The other day, we discussed autographs. Today I want to know if you’ve ever run into any celebrities by accident, during your everyday life. Last night, Simon Cowell mentioned on American Idol that he ran into Lionel Richie at the Whole Foods. I had a similar experience when I was younger.
I was about 12 and my family was visiting my aunt in southern California. My aunt and I went to the grocery store to pick up a few items and who’s in line in front of us but William Conrad (that would be the “Fatman” from Jake and the Fatman). He was buying Planters peanuts. My aunt said we were big fans. I’d never watched his show before.
Last year I was in the Philadelphia airport and recognized pro wrestler Charlie Haas.
You?
Posted in Pop Culture
COD March 5, 2008, 5:08 pm
in 2002 I was at the same craps table in Vegas with Sen. McCain and George Carlin. I also ran into Larry Bird in a the old Omni Mall in Atlanta when I was a kid. He refused to give me an autograph. I was also at a party years ago and ended up chatting for a few minutes with Sean Hannity. This is back when he was just a doucebag, and not a nationally known doucebag though.
Back in the 80s, my wife ended up in the same elevator with Twister Sister in full makeup. She says she was terrified.
LelandWitter March 5, 2008, 5:35 pm
Ran into Nancy Kerrigan in the mid-90’s in line for the roller coaster at New York New York. Since we were in a maze, I actually passed by her and her kids a half-dozen times.
They ended up on the same train as us, and since she skipped buying the photo at the end, I was tempted to buy her’s myself, but my wife wouldn’t let me.
Rob March 5, 2008, 5:50 pm
This didn’t happen to me, but one of my little brothers and his friend ran into Carrot Top in Vegas. He just suddenly appeared next to them and made a lame joke. They got away from him as quickly as possible, but the damage was already done.
Aanen March 5, 2008, 8:44 pm
We saw Steven Spielberg at a shopping mall on Maui once.
Dave March 5, 2008, 9:04 pm
When I was in California a few years ago at a restaurant that overlooks the beach on a mountain, We saw Brian Setzer who was just finishing eating…
jk March 5, 2008, 11:32 pm
Oh boy, I’d love to run into Brian Setzer!
About 10 years ago, I was checking in at LAX and noticed a woman in the distance having a meltdown with at the ticket counter. She was screaming and being really irrational from what I could hear, and the gate attendant simply closed that counter and walked away, leaving the crazy woman all alone. It was Roseanna Arquette (sic?).
My brother and his sons ran into Shaq in line for a roller coaster at the Mall of America several years back; this was the only recorded time in history that my brother did not have his camera with him.
Ricki Rocket (?) from Poison tried to pick up my college RA at an airport.
In 1985 I saw Bart Conner on a flight from PA to Minneapolis. He was in the very back row, in what was then the smoking section!
Points to whoever knows who Bart Conner was without Googling him. COD should know…I am just trying to think who on here is over 35!
Steve A March 6, 2008, 1:38 am
I saw some professional, and I use that term loosely, wrestler in Portland (OR) International Airport in the 70s. One of my brothers recognized him as we sat in the waiting area for a flight for me back to JFK and then on back “home” to Scotland.
My brush with fame… so minimal.
Ciao,
Paul March 6, 2008, 2:36 am
One of my favorites was just last year.
I was waiting to get on a plane at O’Hare and unsurprisingly, it was running late. Once the plane we were waiting for landed there were a lot of people standing around waiting for the passengers to deplane. And they did, one by one of course. Standard United flight from Vegas or somewhere else.
Towards the end a guy came out and I really thought he looked familiar. He wasn’t terribly tall, was pretty round, with curly salt and pepper hair. I looked at him for a second, made eye contact, and smiled. He smiled back. I recognized him.
I turned to the person standing next to me; she recognized him, too. So I called my wife and told her. “Honey, you’ll never guess who I just saw at the airport. George Wendt!”
Maria March 6, 2008, 9:10 am
So many of these took place at airports. I’ll add mine to the list. I saw Li’l Bow Wow in the Seattle airport. He was having a meltdown with his handlers. Nobody else in the terminal seemed to recognize him, but there was a driver waiting with a sign that said “Li’l Bow Wow.”
I also took dance classes at the same place as Andie MacDowell’s kids for a few years, so I ran into her a number of times.
Adam March 6, 2008, 12:28 pm
I fly a lot between FL and Atlanta so I see a lot of wrestlers on planes and at the airport. Ran into Jerry Rice at a club in Orlando once.
The funniest one was when I was 18 and working at a grocery store. Two guys came walking up to me on the aisle to ask where something was. One of the guys looked familiar but I just figured he was in the store before. Then the other guy says “did you ever watch Family Ties? Remember Skippy, the weird neighbor?” Turns out Skippy (real name: Marc Price) had become a stand-up comic and his buddy was having fun embarrassing him.
That’s the most obscure famous encounter for me.