# Do you know or have you ever met anyone famous?



## Itullian

Let's hear about it.


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## Tristan

I've met Michael Tilson Thomas, Patty Duke, and Adam Young (Owl City). 

My dad worked with Tim Draper, that weirdo venture capitalist who wanted to split California into 6 states--I've met him when he was over at our house a few times years ago.


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## science

Of relevance to classical music, Hilary Hahn once came over to my house and my dad thought she had a crush on me. (There's a story... but that's all I'm willing to tell, and aside from that bit it's boring.) 

I've taught a few Korean celebrities. The most interesting one, I think, is a student who was in a K-pop boy band that had a #1 hit in Thailand. (You might think, "He's making this up," but I don't think I have the creativity needed to make that up.) 

Chris Farley once came to the coffee shop where I hung out in high school. I just thought, "That guy sounds a lot like Chris Farley." So much so that I sort of checked him out on my way to the bathroom but I thought he was way too tall to be "the real" Chris Farley. The rest of the time he was there, I didn't even turn around to see him. He kept trying to get the barista to buy him a pizza. After he left, I found out it really was Chris Farley. This was a few months after Tommy Boy was out so he was at the height of his fame at that time. 

I once saw Claire Danes drunk. She was trying to go through a gate but she had the wrong side and was rattling the fence. A huge guy was there just watching her. I let her in and as she walked past I checked her out well to make sure she was Claire Danes and then the huge dude checked me out too and I realized that he was her body guard and that evidently his duties didn't include opening gates. Anyway, walked through the gate and then twirled around cooing, "The glories of inebriation!" 

On my honeymoon, my wife and I stayed in a chateau in France for a few days, and at the same time another guest was some guy who had a show on BBC. I really have no idea who he was (I hardly watch any TV, let alone the BBC) but we all ate dinner together in the dining room and obviously everyone else thought he was a big deal. That's sort of how it is with the Korean celebrities - because I pay almost no attention to Korean media, the people around me get excited, but to me they're always just people. Now the boy band guy, anyone could've seen that he was cute... I mean, I'm a completely straight guy but I could easily see a bit of what the girls (or music company talent searcher people) would see in him. But otherwise, they're just folk. 

Needless to say that in reality all four of them are former lovers of my mine, but I'm too shy to tell the stories without a six-figure advance on a book deal.


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## science

Oh - I forgot - I actually was on a TV show with Korean celebrities, some famous comedians. Korean burlesque humor is a mystery to me and to all other foreigners, so I played myself basically - no parts, no lines, just a foreigner in a bookstore asking about Michael Breen's _The Koreans_ - and they jumped around wildly knocking things over and I had no idea what else I was supposed to do. I showed up, spent ten minutes being confused for a Korean cable TV show, and got paid $60.


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## Cheyenne

I've exchanged a few emails with Scottish poet and translator DM Black, who was so kind as to send me a signed volume of his translations of Goethe. I've seen Bruckner biographer Cornelis van Zwol, and a mutual acquaintance will arrange a meeting sometime soon(!).

Also, I once met Y.K. Kim, the martial artist known for producing, directing and starring in _Miami Connection_ (1987); an action-adventure musical about a martial art rock band fighting against cocaine dealing biker-ninjas while singing about the power of friendship. One of those infamous so-bad-it's-good films.


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## Wood

I could provide a considerable list of famous people I have met, hung with or merely had a passing encounter with, including a senior member of the Royal Family, Ministers of the UK government and sports and music stars in my younger years.

However, none of them deserve a mention. I rejected their society, and prefer the company of the anonymous unwashed, like you lot.


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## brianvds

Depends on what we mean by famous. I have known/met a number of South African celebrities, whom I can guarantee you no one outside of this country has ever heard of.


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## DrKilroy

If I had to talk to, or be noticed by a famous person, then no, I probably have not. If it counts if I was in one room with the person, or if I was quite close to the person, then I have.  The most famous musicians that played in a concert I have attended, are probably Argerich, Freire, Ashkenazy and Grimaud. I have still yet to see Penderecki and Wit, who sometimes give concerts in Warsaw.

I have seen some politicians from close distance; namely Poland's prime minister Donald Tusk and late Polish president Lech Kaczyński. I have also actually seen Yulia Tymoshenko once, when she was on a diplomatic visit to Poland.


Best regards, Dr


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## joen_cph

Knowing and knowing, famous and famous ... but: 

working in a hotel, I checked in a to-be Danish prime minister, as well as Heinrich Schiff, British undercover reporter Donald MacIntyre, and a player on the national soccer team; 
working in a newspaper kiosk, I sold newspapers to Mitsuko Uchida, Russian presidential candidate Gregorij Yavlinsky, film director Jørn Leth, and local rock star Anne Linnet; 
working in a music shop, I sold records to composers Per Nørgård & Niels Viggo Bentzon, the conductor Michael Schønwandt, pianist-composer Thomas Koppel, and the Danish foreign minister Ellemann-Jensen. I also did some work for the pianist Ivar Mikhashoff.

Only a couple of these names are probably known outside Scandinavia, and none are Hollywood gossip material, for sure.

Once wandering the streets of St. Paul de Vence during the Cannes Festival, I met the complete entourage of Catherine Deneuve, the amount of people and attention was plain ridiculous. I´ve also seen the Pope in the Vatican, the Danish Queen several times, a former Danish prime minister being approached by a madman, etc.


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## PetrB

Ah, a kiss and tell thread


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## Whistler Fred

I had the pleasure of meeting both Aaron Copland and Samuel Barber at two separate occasions during my years at college. I even played Copland's _Duo_ and Barber _Canzone_ in front of the composers - none too well, I'm afraid.

They were an interesting contrast in personalities. Mr. Copland was like the kindly and wise seer, with a warm humanity that was felt by the students who had no idea who he was (it was the '70s, and if it wasn't disco it was worth listening to, in the minds of many). Mr. Barber was more of the worldly sophisticate, but also quite friendly and outgoing, the type who could go from discussing the more arcane aspects of creativity to celebrity gossip at a moment's notice.

I'm lucky to have met both of them!


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## Huilunsoittaja

All the famous people I've ever met have mostly been musicians and particularly flutists. I've met the teacher at Eastman, Bonita Boyd, Marina Piccinini at Peabody, and the teachers at Carnegie Mellon, notably Jeanne Baxtresser, who was principal of the NYPO for many years. My latest connection to fame has definitely been a semi-student of the principal of the National Symphony Orchestra, his name is Aaron Goldman. He is a great teacher, and I actually hope I could get a letter of recommendation from him for grad school applications, if he knows enough about me to write such a thing.


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## brianvds

Anyway, I'm pretty sure I'm within six degrees of someone who is within six degrees of Kevin Bacon...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Degrees_of_Kevin_Bacon

And I have a Mandela number of 2, i.e. I know someone who met Nelson Mandela. Or, er, saw him in a mall and got close enough that the security guards stopped him, as Madiba rewarded him with a fatherly smile...


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## elgar's ghost

John Bonham in (I think) 1979, three of Black Sabbath in 1980 and Roy Wood in 1984 are the ones that spring to mind. I also spotted George Melly eating breakfast with the John Chilton Feetwarmers at a service station on the M6 in 1981 but I decided it would be wrong to bother him.

Comedian/actor Rik Mayall used to live in my home town (his parents still do, I believe) and I think I spoke to him once. 

None from the classical world, sadly.


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## hpowders

I met Rudolph Guiliani, former mayor of NYC when he was campaigning for president.

Also, I was in the swimming pool near Maria Schreiber and children at the Ritz Carlton, Maui a few years back, but I played it cool and pretended to ignore her.

The "governator" of California (her husband at the time) was relaxing on a lounge chair near the pool surrounded by security guards.

I locked eyes with Bobby Kennedy when he was campaigning for president on the boardwalk in Long Beach, Long Island, one evening in August 1967, but we never spoke.

In other words, I haven't "met" many famous people.


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## Morimur

The closest I've come to meeting someone famous is standing in line with Margaret Atwood at a coffee shop in downtown Toronto. I don't much care for fiction and even if I did, I wouldn't have seen the need to say anything to her.


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## Huilunsoittaja

Hah! Yeah, it's always weird when you know you're meeting someone famous, but they're not famous or that important to you.


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## SixFootScowl

In the late 1970s I met Gordy Howe ("Mr. Hockey"), but it really didn't impress me since I was not a hockey fan, nor a sports fan.


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## scratchgolf

Clive Davis is a family friend but he's not really mainstream famous. Most people couldn't pick him out of a lineup. 

As for meeting famous people, I had a funny experience. There's a professional bowler that went to the same high school as I did, about 10 years before me. I bumped into him in a public restroom which was nowhere near our hometown. I only recognized him because I saw his picture on our school's "wall of fame" for 4 years. So I casually say hello and mention that we went to the same school in New York, thinking it was mildly neat that I bump into him randomly. He gives me the kind of look that says, "Great. Another crazy fan is hassling me in a public restroom." He then gives me an impolite grunt of acknowledgement and walks away. If he only realized that for me, meeting any professional bowler is about as exciting as meeting my local trash man, which he probably would have been had he not been graced with the "talents" of a professional bowler.


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## Manxfeeder

I've bumped into a few famous/not-famous-now people. Here are some of them:

Back when Louise Mandrell was a well-known country artist, I was invited to a friend's baby shower at her house. There had been an ice storm just before, so when we arrived, the power was out. Amidst a semi-darkened house lit by candles, a little well-quaffed lady emerged and, upon seeing me, asked, "Do you know how to cook a duck?" When I said no, she returned to the semi-darkness. That was my encounter with her. 

One of my favorite encounters was at UC Berkeley back in the mid-70s. I had tickets to a jazz concert featuring Sonny Rollins, but when I arrived, I realized I had forgotten them. So I went to the stage door, and when it opened, I walked in and acted like I knew what I was doing. I stood in the wings waiting for the first group to finish so I could sneak to my seat, when a man by me turned to me excitedly and said, "They're all right, aren't they?" I looked over, and it was Sonny Rollins himself. I could feel my face turning pale with shock that I was being addressed by one of my idols, but I managed to mumble, "Yeah." 

Disneyland used to host big bands during summers in the Carnation Plaza, and at breaks, we had opportunities to meet them, like Stan Kenton, Count Basie, Woodie Herman, and Harry James. One particularly memorable time was when the Main Street Electrical Parade began during a break, and I got to watch it standing with Count Basie's trombone section. 

I tend to get nervous and clam up around famous people who I admire, like when I met Art Pepper, Frank Rosolino, B.B. Dickerson from War, and Don Menza. Fortunately, I had someone with me who had no trouble talking. 

Gospel singers are very approachable. Ronnie Hinson and Joel Hemphill have been to my church several times. They are very good speakers. If you know gospel music, they're considered famous.


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## Kieran

I know a few of them to see...


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## cwarchc

I once had to jump out of the way of Nikki Lauda, driving a Mercedes rather quickly in Monaco
Me and my friends were shouted "Get off that f*****g track" by Murray Walker 
We sat in a small waiting room with George Harrison, he was flying to Nice
I met Jmmy Carr in a Manchester street, not the nicest person ever.


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## aleazk

Oh, yeah, a cup of tea with Ligeti in his flat in Hamburg, in the 90's.

Then I woke up and realized I was drooling my 2014 pillow


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## Celloman

I once met Itzakh Perlman during an interview. When I asked him what his favorite violin concerto was, he replied, "Whichever one I happen to be playing at the time."

I also got his signature...on a medical business card!


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## Morimur

aleazk said:


> Oh, yeah, a cup of tea with Ligeti in his flat in Hamburg, in the 90's.
> 
> Then I woke up and realized I was drooling my 2014 pillow


I would have LOVED meeting Ligeti. I've actually fantasized about it in skeletal detail: He'd be at my favorite coffee shop, sitting near the entrance. I'd 'appear' at the doorway and prance into the shop. I'd look to my right, I'd look to my left and BEHOLD! Ligeti is sitting by himself, and drinking a cup of coffee! What kind of coffee? BLACK (like your f*cking soul!). Anyway, I'd immediately accost him and stick my face at about an inch from his and in a loud and obnoxious voice, with an intense look on my face, say: HEY LIGETI! Has anyone ever told YOU that YOU look like KLAUS KINSKI? I swear, YOU look EXACTLY LIKE HIM!!. Did YOU know that?!! DID YOU!!? HMMMMMMM!!??...


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## TurnaboutVox

Three famous psychoanalysts, at or towards the very end of their careers (No, not Freud, I'm not that old). 

And once a famous footballer and one time Scotland football team manager pushed past me grumpily on his way out of the bar me and my mates were entering in Aberdeen, if that counts.


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## aleazk

Lope de Aguirre said:


> I would have LOVED meeting Ligeti. I've actually fantasized about it in skeletal detail: He'd be at my favorite coffee shop sitting near the entrance. I'd 'appear' at the doorway and prance into the shop. I'd look to my right, I'd look to my left and BEHOLD! Ligeti sitting by himself, drinking a cup of coffee! What kind of coffee? BLACK (like your f*cking soul!). Anyway, I'd immediately accost him and stick my face at about an inch from his and in a loud, obnoxious voice with an intense look on my face, say: Hey LIGETI! Has anyone told you that you look like KLAUS KISKI? I swear, you look EXACTLY LIKE HIM!!. Did you know that?!! DID YOU!!? HMMMMMMM!!??


Well, the resemblance is indeed striking. I will ask him in my next dream! ;-)


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## GraemeG

I've had dinner with winemaker Michel Chapoutier, and Australian boxer Jeff Fenech (not on the same occasion!). I've hosted/attended post-concert social occasions with any number of musicians, including Nigel Kennedy. I've met (and had CDs signed by) Peter Hurford, Jorge Bolet, Neville Marriner, Gidon Kremer, Wolfram Christ, Aarvo Part, Charles Mackerras. I've accompanied (orchestrally) Alexander Gavrylyuk and Amy Dickson and Simon Tedeschi. I've met any number of local politicians, none of whom are internationally known.
I was 4 years behind Hugo Weaving at high school, and 5 ahead of Hugh Jackman.
cheers,
GG


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## senza sordino

Back in my youth when I was athletic, I met Ben Johnson, won and disqualified 100 m champion at 1988 Olympics, and Daley Thompson winner of 1980 and 1984 Decathlon Olympic Gold medalist. 

I talked to Jean Chretian on his book signing tour after his time as Canadian Prime Minister.

I had a conversation with the concertmaster of the Vancouver Symphony two weeks ago. He's not that famous. 

I sat next to on a plane and talked to David Suzuki, Canadian scientist and television presenter.


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## Blancrocher

senza sordino said:


> I had a conversation with the concertmaster of the Vancouver Symphony two weeks ago. He's not that famous.


It's the not-so-famous individuals that love to be recognized and appreciated for their work, in my experience.


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## Cosmos

The only famous person I've ever met was Mitsuko Uchida. She was signing CDs after her concert (I managed to get first in line). Sadly, I didn't have a chance to say more than a few compliments, but I did get a picture with her  though this was a couple years ago and I look dumb









She played/conducted two Mozart concertos: 11 in F major, and the iconic 21 in C major


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## brianvds

One day, people will use this thread as proof that they met ME...


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## lupinix

Alan Lee only, I still have his autograph somewhere


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## Wood

TurnaboutVox said:


> And once a famous footballer and one time Scotland football team manager pushed past me grumpily on his way out of the bar me and my mates were entering in Aberdeen, if that counts.


Who????????????????????


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## TurnaboutVox

Gordon Strachan


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## mirepoix

TurnaboutVox said:


> Gordon Strachan


I was going to ask if it was Ferguson, because I know he's crabbit.


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## violadude

I met John Adams at my school a couple years ago.


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## mirepoix

I suppose it makes me a _bad sport_ if I don't name names, but in most cases I'd rather not.

Over the years (mostly decades ago) I photographed a number of models, actors, pop musicians and TV presenters.

More personally, my former father in law had a seat in the House of Lords. And in his time he was never out of the gossip columns. He was a 'character'... One night we were in his favourite wine bar which was so crowded you could barely move. I was carefully weaving my way through the bodies and back to my seat but found my progress stalled by a group of four or five. Eventually one of them casually said to me "Oh, sorry" and moved aside, guiding me past. In doing so she briefly had her hand on my hip to aid me around her. When I finally got seated I was told that it was Madonna. _Madonna touched my hip._
I had a fling with a stage actress who went on to have a long running role in a big musical - but that was when we were both very young and before she had become who she became, if you know what I mean.
Got chatted up by a pop singer/actress in a bar - I remember next to nothing about it though.
One evening I had the pleasure of spending hours in the company of a session guitarist named Tommy Tedesco. What a gentleman.


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## Novelette

Cosmos said:


> The only famous person I've ever met was Mitsuko Uchida. She was signing CDs after her concert (I managed to get first in line). Sadly, I didn't have a chance to say more than a few compliments, but I did get a picture with her  though this was a couple years ago and I look dumb
> 
> View attachment 40903
> 
> 
> She played/conducted two Mozart concertos: 11 in F major, and the iconic 21 in C major


She's a very lovely person. I've met her a couple of times very briefly, most recently in Chicago this March after she performed Schumann's Piano Concerto. I deeply admire her passion for music, and especially for Schumann.


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## aleazk

violadude said:


> I met John Adams at my school a couple years ago.


"Oh, yeah, he lives next door to me. Look, here's a picture I took him yesterday when he was doing some gardening chores:










I said to him: hey, johnny, those lilacs ain't going to grow more, so stop throwing so much friggin fertilizer there, I'm trying to eat my breakfast here!"

Marcel Proost


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## Weston

Rumor has it I once dated Trini Lopez's niece. Does that count? (Who is Trini Lopez, you ask? Well, never mind. I feel old.)

On a more serious note, because of the line of work I used to do, I did run into quite few semi-famous people. I started to list a few, then thought it sounded like name dropping and thought better of it. Suffice to say it was kind of cool, though I don't feel particularly different because of it. It's nice to look back and realize I've actually had a rather interesting life, no matter how lousy and unappreciated I may feel these days because of my more mundane but also more lucrative current career. Sigh . . .


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## starthrower

I've met some great musicians who may be more famous in other countries besides America.

Al Di Meola
Randy Brecker
Mose Allison
Airto Moreira
Bill Evans
Mike Stern
Sam Bush
Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown
Chad Wackerman


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## Stargazer

I know plenty of famous people, but they are all famous only to a particular niche in society. As for famous people that are more widely known, I went to high school with a top NFL football player. He used to work at the same store as I did after school.


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## Pysmythe

I spoke with Bradley Delp, the lead singer for Boston, for about 10 or 15 minutes after a concert in 1980, along with about 6 or 7 other concert-goers. We were all milling around at the backstage entrance after the show and he saw us and came out to talk and sign autographs, very casual about the whole thing, and a very polite, friendly man, not seeming at all put out by doing it, although he must have been tired. He also did not seem intoxicated or wired, or anything like that. Really, it was like talking with one of the neighbors, and in that sense was kind of surreal. In fact, all of the members of Boston, when they came out a few minutes later to leave, seemed quite nice. Remembering this, I was pretty sad when I heard that Delp had committed suicide a few years ago. Seems like maybe he might have been too gentle a soul for this world, I don't know.


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## Couac Addict

science said:


> Of relevance to classical music, Hilary Hahn once came over to my house and my dad thought she had a crush on me.


She's our soloist next week. I hope she got over you because she needs to focus on playing Rautavaara 

I can't think of the musicians/conductors I've played with. I was _gettin' my Amadeus on_ last month with Roger Norrington. He would probably describe the encounter differently.

Opera singers tend to have more celeb status than the rest of us mortal folk, so I'll throw in Fleming, Terfel, Domashenko, Skelton, Bocelli.


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## Varick

I was the head of security at Planet Hollywood in Manhattan (when it first opened on 57th Street) while I was in school. So I met TONS of celebrities and became friendly with a few of them (who came in often).

I got absolutely annihilated with Val Kilmer in a club one night in the early '90's.

Had cigars and drinks with Joey Pantoliano & Stephen Baldwin (Steve wasn't drinking alcohol) at the Grand Havana Room one night. Great guys, and fun to hang out with.

Having been in the music business for about 10 years, and toured all over the world with rock bands and orchestras, I met a bunch of people then (managed Mitsuko Uchida, Jesse Norman, Garrick Ohlsson - whom I thank to this day for getting me into single malt scotch. He gave me a bottle of Glenlivet for X-Mas one year and that was it for me - Chura Cherkassky, Julian Bream, John Williams (Guitarist), toured the Academy of St. Martin-In-The-Fields four times in North America, Royal Concertgebow Orchestra twice, Greg Allman, Bo Diddly for three years, and a host of others).

Some were nice, some not so nice, some were great, some were outright nasty, some were salt of the earth, some were walking train wrecks, and everything else in between. Just like everyone else I meet.

The greatest line I ever heard was, "The famous are rarely significant, and the truly significant are rarely famous." Kind of sums it up for me.

V


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## Svelte Silhouette

I sat next to Lady Thatcher at a dinner once


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## Varick

PoisonIV said:


> I sat next to Lady Thatcher at a dinner once


Did you converse with her?

V


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## Mesa

I've met Norman Lovett, AKA Holly from Red Dwarf. Lovely fellow.

Christ, i need to get some living done.


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## Tristan

Also forgot to mention that I have the same last name as a famous opera singer, but I don't think I'm related to her


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## millionrainbows

I shook hands with Anita Bryant twice, at a rodeo. This was before her anti-gay statements.


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## Ingélou

This one is for Brits, and doubtless Brits 'of a certain age'.

When I was at school in York, we held a charity jumble sale & because one of the staff knew her, we got *Jean Alexander*, the actress who played *Hilda Ogden* in gritty northern soap *Coronation Street* to open it. The chief thing I remember is that she took care to appear chic and soignée & _sans_ rollers. To help our effort, she signed autographs for threepence each (3d - would buy you half a Mars bar then). I hadn't got my album, so I queued up with a piece of paper, which she signed, and I promptly lost.

Somehow I don't think it's going to earn me a lot of kudos...


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## geralmar

Bob Dole winked at me while getting on an elevator, and Marina Oswald gave me a dirty look; but that's about it.


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## Vaneyes

millionrainbows said:


> *I shook hands with Anita Bryant twice*, at a rodeo. This was before her anti-gay statements.


And she immediately used Handi Wipes both times.


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## Vaneyes

geralmar said:


> *Bob Dole winked at me* while getting on an elevator, and Marina Oswald gave me a dirty look; but that's about it.


Oh, oh, that may have been when he was featured in a Viagra commercial.


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## Vaneyes

TurnaboutVox said:


> Gordon Strachan


I saw him play one match for Scotland national team. He was 26. :tiphat:


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## TurnaboutVox

Vaneyes said:


> I saw him play one match for Scotland national team. He was 26. :tiphat:


He was born in 1957, so that would have been in 1983, and that must have been around the time he pushed past me, so...It's all linked cosmically, I tell ya'!


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## Vaneyes

Many, usually in chance meetings or events. Most were pleasant, and ordinary in the settings. That's basically all that I require. Only a handful seemed to be supreme a-holes. Ill-behaved, pompous carriage, etc.

Two individuals do stand out. For their genuine warmth and interest. Ironically, they both hosted television shows for CBS in the '50's and '60's. I met them long after. Art Linkletter and Gary Moore. :tiphat::tiphat:


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## Vaneyes

Ingélou said:


> View attachment 42406
> 
> 
> This one is for Brits, and doubtless Brits 'of a certain age'.
> 
> When I was at school in York, we held a charity jumble sale & because one of the staff knew her, we got *Jean Alexander*, the actress who played *Hilda Ogden* in gritty northern soap *Coronation Street* to open it. The chief thing I remember is that she took care to appear chic and soignée & _sans_ rollers. To help our effort, she signed autographs for threepence each (3d - would buy you half a Mars bar then). I hadn't got my album, so *I queued up with a piece of paper, which she signed, and I promptly lost.*
> 
> Somehow I don't think it's going to earn me a lot of kudos...


Don't feel alone, I. I lost two homerun kings autographs. Roger Maris and Hank Aaron.


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## Guest

I used to record live concerts for my local NPR station, so I've met dozens of famous musicians, including Itzhak Perlman, Yo Yo Ma, Ruth Laredo, The Julliard, Kronos, and Melos String Quartets, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Bela Davidovich, Gidon Kremer, Alexi Sultanov, Anton Kuerti, Jean-Pierre Rampal, and too many others to list...or recall since it's been 24 years since I quit recording. My favorite celebrity was Julian Bream. I picked him up at the airport and had lunch with him on the day of a local recital. He was easily the most charming person I have ever met.

Oh...I stood next to Donald Sutherland in line at a Border's Books in LA...does that count?


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## cwarchc

My son works with a UK tv celebrity chef
Met him many times, can be a bit of an a******e, but generally a good laugh and looks after his staff


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## Vaneyes

cwarchc said:


> My son works with a *UK tv celebrity chef*
> Met him many times, can be a bit of an a******e, but generally a good laugh and looks after his staff


Initials are GR or JO?


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## Guest

Not to speak ill of the dead, but Ruth Laredo was easily the nastiest, most demanding artist I have ever worked with. Among other comments, she snapped at me, "If I see one mic cable or any equipment, I am walking off stage." That certainly complicated mic placement!


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## TinyTim

Four decades ago, I interviewed Van Cliburn for my high school newspaper. A very.gracious and kind man.


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## Svelte Silhouette

My wife and I shared a dinner table with Brian Eno in Brighton 2 or 3 years ago.

I'd forgotten all about that first meeting until commenting on another thread where his music got a mention.

I am now spending a few hours listening to music I wouldn't normally listen to except when dragged along to a concert and getting in for free.


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## Dustin

I haven't met anyone really famous besides a few pro sports players(Robert Horry, Bruce Bowen) and some decently famous musicians(Jimmie Vaughan..). I did have a conversation with Nancy Sinatra over on her Sinatra forum a couple times. I thought that was a pretty cool deal since I'm one of the biggest Sinatra fans ever.


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese

Does Norman Gunston count?


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## Capeditiea

...i have met about a dozen or so... 

i also thing Matt Groening and Seth MacFarlene are stalking me... :O


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## chill782002

No-one massively famous but I once got very drunk with Charlie Burchill, the guitarist from Simple Minds. Met Derek Nimmo at a church fete when quite a small child. He was a very pleasant man from what I can recall. Met Miecszyslaw Horszowski after a show in London, albeit very briefly. I also once acted as page-turner for Wayne Marshall at a recital.


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## Strange Magic

The one year I attended Columbia University, I hung out with later-to-be film director Brian De Palma--same class, though neither of us graduated there. We played chess, and compared our stereo systems. A somewhat longer relationship was with British naturalist-author-raconteur and Investigator of the Unknown (abominable snowmen and other "mysteries"), Ivan Sanderson. I brought my wife-to-be to the Sandersons' house in northern Nova Caesarea for our first date. Sanderson and his wife Alma were marvelous and fascinating people--been everywhere and done and seen everything. He looked exactly like a cheerful river otter, with the same buoyant personality and enthusiasm. Their house was full of treasures gathered during their years of traveling, and every room was painted yellow with green trim or the reverse: "Life colors" Ivan called them. I will never forget them.


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## Pat Fairlea

Mrs Pat and I sometimes indulge in the 'How Many Handshakes' game. You know the one: "I have shaken hands with X, who shook hands with Y, who shook hands with Picasso...".

Our nemesis was a good friend whose uncle was in Mussolini's cabinet. Her handshakes included Il Duce (obviously), Hitler, Ribbentrop and Franco. Dodgy business, fame.


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## Capeditiea

Pat Fairlea said:


> Mrs Pat and I sometimes indulge in the 'How Many Handshakes' game. You know the one: "I have shaken hands with X, who shook hands with Y, who shook hands with Picasso...".


is it similar to the 6 degrees of seperation thing?


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## chill782002

Actually, I was once asked if I was an idiot by Jeff Skilling (Enron CEO). Infamous rather than famous I guess although I think he's due to be let out of jail fairly soon.


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## Dr Johnson

Kenneth Branagh was a passenger in my cab when I toiled in that particular vineyard.

As I recall, we discussed oysters and the best way to eat them (he was on his way to a fish restaurant).


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## ldiat

ok rode a elevator with Jo Anne Worley(actress) cooked for jerry reuben-and jed bush. also gordie howe. and other various hockey players. wife hung out with david sanborn.


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## chill782002

My father went to the same London primary school as David Bowie and was in the year below him although he doesn't remember him at all. Rock music is not really an interest of his.


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## Klassik

I went to high school with a woman who once won Playboy's Playmate of the Year. I didn't know her or even know of her as she would have been a couple of grades below me, but I probably saw her in the hallways. 

I also knew someone in high school who ended up becoming a criminal. I didn't know he became a criminal, but I was flipping through the TV one night and saw him doing an interview from a federal prison about his crimes on a national news network. :lol: Talk about a surprise!


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## Capeditiea

The Von Maur Shooter, Robert Hawkinswould probably be the most notorius one from my highschool... 
among a few sports stars.


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## chill782002

Now we will proceed on to, "people I once saw crossing the street, at least I think it was them but they were a long way off".


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## Templeton

EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


> Does Norman Gunston count?


As in GarryMcDonald? Certainly does, in my book. Used to love Norman Gunston, when his shows played over here in the U.K., in the early 1980s. Absolute legend and one of the funniest and cleverest comedians that I have seen.


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese

Templeton said:


> As in GarryMcDonald? Certainly does, in my book. Used to love Norman Gunston, when his shows played over here in the U.K., in the early 1980s. Absolute legend and one of the funniest and cleverest comedians that I have seen.


Yeah, Garry McDonald aka Norman Gunston, originally a character on the Aunty Jack show also. A very cleaver man and main stay of Australian TV and Stage even won a Gold Logie here 

[video]Norman Gunston[/video]


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese

^Try again - any interview with "I'm sorry. I got lipstick on your toilet paper." has gotta be seen


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## SixFootScowl

Can't believe I forgot to post about all the famous Detroit Tiger's baseball players I have met. From about 2008 through 2012 I took my wife annually to the Detroit Tiger's Fantasy Camp in Florida every January. There I met many of the 1968 and 1884 World Series Champion Tigers, asd many other noteworthy Tigers. Some of the big names include Mickey Lolich, Al Kaline, Willie Horton, Bill Freehan, John Hiller, Dave Rosema, Milt Wilcox, Frank Tanana, Lou Whitaker, Alan Trammell, Willie Hernandez, ... (there are many more). Each fantasy team gets two Tigers as coaches, and everybody has a blast. My wife was the fantasy camper. I attended as a guest. She did well for her 105 pound frame. Struck one guy out and he slammed his bat on the ground in frustration.


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## Templeton

EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


> ^Try again - any interview with "I'm sorry. I got lipstick on your toilet paper." has gotta be seen


Classic, thanks very much for posting. Brings back some great memories. Paul Hogan got most of the plaudits in the U.K. but I always thought that McDonald/Gunston was far superior, up there with another Aussie great, Barry Humphries.


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## Art Rock

I met Jeroen van der Veer, chairman of Shell, on several occasions - work related.

Outside work, I was friends with Frans Morsch while we were both at Delft University of Technology. He was starting to work on computer chess programs, which later became his career (he's the man behind Fritz, one of the most successful chess computers of all time).


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## Totenfeier

One night I was at a dinner party that included John Hornsby, brother of Bruce Hornsby. He joked, "After 'Mandolin Rain,' we wondered what we could do as a follow-up - 'French Horn Cold Front?'" The party subsequently went to an Alex Chilton concert at a small college venue - basically a room - I was sitting on the floor barely five feet in front of him. Later, backstage, he offered me a gingerbread cookie (biscuit) off a plate. It remains, to this day, the worst cookie (biscuit) I have ever tasted.

I also shook hands with Virginia Senator John Warner when he was married to Elizabeth Taylor. I'm sure he had washed his hands at some point between his wife and me, but a man can dream, can't he?


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## SixFootScowl

Oh and I once met Cheech and Chong, but they seemed more interested in their after concert feast.


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## Capeditiea

Fritz Kobus said:


> Oh and I once met Cheech and Chong, but they seemed more interested in their after concert feast.


:3 if you had cannabis, i am sure they would have been attracted to you like flies on poo.


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## SixFootScowl

Capeditiea said:


> :3 if you had cannabis, i am sure they would have been attracted to you like flies on poo.


Good point. We offered no reefer, just my boss told them that I was the guy who printed their T-shirts for the show.


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## Guest

I thought of a few other musicians I've met but did not record their concerts: Birgit Nilsson, Emil Gilels, Lazar Berman, Denis Matsuev, Valery Gergiev, Daniil Trifonov, Yevgeny Sudbin, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Jonathan Powell, Marc-Andre Hamelin, David Russell, John Williams (guitarist), and Lucas Debargue.


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## Dr Johnson

Klassik said:


> I went to high school with a woman who once won Playboy's Playmate of the Year. I didn't know her or even know of her as she would have been a couple of grades below me, but I probably saw her in the hallways.


I was at infants' school (as it was known then) with two sisters who later became "glamour models", one of them appeared several times in Mayfair and her sister also ended up on TV as "eye candy" in a popular comedian's show.

About 15 years after the appearances in the glossier end of the "men's magazine" market the non TV appearing one ran a shop which I used to drive past for work.

One day, pretending at first that I wanted to buy something, I got into conversation with her and reminded her of our childhood. Then I asked her out on a date. She said yes (she was separated from her husband). We went on another. All might have gone very well indeed but for the fact that she had a huge dog which was very jealous. It sat on the sofa between us and would not budge. Subsequent meetings established she preferred the dog to me.

One of the great regrets of my life. At least I can say I kissed her. :lol:


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## Dr Johnson

Now lets deal with the rest (all from my taxi days).

Lady Mary Archer (wife of best selling novelist and convicted felon Jeffrey Archer).

Was she fragrant? I thought it wiser not to sniff her. She was not an entertaining passenger nor a tipper.

Mari Wilson, she of the beehive hairdo. When I picked her up from an airport she was appearing in a one woman show as Dusty Springfield. Due to an unfortunate concatenation of circumstances she arrived late at the theatre. No tip for Johnson from her either.

Tessa Sanderson, gold medal winning javelin thrower. She seemed like a lot of fun, but because she had been to some sort of sports funding shindig she was accompanied by some dull and faceless suit who pretty much monopolised the conversation.

Tricky, the trip-hop chap. Although it was mid-afternoon Tricky was off his face on something and all negotiations had to be handled through his minder/factotum. When I picked Tricky and his sidekick up I happened to be listening to tape of James Brown. The only evidence of life from Tricky was him singing along quietly to James.

Finally, probably a forgotten figure, Lord Irvine, cheifly famous for having spent £20,000 of public money on wallpaper, thus getting the sacked from his gig as Lord Chancellor. He was affable enough. Judging by his face, he must have spent a fair bit of money, public or otherwise, on his cellar.

That's it folks.


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## Dr Johnson

I'm also very distantly related to the opera singer Jill Gomez, but have never met her, although my mother and grandmother did.


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## Vasks

Composers I have met:

Copland, Hanson, Dello Joio, Persichetti, Crumb, Rochberg, Foss, Cage, Creston, Wilder, Babbitt, Xenakis, Schwantner, Husa, Schuller, Adler, Boulez


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## Manxfeeder

chill782002 said:


> Now we will proceed on to, "people I once saw crossing the street, at least I think it was them but they were a long way off".


That's funny. Now you're talking about Nashville. Celebrities are all over, and we pretty much leave them alone, which keeps them running around in public. Once I was walking in front of Ernest Tubb's record shop, and what looked like a three-foot-tall blond lady shot in front of me from her tour bus. Turns out it was Lorrie Morgan. Then there was the spontaneous concert by Keith Urban on Broadway for no particular reason. And Ricky Van Shelton popped up at a bookstore reading children's stories.

In college, I met several jazz stars, notably Frank Rosalino shortly before his tragic death and Art Pepper shortly before his premature death. We had jazz workshops, so we had people always dropping by, like Don Menza and Med Flory with Supersax. Wood Herman's Young Thundering Herd was cool; they hung around after concerts to talk with aspiring musicians like me. Disneyland always had the great bands in their carnation plaza, and we could talk to them at breaks. I got to see the Main Street Electrical Parade with Count Basie's trombone section. At that same time, Sarah Vaughn was standing in the corner by us listening to them and eating an ice cream cone.

What was really cool was, at the Berkeley Jazz Festival, I lost my ticket, so I snuck in the stage door, and as I walked by, Sonny Rollins was in a room warming up, playing to himself. I got to be a fly on that wall. Then as I waited backstage for a break to get to my seat, some guy started talking to me, and as I turned around, I discovered it was Sonny. I was trying not to keep my jaw from dropping. I also went to a workshop featuring some guy talking about how he wrote the soundtrack to Jaws. I didn't know who John Williams was at the time.

Southern Gospel stars are always coming to my church to perform and rub elbows, and if you know the genre, you know Joel Hemphill, Brian Free, Ernie Dawson, and Ronnie Hinson.


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## Dr Johnson

I'm shocked that I forgot this. Shows that the senior moments are increasing.

In 1999/2000 I saw a blues trio in a pub in Cambridge. The drummer was Jimmy Carl Black.

During the interval the guitarist sat on the edge of the stage and chatted to members of the audience who came up to him. Meanwhile Jimmy Carl Black strode through the audience to get a drink from the bar. I touched him on the shoulder and said something banal like “great gig” and he said something like “thanks”.

Jimmy Carl Black. I am not worthy! I am not worthy!


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## Klassik

Dr Johnson said:


> I was at infants' school (as it was known then) with two sisters who later became "glamour models", one of them appeared several times in Mayfair and her sister also ended up on TV as "eye candy" in a popular comedian's show.
> 
> About 15 years after the appearances in the glossier end of the "men's magazine" market the non TV appearing one ran a shop which I used to drive past for work.
> 
> One day, pretending at first that I wanted to buy something, I got into conversation with her and reminded her of our childhood. Then I asked her out on a date. She said yes (she was separated from her husband). We went on another. All might have gone very well indeed but for the fact that she had a huge dog which was very jealous. It sat on the sofa between us and would not budge. Subsequent meetings established she preferred the dog to me.
> 
> One of the great regrets of my life. At least I can say I kissed her. :lol:


I once dated a hair model. She probably wasn't as spectacular or as nearly as famous as the woman you dated, but her hair was wonderful! Anyway, she seemed more interested in her sugar glider than she did in me. Well, she also seemed more interested in her other boyfriend(s) than she did in me.


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## Pat Fairlea

Capeditiea said:


> is it similar to the 6 degrees of seperation thing?


Yup.

And sometimes there just aren't enough degrees by which to be separated!


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## elgar's ghost

I remember encountering Australian fast bowler Jeff Thomson as he was sauntering about alone at the back of the pavilion at New Road - the Australians were playing Worcestershire early into their 1977 tour. He wasn't bowling due to a shoulder injury picked up in Australia some months before, as I recall. I said hello and that I hope he'd be fit enough to play against England - Thomson, who presumably still had fond memories of when he played a large part in demolishing England on their 74-75 tour to Australia, grinned slyly and said 'yeah, I haven't finished with you Poms yet...'.


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## znapschatz

Hundreds, maybe 200 or more celebrities in politics, the arts, all kinds of music, religion, sports, sciences and other categories that don't immediately come to mind. As a journalist, photographer and activist from the mid 1950s (still a student then) to the present, I had contact with many people who were celebrities then and now. The following were all up close: politicals included five presidents; Eisenhower, Reagan, Carter, Obama and Clinton (the latter two I shook hands with), and their election opponents, including John Kerry and John McCain. Among artists were Andy Warhol, whom I met on a photo assignment and wound up giving a photography lesson, and Maya Lin, who designed the Vietnam wall memorial in Washington DC, in my opinion the best of its kind, ever (my wife cried when we met with Ms. Lin). Among classical musicians were Sir Thomas Beecham, who called me an idiot, and Hilary Hahn, who didn't. Jazz musicians included Errol Garner and all four members of the Modern Jazz Quartet. Others, at random: Arlo Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Lily Tomlin, Linus Pauling, Joan Baez, Country Joe Macdonald, Ringo Starr, George Harrison, Martin Luther King and most of the Civil Rights Movement leadership, and as recounted in another post, Billy Graham. It has been an interesting life, and I had a wonderful time.


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## Templeton

Can't recall if I previously responded to this but met Bruce Springsteen at Stafford Bingley Hall, in 1981, in the middle of my O levels, during 'The River' tour. What a lovely guy, really down to earth and spent a while standing around, shooting the breeze. The other members of the E Street Band were nowhere near as approachable, although Clarence Clemons was pretty decent. Broooce was a top man though and more than covered the price of my ticket, when I sold my autographed 'Born To Run' L.P. on Ebay, years later.


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## Templeton

znapschatz said:


> Hundreds, maybe 200 or more celebrities in politics, the arts, all kinds of music, religion, sports, sciences and other categories that don't immediately come to mind. As a journalist, photographer and activist from the mid 1950s (still a student then) to the present, I had contact with many people who were celebrities then and now. The following were all up close: politicals included five presidents; Eisenhower, Reagan, Carter, Obama and Clinton (the latter two I shook hands with), and their election opponents, including John Kerry and John McCain. Among artists were Andy Warhol, whom I met on a photo assignment and wound up giving a photography lesson, and Maya Lin, who designed the Vietnam wall memorial in Washington DC, in my opinion the best of its kind, ever (my wife cried when we met with Ms. Lin). Among classical musicians were Sir Thomas Beecham, who called me an idiot, and Hilary Hahn, who didn't. Jazz musicians included Errol Garner and all four members of the Modern Jazz Quartet. Others, at random: Arlo Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Lily Tomlin, Linus Pauling, Joan Baez, Country Joe Macdonald, Ringo Starr, George Harrison, Martin Luther King and most of the Civil Rights Movement leadership, and as recounted in another post, Billy Graham. It has been an interesting life, and I had a wonderful time.


Fascinating! Why did Beecham call you an idiot, what did you make of King and most importantly, was Jane Fonda even more gorgeous in the flesh than on celluloid? :devil:


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## senza sordino

Back in the 80s I was a pretty good athlete, hard to believe now when you look at me, a modest balding old guy. I raced Ben Johnson, disgraced sprinter who was caught cheating by taking banned drugs. I lost that race. Kids came up to all of us asking for autographs. I signed my autograph in their book along with seven others, including Ben Johnson whom they really only wanted in that race. I never made the Olympics or any national team. I passed my drug tests. I also met Daly Thomson, two time Olympic Decathlon Champion, 1980 and 1984. 

I talked with former Canadian prime minister Jean Chrétien on his book signing tour. I asked a good enough question to get him to stop signing books and talk for a while. 

I met Rachel Barton Pine recently when she was here performing, she signed my ticket. I talked with Hilary Hahn last year, we talked about me starting the violin as an adult. I was last in line so I was able to monopolize her time. I've also met Tasmin Little, but I was a little star struck and tongue tied.


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## Jos

^^
Great athletes from our past, Senza. Was an athlete too, around those years (nowhere near any olympics) but I did practice next to Robert de Wit (Dutch decathlon athlete)
I still feel sorry for Ben Johnson and still hold him in high regards. It was a dodgy affair with some political angle to it. Carl L. simply had to win for the USA, no matter what. There are some good documentary films on this issue.


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## Guest

I talked to George Crumb on the phone--does that count? (I had to get his permission to broadcast his piano work "Gnomic Variations" on NPR after I recorded it in a live concert.) He was very pleasant, by the way.


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## SixFootScowl

Oh another one I forgot to mention. I once met Russell Means. When I was about 22 years old I visited the Yellow Thunder Camp in the black hills where he was staying on some U.S. Forest Service land in the Black Hills. I smoked the pipe with Russell and participated in the sweat lodge.

Russell had the scars on his chest from the Sun Dance. Later in forestry school I met a student who worked a summer for the Forest Service and was out cruising timber when they stumbled into a clearing with a bunch of Indians doing some ritual (Sun Dance). He said the Indians were angry at the disruption.


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## znapschatz

Templeton said:


> Fascinating! Why did Beecham call you an idiot, what did you make of King and most importantly, was Jane Fonda even more gorgeous in the flesh than on celluloid? :devil:


This had nothing to do with my subsequent involvement with journalism. When I was a geology student at Western Reserve University in the mid 1950s, Beecham was a guest conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra one season. After a concert that I attended with my friend Bruce, we went backstage to the dressing room where Bruce was seeking an autograph on a 33 1/3 record jacket of a London Symphony performance he had brought for the occasion. There, the maestro was holding court with a number of admirers and well-wishers, spouting witticisms, which was his wont, and I decided to ask him a question about some of his statements in a Cleveland Plain Dealer article that had appeared the previous day. But I started out tongue-tied, and he gruffly said, "Would somebody please tell me what this idiot is trying to say?" Eventually, I did ask the question, and he went off about how the press was a bunch of imbeciles, never gets anything right etc. My estimate was that he was maintaining a public persona of irascibility. Bruce got his autograph, but my takeaway was an amusing anecdote, a gift of sorts.

My contact with Jane Fonda was both professional as a journalist and political as an activist, during which time I saw her many times under different circumstances. To me, she looked pretty much the same both on and off screen. That was in Los Angeles, but the last time I saw her was in my home town Cleveland, where I was visiting my parents, and coincidentally, she was in town for a political event, along with her then husband, Tom Hayden, and infant son. We went backstage after the program, where I introduced them to my mother, who was properly thrilled. Then Jane went her way, and I mine.


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## znapschatz

Templeton said:


> Fascinating! Why did Beecham call you an idiot, *what did you make of King *and most importantly, was Jane Fonda even more gorgeous in the flesh than on celluloid? :devil:


(This is an excerpt from an email interview with me conducted by an Alabama high school student in 2015 for her school newspaper on the subject of my experiences during and after the Selma to Montgomery march in re Martin Luther King.)

7. Did you see or meet Martin Luther King Jr.?

Yes, but not then. By sheer luck I wound up bunking in the West's apartment at George Washington Carver Homes, which just happened to be where all the civil rights leadership on the scene would drop in for coffee and R&R. I got to be in the presence of most of them except MLK. Frustratingly, I kept missing him. He was only at the march on day one and at the conclusion, but sometimes checked in at the West's when he was in Selma. "Aw, gee, should've been here, Martin dropped by earlier," and like that. Grrr!

At the concluding event of the march, he was to be the key speaker. It took a while for everyone (26,000) to get there, so I sat down to wait. By then, after several days without sleep, I corked out and didn't wake up until after the speeches were over. I heard it was one of his better ("How long? Not long.")

Three years later, Dr. King gave a speech in Los Angeles. I was standing directly in front of him before the lectern while awaiting the audience to assemble and we exchanged nods. One month later he went to Memphis to help the sanitation workers and there met his end.

(snip)

Dr. King's leadership, I believe, is still under-appreciated, even by many of those who admired him, but keep in mind he was elevated by a civil rights movement already under way. Of his own role, he often liked to quote Mohandas Mahatma	Ghandi, who said something like "My people are on the move. I must catch up to them and take my place at their head, for I am their leader."


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## Templeton

Znapschatz, many thanks for the extensive responses to my original question. I very much appreciate your having taken the time and made the effort to do so, particularly given how fascinating and enjoyable your responses were to read. Thank you again, you have obviously led a fascinating life!


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## hpowders

OP: Bobby Kennedy in 1968, on the boardwalk in Long Beach, Long Island, New York, one balmy summer evening, as he was campaigning for president. He was assasinated a few months after. Still haunts me, all these years later.


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## Phil loves classical

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, not that I was his dealer or anything under those circumstances


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## jegreenwood

As a New Yorker who has been involved with several cultural institutions, I've met a number of famous people. Because I'm shy, the conversation usually begins and ends with, "Nice to meet you. I'm a fan of your work."

But one of my odder encounters happened two years ago. I was in the United Airlines lounge at Newark Airport, about to set off on a three month stay in London. I sat down and was reviewing in my head all the things I had to do, rechecking my carry-on luggage for the fifth time to see what I might have forgotten at home, topping up the charge on all my electronics etc. With all these things going on, I am sure I appeared rather nervous and jittery. When I looked up I saw two people sitting across from me observing my actions rather closely. I returned to my world until the phone of the guy I had sat next to rang, and I heard a voice that I recognized. It was California Governor, Jerry Brown. After listening to his end of a conversation where he argued for a plan to allow some prisoners early parole if they had jobs, I told him I thought it was a good idea. One of his security men then asked if I would change seats with him, which I immediately did. The Governor left shortly after, and I did not say another word.


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## Barbebleu

Many years ago I went to the Edinburgh Festival to watch my sister in a play at the Royal Lyceum Theatre. I thought that the gentleman seated next to me looked familiar and to my delight it was Burt Lancaster who was in Scotland filming Local Hero and had taken some time off to watch some live theatre. He was very nice and pleasant to talk to. 

On a musical note I was at a dinner party in 1990 and one of the guests was the composer Judith Weir who is of course Master of the Queen's music. She had just premiered The Vanishing Bridegroom at Scottish Opera and at that time I was a season ticket holder. Again a very charming and literate person.


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## Guest

I've met the leader of the Labour Party (in the UK), Jeremy Corbyn.


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## SixFootScowl

Well my uncle is relatively famous. An artist who is mentioned in Who's Who. No, I am not giving his name. Would reveal too much information. Not that I would hid things from my TC friends, but there are others out there in cyberland and they can get a little here and a little there and before long they have your identity and bank accounts, etc.


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese

^ Bing Crosby


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## hpowders

EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


> ^ Bing Crosby


That was like in 1776?


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## Klassik

Fritz Kobus said:


> Well my uncle is relatively famous. An artist who is mentioned in Who's Who. No, I am not giving his name. Would reveal too much information. Not that I would hid things from my TC friends, but there are others out there in cyberland and they can get a little here and a little there and before long they have your identity and bank accounts, etc.


You're not giving us much to go by here. I'm guessing it's Kobus de Kock, South African rugby union player, currently playing with the Golden Lions. Am I right?

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


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## hpowders

My ex-wife's divorce lawyer was the most well-known in NYC.

I got:

1. his autograph
2. taken to the cleaners


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## SixFootScowl

EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


> ^ Bing Crosby


Nope. He was a painter (art type, not houses)


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese

Fritz Kobus said:


> Nope. He was a painter (art type, not houses)


Or Arthouse ?


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## Klassik

Fritz Kobus said:


> Nope. He was a painter (art type, not houses)


Wait, so you're saying he's not Kobus de Kock, Kobus de Kock's rival South African rugby union player Kobus van Dyk, or the founder of the Afrikaans extreme metal band, Kobus!?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobus_van_Dyk
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobus!


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