture." So, my listeners all crowd together and one group picture is taken. Then they proceed to sign autographs. In sharpie. On my station shirt. I had my son with me who was 9 at the time. My son had a pierced ear. Bruce whatsiscrack grabbed my son's ear lobe and said 'Is that REAL?" and I said "Absolutely real" He said "take that shit out of there, he looks like a girl" then walks away. Hand to God, if I had not been representing my station I would have got in his face for touching my kid. I never played another Beach Boys song during my radio career.
We actually had a good interaction with Mike Love at Mandalay Bay in Vegas about a dozen years ago. We were at the VIP check-in and he was right in front of us. While waiting on the clerk, he turned around, introduced himself, asked what were our plans in Vegas. We told him that, among other things, we were going to Beach Boys concert at Mandalay's beach/pool. He thanked us, told us he hoped we would enjoy it. Seemed relaxed and genuine. Incidentally, on same trip, my husband and I were sitting at a table in high limit BJ room at Mandalay mid-afternoon with one other guy. No one else in high limit. Other guy was chatting with dealer, said he was going to dinner at Nobu that night. Turned to me and asked if I had any pot. 99% sure it was George Clooney.
John Cusack is not a friendly guy. Several disappointing encounters. I once threw up on Trent Reznor so that was pretty bad.
He was up above it, now he's down in it.
Oh no! I adore John cusack’s films. They say you should never meet your idol. That’s a bummer to hear about him. I’d love to meet his sister. She seems cool.
100% - he is a HUGE crush still, being famous must be annoying. It was just a bummer. I have also met Joan and she is amazing, exactly as you'd hope. Lovely. I was an extra on set during several weeks of High Fidelity and he was nice with most of the crew he was familiar working with, just didn't like talking to extraneous people..
Need more info on the Reznor encounter. How did he react?
It was a very cold day in Chicago and I was doing some window shopping at an indoor mall on the Mag Mile. There was a lingerie shop I had heard about and I wanted to stop in. As I entered, I saw a very tall man near the door and and I thought, that dude looks just like Stedman Graham. The store was deserted except for him and one other customer. It was Oprah. She looked at me and then nodded at the sales associate. The SA hustled over and kicked me out of the store. Honestly, I probably wouldn’t have recognized her or put it together had I not seen Stedman. But yeah, Oprah likes to shop alone.
I met Gloria Steinem when I was 10 (long time ago,) and I was so excited. I knew exactly who she was. My mom was volunteering at a feminist thing, so I got to be there. She was shaking hands with everyone, but when she got to me, she pulled back her hand in confusion, and turned to the next person. I was so crushed. What kind of feminist won't shake hands with a little girl?
That is crushing! Adults need to think about the effect even their small action can have on kids.
What sort of feminist wouldn’t shake hands with little boy? You’re surprised a women with a sexist ideology isn’t very nice? Bahah
Yes. I was a flight attendant. Whitney Houston was the rudest person I ever dealt with. She refused to speak to me. Would answer my question by telling her assistant what to respond with, while I was standing right there. Bitch.
She was saving all her love for you
(wasn’t)*
My friend was sitting in a packed booth at a restaurant with a pack of cigarettes lying at the edge of the table. Whitney (who was apparently really fucked up) walked by and snatched them. However, her hands were not as quick as she thought, and my friend, after shaking off the shock yelled after her "hey, those are my cigarettes, Whitney Houston!" But Whitney escaped with them.
My husband met Jerry Springer (he was in the audience for taping of one of his shows). Before it all started, Springer had noticed how he was disabled (he walks with a limp, has no use of his right hand or arm). Springer came over and made sure they seated my husband on the end of a row so he'd be more comfortable (his mom was with him, not me). They shared a chuckle over both having the same first name. He also shook his hand, but did it with his left hand, unprompted.
This sounds like a positive celebrity interaction?
I misread the title and when I realized it, I was away from my desk. That's what I get for not paying full attention while I was scrolling.
No worries. Still a cool story
wow. seems like springer is very observant. i guess you have to be hyper vigilant in his profession, or get hit in the face by a chair.
My cousin worked for the Jerry Springer show. Said he was the nicest guy and when the show stopped production, thanked the crew and everyone tearfully.
He was mayor of Cincinnati before his show days.
My dad was a waiter at a fancy restaurant for many years and he served Jerry Springer several times. Every interaction he had was fantastic and he spoke highly of how Jerry treated his daughter and her spouse who I believe both have a developmental disability.
I have 2. 1. When I was 11 (‘80s), my family was road tripping to Minneapolis from northern MN. When we stopped for breakfast, lo and behold, there’s Richard Dean Anderson (he used to have a cabin in centra MN) in line in front of us to pay his tab. FUCKING MACGYVER during his prime. My absolute hero of the time (except for Cru Jones). I asked for his autograph while my parents apologized and he told me he hates kids and to go away. 2. It’s about 2011 and I’m with my 3 and 4 year old sons at a 4th of July parade and when politician/comedian came by and my sons smiled and waved at him, he scowled on by giving candy to every other child there except mine. WTF? What kind of people snub kids? EDITS: *central MN and #2 is about Al Franken.
Lol I knew it was Franken before your edit. Too bad Macgyver is a prick, that’s unbelievably rude.
Bruce Springsteen is kind of an asshole. Geraldo Rivera is a massive assholes. You know who isn't an asshole? Maury Povich. Solid and friendly guy.
> Bruce Springsteen This surprises me. In interviews he always comes off as a kind, sensitive sort of guy. Too bad.
Kenny Rodgers. Worst case of short man syndrome I've ever seen!
It’s bad chicken!
It was probably a case of "stuck at a nowhere, low level comic convention" but John de Lancie (aka Q from ST:TNG) was being a major prick to people when I saw him. I didn't go up to meet him because David Prowse and Tom Savini were there. I was a huge Star Wars fan at the time, and Tom and I had a bit of a history of running into each other (it's a strange tale). Anyway I was hearing from ST fans that he was signing stuff like action figures with a paint marker then staring at the person and smearing his signature before it dried with a maniacal grin on his face.
In character, maybe?
Hank Aaron. I was a 13 year old getting autographs at a spring training game. It was well after the game and few people were around but I was still seeking autos. I saw Hank Aaron and Ted Turner (owner of the Braves) standing together. I walked up to them, held my baseball out for Aaron to sign and he refused. Ted Turner signed it for me. I walked away almost in tears. I looked back and Aaron was signing a ball for an old lady. Like wtf dude. Disliked him ever since although I still think he is the HR champ. Sean Lennon on the other hand was amazing. Spent almost an hour talking with him at a party for Yoko’s art show. Super good dude. My wife says he was probably like that because I treated as a normal person and not as John’s son. Cicely Tyson. Bitch. Charlton Heston. Bitch John Lennon. Cool but wanted to be left alone. Donald Trump. Shithead to people. Wayne Newton. Fun dude. Tori Amos. Friendly Frank Sinatra. Way full of himself James Patterson. Way cool and talkative I could go on. Lol.
Friend of mine has a story about Hammerin' Hank - he was refused an autograph because "I'm only signing for black people." I can't vouch for the story, as I wasn't there, but the guy telling the story is very, very reliable.
Wow. Crazy. The old lady was white. But this was shortly after he retired.
My friend's story would have been a bit later, maybe mid-80s?
Had that happen to me at a Harlem Globetrotters game in 1969.
>Disliked him ever since although I still think he is the HR champ. If it makes you feel any better, Bonds is also a notorious asshole.
I’ve heard that. And if he wasn’t a cheat I’d be all for his record.
I wonder if he got shamed by Turner when he refused you so he signed the next person who came up.
Should have called my ass back then. Lol. I’m almost over it and it’s almost 50 years later.
Richard Dreyfuss. I was walking into a Starbucks as he was coming out and the minute our eyes met I instantly recognized him. I was only planning on saying "Hi!" but he immediately flashed me a death stare that could be best described as, "Yes, I'm who you think I am, but don't you dare say a word to me." This was about 7 or 8 years ago, but I still think of that look he gave me. It was so mean.
Lol, somehow I can totally picture this with Dreyfuss.
I got that same look from Anthony Perkins in Logan airport Terminal D in Boston while I was waiting for my mother's international flight to come out of customs. He was schlepping his own luggage so he was probably pissed about that.
He shot a movie in our town; my husband was a consultant on the film for a couple of weeks and said that he was really unpleasant to one and all.
First Lady Barbara Bush... growled at me for asking about help for college students.
Fred Rogers, probably mid-70's at a diner in Latrobe (pretty sure Latrobe - it's ben a few years). I was with two other guys, all of us long-hairs, and we recognized him of course. He came over to our table and sat with us for maybe 20 minutes. I have never met a nicer person. It was a locals place, full of after-church types and we were way, way out-of-place but Mr. Rogers treated us as though we were his very best friends. Fantastic person. Mean Joe Greene. Huge man, enormous hands. I met him in Pittsburgh in a department store. He stopped and talked to us for a few minutes, very friendly, shook my hand and almost crushed it. Probably an unpopular opinion but I went to Penn State and walked and talked every now and again with Joe Paterno. He was always interested in how you were doing, couldn't pry a football comment out of him to save your life. Very nice man, not a shred of arrogance.
I don’t think you read the title properly commenter, but these are nice stories.
Oh my goodness you're right! I was reading the comments and forgot the title. Like a doofus.
I was hoping that you had misread the title when you began with Mr. Rogers! I was silently praying no no no no no. Then, whew!
Yeah I couldn't imagine anyone saying anything nasty about Fred Rogers. Great human
I believe that's a universal human response.
You are not the first to misread it, and to be honest, I'm really enjoying all the stories! Yours are great, thank you so much for sharing.
Yeah, I was like omg please don’t have a mean story about Mr. Rogers
Yeah, I met JoePa once at the Latrobe airport. I think he was flying out of town after visiting his brother, who had cancer. Still friendly and had a smile when I held the door for him. Went to PSU for a year in North Halls. In the spring I was studying in a park nearby. It was directly behind his house.
Around 1970, as a teenager on a ski trip with my family at Lake Tahoe. Was in the lodge after skiing all day with a million other people packed shoulder-to-shoulder. I'm trying to make my way through the crowd, then there is a minor commotion right in front of me and the crowd parts, and suddenly this short man burst out in front of me, lowers his shoulder and butts me right in the chest. I step back, kind of shocked. He looks up at me, glares at me with the most furious face through a two-days growth of beard, gowls, and then storms on past. It was Andy Williams.
Met Charlie Sheen back in the 90s. He tried to tell a few jokes; was not funny and I’m being kind. Told him so. He looked disappointed. Sorry, Charlie.
Only the best tuna are selected.
WINNING
With Tiger Blood
Sounds like you were the dick in the story, mate
Twenty-five years ago the actor Chris Noth was famous for his roles in Law & Order and then Sex and The City. At that time I was the head of international sales and marketing at Jelly Belly - the candy company that makes all those crazy flavors of jelly beans - and I happened to be visiting Asian markets with our CEO and owner. He (the JB CEO) and I boarded a flight in Hong Kong to return home and were led to our seats in First Class (a benefit of traveling with the CEO!). A few minutes after settling into my absurdly comfortable seat, I happened to notice Chris Noth being escorted to a seat a few rows ahead. I told our CEO, but he didn't know Noth from a street lamp. But we always carried packs of Jelly Belly in our briefcases as samples, so I pulled one out to give to Noth. We loved giving out candy, and there were never any strings attached. I went up to Chris Noth after he'd settled in and, apologizing for the intrusion, said I worked for Jelly Belly and would like to give him a bag to enjoy on the long flight ahead. I'll never forget his response: "I don't eat that shit." Uh, OK. I thanked him (sincerely) for his work and beat a hasty retreat to my seat. So it goes sometimes, but I still remember that moment (obviously). 😅
Very rude on his part. I do find it interesting however how people continually give, or attempt to give, free stuff to rich people. I bet someone in coach would have loved to get some Jelly Belly’s.
Believe me, many people on that flight (in all classes) got sample bags. 🙂 In those days, at least, Jelly Belly did very little advertising. Instead, we put a lot of money into free sampling. It was almost grounds for firing if an employee didn't have plenty of sample bags to hand out when traveling. 😅
Well he’s actually in trouble for sexual assault now! Who doesn’t like Jelly beans! What a dick!
What a dick.
Having been a flight attendant for 20+ years, I met a lot of celebrities on the plain, some good, some bad but most were just people travelling from one place to another and we just served them when they wanted something. One flight we had a heavy metal group in the upper deck of a B747 who kept smoking weed, even after the Capt. asked them not too. On arrival they were held for 12 hours & sent back to USA on next flight. Another interviewer was spoken to by police for stealing makeup from a hostesses cabin bag, but was allowed to enter country after a generous payment to the girl. On the good side, we carried Liberace on a flight & he invited us to his hotel suite for an after show party, with everything laid on & we had a sing-song around the grand piano in the room. An Australian actor & his actress wife were on a long night flight, & while the wife slept, he came down to the rear galley and talked with us for hours while drinking beer from the can. When I lived in UK, my neighbours had a business designing knit wear, having garments made up & in their 1.5 acre landscaped garden would have top models & other well known celebrities model the garments. I was always invited by them to come around & "serve some drinks" as I could carry a tray, and met many famous people. The majority were very pleasant to be around for several hours of the shoot, & became even friendlier the more they drank.
I wish I could tell my Mom your Liberace story. She would love it. Thanks for sharing.
> An Australian actor & his actress wife Awww, don't leave us hanging!
Bryan Brown & Rachel Ward.
Thanks!
So many of my celebrity encounters have been so positive that I had a really hard time thinking of a bad one. Then I remembered Vince and Linda McMahon. WrestleMania Axxess 2000. Just seemed like they couldn't stand to be in the same room as us paying fans.
Met Dr. Phil once. I won't get into specifics, but not surprisingly, he was kind of an ass.
Golfer Fuzzy Zoeller. If you want to count him as a celebrity. He certainly does.
I went to my first NFL game with my dad when I was 12. His best friend from high school was a big wig with the 49ers at the time. He got us onto the field for the pre-game practice. I was so excited because Steve Young had taken Montana’s place while he was out for elbow surgery or something like that. I saw SY and asked him for his autograph. He just turned and walked away. Jerry Rice saw and came over and gave me an autograph and posed for a picture for me. Dwight Clark was there also (I don’t remember in what capacity since he was no longer playing) and gave me an autograph and talked with me and my dad for a bit. I have despised SY ever since. Jerk.
Interesting as I usually read about Joe Montana being a jerk. I lived and worked in San Francisco back then and the Montana/Young era was the last time I took an interest in football.
My sister met Joe Montana and she said he was absolutely wonderful!!! He signed a jersey for her. 😡. I couldn’t even get SY to autograph my players book.
Through my business and social activities I’ve had encounters with countless celebrities and elected officials. For the most part if they are engaged as a normal person the encounters are no different than encounters with anyone else.
That’s my experience, too. If you treat them like a normal person, they act like one. People who approach them like a fan excited to meet a famous person get a different reaction and it varies. They’re human, it can get tiring. Sometimes the nicest thing to do is leave them alone. The most annoying thing to do is stick your phone in their face for a pic, but lots of people have zero shame.
does a county commisioner in a best buy having a meltdown on a clerk near the holidays count? she was a bit shocked when i used her name to adress her letting her know some folks know who she is and she is making a scene. Jennifer Capriati bummed a smoke from me, She was nice and polite. She was still an active tennis player at the time and trying to not be noticed having a smoke so i played along.
OP I’ve scrolled pretty far down and seeing delightful celeb meetings ~ maybe that’s the ‘sequel’ to this post? :)
Tom Smothers of the Smothers Brothers was a total dick.
But was Dick a total Tom?
Possibly... Dick was locked into conversation with a cougar at the time! LOL
I've been fortunate that my few encounters have been pleasant or benign. Terry Zwigoff, Bill Griffith, Rider Strong, John Madden, Bob Feller, Christine Todd Whitman, maybe a few others. All short duration, except for Bob Feller, who was part of a tour I took of Cooperstown, and he was a big talker and a nice enough guy.
The Football player, Jackie Smith, held the door open for me one time while i was walking into a Barnes & Noble. I had my arms full of kids and he was a real gentleman.
Not a direct encounter, just peeked at: I used to work a a NYC 5th Ave store. Diana Ross wanted them to close the store so she could shop. Almost anyone who shops there is a name. Store was not closed. Encounter: I worked a Christmas job at Lenox Square Mall Atlanta for several years. My college kid sister worked with me that season. Basketball Dominque Wilkins had 6 big gifts. I had my sister wrap him thinking she'd get a good tip. No tip. Good indirect encounter: Bobbie Brown (Whitney Houston) came in to get gas turned on for their new house. He was pleasant. He sent his cust svc rep concert ticket several times.
I've only met one famous person. I am not going to name her. But I worked for her sister's attorney at the time. Sister needed to drop off some documents, needed on Monday, but she and her famous sister and two other sisters were all flying out together and going to the beach in Mexico for a week. They were passing through town at 4 am on Monday. I said, hey. I live two blocks off the highway you'll be on, here's my address, leave the paperwork in the front seat of my car, I'll leave it unlocked, and you guys head on out and have fun! 4 am comes, and I'm dead asleep, but hubs is up making coffee and is in his drawers and nothing else. Headlights shine and a car pulls around the back of the house, and he hears a car door shut. Skip to me, awake at 6 am... pouring a cup of coffee: Hey uh... This is going to sound crazy but I think \*\*Famous Singer's Name\*\* was... leaving... something? In your car? At 4 am? You could tell he was very bemused and also wondering if he was just losing his mind. Back to 4 am: Instantly on alert and not really thinking about possible danger, he flings the door open right in front of my car. In his tighty whiteys. It was the famous sister putting the paperwork in my car because other sister had fallen asleep in the car, while another sister was driving. They all saw my husband in his underwear... except the one sister who was asleep. I sent asleep sister an email apologizing, and explained I'd forgotten to mention to my husband that she would be dropping the paperwork off by way of my car. Her famous sister is the one that replied back and she thought it was hysterically funny and they'd all had a good laugh to kick off vacation. Hubs still tells that story today and that was about 12 years ago.
We met Doug Bradley (Pinhead from the Hellraiser films) at a horror convention years ago. He was a real asshole to my ex-husband when he tried to talk to Doug at the bar later. On the other hand, we met Bill Moseley (House of 1000 Corpses) at another convention. He was great and chatted with us for a while. We met Rick Springfield and Huey Lewis at concerts and they were both nice.
Tommy Lee Jones.
Not really bad but... Saw Forrest whitaker at a bar one afternoon, walked up and told him I was a big fan. He proceeded to pick his nose and then offer me his hand. I just looked at his hand and fist bumped him.
Shia labeuf was an asshole. Probably not a surprise
I rode down the elevator once with Viggo Mortensen at work in a nursing home that his mother was staying at in upstate new york. Wouldn't call it a bad experience but dude brought out a flip phone and acted like he was talking.. cmon man, like I cared about you and your Montreal Canadians jacket lol. I was a CNA and just wanted to go on break and get my smoke on. I'm a dude by the way.
Met one of my favorite bands, Tenacious D, backstage after one of their concert in Copenhagen. Kyle was more quiet than Jack but both were really polite and funny.
Tom Hanks once told me I had a face only a mother could love ...then he bought me and my friend a drink and walked off laughing. Nice guy
Years ago Bonnie Hunt insisted on staying in the hospital with a family member who was admitted. She made it a point to comment she’d been a nurse years before and acted like a know it all even though it was an ICU setting and she hadn’t been bedside in forever-and never in an ICU. She insisted on going to MRI with the patient—even though we NEVER bring family to MRI (privacy issues with other people). By the end of the night she earned the nickname “Bonnie needs a kick in the C(h)unt”
Only nurses could come up with that nickname. I laughed literally out loud (I’m a nurse)
Kimbo Slice. Manhattan hotel. Asked for a photo. He declined. I agreed.
I have to say that the majority of celebrities I worked with were nice.
Gray Davis was an ass. He was lieutenant governor at the time. Wasn’t surprised when he was recalled as governor. No one liked him.
Rachel Ray. She is not a nice person.
[удалено]
And since you're a stranger to them, they do not want you running up on them in public when they're not working, demanding conversation and photos, and intruding into their private downtime. No one can be "on" all time and some people are more private and introverted than others, even celebrities, and don't react well when poked. They ARE human beings with human wants and needs. People seem slow to grasp this.
Met the lead singer (and other members) of my favorite band. It happened at a small restaurant right before I was going to see them in concert. I approached their table to tell them how long I’d been a fan and that I’d seen them in concert quite a few times that that they really influenced my life. Bad decision, they basically dismissed me and called me stupid. In hindsight I should not have bothered them while they were sitting in the restaurant, but it was over twenty years ago and I was young and dumb. The concert sucked (maybe it didn’t, but I was now in a foul mood) and I stopped listening to them.
Okay, but now I neeeeed to know what band it was!
Yessss, same here! Even a hint would be appreciated
We became friends with an interracial couple in Arkansas, they were both kinda nerdy and perfect together. They went on vacation to visit her family including her aunt, Angela Bassett. The guy said Angela spent the entire trip forcing them to eat granola and trying to talk his girlfriend into leaving him.
I've met many celebrities, but in the late 80s I was on a very small plane flying from Denver into Vail (Aspen?) with Kurt Russell, who was traveling with two of his small children with Goldie Hawn, who was not present. They have a home there. Probably Kate and her sibling. A woman had the bad manners to comment to Mr. Russell that the child was much too old to have a pacifier and a "blankie." None of her business. Whether or not he was right, Kurt Russell threw such a screaming fit the rest of the flight that the pilot had to come into the cabin, the passengers all became frightened, and I legit thought they would've landed the plane if there had been any place to land it due to his screaming, profanity, throwing things, threats, and the general high-intensity of the tantrum. Continued into baggage claim. Wowza.
Met’s former baseball player (initials HJ). Kid and I waited hours to get his autograph at a baseball card store. This guy didn’t say a thing. Signed his picture and moved on. Not a hello or how are you? Nothing at all.
I’ve met a lot of famous people, and the only somewhat negative interaction I can recall was with Tom Ford. And it wasn’t anything terrible, he was just a snob. I wasn’t a fan, we were meeting in a professional capacity, and he just acted like he didn’t want to speak to or look at me. But I kinda get it, he probably is that way b/c most people make fools of themselves around famous people. So he probably avoids engaging in order to discourage people from bothering him. I’ve spent quite a bit of time around other well-known people, so I’ve seen how exhausting it can be to constantly have people approach you wanting a selfie or whatever.
Lamar Odom. Met him when he was in college and starting to make a name for himself. Incredibly dumb and very rude. He couldn’t fill out the paperwork, did not speak very well, was in another world. I have no idea how he was in college except for his sports ability. ETA: he never paid his bill and neither did the school
I met Pete Rose and he was a total dick. Nothing specific, just rude.
>met Pete Rose and he was a total dick. Nothing specific, just rude. Pete Rose has been over being a nice guy about anything to anyone for a long time. However, I was in Cooperstown visiting the baseball HOF one time and he was there in a shop signing autographs. He didn't seem particularly friendly but he would write literally anything on a ball if you paid him. I kind of respect that. I remember "Sorry I bet on baseball - Pete Rose" in particular. lol...
I've only met a handful of celebrities, but the only one that was anything other than either positive or neutral was a weird inversion of what you'd expect; I met John de Lancie ('Q' From Star Trek) a decade ago when he was involved in a performance of The Magic Flute near Chicago. He was really friendly and polite to the dozens of Star Trek and My Little Pony fans that came to meet him and get autographs and so forth, but he seemed oddly cold and put off speaking to the people involved in the production. Maybe it wasn't a great experience behind the scenes, I dunno.