Saying hi to famous people

I usually will just do a handshake and tell them I am a fan of the show.

I was able to do that twice with The Wire actors.

I said hello to Seth Gilliam while waiting in line at the Baltimore Train Station. Told him I was a huge fan of the show. No one else noticed him.



I flew on the same plane with Jamie Hector, and I got up to shake his hand and tell him I was a big fan. Funny thing was, when the other black people on the plane who saw a white male in his late 30s introduce himself to a young a black male, they all started coming up to him and asking who he was. No one had a clue.



Working as a valet for three years at a country club in college, it was my job to b.s. with the members. The list from the club was pretty strong (Goldwater, O'Connor, Fife Symington, Stevie Nicks, Paul Harvey, Joe Black of the PGA) Heck, I still have a book with John McCain's home telephone number in it.

 

I am so jealous I could puke. And this from a girl who danced with John Travolta.

 

I tend to leave most famous people I see alone.

I might send an e-mail from time to time, but that's about it.

 

I don't remember if it was someone here who told this story, but Steve Martin is famous for being a bit of a dick to people who approach him. Rather than sign an autograph, he hands out a business card that says something to the effect of, "You just had an encounter with Steve Martin, you can tell people the meeting was not unpleasant" or something like that.

It's kind of clever and douchey at the same time.

 

Ha. I thought of him during this thread, too.

 

I might have shared this before, but one of my friends worked in an airport video rental shop. Being Indianapolis, a lot of IndyCar drivers and a few other people frequented his little store. He wasn't usually fazed by having big customers, although he did tell me Dan Wheldon never followed through on his promise to "rent the entire store" if he won the Indy 500.

Anyway, he's visiting a buddy who works at the coffee shop farther down the concourse. Dick Van Dyke walks in.

Guy behind counter, making small talk: "Where you headed?"
Dick Van Dyke: "LAX"
Counter guy: "Really? Business or pleasure?"
Dick Van Dyke: "I live there. I was here for pleasure."
Counter guy: "What do you do?"
Dick Van Dyke: "I'm an actor."
Counter guy: "You been in anything I've seen?"

My friend is about to blow a gasket at this point. Trying to bail out his friend, he interrupts and says "you ever heard of the Dick Van Dyke Show?"
Dick Van Dyke whirls around, looks at my friend on cue and says, "yeah, Diagnosis Murder."

My friend just says "OK, you're cool." Dick Van Dyke walked on with his coffee.

 

Sat next to Diane Farr on a plane from St. Louis to LA about 12-13 years ago.
I knew her face immediately. She was doing that MTV Loveline show at the time and I think she'd done a lot of commercial work. I had no idea what her name was or where I knew her from. I knew she was an actress, though, in part because she spent a lot of the flight reading a script.
Because I figured I SHOULD know who she was, I didn't have the nerve to admit I didn't, so I just sat there next to this lovely woman for 3-plus hours trying to figure out who she was and never saying a word.
I kept telling my wife about this actress I'd been next to on the plane, but my wife said she couldn't have been much of a star if she'd been stuck with me in coach.
Maybe 18 months later, I'm watching Drew Carey's show (wasn't a regular viewer, but had it on) and here came Diane into a scene.
That's my girl!! I exclaimed to my wife.
Thought she was great in the early years of Rescue Me.
I guess I knew she'd become famous eventually.

 

About 10 years ago, I was in a hotel bar with a friend and Jean Reno ("The Professional") was sitting there with a friend. They were the only other people in the bar. After I got done hyperventilating ("The Professional" is one of my favorite movies.), I did what 21 suggested and sent Jean and friend a round of drinks. They raised their glasses to us and a short while later, the friend came over to thank us, while Jean left. I was pretty pissed that he didn't at least stop by, but the friend hung out with the rest of the night. He was hysterical, had great stories and we're still in touch. (The friend picked up our tab at the end of the night, so I guess they really bought their own drinks.)

 

You understand the term, "twenty five years or so", don't you?

It could have easily been 35 years ago--I'm that fucking old

I'll give my partner a call for you and see if he remembers the EXACT date. He may even remember the time.

 

Here's a question: Is doing the cell phone picture thing as lame as asking for an autograph?
I always laugh when I see people's ego walls of all the famous people they have met and wonder if the Pope or Mandela has one.
"Here's my picture with Matt Lauer!"

 

I'm lame then, Dan. I have a picture of Martin Brodeur standing by the Newark luggage carousel on my phone.

 

Lived a couple doors down from Richard Thomas when I was at USAT in the '80s. They wheeled a ton of beer into his room when he first moved in, and I saw a couple of hotties go there. He had a scraggly beard for a role in a play. Around that time, I was on a plane with a bunch of WWF stars, Steamboat being the biggest