Celebrity Experiences/Stories (Vanity)

And I shook hands with Jim Rome at the 'Nati Tour Stop in 2003 :)

Ok, Mike, it's WAR!! :)

Let's see, I met Larry Fitzgerald, Wide Receiver of the Arizona Cardinals this summer while I was deployed to Spain.

Ran into Ron Jeremy at the Phoenix Airport in 2001.

Met Deborah Carty Deu, Miss Universe 1985, thanks to a friend of mine from college.

Met David Robinson, former NBA superstar, while I was stationed in San Antonio.

And, shamefully, I have met Dingy Harry Reid, when my wife was a teacher in Nevada.

hehe yeah but I saw J Stew live and in person :)

I showed Steve McQueen how to wash snakes.

Ooh Ooh! I know who they are!!!

How so I thought I told who they were in my post???

You did (If I understood your last post). I had their songs on real records as a kid. I just haven't heard their names in a loooooong time!

Celebrities I have met, off the top of my head, in the order I remember them

Number 1: Anne Coulter (at Austin Four Seasons last year - thread posted at the time)
Gene Cernan (last man to walk on the Moon, met him at the 30th anniversary events surrounding the first Moon landing, at Cape Canaveral, got to spend about 45 minutes speaking to him)
Buzz Aldrin (second man to walk on the Moon, met him at the 20th anniversary events surrounding the first Moon landing at Huntsville, during a book signing, along with one of my sons)
Homer Hickam (NASA engineer, author of Rocket Boys, made into a movie as October Sky, met him at the 30th anniversary events surrounding the first Moon landing, at Cape Canaveral, where he was the host, got to spend about 15 minutes speaking to him and his wife - his wife introduced herself by saying "I sleep with him.")
I did not meet them, but also present at the Apollo 11 events at Huntsville and Cape Canaveral, Neil Armstrong, Charles Collins, Duke Cunningham, Wally Schirra and others from that era (my God, I can't remember all the names!)
Larry Niven (with his co-author Jerry Pournelle at an SF convention, where I discovered the "con room" where the writers hung out and where there was free booze - great weekend, and Niven makes a mean Irish coffee)
Jerry Pournelle (met him at a computer convention way back in 77, but really got to know him at the SF convention where he appeared with Niven - used to get together with him almost every year at Comdex and usually one or two other computer shows)
Michael Dell (repeated business dealings in the last 5 years)
Bill Gates (repeated business dealings from 1977 to 1986)
George Takei (at a Star Trek convention - I goaded him into a political debate where he tried to trash Ronald Reagan - I slammed him and the crowd took my side)
James Doohan (twice at Star Trek conventions - both times I gave him great lead in questions in the Q&A which led to 10 minute stories)
Linda Blair (of Exorcist fame, 30 years ago, at a horse show through a mutual friend, the granddaughter of the founder of Revlon)
Dr. Gerard K O'Neill (Carl Sagan wannabe, Princeton professor and author of High Frontier and other non-fiction books about the future, particularly colonizing space)
O. J. Simpson (at an autograph session at Comdex, spent about 15 minutes discussing a mutual friend from the area where he grew up in San Francisco)
David Rockefeller (along with his brother, John D 3rd - delivered oxygen to the family estate for John D, and my parents had business contacts with David)
Paul O'Neil (former Bush treasury secretary - he was President of the company I worked for, one of my first PC users whom I supported directly)
Michael J Fox (filmed The Secret of My Success in the building where I worked in New York City - encountered him in the elevator one day and we spoke - I said "Oh, hi" and he responded "hi.," so I did talk to him)
Richard Jordan (co-starred in the movie The Secret of My Success with Michael J Fox as his obnoxious uncle - really nice guy who lived in NY and commuted to our building during the filming, just like all the rest of us - we spent about 2 hours talking while waiting for a scene to be filmed when I had to move Paul O'Neil's PC out of his office so that they could use it - I explained to Mr. Jordan why they signed him for three movies when he made Dune even though his character was killed early on in the first one - he was very glad the first one bombed, so if you know the Dune books you can imagine that conversation)
Stephen R. Donaldson (author of the Thomas Covenant series of best selling books - met him at a book signing where no one else showed up for an hour - we got to talk a lot ;^>)
Annette Funicello, Lamar Hunt (co-owner of the Chiefs) and various other celebrities (attended 1976/77 Super Bowl in Anaheim, CA, with tickets on the 50 yard line in the NFL section)
Mara Liason (high school acquaintance, PBS reporter and currently one of Fox News resident liberals)
Eric Segal, author of Love Story (he tried to "pick me up" as a 15 year old in my sister's dorm at Harvard, where Al Gore and Tommy Lee Jones were room mates, though I don't recall meeting either of them)
Dr. Herman Tarnower, author of the Scarsdale Diet, murdered by Jean Harris (his clinic was a block from the volunteer ambulance I belonged to so we transported his patients regularly, sometimes with him along)
Ethel Waters (met her at the Billy Graham Crusade at Shea Stadium in the late 60s, early 70s, where I was a "youth counselor")
Barbara Streisand and Omar Sharif (on the set of their movie, Funny Lady, at Will Rogers State Park in LA)
Telly Savalas (10 minute conversation during production of an episode of Kojak at the Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles - I convinced him the prop radios the show was using were crap and they changed to real Motorola handy talkies)
Lee Trevino (at a golf tournament, before he got real famous)
Sam Snead (at the Greenbrier resort, where he was the golf pro)
Calvin Hill (Dallas Cowboys running back - when he was a high school prospect he and my brother went to visit Yale together - Cal had a sandwich at our house afterwards - Cal Hill's wife was Hillary Clinton's roommate at Wellesley, while their son has been an NBA star)
Buster Crabbe (multiple Olympic medal winner, starred as both Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers in very successful movie serials - met him during a "lull" in his career, when he was doing swimming demos at the Concord hotel in the Borscht Belt - even saw him nekid in the locker room, really disturbing when you're 8 years old)
Margaret Hamilton (the Wicked Witch from the Wizard of Oz, who regularly read stories to my grade school classes for several years, through a friendship with one of my grade school teachers - they became friends during rehab from serious burns, Miss Hamilton's following the scene where she disappeared from the Munchkin village in the movie)
George Lucas (appearing in an assumed identity at the first showing of the first Star Wars, as a benefit for the San Francisco Film Archives two week before the film premiered)
Steven Spielberg (appearing in an assumed identity at a sneak preview in SF Raiders of the Lost Ark)
Drew Carey (spent an evening with him at The Adventurers Club at Disney's Pleasuer Island, in Florida)
Joe Montana (rode the Jungle Cruise with he and his family at WDW Magic Kingdom in Florida, got an autograph and a guarantee that they would repeat in the next Super Bowl - they did)
Bob Hope and Michael Eisner (didn't meet them, but they were present for the grand opening of MGM Studios theme park at WDW, which we attended - we were the 5th family back from the front in one of the turnstile lines)
Robin Williams (had dinner at the next table to he and his party at the restaurant in Cinderella's Castle at WDW, spoke a bit to him)
Carlos Santana (rode an airplane with just him, a co-worker of mine and myself in coach - we talked a good bit about common interests and acquaintances in the San Francisco area)
Mickey Rooney (met him briefly at a book signing at MGM Studios, WDW, Florida)
Morey Amsterdam (most famous for the character of Buddy on the Dick Van Dyke Show, also wrote the song "Rum and Coca Cola," met and spoke with him at Epcot at WDW, Florida
Tennessee Ernie Ford (on line with him at the Eddie Bauer store in Palo Alto - nice guy)
Rev Avery Post (pastor at the Congregational Church my family attended when I was in grade school, he went on to head the World Council of Churches when it was involved in funneling church donation to the communist rebels in Angola - he answered my sister's questions about The Trinity by saying "God is just a myth, so don't worry about it," which is one big part of my cynicism regarding churches)
Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward (investors in the ambulance company I worked for in the NY area, they lived next door to the owner - spoke to each of them several times on the phone, though we never met)
J Michael Straczynski (creator and producer of Babylon 5, a frequent correspondent on the SciFi forum on Compuserve, back in the day)
Jim Fallows (author, reporter and one time editor of US News and World Reports, a frequent correspondent on the Canopus forum on Compuserve, back in the day - fellow OS/2 devotee)
Richard Smith (founder of Phar Lap software programming tools company back in the DOS extender days, currently a recognized leader in internet security theory, a frequent correspondent on the Canopus forum on Compuserve, back in the day - fellow OS/2 devotee, we still argue over who coined the term "secret agent" for ill behaved software agents on the internet)

Celebrities I have connections to

Number 1: Dick Cheney (my father went on several business / fishing trips with him, and my mother went along on a couple where Mrs. Cheney was present)
Ross Perot (again, through my parents - my Mom described ol' Ross as "crazy as a bitsy bug")
Ed Sullivan (through his granddaughter, Carla, whom I knew from grade school through high school, she is the daughter of his daughter and son-in-law, who was the producer of his TV show)
Roger Staubach (he was the guest of honor at a dinner where my father was the host the same night I had my first corneal transplant - Mr. Staubach wrote me several very nice letters of encouragement, telling me that he was including me in his prayer group at the time - it meant a lot)
Billy Jeff Clinton (the company I worked for held the mortgage on Whitewater, which he and his chums defaulted on while embezzling the money for his campaigns)
Linda McCartney's sister (my brother dated her, briefly, in high school)
Yoko Ono, Linda McCartney, John Voight, Liza Minnelli, Peter and Jane Fonda (all went to my high school, though not when I was there, several attended when my sibs were there)
The publisher of Esquire (my brother dated his daughter through most of high school and college)
Margaret Mitchell (of Watergate fame, distant cousin)
Shirley Temple Black (neighbor of and acquaintance of my parents in the SF bay area back in the 80s)
Ava Gardner (my father flew from London to NY with just her and Richard Chamberlain in 1st class - Chamberlain was an ass to both of them, while my father and Miss Gardner had a great time - Miss Gardner was reviewing a script, The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, which was basically a cameo, and asked my father to go over it with her - she told him she decided to do the part based on their conversation)

Anonymous connections (for their protection and mine)

Number 1: My nephew, who has been an LAPD detective in the gang and drug task force (undercover) whose first two novels have just been sold for publication starting next year, which has allowed him to take (hopefully permanent) leave from his dangerous job - the first novel has already been optioned for a movie by a major Hollywood producer
The Irish ambassador to the US and then to Russia, who helped Ronald Reagan set up the SALT negotiations with Gorbachev (he lived next door when he was legal advisor to the Irish delegation to the UN in the 60s - his daughter was my best friend growing up)
The daughter of the head of NBC in the late 60s, early 70s, whom I dated... once
the son of the head of ABC in the late 60s, early 70s, whom I walked to grade school with
the founder, organizer and first head of NEST, the Nuclear Emergency Search Team, a group of folks given a Geiger counter and a gun, told that bad guys have nuclear devices out there and told to go get them - this man was the calmest person I ever met - he explained this by pointing out that no one had a nuclear device when we met

I Met Ann Coulter! I Met Ann Coulter!!! Neener Neener Neener! Neener Neener Neener!

Celebs I've had conversations with--

Presidents--#41 & 43

Senators--Kay Bailey Hutchison, Phil Gramm

Congressman--Kevin Brady (I see him frequently and he's one of the best! He commutes to D.C. and spends weekends in his district; when he isn't DUI in South Dakota after Homecoming--he is so populat the local Dems didn't make a fuss about it even if he is a REAL conservative.)

Astronauts--John Glenn & Neil Armstrong, Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, and several others

Sports--Eric Dickerson (nice), Jim Kelly (nice), Mary Lou Retton (nice), Nolan Ryan (nice), Pete Rose (a jerk!)

Movie stars--I don't talk to movie stars

Boy these will be all over the place:

Met Bo Derek at a Republican fundraiser.

Had picture taken with Ozzy Osbourne in Hollywood.

Met Chasey Lain at a strip joint (yes).

Shook hands with Governor George W. Bush back in the day.

Met Buzz Aldrin at a buddy's Christmas party.

Met Newt Gingrich and Henry Kissinger at a GOP convention.

Shook hands with Bob Dole at a campaign stop in '96.

Met US Army PFC Alfred Frye at V-E Day ceremonies earlier this year (he and his unit captured Herman Goering).

Met and hung out with Jim Ladd during his radio show.

Sat near Jamie Luner on a flight to Burbank Airport.

Hmm.
Met Neil Cavuto at a book signing. I have a picture of my son sitting on his lap.

Walked up to Bruce Hornsby on the sidewalk outside "La Bar Bat" in NYC and the first words out of my mouth were "Hey, you're Bruce Hornsby! I love you" As if he didn't know who he was... I was very young at the time, LOL :) I wanted to crawl under a rock after I said that. My husband (just my lowly boyfriend at the time) laughed his ass off at me. What can I say, I love Bruce's music.

Sadly, that is all.

Great picture!! Did you work for Reagan? (See I knew I stalked you for a reason.) ;o)

I've been blessed with a very "hip" grandmother, and when I turned twenty-one she took me to Las Vegas. And she giddily told me that she got us tickets to see Wayne Newton. Now being a twenty-one year old knowitall, I'm thinkin, "Oh God, Wayne Newton, how cheesy. How am I gonna get out of this??" And I'll tell you, by the end of his show I was damn near ready to pitch my panties on stage too. What a hoot!

Damn! I wouldda swooned right there with you. Just think though, I'm sure if you were Mrs. Tom Selleck you'd be too busy to be a Freeper. And we definately need you to keep the boys in line here. ;o)

FReeper . . .Mrs. Selleck . . .FReeper . . .Mrs. Selleck . . .doesn't seem like a difficult choice to me!

Oh, I forgot Wayne Newton. I met him too. In my early 20s in Chicago, my sister figured out how to get into his dressing room. I was there to take a couple of pics. Didn't feel like tossing my undies at him, however, as you did.

Now the time I met the Lone Ranger (Clayton Moore) that was a different matter. . .

I'm trying to imagine what the Lone Ranger would have done if a pair of whitey-tidies was tossed his way.

Think I'll stop imagining it now...

Let's see over the years I have met:

Dorothy Hamill

Cool! I'm an amateur figure skater (USFSA Adult Division) and have met quite a few well known skaters and coaches. It turns out that skating is actually a pretty small world and you can't really avoid it.

I skated on a session with Brian Boitano during the Skate San Francisco competition when he couldn't get his usual private ice. Pretty intimidating practising my tiny adult single axel while he was throwing triples! He's a real nice guy.

I've skated with Dan Hollander several times, he's a really good guy and even asked me how my double salchow was coming along.

The elite skaters that I know the best are actually sometime coaches of mine; every July for the past few years Oleg Vasiliev (former Olympic Gold medallist and world champion) has run a weekend adult pairs clinic, which I've attended for the last three years. His assistant coaches are current Olympic and world champions Tatiana Totmianana and Maxim Marinen (yeah, the ones who had the bad fall). It's been fun hearing their English improve over the years!

"Tonto, I have a big assignment for you."

How old is that movie?

Cool!