Your stories of an encounter with a celebrity who unexpectedly enters your world.
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So there I was at Dragon*Con last year, having fun with a personal project. I was taking pictures of peoples' derrieres, and planning on putting together a slideshow titled "Gettin' a Piece of A** at Dragon*Con '08."
An older gentleman walked up to our table and started chatting, and at some point I asked if I could take a picture of his behind for my project. He looked a bit … Read more »
It was about 3 a.m. on a Sunday morning, in a quiet 24-hour diner in New York City. There was a man sitting at the bar who caught my eye. I knew him from somewhere, but couldn't put my finger on it. Then the waiter told me that he was an actor from The Matrix.
Holy crap--it was Morpheus in the flesh! He was right there in front of me, and … Read more »
I lied my way through my twenties. It was the only way I could have managed. If you'd ever been to my small town and had a curried-chicken dinner at our best restaurant, you'd know that high-society types are rare there. So I lied.
I took off to London, then to Morocco and then to Spain. I made up stories about my family, my experiences as a child vacationing on our … Read more »
In the spring of 1963 I reached for the door of the football locker room in the University of Washington’s “Hec” Edmondson Pavilion. A large crowd milled around the bleacher area outside our locker room because that year’s graduation ceremonies just finished. However, my schedule included a workout, at that time, to stay in shape for the 1963 Husky football season. So I made my way through … Read more »
When Sean Penn came in for jury duty, he went out on the balcony of our building and lit up a cigarette during one of our breaks. I had to go out there and tell him it was a non-smoking building and to put it out.
He tossed it on the ground and stomped on it. He was very nice about it. As a matter of fact, he was in jury … Read more »
Three coworkers and I were having lunch at our usual spot when I recognized someone I thought was an old acquaintance walking in our direction.
I couldn't quite remember where I knew him from or what his name was, but that has never stopped me from just saying hi. "Hey," I called out, "how have you been? Long time no see!" He replied, "Great! How's everything been with you?" This started … Read more »
A few years ago, I traveled from NYC to L.A. to visit a friend. On the way home from a Runyon Canyon hike, we stopped at Pinkberry to share my friend's virgin Pinkberry experience.
Turned out it was the actor Jeff Goldbum's first time at Pinkberry as well. He walked in eager and interested, with a woman who looked like a close relative, and eyed my small plain … Read more »
It was in a little Cuban diner in Providence. I was eating dinner before the Coheed and Cambria show, and who should happen to walk through the door but Claudio, the band's lead singer, and Travis, the guitarist.
Better yet, they sat down at the table next to mine. Well, I thought I was dreaming, because I asked them if they were from Coheed, and amazingly they said yes. I … Read more »
Photo courtesy of PopSugar.com
George Clooney is in Albuquerque--otherwise know as Tamalewood--to film Men Who Stare at Goats (the working title for film due out in late 2009 or 2010). This brush with fame happened in early November 2008.
Scene One: George is sitting at the downstairs bar of my favorite restaurant, Zinc, deep in conversation with a movie colleague or agent when I walk in. The bar is abuzz … Read more »
In the year 1996, while attending a Broadway show in New York City titled Will Rogers Follies, I had the extreme good fortune to be seated in the row behind and one seat to the right of Gregory Peck. He had a pre-recorded part in the musical, that of Will Rogers's voice, which emanated from the balcony at timely moments throughout the show. I have a permanent vision of the … Read more »
I remember exactly what she was wearing: tall, flat, brown Frye boots (long before they were in style), dark skinny Seven jeans, a black-and-white flannel-print linen shirt with the cuffs rolled up. A long, thin silver chain with a small pendant and gold aviator sunglasses. Her hair was straight and brown with highlights. Very slender, she looked beautiful.
As I was at the baggage claim in the Fort Lauderdale airport, waiting … Read more »
Have you ever wanted to learn how to "Blue ska-do?" Well, Steve Burns, Blue's accomplice on Nickelodeon's Blue's Clues television show, once taught me how in a Chelsea Piers bowling alley.
It just so happens that I have a family member who was famous. That is, if you think a talking clock could be famous. When I was 10 years old, my sister Katie (8), brother Chris (13), and I … Read more »
Now, I'm not what you would call a celebrity stargazer, but I have to say I experienced one of those moments yesterday in which--against all common sense--the magnitude of fame leaves you positively giddy.
I mean, let's face it: It's not every day you meet a movie megastar like Tom Cruise.
I work for a prominent Canadian television company, and Cruise was scheduled to make an appearance on one of our network … Read more »
Christian Slater was arrested for sexual harassment in the summer of '05. He had allegedly been drunk and grabbed some random New York woman's ass on one of NYC's sidewalks, and the woman was not pleased. I couldn't help but think that if Brad Pitt had grabbed my ass in the middle of the street, I would not tattle to CNN. Rather, I'd enjoy the fact that Brad … Read more »
During that transitional summer between high school and college, I worked at Dallas's only independent movie theater. The theater was an old one, converted from one grand space into three smaller screens, with a painted mural on the ceiling and a smoky bar sharing the lobby space.
My coworkers were mostly local community-college students, whom I looked up to and who respected me for having decent taste in movies. We watched … Read more »
I really didn't think he would sit next to him. Of all the places at the movie theater, Napoleon Dynamite thought that my chair was the best.
In the end, I'm glad I had to go to the bathroom...after the show. Maybe Mark still remembers him. I'll have to ask the little bro.
A husky laugh, a come-hither head toss--tumbly curls glossed her shoulders.
Kathleen Turner.
Fifty-something, drop-dead gorgeous, and whip-smart. At the Planned Parenthood luncheon, I briefly spun in her orbit, close enough to smell the wine on her breath...and, yes, to feel her body heat. She was aware of precisely that moment when I'd start holding my own breath as she wound up a story, and could hear me laugh at her punchlines, … Read more »
It happened in New York during my senior year of high school, while my older and much cooler cousin was visiting me from L.A. I'm from Jersey, and there isn't much to do there other than shop at one of our many malls. As my cousin is from L.A. (and used to much more exciting things than people-watching while eating Sbarro's pizza), I suggested we spend the day … Read more »
I think I saw Ken Loach on the No. 2 to Roundhay this morning. He asked for a £1.60 fare and a child's fare and went upstairs.
I was very impressed by the idea of his using buses, unlike David O'Leary, who during his tenure at United in their Spend, Spend, Spend! Era used to advertise, "I use a Day Rider" on First services. Maybe if he … Read more »
While living and working at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, I played pool with a stranger whom I correctly guessed to be Art Carney. We had a beer and a burrito.
When I asked him for confirmation of his identity, he told me I had a big mouth. I was 18, and knew him only from The Apple Dumpling Gang.
Sigh. I did have a big mouth--and a sharp eye!
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