Over the last few months I have been on a plane with Bobby Knight, Penn Jillette and a number of other celebrities. For those of you who travel I am sure you have experienced the same or have seen famous people in a restaurant, bar or in a hotel. For me I didn’t say anything to Penn Jillette who actually is a very large man and was traveling with his wife so I didn’t want to impose on their family time. I did on the other hand say hello to Bobby Knight and mentioned I was a fan and actually did shake his hand.
When I was younger I would ask for autographs a lot. But it was only at stadiums, and never in a social situation. Maybe part of me was nervous about getting no for an answer. Or part of me was trying to be respectful.
Since I love to people watch I have enjoyed seeing Donald Trump in a restaurant and watch him go from table to table shaking hands. I have also been to Spago (when it was one of the hottest restaurants in LA) and saw Sidney Potier, Milton Berle, Arnold Schwarzenegger , Maria Shriver and a bunch of other celebrities all in the same night. Last year I was standing right next to Alicia Keys and had NO idea who she was.
I also rarely will take a picture with a celebrity. I did break that rule when I was fortunate enough to have dinner (thanks SB) with Reverend Jesse Jackson a few years ago
- The question is, "If you see a celebrity, what do you do?"
- Do you get an autograph?
- Do you say hello?
- Do you try and engage them in a conversation?
- How was the experience?
- Who was the most famous person you have ever met?
I look forward to reading your comments.
Patricia says:
I ran into Bruce Springsteen in an elevator in San Antonio. He was staying in the same hotel as I was. He was incredibly nice, especially once he figured out that my friends and I (we were about 10)didn’t have a clue who he was. He told us he was playing a concert across the street and asked what we were doing in town. We told him we were attending a dance convention in the hotel and would be performing that evening – he even said he might come watch! When we got off the elevator, some of the older kids from our group saw him talking to us and they asked if we got his autograph. They couldn’t believe that we didn’t know who we had just been talking to!
Merrill Dubrow says:
Patricia,
I love Bruce Springsteen and would love to meet him one day. That is so funny that you didn’t know who he was. My parents and I were visiting me in college and we were in an elevator with the LA Kings and y Mo had know idea who any of them were… In fact one was Marcel Dionne – one of the all-time greats.
Merrill
janet says:
Living in Nashville I do see celebrities fairly frequently. Nashville residents are very respectful and usually just nod and say hi. I have yet to ask for an autograph but if Nashville resident Keith Urban ever ctossed my path I might break that rule. I have seen his wife Nicole Kidman and she used to go to the same nail place I go to. Haven’t seen her lately though.
I too often see them on planes. I have sat behind Wynonna on a small plane from NY (terrible hair). She boarded just before we took off. I have also seen Rene Zellergger (when she was dating Jack White) and Lori Morgan with her family at the airport. Jeff Fisher, Titan’s Coach, goes to my Starbuck’s. I also spotted someone the last time I was in NYC. I was walking down the street and Spike Lee and a girlfriend passed right by me.
I do have a funny celebrity sighting story. A co-worker from a past company was in LA on business and was walking on Rodeo Drive. He was taking a picture when someone walked right in front of the camera. The person glared at my friend but he never thought more about it until he saw the picture and Woody Allen was glaring at him. I can’t say I ever saw the picture but true or not it’s a great story.
Paul Kirch says:
One of the most interesting sightings was in the American Airlines Admiral’s Club in Los Angeles. Sarah Michelle Geller was there with 3 assistants. They were running around like crazy, making calls, doing this and doing that. It was a flurry of activity as Michelle sat there calmly giving instructions. I realized a few things, witnessing this. First, even though she’s kind off of the radar as far as films and shows goes, she still has a lot going on. Secondly, she has staff to help her keep her life in order. And third, while her staff was going crazy to get things done, she seemed calm as can be. In a lot of ways, it was like a CEO running a business who is able to delegate down the food chain.
Also, many of my celebrity sightings leave me thinking how magical make-up is, since many don’t look as good in person. Sarah Michelle Gellar was actually quite stunning.
Stephenie Gordon says:
I’ve had some interesting celebrity run ins, some more literal than others. I physically ran into both Faith Hill and Jeremy Piven. Faith Hill was extremely nice and friendly, where Jeremy Piven was completely annoyed. Like it’s my fault we turned the corner at the same time. I must say I was completely blown away by Faith Hill; first of all she 100 feet tall and just as pretty as she looks on camera. Second of all she is truly Southern and we both profusely apologized for 10 minutes before continuing on our way (and she was 8 months pregnant). When i ran into Jeremy Piven we were literally seeing eye to eye, which makes him about 5′4″…
My favorite and least favorite run in was Rob Lowe in Las Vegas. I am not going to tell that story. Alcohol makes you do stupid things. Luckily I came out of that situation without a restraining order or escort to the front door of the casino.
I’ve also met David Cook (American Idol) who was about as impressive as Jeremy Piven.
Though the best one of them was in college. My friend and I were sitting at a bar in Chapel Heaven having an intense conversation about nothing when we felt the crowd of bar patrons surge behind us. We turned to look at the crowd and literally we were surrounded by hundreds of people. The place was packed and we were trapped. Of course no one was looking at us, but looking at who was standing behind the bar. It was none other than Michael Jordan himself, coming up to He’s Not Here to not enjoy a blue cup (he told us he doesn’t drink). To get away from the crowd he decided to go behind the bar and plop down on a couple of boxes right in front of my friend and my seats. We spent about 30 minutes staring at him before I had the courage to talk to him. He had played golf with my father in a pro-am about 10 years before that, and i was impressed that he remembered him (or at least humored me). He was cordial through the whole ordeal. I never asked for an autograph or a picture only because the 1000 people behind me kept bothering him and yelling his name. Luckily i never had to go to the bathroom…
My last cool story is that the summer after my freshman year, I lived next door to JR Reid. (though, this is probably only cool to you Tarheel fans out there). He was in the process of buying a bar and had to live in the area to complete the sale and remodel the bar. Not sure why he choose to live in college apartments. I guess he wanted to experience his glory days. He offered me $100 a week to do his laundry… I never took him up on it though.
Merrill Dubrow says:
Stephenie,
Wow – Michael Jordon and JR Reid. Clearly two superstars from UNC. You should have taken R up on his offer and never cashed his checks!
Thanks for your comments.
Merrill
Ruthann Chesnoff says:
It was many years ago, we were staying at the same hotel as the cast of Cuba. We met Sydney Pollack in the elevator and he was very pleasant and friendly to us. We were at the pool and was talking to Lena Olin who was at the pool with her son and a nanny.She was a regular person, very sweet and beautiful. We never saw Robert Redford, he was also the star of Cuba. It was exciting, however I never asked for an autograph. I didn’t want to impose on their free time. When I work at 1407 Broadway I was sitting at the counter having lunch and Aurthur Murry came in and sat down right next yo me, he was uglier in person and had no personality.
Merrill Dubrow says:
Just came back from NY and had a brush with fame.
Was waiting to go into a meeting and look up and Jimmy Fallon is basically right next too me. He had just finished playing and beating Tiger Woods in golf WII and was celebrating by eating a hot dog from a vendor. They taped the segment twice and he got in a waiting Lincoln town car. He seemed to have a good time and be smiling the entire time.
Merrill
Merrill Dubrow says:
Also was walking down the street with a colleague (KR) when we saw a bunch of commotion in front of Smith & Wollensky’s steakhouse . I asked one of the cameraman what was going on and he said Warren Buffett just finished lunch with a guy who spent 2 million dollars to have lunch with him. We actually missed Warren by 10 seconds and saw him in the car leaving. Interesting he didn’t have a ton of security around him.
Lunch with Warren Buffett? $2.11 million.
Firsthand insight from the world’s second-richest man? Priceless.
A Chinese hedge fund manager who won a high-priced charity auction for the right to break bread with Buffett on Wednesday said he got a bargain.
“I asked many questions,” Zhao Danyang said. “[It's] a benefit for my whole life. It could not be measured by money.”
Zhao flew in from Hong Kong with eight friends and relatives – including two buddies who contributed toward the charity – for the two-hour lunch with the plainspoken Oracle of Omaha at Smith & Wollensky’s steakhouse on the East Side.
He paid three times the previous record for the annual lunch, which benefits a charity that provides job training to disadvantaged people.
“This guy’s a hero,” Buffett said as the meal broke up.
Buffett ordered a medium rare ribeye steak with home fries and a cherry Coke. He had vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup for dessert. Zhao and his party ordered shellfish.
Zhao, who furiously scribbled notes whenever Buffett opened his mouth, called the whole thing a bargain.
“I will do better in the future,” said Zhao, who speaks halting English.
Waiter Branko Glavan said Buffett eats at the steakhouse about once every six months and usually orders the same thing.
“Mr. Buffett never gets an appetizer,” said Glavan, 55, who’s worked at the steakhouse for 28 years.
The legendary investor genius did whisper at the height of the financial crisis to stay out of the stock market, Glavan said.
Buffett slyly refused to reveal the words of wisdom he imparted during the two-hour lunch.
“That guy just paid $2 million my advice,” he said. “I’m not going to give it to you for free.”
Steve Gentile says:
Okay Merrill – you opened this can of worms! I think it would be safe to say that I’ve had more than my fair share of celebrity sightings and engagements (see prior posts about having a father, whose a CPA, in a major city, in a famous building, visited by many famous people. I’ve been in the company of many great people. And, despite my mom’s endless mantra of “Sweetheart, please don’t talk to strangers” it was all I did (and still do!)
Recent random sighting? This past week in NYC – Jimmy Carter in Barnes and Nobel. I duck in to (once again) avoid the rain, wander back to a section where 2 official looking dudes are talking to their wrists and scoping the surroundings. I see past them – a man that strikes a remarkable resemblance to our former President, Jimmy Carter.
Well, I head into the aisle and approach the President and say “If you’re looking for President Carter’s great new book, you’re in the wrong section. It’s a great book, by the way” He laughs and I introduce myself, as his SS men approach. He waves them off and I ask him if he has time to talk about his book – “Of course” he says.
And the rest is 15 minutes of extremely interesting conversation. I guess I’m not shy about talking to strangers – makes for good moderator training (and life training).
chris hauck says:
I’ve run into celebrities a few times. Sometimes it is fun and sometimes not. I ran into Ethan Hawke at the admiral’s club at LAX while he was throwing a huge fit and then again at a Texas Rangers Game with his kids. different day, different guy. I was with a couple of people when we ran into Gene Hackman at the Met in NYC. One guy in my group felt the need to tell him how big a fan he was. Gene was great, but then we kept running into him on the street so he probably though Jaime was stalking him. I ran into the Williams sisters on a flight and they were both really sweet. I personally never talk to celebrities when I run into them, I’m shy and I know they want their space. So I’m just really nice to them like I am with everyone. I don’t treat them any differently and I think they appreciate that.
My best was that I used to go to 6am mass as a high school kid and when the Dolphins were in town I used to sit next to Don Shula occasionally. Which means that when the priest says….Please offer a greeting of peace to the people around you, I got to shake his hand on game day. He liked to sit in the back just like me.
Malcolm Williamson says:
I worked as a doorman at the largest hotel on the west coast while putting myself through college.
It was probably the best job anyone could ever ask for.
You meet thousands of people per day and really hone your skills.
Long story short, in 5 years I have probably met thousands of celebs.
I treat them the same as the folks who have saved for years to take their family on a dream vacation.
Actually the regular folks are much better.
The only one’s who matter are those who give back, and there aren’t too many these days who are doing that.
The rest are pretty much a waste of space.
Especially the pro athletes.
However, I did swim master’s swim yesterday with Terry Armstrong (Lance Armstrong’s father).
That was pretty cool. He’s an animal in the pool!
chris hauck says:
I do have another one. A really good friend of mine is one of George Clooney’s best friends. He talks a lot about their friendship as George was the one who became really big in their group while most everyone else did OK but were never really big. It sounds like a fascinating and very challenging life. My friend explained to me one night that the paparazzi really work all the friends and that they are very tricky about it. they start by acting as legitimate press getting the target friend to talk about their most recent projects and then they very slowly start getting them to loosen up and reveal some morsel about the star.
Matt Gershner says:
Having started my career in sports and entertainment, in addition to living in NYC, I think I’m at the point where running into celebrities doesn’t do anything for me. I get enough of them on the news everyday – and it’s usually not very positive.
That being said, of those I’ve interacted with, Hugh Jackman, Jimmy Fallon and Al Roker impressed me as the most down-to-earth nice people I have met – celebrity or not.
However there is one standout. While working a movie premiere many years ago, I had the occasion to have a conversation with Walter Cronkite that I still marvel over. My dad, who it seems gave up on pop culture in his 20’s was impressed when I shared the story with him.
Steve says:
A few years ago I had a conference in Washington, D.C. A man sat next to me and for most of the flight we did not talk. Then about 15 minutes before we landed I asked him if he was going to D.C. for business or pleasure? He said “Business.” I asked him if he was from D.C. and he said, “No, I’m from Oregon, but I work in D.C.” So, I asked, “What do you do?” And he said, “I’m in the Senate.” it turns out that I had been sitting next to Ron Wyden, Senator from Oregon.
I wish I had spoken to him an hour earlier. It would have been interesting to have an hour to chat with a Senator. As it was we only had 15 minutes, but that was interesting too.
If I lived in Oregon, I would vote for him. Any Senator who flies coach is OK in my book. He is author of the “Airline Passenger Fairness Act”.
Lynn Stalone says:
When I was a kid, we had great season tickets to the Lakers and I often went to the games with my dad. Over the years, I had the opportunity to meet Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain, as well as many of the other players – that was very cool. The players were always good about talking to kids before and after the games.
The most famous person I have met is Robert Duvall. I was in Chicago at dinner with clients about 15 years ago when Mr.Duvall was seated across from us. It was pretty late and the restaurant was very empty. He was with a younger man – could have been a son or nephew and they were having a lively discussion. My two clients proceeded to get up, go over to his table and sit down with Mr. Duvall and his guest. I was completely mortified. Despite the fact that he is one of my all-time favorite actors, I could never have imposed in that way. He was very generous and talked with them for about 15 minutes – until I finally came over and said our taxi was waiting (a convenient lie to get them out of there). I thanked him and told him it was an honor to meet him. He shook my hand, smiled and winked at me, which was very sweet. A true gentleman!!
Another class act – may be a surprise – Anna Faris. My daughter went to the NY premier of House Bunny. Anna Faris was so kind and giving of her time to all of the girls, allowed them to take multiple photos, gave autographs and was very down to earth. She did not have to take the time to actually talk with the girls, but did so, answering their questions about making the movie, working in Hollywood and other silly teenager things.
I saw Dean Koontz in our local bookstore several years ago. I was actually in the store buying his newest book when the owner flagged me down and said to go over and ask him to sign it (”he will always sign a book when he is here”). I still didn’t go over and bother him.
In general, I just feel that everyone deserves their privacy when they are going about their day-to-day business. However, it is part of the job as a celebrity to be graceful in public, so I see nothing wrong with telling someone you are a fan, asking for an autograph or shaking a hand in the appropriate situation. I object to getting in someone’s personal space or interjecting yourself into their situation when it is clearly not desired.
Steve says:
Another interesting exchange with a celebrity – I volunteered on a political campaign. My candidate was accused of having support from the “Hollywood crowd”. So I asked her, “Well, do you?” and she said “No, but if you know anyone, please let me know.” I went online to “contactanycelebrity.com” where you can get contact info for press agents and managers. Within a few days I was on the phone with a variety of Hollywood agents and managers.
Ed Asner’s assistant was particularly helpful and hooked us up to a number of Ed’s friends. One afternoon I got a call from Eliott Gould. That was pretty cool. Alec Baldwin was another story. And Shelly Berman (do you remember Shelly Berman) was a lot of fun.
We lost the election anyway, but I wanted to call Ed’s assistant and thank her for her help. When I did, I was surprised when a man answered. So I asked, “Is this Ed?” and he said, “Yeah, who is this?” That led to an hour conversation about politics and life. If you can imagine an hour on the phone with Lou Grant, that was exactly what it was like. He was very personable and uncensored.
Later he was visiting locally for a hospital fundraiser and we got to ride in the limo with him to the event. That is another story.
Bob Graham says:
I related my encounter with Dr J in an earlier post.
Once while crossing 5th Avenue at 40th St in NYC around 1980, I noticed that Richard Nixon was crossing (alone) from the other side. I was never a big fan of his and my first instinct was to launch a tirade of criticism, but I just smiled and said “Hello, Mr President”. He nodded, smiled and said “Hello.” back. My opinion of him has certainly mellowed over the years.
My biggest brush with fame was in Dallas when Kevin McCarthy was interviewing Vincent Price on his radio show. I am a huge fan of Vincent Price (I grew up watching his great horror films) and feverishly dialed over and over trying to get in the queue to talk with him. Finally, I made it in and when I spoke to him, I told him what a big fan I was and how I thought he had been robbed of an Academy Award nomination for “Whales of August”. “Why thank you, Bob.” he replied and then it hit me: VINCENT PRICE JUST CALLED ME “BOB”!!!! as if we had been friends for a long time! Holy ****!
ps. Ruthann, I do need to make a correction. “Cuba” was a film starring Sean Connery and directed by Richard Lester. The film you are referring to (starring Robert Redford and directed by Sydney Pollack) is “Havana”
Kelly Heatly says:
I’m late replying but what a fun topic! My reaction to a celebrity is driven by what the celebrity is doing. Most of the time, when you see them doing day-to-day stuff like flying on an airplane, it seems they just want to be left alone. I sat behind Adrian Grenier recently on a plane. He looked like he had just rolled out of bed after a long night of partying (but still gorgeous), so I wasn’t about to bother the guy even though I’m a big fan of Entourage.
I find I’m far less obnoxious the older I get. After all, celebrities are just people like you and me.