Celebrity Encounters: Good or Bad? (1 Viewer)

[BarryR]

The only celebrity that I have met was Dorothy Lamour. It was back in the early '90's and she was promoting Boscov's department store at the Moorestown Mall in New Jersey which had just opened. She had a Q&A with the small crowd and she handed out autographed pictures of her older self. She sincerely apologized that she couldn't sign individual items but insisted that she signed every one of the pics she was handing out.

Interesting to know how older celebrities busied themselves. I always liked Lamour.

 

[Sam Posten]

Borgnine was always known as a good guy--there's an obscure "documentary" (on Youtube, I think), that shows him driving through small towns in an RV, trying out local restaurants and chatting amiably with the delighted residents.

Cool! If you find a link please let me know!

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Okay, I'll 'fess up--I never heard of 'em either. But that's okay. But I learned some new names.

I never heard of them, either. Glad it wasn't just me -- my wife does accuse me sometimes of living in a cave when it comes to pop culture.

 

[BarryR]

Cool! If you find a link please let me know!

I'm not good with links, but go to YouTube and type "Ernest Borgnine On The Bus."

 

[Malcolm R]

I never heard of them, either. Glad it wasn't just me -- my wife does accuse me sometimes of living in a cave when it comes to pop culture.

Either that or you're just too young. Samantha Fox, Jewel Shepard, Stacey Q, and Nina Blackwood were all popular in the 1980's. Julie Michaels in the 1990's.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Either that or you're just too young. Samantha Fox, Jewel Shepard, Stacey Q, and Nina Blackwood were all popular in the 1980's. Julie Michaels in the 1990's.

I'm not too young -- I'm part of the "over 50 crowd". In this case, I'm probably too old.

 

[Rob_Ray]

A older friend of mine who's since passed away had a cute Dorothy Lamour story. Jack was a major Dorothy Lamour fan going back to the 1940s. I mean Dorothy Lamour was his idol and had been for decades. One time in the late eighties or early nineties, Dorothy was appearing in a play in Long Beach and Jack's sister got him tickets for his birthday. And after pulling lots of strings, she managed to get an invitation to come backstage after the show so that Jack could finally meet Dorothy Lamour up close. All this would be a surprise, of course.

After the show, instead of exiting the theatre, Jack's sister told him to follow her as she wanted him to meet someone. They went backstage and Jack's sister waited with anticipation to see Jack's face when Dorothy Lamour would come through the door. Finally, the big moment came. Dorothy entered, saw my friend, and said, "Oh hi, Jack. I can't chat with you too long tonight. I'm supposed to meet a fan who's been waiting for quite a while."

 

[BarryR]

Either that or you're just too young. Samantha Fox, Jewel Shepard, Stacey Q, and Nina Blackwood were all popular in the 1980's. Julie Michaels in the 1990's.

To me the only one that mattered in the '80s was Deborah Harry.

 

[BarryR]

This is a very minor incident, but I'll tell it anyway. Around 1988 I was walking past a luxury apartment tower when I saw Dustin Hoffman loitering outside with a small child. I couldn't help but stop and look. Here then is the encounter.

Me: ....."hi!"
DH: (pleasant smile) "hi"

I walked on. I believe a great deal in respecting a celebrity's privacy. I still wish though I had something more meaningful to say at that moment!

 

[John Kilduff]

I also have another celebrity encounter that went well. I was 7 years old in 1990 when I met Jim Henson. It was a few months before he died, and me and my brother met him at Walt Disney World. This was around the time that Disney was trying to buy the Muppets the first time. Me and my brother had just gotten off the Tea Cups with my dad when my mom mentioned that she saw Jim Henson sitting on a bench. We went up to his security people and asked if we could meet him. They said yes and we spoke to him for a little. He even did the voice of Kermit The Frog for us. We took our picture with him...He took off his sunglasses so people could know it was him. He was a real gentleman, and I'm proud that I got to meet him.

Sincerely,

John Kilduff...

Knowing that I'm old enough to have met Jim Henson makes me feel old.

 

[Stan]

Met Madonna back in 83 when she was doing her bar scene for "Vision Quest". She was very nice, for some reason we got onto the subject of books and what was available nearby. This was just before she became "Madonna". I'd like to think her private personality is as nice as she was at the time.

Also met and played video games with Matthew Modine at the same time. It amazed me how many times they had to film the same scene, which probably took up all of three minutes in the film, yet it took three days to finish.

I was an "extra". In the widescreen version I'm seated at the bar during Madonna's song.

 

[schan1269]

"I was an "extra". In the widescreen version I'm seated at the bar during Madonna's song."

My movie moment(along with several classmates) is in Hoosiers.

Several times during the Hinkle scenes you can see roughly 80 people from my high school. I've never checked to see if I have any screentime though. I assume I do.

I do have a signed "group shot" with Hopper, Hackman and Hershey(although signed in reality by Hopper and Hackman...Hershey's is stamped). We "all" got one for participation.

 

[Joe Lugoff]

I never heard of them, either. Glad it wasn't just me -- my wife does accuse me sometimes of living in a cave when it comes to pop culture.

When it comes to today's pop culture, a cave is a better place to be!

 

[BarryR]

When it comes to today's pop culture, a cave is a better place to be!

I don't even pretend to keep track of, well, the music scene anyway. Speaking of music, I did get Johnny Cash's autograph in 1972. A cluster of people found him outside his dressing room. He was quite friendly, though he was talking over my head when he signed for me. I was thrilled to see Maybelle Carter perform that evening, actually.

 

[PODER]

Back during the 1980s, I was lucky enough to Stage Manage quite a few Tributes and Fund-raisers ... on Broadway, at Lincoln Center and at Carnegie Hall. I'd be here most of the afternoon if I was to start listing all the theatrical legends who took part in them. And yet, of all the folks involved, Bob Hope was the only one who took the time (after a Carnegie Hall Benefit for The Bronx Zoo) to swing around backstage so that he could thank me and the crew. A true gentleman!!
As far as being struck dumb, however, that would probably have to be the night I went down to get some cigarettes at a shop in our building (Manhattan Plaza) and quite literally ran into Jackie, Caroline and John Kennedy. I'm afraid I just stood there with my mouth hanging open ...

 

[Mike Frezon]

Either that or you're just too young. Samantha Fox, Jewel Shepard, Stacey Q, and Nina Blackwood were all popular in the 1980's. Julie Michaels in the 1990's.

Now if he had met Martha Quinn, maybe we'd have something!

 

[BarryR]

Back during the 1980s, I was lucky enough to Stage Manage quite a few Tributes and Fund-raisers ... on Broadway, at Lincoln Center and at Carnegie Hall. I'd be here most of the afternoon if I was to start listing all the theatrical legends who took part in them. And yet, of all the folks involved, Bob Hope was the only one who took the time (after a Carnegie Hall Benefit for The Bronx Zoo) to swing around backstage so that he could thank me and the crew. A true gentleman!!
As far as being struck dumb, however, that would probably have to be the night I went down to get some cigarettes at a shop in our building (Manhattan Plaza) and quite literally ran into Jackie, Caroline and John Kennedy. I'm afraid I just stood there with my mouth hanging open ...

Nice to hear that about Hope. I've heard enough cranky things about him to make me wonder what he was really like (he still remains a bit of an enigma), but that was nice to know. By the way, his Toluca Lake home in Los Angeles, which he lived in from 1938 to his passing, is on the market if you're interested.

As for that Kennedy encounter, it sounds surreal!

 

[JohnMor]

A few years ago I went to a lecture Stephen Sondheim gave at UCLA and sitting in the row behind me were Julie Andrews and Alan and Marilyn Bergman. I wondered if Streisand was going to be there since the Bergmans were. As soon as the lights started to go down, Barbra came down the aisle pushing Blake Edwards in a wheelchair to join Julie and the Bergmans. After the lecture several people briefly stopped by and payed their respects to Barbra and she was very sweet to each person. Julie, while not rude at all, pointedly kept talking to someone she knew and never made eye contact with anyone who came up. It was actually a very good way to keep from being engaged by a lot of people. Barbra just sat there, chewing gum, waiting for the time they were all going to go backstage. Every time somebody told her they loved her, she just said, "Thanks, that's very sweet." A few rows ahead of us was Angela Lansbury, who was also very approachable and blew me a kiss as she started to leave when they all headed backstage. Maybe Barbra has mellowed over the years.

 

[BarryR]

A few years ago I went to a lecture Stephen Sondheim gave at UCLA and sitting in the row behind me were Julie Andrews and Alan and Marilyn Bergman. I wondered if Streisand was going to be there since the Bergman's were. As soon as the lights started to go down, Barbra came down the aisle pushing Blake Edwards in a wheelchair to join Julie and the Bergmans. After the lecture several people briefly stopped by and payed their respects to Barbra and she was very sweet to each person. Julie, while not rude at all, pointedly kept talking to someone she knew and never made eye contact with anyone who came up. It was actually a very good way to keep from being engaged by a lot of people. Barbra just sat there, chewing gum, waiting for the time they were all going to go backstage. Every time somebody told her they loved her, she just said, "Thanks, that's very sweet." A few rows ahead of us was Angela Lansbury, who was also very approachable and blew me a kiss as she started to leave when they all headed backstage. Maybe Barbra has mellowed over the years.

I imagine celebrities have their own strategies to avoid unwanted chat without being rude.

A local bookstore is a magnet for big names (Dick Van Dyke, Billy Crystal etc.) but I'm not even curious to drop by and observe anymore. I was far more starstruck when younger, but I'm still game I guess for an unexpected encounter! I just don't seek them out.

P.S. when I was doing research on a book years ago, I wrote several famous people and was delighted when Stephen Sondheim typed a nice reply to my very humble inquiry.

 

[Kevin Hewell]

I danced with Simon LeBon (from Duran Duran) back in '93. I also served a sandwich to George Peppard back during his "A-Team" days.