'Nicest celebrity you've ever met' Twitter thread

[...]

Tony Bennett.

John Travolta

Carol Burnett.

“John Travolta”

Are you still a Masseur? Did it end happily?

Carol Burnett and Blair Underwood.

Joel Edgerton was really nice to me. We briefly chatted about our beards.

The nicest celebrity was Rosetta LeNoire. Anyone in show biz will tell you she was a cut above everyone else.

Colleen Dewhurst was universally loved. But Rosetta was possessed of a spirit that you find rarely.

Celebrities are fascinating!

Mavis Staples.

Fran Drescher

Reddit has some great "worst celebrities" threads.

Angela Lansbury, Petula Clark, Jonathan Groff, Ann-Margret.

Henry Winkler

Yes, here's another vote for Henry Winkler. A real prince.

R7 Just come out.

DL Icon Tracy Scoggins is a delight.

Cher

Emma Thompson

Miriam Margolyes is just as one would imagine.

(behind the scenes guy, here)

Jody Foster (worked with her)

LaVar Burton (super nice-- worked with him-- He memorized all the names of the crew off the call sheet before his first day on set! So when, he introduced himself he knew your first and last name and what your position was. It was like a prank that caused people to stop and pause because we couldn't figure out how he knew our names. Fun guy.)

Porn Stars. -- Yes, I had a short stint in Porn production, and weirdly, the nicest people I have worked with were Porn actors and porn production crew.

Nicest? Get the fuck out of here OP. Hisssssssss...

Ryan Gosling.

Mariah Carey is the biggest cunt.

Nice to hear about Rosetta r8. She usually played cranky elderly ladies -- and perfectly, too.

Carrie Underwood sounds like a cunt. And I still don't believe that bullshit story from a few years ago about her face. She looked all plumped up with fillers. Bitch concocted a story for some plastic surgery.

r5 .. I'm a real estate agent now. Received a very generous payment (half a mil) from John.

Carol Burnett. I was on the board of directors of a theater and wrote her a letter asking if she would come to our fundraiser/gala. I wasn’t sure the letter would ever get to her. A couple of weeks later, my phone rang on a Sunday afternoon, and it was her. I was stunned to think that she would take the time to call someone who wrote a letter.

Yes 100% all day for Henry Winkler! Great guy and so unassuming. Howard Stern is also a gentleman who is the height of a basketball player. Very quiet but nice and clearly knows how important it is to be decent to everyone including the annoying photographers.

Phylicia Rashad—down to earth, interested, warm, with none of the “Grand Lady of Theatah” mannerisms DL sometimes pokes fun at her for.

Chloe Sevigny was also nice and seemed genuinely appreciative when I complimented her work.

I met Jodie and shook her hand which was like the size os a 15 years old in the late 90s and she was very kind. She's tiny and was visibly drunk with Russell Crowe acting like a jerk beside her. They were holding hands and hanging on each other but I'm unsure of the context.

That Wayne guy (frontman for the Flaming Lips) was working on an art/food project with my boss (a chef.) We shared a box of Triscuits in the kitchen while we waited for her to get back to the shop/restaurant. He was super normal and non-snobby.

Brooke Shields and I are the same age. (I’m female) In the 80s and 90s I used to work a lot of award shows - I was one of those people who would be assigned a celebrity and you attend the rehearsal and the show and you wait for the celebrity to get on and off stage, lead them through the press area, etc. I think in about 1987 - I was 22 and working the American Comedy awards. I used to drench myself in Estée Lauder Beautiful - like only a dumb 22 year old would. I ran into the ladies room and was in the stall and someone came in to the ladies room with a friend and said “Oooh -someone smells WONDERFUL!” I walked out of the stall and it was Brooke Shields. she said “oh is it you that smells so good.? What are you wearing.”?” She really looked me in the eye and focused on a conversation with me. Ok she was so NICE and for real it blew me away: At 22 she was a BIG DEAL and a lot of 22 year old girls can be snarky. I have always been impressed at how kind she was at such a young age.

Shelley Winters. 1997.

Kris Jenner. 1998.

In the 80’s I worked at a store that a lot of celebrities frequented.

Joan Rivers was incredibly nice to me when she didn’t have to. I was a nobody and she took time to chat and gossip with me.

Rock Hudson was very nice to me too. He was near the end of his illness and probably felt like shit but he still smiled and joked with me.

Cassandra Peterson (Elvira) was super sweet and not annoyed at all when my little gayling self worshipped her and bombarded her with questions.

[quote]a couple of tales of Kirstie Alley and Carrie Underwood being cunts.

And this is supposed to surprise us?

Dina Merrill

I walked past Ron Howard on the beach the other day, and he smiled at me.

Dame Angela Lansbury was very gracious to us fans waiting outside the theatre for her after a performance of Blithe Spirit. Posed for photos, smiled and thanked us for coming.

Dame Helen Mirren (same theatre) the same. It was raining and she was very pleasant.

Nobody who is under the age of 90 even knows who most of these "celebrities" are...

+1 for Brooke Shields. I produced some big ad campaigns Brook did in the mid 2000 and she was a total pro and a real nice girl.

R31, I have posted this before-

My mother- who is the same age as Brooke Shields attended a party in HS (Long Island) back in the early 80s- when she was super huge. Brooke walked in with another person...kind of a celeb. Lisa falk or something my mother said. Lisa was a bitch and basically ignored most ppl. My mother was sort of shy and her friends left her at a table for a minute. Brooke walked over and sat down. They chatted, and Brooke was super super nice. My mother was stunned that she was sitting there speaking to her. Anyway, her friend walked over, ignored my mother...and said lets leave. Brooke got up, told my mother how great it was speaking w her, and shook her hand, and waved as she left. My mother , to this day LOVES her and will watch whatever she is in.

People generally respond, "Who?" or "THAT IS INCREDIBLE!!! WHAT WAS HE LIKE????"

Douglas Adams.

^ I met Douglas at a book signing in NZ where nobody turned up. Dicks. I told him I really liked his season of Doctor Who. He paused, and then dead panned 'Well, you were the only one'. He was hot, roman noses are cool.

I enjoyed the reply about Lucille Ball on the linked Twitter thread:

[quote]I was her private flight attendant on a 4 hour flight. This was in her older years. She was rude and very demanding. Took me by surprise. Disappointing because I had grown up watching her on tv, and I expected her to be like the characters she portrayed.

No one has a good story about Lucy.

the flight attendant needs to get over themselves

R20 I've also met several porn stars from the "golden age" of X-rated movies (1970s and 80s), and I agree that they are some of the nicest people:

Veronica Hart

Erik Edwards

Richard Pacheco

Jeanne Silver

All genuine, kind individuals.

[quote]LaVar Burton (super nice-- worked with him-- He memorized all the names of the crew off the call sheet before his first day on set! So when, he introduced himself he knew your first and last name and what your position was. It was like a prank that caused people to stop and pause because we couldn't figure out how he knew our names. Fun guy.)

Too bad you couldn't do the same.

His name is LeVar. .

TV stars Nick Offerman and Misha Collins are both extremely nice, well educated, and cultured.

[quote]My mother- who is the same age as Brooke Shields....

Just shoot me.

Lily Tomlin

Dua Lipa put a cigarette out on my back.

Heather Graham. After chatting at a theater function she said we should hang out some time. Because I’m intimidated by celebs (despite being a minor actor/writer myself at the time) I never took her up on it.

She is also the most beautiful individual I’ve ever met in person - utterly luscious eyes, lips, skin, hair etc. She’s a bit surreal.

Belinda Carlisle was super nice to me once on a flight. I had gotten upgraded to first and she was across from me. I said hello to her, in a non-creepy way, and that I enjoyed her music, etc. I was reading a Dean Koontz book, and she said "ohh, I love him!" and we chatted for a bit. She was also super sweet to the flight attendant, especially after some entitled old dude was rude.

I went to a Broadway production of Anything Goes with Patti Lupone. The cast exited the stage by walking up the aisles and i nearly jumped out of my seat to wave at her. She smiled and waved back. That’s all I’ve got.

R52 I met Belinda once, and agree, so nice. I would describe her as ladylike – such a gracious, polite, and elegant demeanor. Funny to think of what a hellraiser she was in her youth.

I met Glenn Close once. She is very tiny. She was very business like and professional, not chatty, friendly. She had a purpose and was focused on that and on speaking with specific people. She came, did her thing, and left.

Did Glenn as to speak to the manager?

I know a guy who met Billy Joel back in the 80s. The guy ran a little grocery store on an island off the coast of Maine, serving all the boaters/vacationers. Joel walked to buy a couple cans of Coke, then proceeded to argue with the guy about the price. He was such a dick that the guy took the Cokes back and kicked Joel out of his store.

I don't blame celebrities for being rude. Think about how annoying it is to walk just a few blocks and have 20 people taking pictures of you and 3 people ask you for a photo.

Stevie Nicks kicked me in the cunt-bone.

R31 Brooke was just trying to discreetly tell you that you were wearing too much damn perfume.

Agree, r58. That sounds like hell. Every two seconds somebody comes up to you wanting to chat and have a picture taken, every-fucking-where you go. I would be the biggest asshole if I had to deal with that constantly.

Dwayne Johnson: Insanely charismatic and very kind

Miley Cyrus: A sincere, unpretentious goof who is generous and a sucker for dogs

Another vote for Brooke Shields: Made time every morning to chat with my friend, who was her neighbors’ dog walker

Judith Light: Huge supporter of LA’s small theaters (and gay playwrights); made lovely conversation during intermission

Shannon Elizabeth: Made it a point to sit with every non-famous person at my friend’s party, and danced with the grandparents

Laura Linney: Gracious, luminous and has a fantastic memory for names

Clooney. Saw him in a bunch of situations. Behaved very much like a politician who knows everyone around him wants a minute. He probably learned some social interaction tools and tricks from politicians. The difference is he didn't have to and behaved like that all the time.

I had to think about this, as I’ve met many celebs in my long life. But I have to give it to Corbin Bleu. At the height of his “high school musical“ fame, I was at an event with my two young nephews, who were of course huge fans of the show. Corbin was in some sort of celebrity lounge, but when he heard there were two young fans outside who wanted to meet him, he practically raced out - like, “where are they?!” He could not have been sweeter to them. His father was there with him, and he, too, was delightful. They seemed to be genuinely appreciative, enjoying the interaction with fans. I hope Corbin still has that enthusiasm.

I met Joy Behar at a concert a few years back. She was so funny and nice.

Vanessa Williams. She had a party / BBQ at her lovely home in Chappaqua for the cast and crew of a Broadway show she was in, and I was the +1 of one of those people.

She was tremendously charming and gracious, a real class act.

The biggest surprises: Liam Gallagher on a plane. Super chill and nice.

Ditto Charlie Sheen. Friendly, good manners.

Was in a lift making small talk with a short tan guy with a beard. When the man left I realised it was Mel Gibson. Witty and charming. I guess he gets second chance after second chance because everyone likes him.

Believe it or not, Joel McHale.

Kirk Douglas. Very polite.

R69^ is not the Ghost of Natalie Wood

Another “believe it or not:”

I was visiting friends who lived in Carmel Highlands around Christmas time one year. Joan Fontaine was their neighbor. She invited us for cocktails and even had a small gift for each of us (we took her couple bottles of wine). She was charming, funny, not at all pretentious.

R71 did she talk about her cunt sister, Olivia de Haviland?

Frances Farmer.

Yes, I'm old.

Only to say that Olivia was REALLY, REALLY jealous and pissed that Joan got an Oscar first. Joan rather enjoyed showing up her dear sister.

Ewan McGregor. Spoke with him at a theater during a film festival and then hours later we continued our conversation at the after party. Very bright, funny and relaxed. Great looking in person, trim body and very handsome.

Doris Day for sure. I was still a teen when we posed outside Nate n' Al Deli in Beverly Hills. She gave me two buttons from the organization she was involved with, Actors and Others for Animals. When I sent her the photo she dubbed it "The headlight shot" and I joked that it could be taken in another context! While we'd written for many years, this was our first meeting and the start of a really good friendship. She was gracious to a fault with me and everyone she would encounter, graciously signing and posing for photos and personalizing every encounter.

[quote] Ewan McGregor. Spoke with him at a theater during a film festival and then hours later we continued our conversation at the after party. Very bright, funny and relaxed. Great looking in person, trim body and very handsome.

Did you sleep with him too you whore??!?

James Taylor. Super nice and since he's also a New Englander was asking where in RI I lived. He Summers there a lot.

I’m the one who used to work at the awards shows - the one who was wearing too much perfume around Brooke Shields! That night I was “herding” Jack Lemmon around - he was very nice but totally competent and didn’t need a little 22 year old girl tailing after him. If memory serves I think the awards were being taped on Super Bowl Sunday and big TVs were on backstage and Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau etc were glued to the TVs. Jack L drove himself there and went home for dinner so I had “wander around” time. We were asked not to make eye Contact with Priscilla Presley (she was exquisite). It was a very old building and at one point I was in a very narrow brick hallway and Roseanne was at one end and Louie Anderson at another - they rushed to each other for a greeting and they didn’t say excuse me or pardon the squish - I just remember getting smushed like I wasn’t there. .... I was small and thin back then and wore a spaghetti strap dress and it was so cold I was covered in goosebumps. At one point in the night when Jack Lemmon was on his own, I ducked into a side green room to stay out of the way. I didn’t see anyone around so I stood in the corner and watched the monitor. Suddenly someone was behind me vigorously rubbing my arms like you would warm up a kid - “Ooooh you must be FREEZING!” - It was LUCY!!! She was hiding out in that side room. It was about a year before she died - i sputtered how much joy she had given me over the years - then I told her how much I loved “Yours, Mine and Ours” - especially her drunk scene with the Lazy Susan - she started to laugh and act it out a little. Then she chuckled and looked down and shook her head and looked up and said “Thank you - I haven’t thought about that in years - boy that was fun.” I was so grateful that she was so wonderful - I have heard so many bad Lucy stories - I was so lucky to have such a nice moment with her!

Was walking my dog early Sunday morning - a few years ago near Time Square. A very handsome, and casually dressed Bradley Cooper gave me and my pup the warmest smile and a little wave as we were all at a light waiting to cross and there was not another soul on the block.

He was also wearing purple leather slides - either Adidas or Puma, I forget.

Waaaay back in my college days, I volunteered as an usher for a local theater. One night, there was a Holocaust survivor who was going to be speaking and I was assigned to escort guests to their seats. There I was standing, and this tiny little woman walked up to me and asked me to help her find her seat. It was Joan Rivers herself. I wanted to scream out, "Oh, my God!", but I tried to be professional.

She put her arm inside mine and I walked her to her seat. When she sat down, I'll never forget what she said, "You are just so polite and charming. Thank you for your help."

She couldn't have been sweeter.

R73 Frances Farmer? Do tell....

R73 Were you both in the same insane asylum?

Kenny Price, country music singer (very personable, chatty - deceased)

Ann Coulter, political pundit (yes, she was actually very cordial and engaging, humorous)

Warren Beatty, actor (pre-occupied, but polite)

I briefly worked as a publicist in '83-'84 and was assigned to cover John Hurt and director Michael Radford while they did interviews promoting the film 1984.

Hurt was delightful and chatty. His wife at the time - an American who had done some acting - was around and I found her very prickly at times. Radford was professionally cordial, but he was also still pissed about having that Eurythmics score added to the film over his objections.

Hurt had a few catty remarks about Ian McKellen ("so incredibly vain") and Sigourney Weaver ("more an interesting personality than an actress"). He saw his friend Derek Jacobi on Broadway as Cyrano and raved about the performance, with good reason.

So many, actually, and not that many assholes.

Jody Foster - Foul mouth but really smart and perceptive questions about the book I was reading poolside in WeHo.

George Segal - Saw me struggling and helped me put a lawnmower in the trunk of a friend's car and stayed to talk about it. Down to earth guy for Beverly Hills.

Dolly Parton - A national treasure. But you knew that.

Roy Scheider - Always shared the NY Times and a smart take on the day's news every morning in the hotel hot tub.

Walter Cunningham (Apollo 7 astronaut) - at a dinner. Amazing ability to connect with people and explain both the mechanics and the importance of the space program.

Queen Latifah - Sweet, modest (or else great at appearing to be) and a lovely smile. JFK.

Cheyenne Jackson - Chatty and funny at LAX, seemed disappointed we weren't on the same plane.

Mel Brooks - We were on the same plane. He couldn't stop talking and the whole first class cabin couldn't stop laughing.

Abigail Van Buren - the original Dear Abby, sitting next to us at Spiaggia in Chicago. Very gracious. I should have asked for some advice.

Ann Miller - She talked like she danced: non-stop, bubbly, great energy into her 70's. Tryouts for "Dreamgirls" pre-Broadway.

Shirley Bassey - Told me I had to meet this handsome, charming guy she'd just spoken to at the party. I asked her who he was and she pointed out my bf. I remember kissing her (great scent, whatever it was), thanking her, and telling her we'd been together for about 20 years. She said, "I know why." "Maybe you do, maybe you don't," I remember thinking, "but we're not going into that here." I still remember her perfume.

Barbara Cook - Grace, charm, talent and perseverance personified. And even in her 80's, that amazing voice, speaking and singing...

Lennox Lewis - Loose, funny, handsome and very, very charming at Spiegelworld in Miami.

Steve Allen - a true polymath in a hideous hairpiece; wit and erudition at the next table at lunch in, of all places, the Harvard Faculty Club.

Brett Favre - the ultimate hot dirty whiteboy with big, big feet, big laugh, and entertaining the whole bar. Sheraton Torrey Pines, LaJolla, pre-Superbowl 1998

Pete Seeger - not me, my Dad: old ex-McCarthyite meets old ex-Commie folksinger on the sloop "Clearwater," they find common ground, and bond over cleaning up rivers and waterways.

Frank Sinatra - not me, my Mom: old bobbysoxer (by then) meets Old Blue Eyes. Mom's chatting with Barbara Sinatra and introducing her to big-bucks donors at the reception before a benefit concert she helped to organize and tells her how she swooned over Frankie at the Paramount as a girl. Barbara asks if she still remembered what he sang. Mom tells her, thinking she's just making conversation. Two hours later from the stage Sinatra asked her to stand and take a bow, says "This is for Susan who set up this clambake" and sang "Violets for Your Furs" to her. She was in tears. She said later that some of the other women on the committee, including the Mayor's wife, were a little frosty to her about the shoutout, but did Mom care? Not a bit. Besides, they sold out Symphony Hall and raised $250,000 for charity.

[quote]R86 Ann Miller - She talked like she danced: non-stop, bubbly, great energy into her 70's. Tryouts for "Dreamgirls"

Didn’t she fear she’d be miscast??

Bill Clinton was very warm, asked my name, and (sincerely) thanked me when I told him I prayed for him every night when he was president.

Sarah McLachlan. I actually was invited to her house (pal was doing her hair for an event,) and she was so warm, down-to-earth, a bit coarse (big belches) and so unlike her public gossamer-girl persona. Definitely the sort of lady you could see being a bon vivant and great friend. Walking around in a tank top, foils in her hair, completely cool. Her husband was actually the wine-sniffing snoot, but I largely avoided him.

Meredith Vieira is a class act. I attended a long, shambolic shoot where she would’ve had every reason to tell everyone to go to hell and storm off the set. Instead she was gracious and patient and stuck around until we had everything we needed.

Threads like these tend to restore my faith in humanity.

Conan O'Brien is the nicest, most down to earth guy. Very tall and handsome so I always hoped he was at least bi.

And my OJ anecdote. We have mutual friends and we were both invited to a Christmas party. The mutual friends are Jews with a Christmas Tree. I went with my mom. Oj was so nice to everyone and especially charmed my mom. When we were leaving, we waved to OJ who was parked across the street. He ran across the street and hugged and kiss my mom and said what a pleasure it was to meet her and how he hoped we would see each other at the next gathering. This was a year or so before the murders. The entire thing was hard for my mom to watch because she just couldn't believe this wonderful, charming man who went out of his way to be nice to her could be a murderer.

R92 Tell her his son did it.

The evidence pointed to him.

[quote]Disappointing because I had grown up watching her on tv, and I expected her to be like the characters she portrayed.

Not without Viv, R43!

R88 too bad you are a man. He will do more than just thank you if you are a woman. He will offer you his juicy cock and feed you his presidential juice!

Had short interactions with Judith and Brooke, and both were wonderful.

I’ve never met Dolly, but my friends confirm she is amazing.

Carol Channing was delightful.

Carole Cook is by far the nicest, most genuine person I’ve ever met. Never an unkind word about anyone (Gary Morton is the exception that makes the rule.)

r93 is an idiot.

Cleo Laine was much nicer and engaging than she had to be. I met her on the street and she introduced herself and talked for about a half hour. I realized that John Dankworth had some car trouble and it was late so probably she accepted fan talk as the price of feeling safe.

But she never let on.

R86 That sure is a major fundraiser for your mother to have organized. Impressive. Sounds like your family moved in some interesting circles. .

Margaret Cho. She was cool as fuck. I did a photoshoot with her (I was the publicist for the magazine) - She was hungry when she got there so I ordered her food. We sat and talked while the photog got the setup done When it was hair and make-up time she grabbed me to keep her company. Her actual publicist came two hours late. She threw her arm around me and said "this is my new bitch, you are out," to the super gay publicist who shot me daggers. We still text and meet up every once in a while to this day.

I wish I could arrive somewhere, say I’m hungry, and have someone order me food.

Angela Lansbury. Worked with her once. She had REASON to be pissed about something that went wrong, and she wasn't at all. Completely professional and charming.

Johnny Depp. Just a run of the mill encounter, but he gave me such a genuine smile, asked me my name, and extended his hand to shake mine. And this was 1996 so he was hot as fuuuuck.

R102

Arriviste from Flylo’erstan needs to lay off the empty calories!

R102 is Darfu Orphan.

It’s just an idle wish....

Henry Cavill. I didn't interact with him, but I saw him at the airport while he was accosted by a group of kids. He was very patient and sweet towards them. I thought it was good of him when many celebrities would have just brushed the kids off with, "Get away from me or I'll miss my plane."

r86 I have also heard great things about Lennox Lewis.

I love the Brooke Shields and Jodie Foster stories! Fave raves of mine since I was a kid, and it’s nice to hear that they’re nice.

So I’ve told these stories on DL before, but here goes. I used to work in a dinner theatre and worked with lots of “stars”, mostly of the D list variety. My favourite was Cindy Williams of Laverne and Shirley fame. She was absolutely lovely to me. She was the spokesperson for Jenny Craig at the time and got me a full time membership, and paid for all the food and literature for me. Very generous of her. I lost a bunch of weight too!

Joyce Dewitt was also a sweetheart.

I met and partied one night with Ryan Gosling because his sister Mandi was in a show at the same theatre. Charming, down-to-earth and gracious man. And a really good brother from what I observed!

R40 was this Lisanne Falk? She was a would-be Brooke of that era pushed by her stage mom - she is on the cover of a Foreigner album (Head Games) and is best known for Heathers. Tall and model-esque but not necessarily that “pretty.”

Went thru the Twitter thing for about 2 mins - did I seriously read something positive about Chevy Chase?

Patrick Swayze filming "Roadhouse". He was intense and nervous yet friendly and professional. Genuine smile.

R107 he is cute. Very humble person .

For R82.

Frances Farmer lived her last 10 or so years in Indianapolis, dying in 1970. I believe she got there doing summer theater and then, somehow, made a connection with a local television station. For much of the 1960s, she hosted the station's afternoon movie, "Frances Farmer Presents." That was something to see!

I was very young when I met her in the early 60s. Maybe 6 or 7 years old. I think she was making some sort of personal appearance. The State Fair? I don't recall. But I recognized her from television and got very excited to be standing there face to face with the lady from TV. She was very nice to this six year who was clearly queening out in front of her.

Bless her. I've gotten a lot of mileage out of that chance encounter.

You won't even know who this is, but former UCLA gymnast Peng Peng Li was an absolute sweetheart to my 10 yo nephew. I was there with niece and nephew to see the team that had become almost rock stars that season. My niece was thrilled to get Peng's autograph but I was stunned when she started talking to my nephew and saying how he probably didn't want to be there but it was nice to support his sister. It was a definite high point of his young life and when UCLA won the championship with Peng's 10 on beam, it became a perfect ending for all of us.

Jan-Michael Vincent at the airport in Hong Kong in 1989. He was by himself and was loaded down with luggage. Some fans came up to him and asked for an autograph and he put down every piece and spent time with each person, even though he was weary and it was well past midnight. Flights had been delayed and we were all tired but he looked great and was gracious.

Nice story R113, thanks. I figured it had to be during the Indianapolis years.

Dame May Whitty once punched me in the face...It was awesome!

[quote]And this was 1996 so he was hot as fuuuuck.

Johnny Depp has never been hot as fuck. Ever.

^ He was in Platoon.

Kim Zimmer. Took the time for me to call my mother and say, “My new friend wants to say hello to you”. She went full Reva Shane and made and my mother’s year. One of my mother’s favorite stories to tell.

Spencer Pratt

Kim Zimmer? Who?

Ive met a few but here are my 4 favorites. The 1st one was John John Kennedy in 1979-80. I was working at a 7-11 in West Palm Beach when he came in . Of course I immediately recognized him,and immediately became all tongue tied and twisted like some 13 year old girl . When he came up to pay for his Evian water and dentyne (yes,I still remember what he bought!) he could tell I was aware of who he was and he seemed amused at my reaction to his incredible physical presence and charisma . He was very polite and warm,and when he left I about collapsed. Words cannot describe his aura,his magnetism . He was stunning .

The 2nd ones were the band Thompson Twins at a hotel pool in Ft. Lauderdale. The 2 guys were awesome and very friendly,the chick was a cunt. I bought a round of drinks for them,and we chatted for a while,then when the waiter came up I ordered another round for us guys and totally ignored the cunt. I could tell the guys were amused as hell,while she just sat there emanating hostility. I cared not,and even turned my back to her and never acknowledged her again.

The 3rd was Joan Rivers in Stapleton airport in Denver. I was working at a book store on the 1st class concourse and I spy this tiny little woman in a gigantic fur coat carrying a tiny dog. I only knew it was Joan because of the dog Spike ! I grabbed one of her books,ran out and fan gushed her to death and begged for an autograph. She was wonderful and sweet and very gracious.

The 4th was in the same airport and was Rodney Dangerfield . He came into the book store and bought a dozen of these very expensive childrens fairy tale books. I asked him why he was buying so many and he said they were gifts for friends children. He gave me an autograph as well,and was super warm and nice. Oddly I thought he looked better in person than on the screen .I met several celebrities working in that airport ,but those 2 were my favorites.

She hit me in the head with a fondue pot, r117...

I like the Thompson Twins story.

Vanessa Williams, Hoda Kotb, Alex Moffatt (SNL), Armistead Maupin.

Another vote for Jodie Foster. I met Jodie Foster when I was nine years old and she was a guest on a children's show. Very polite, kind, respectful. Jodie told me where the juice and snacks were!

She knows where to find the juice AND the snacks!

David Niven - Charm personified, funny, warm, and not nearly as wispy as he has often seemed onscreen.

Hoda Kotb is about as down-to-earth as it gets. Lovely woman and very genuine.

r127, was the show Kids Are People Too?

[quote]R127 Another vote for Jodie Foster. I met Jodie Foster when I was nine years old and she was a guest on a children's show. Very polite, kind, respectful. Jodie told me where the juice and snacks were!

My school chum was an extra on Foster’s series PAPER MOON and the vintage shoes they provided didn’t fit. The wardrobe people didn’t want to be hassled to switch them, and when they were alone Foster gave my friend her shoes (which fit), took the other shoes and went to a wardrobe person and said, “I need different shoes.”

Hi R131, this is R127 and yes. The show was KIDS ARE PEOPLE TOO.

Cool r133! I remember seeing her on there, which is why I asked. Were you also a guest on the show?

Cher and Cyndi Lauper were kind and humble when I met them. Clooney and Amal too. btw My friend had Henry Winkler and his wife drive her around DC 20 years ago and said they were both the best.

Ryan Idol at the peak of his popularity in 1991. I was one of two extras in a solo scene he did that was shot in Santa Monica,, and when everything wrapped he needed a ride back to Hollywood, and I was going to Weho, so I volunteered. Super nice guy, gave me his card upon parting, and I kept it in my wallet for years, until it was in shreds.

Rock Hudson.

R132

Best story on this thread.

Walter Cronkite and Elizabeth Taylor

Selma Blair. She was so beautiful in person, sweet, charming, and patient. I have been sad seeing her in bad health these past couple of years.

Another vote for Belinda Carlisle. The other Go-Go’s were more loud and rowdy, but Belinda was more serene and chill, which I think some people at this event felt it was her being aloof and bitchy. I did not. She was super friendly to me, quiet and yes, ladylike. She was the only one of the group who actually looked me in the eye and spoke to me like I was a real person.

I know some people will find it hard to believe, but Nina Garcia at the height of Project Runway’s popularity. She was SO nice, gracious, warm. She even complimented me on my outfit!

I am a nobody, but I’ve always been treated nicely by the many celebrities I’ve met. I’ll tell more stories later.

It was around fourteen years ago, I was walking along and almost literally ran into Judge Judy and her husband as they were coming out of a restaurant. I am from upstate NY and hadn't been in NYC for very long and wasn't used to seeing celebrities which is probably why I just blurted out, "Wow, Judge Sheindlin."

She gave a light laugh and motioned quickly towards her husband and then herself and said, "We're both Judge Sheindlin."

I asked if they had just had dinner which was incredibly stupid because they had just exited a restaurant. They said they had and enjoyed the meal. Her husband recommended the restaurant to me but added that it might be out of my price range so be prepared for it. Judge Judy gave him a frown and said, "Don't say that. You don't know what he can afford." He laughed and said he just wanted me to know in case I was wanting to "impress a young lady" by taking her there. (Obviously, he had no gaydar.)

She asked my name and if I lived in New York or if I was visiting. I told her I was from upstate and that I was going to school in the city. I was really surprised at her voice. There was none of the harshness or imperiousness that she used on her tv show. She was soft-spoken, warm, and it was like talking to the grandmother of a friend.

Our conversation was only a few minutes as they were waiting for their car to arrive. It did and she smiled and said, "That's for us." She and her husband both said it was nice meeting me and she gave me a little shoulder height wave as she got into the car. I noticed the driver didn't get out of the car to open the door for either of them. Judge Judy opened the door herself and climbed in and then her husband through the same door as she slid over to make room.

I don’t know why, but I like nice celebrity stories even better than awful celebrity stories.

Back in the late 90s during my debauched early 20s party days, I was walking home in the West Village about 6am, still drunk and fucked up from being out all night. I went into a deli to get some water and as I was exiting onto the sidewalk I ran right into a woman, nearly knocking her over. I apologized profusely, and she was very nice about it. She said something like "you look like you've been out all night, you'd better go get some sleep." I said that's exactly what I was doing and apologized again for almost knocking her on her ass. She laughed and said it was ok. She looked vaguely familiar but in my fucked up state I couldn't place her. It was only after walking several more blocks that I suddenly realized that the woman was Julia Roberts.

R142, great story about Judge Judy. I know her politics are wack, but she was good friends with Joan Rivers, who was also known to be a nice celebrity. So, makes sense that these two nice ladies hung out together.

R118 Well, you would be wrong.

Bob Villa

I said hello to Ted Koppel as he walked past me at the Potomac, MD Giant. He returned my hello. I'm not sure , but I think I saw Shirley Jones there once too. Schwarzenegger was known to be seen there, as well as Linda Carter. One of the employees told me LC slipped once and another employee told her that wouldn't have happened to Wonder Woman. She apparently wasn't amused. I also saw the host of a local show called Panorama in the Bethesda Giant parking lot, can't remember his name--Bill Crystal? Said hello and he said hello. That Giant was across from the woods where they found Laura Houghteling's body. My sister was dating a guy who worked there and was leaving as they were taking her body out.

I worked on a photoshoot for Naomi Campbell back in the early 90s. She arrived, tall and VERY thin. Nothing special to look at even after hair and makeup, But when the camera started BAM! the supermodel arrived. It was electrifying.

She seemed terribly sweet and giggly, not at all like the diva she is now. I sometimes wonder of there isn't some sort of mental illness going on with her.

I couldn't go to a comic book convention back in the early 90s (I forget why) but my oldest sister (who doesn't read them or even like sci fi stuff) went with her boyfriend & got me Adam West's autograph. She said he was so nice & talked to them longer than they expected. A real class act.

The way Carrie Underwood even became famous should've kept her humble, because it's pathetic.

Such tweets are reliable eveals on how old the Tweeter is.

Michael Bolton. A musician friend plays gigs in hotels (bars, etc.) and said that whenever the group ended a song, MB would stop and clap (give a hand for the band).

Lake Bell and her husband Scott. Great, slightly eccentric couple.

Dina Merrill- friend of my Mother. Always a nice lady just as you would expect.

Candice Bergen- funny with a great sense of self.

Love the Judge Judy and Julia Roberts stories.

I hope Misfit Girl comes to mention how sweet and warm Marilyn Monroe was to her when she was a child extra on The Misfits.

I've mentioned this here before, but Seann William Scott was SO nice to my family and me. We met him about 20 years ago, before he became "big"...well, as big as he ever got. Totally different than he is in movies and interviews. Not a "bro" at all. Short, and CUTE. Yes, he did "ping" a bit.

I've never been into waiting at the stage door for actors after a show, but I've done it a few times. My two favorites were Dixie Carter (after MASTER CLASS) and Joan Collins, after whatever that thing was she did with Linda Evans. Dixie was glamorous, slinky, seductive and sweet. Joan was a DOLL! I was scared of her but she was game and fun. We all chatted with her for a bit. There weren't many people waiting at the stage door! We *almost* got her and her younger husband to join us for a drink.

Don Diamont (Brad Carlton of Young & Restless) was super nice to me when I was a cocktail server. It was a restaurant with a separate bar. The customers would tip the food server and the food servers would tip the cocktail servers. Don Diamont inquired about whether I'd receive a tip and I said yes. (Otherwise, it seemed like he would have tipped me separately.)

This was so long ago that I've forgotten about it until now.

Yes, he was handsome and yes, I was a fan of Y&R. My pet peeve about Y&R was that they never knew what to do with the Brad character. They made Victor into the only man in town that women wanted. Really a waste of the other actors.

I'm a wardrobe person with 40+ years of experience and the ones that I remember most fondly are:

Tyne Daly

John Lithgow

Joanne Woodward

Hugh Jackman

Blythe Danner

David McCallum

Jill Clayburgh

Robert Loggia

Sigourney Weaver

Phylicia Rashad

Jason Alexander

Kristin Chenoweth

Tony Goldwyn

I couldn't wait to get to work each day to see them. There were lots I didn't like but the only one I'll name here is: Alec Baldwin. Horrible man!

I had the pleasure of wrangling Bea Arthur for a day when she was hosting an APLA function at The Wiltern.

Shy but very funny once she warmed to me. Great day.

Above mentioned Carol B, Joan R, and Dolly P. All great.

Met Dolly with Sandy Gallin who I already knew. She was just so funny and personable.

My biggest surprise however was Martina N. Expected a hard woman and she's exactly the opposite.

Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt when they were still married back in the day. Saw them standing in front of a WeHo restaurant waiting for their car. My friends and I started talking to them and they couldn't have been more friendly and charming.

And her skin was flawless.

[quote]R154 Candice Bergen- funny with a great sense of self.

DL insists she’s bi, or lesbian. Did you get any such vibe from her?

I think she’s really cool. (Although admittedly she had every possible advantage handed to her in life.)

Thanks, R159. I had a very brief encounter with Alec Baldwin some years ago, and he was extremely cold and stand-offish when he had absolutely no reason to be under the circumstances.

Margot Robbie (Givenchy show in NYC)

George Clooney (Warner lot)

R162, this story is from a friend of a friend, so take it FWIW. Friend of friend had spent time w/Candace Bergen and husband Louis Malle (deceased). Observation was that both were gay, ie, in a lavender marriage.

Hey R134, this is R133. I was not a guest on the show, but I was in the audience a couple of times. My father and brother would mail in to ticket contests at the NY DAILY NEWS to win tickets for tv shows. They won tickets three or four times for KIDS ARE PEOPLE TOO. The segments, skits, performances, and interviews on the program may have been only a few minutes long, but there was a lot of time waiting around between them. I went to tapings with with my brother, my cousin and a friend. The kids in the audience would get gift bags filled with shirts, candies, toothbrushes, and movie passes. I remember Jodie Foster being very kind and friendly. My brother also says we met Patti Smith there, but I don't remember her at the show. ( I couldn't have been older than ten when we met Patti Smith) My brother tells me that, Patti Smith too, was very kind and chatty.

r166, thanks for the details! Here's the episode with Patti Smith, maybe you can see yourself in the audience.

The WWE wrestler Roman Reigns. Super nice, funny, and charming.

My father-in-law ran an industrial cleaning business in rural NY/CT in the 1980s -- ran teams that went in to clean offices/schools/facilities. Well one of his workers called him up and said, You have to come here now - the Stones are rehearsing at this school!

Lo and behold the Stones are in the school's gym rehearsing -- some random private school in Kent CT. They were so nice to the whole crew, gave them beer, sandwiches, autographs, said to help themselves to whatever they wanted for food and were generally super down to earth!! My out of touch Father in law had barely a clue who they were!! His teen workers were flipping out.

[quote]R165 Friend of friend had spent time w/Candice Bergen and husband Louis Malle (deceased). Observation was that both were gay, ie, in a lavender marriage.

[quote]But they had a child!

The Bergen-Malle miracle baby:

Madonna.

Said no-one, ever.

[quote]And her skin was flawless.

Aveeno!

Tony Bennett. He’s a class act.

R169, the school was in Washington, CT.

[169] truth and it was close to Keith’s home in a neighboring town. They were so cool , they played Toads Place in New Haven (a small club that usually has punk bands or bands just starting out / on the decline of success) The Stones are always cool AF to anyone around them. It’s the mid type people who are the worst. My friend works with musicians and celebrities all the time. She said the pop stars , reality cunts and most rappers are the WORST to deal with. Rockers and Broadway peeps are always the best. Bieber is a dick. Kanye is a nightmare. JayZ and Beyoncé are truly amazing to everyone. Ariana Grandes mum is a bitch demanding diva so Ariana was like that until the Manchester incident and she humbled real fast (her ex overdosing also was a huge wake up call) and Britney needs to be institutionalized. She’s a literal shell of a human being, completely childlike in demeanor and seems like she’s doped up on anti depressants.

Got any details about Kanye, R177? Was he just an asshole, batshit crazy, or both crazy and an asshole?

Patty Duke. She was living in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, with her new husband and I was living and working in nearby Spokane, Washington.

I had been doing some acting at the Spokane Civic Theatre and she saw me in a couple of shows and asked me to take small roles in a couple of TV projects. She and I also had coffee a couple of times.

I was anchoring the morning show at a Spokane TV station and she came on as a guest to promote one of her projects, a short-lived NBC drama called "Amazing Grace," in which I appeared. When the interview was over, she leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. It was very innocent, but got a favorable reaction from viewers.

After she died, I wrote a note of condolence on her Twitter page and her husband wrote back and told me "she adored you."

R171 not Alexa Joel bad but she certainly got none of her mother’s looks (and that’s a good and as photoshopped/FT’d pic of her as you’re ever gonna see).

That's lovely, R179

R180, there seems to be an inviolable rule that if an ugly guy with money marries a beautiful woman and they breed, all the daughters will look like the father.

Dame Julie Andrews.

I'm afraid you're right, R182. Salma Hayek's kid with the French dude. Literally his face with Salma's hue:

R97, Are you joking or did she actually badmouth Gary Morton?

Why do I have R183 and R184 on "ignore"...

[quote] Ann Miller - She talked like she danced: non-stop, bubbly, great energy into her 70's. Tryouts for "Dreamgirls" pre-Broadway.

Who was she auditioning for... Deena Jones?

"KAR-tis, ah'm beggin ya! Please! Ah med' mah decision!"

R179, nice story about Patti Duke and her husband. You sound like a great person as well.

At a stoplight at Sunset and Genessee, I crossed in front of a car with my mastiff/boxer. The driver was a woman who pointed at him while mouthing to me, "Beautiful dog". I thanked her and she gave me a wide, wonderful smile.

It was Dana Delany.

Many years ago a friend and I were in the back of a cab going down 5th Ave. somewhere in Midtown. We were stopped at a light and Phoebe Cates crossed the street in front of us. My friend stuck his head out of the window and yelled "which one of you bitches is my mother?" Phoebe Cates was startled at first, then burst out laughing and waved at my friend. It was a great moment.

Bravo, R190. I rode in an elevator with her once. Teeny weeny.

I knew a little girl once who thought she was a celebrity. She wasn't nice at all.

R169 great story!

Nancy Sinatra

Deidre Hall was super sweet and much shorter than I expected. Whoever did her work is a fucking great plastic surgeon

Ellie Kemper- I met her in NYC several years ago. Very nice and polite. A friend of mine has also encountered her at a Catholic church several times in NYC and she's nice to parishioners who approach her after services.

Jane Krakowski

Yes, R179, thanks for that lovely story. I only interacted with Patty (Anna) once in a phone interview, but she was exceptionally sweet and down to earth. And I always loved the way she defended Judy Garland regarding the VALLEY OF THE DOLLS debacle, saying it was entirely the fault of the director, who apparently had no respect for Judy whatsoever and made things very difficult for her rather than easier.

R185. She and her husband Tom despised Gary Morton. An incredible control freak...he micromanaged her career and her social life...including a full vetting all her friends.

A funny Carole story: Lucy was the matron of honor at her wedding (1964). She jokes that “Never have Lucy at your wedding. No one looks twice at the bride.”

R197, I second that. I met Jane a couple of years ago and she was lovely.

R199, Lucie Arnaz adores and idolizes Carole Cook. She posted a gushing Facebook tribute on Carole's recent birthday.

Lucie has always spoken well of Gary. She and Desi, Jr. both attended his wedding to that golf pro a few years after Lucy died.

After years of putting up with Desi's shit, maybe Lucy was looking for a husband to shower her with attention and take control?

I was a Concierge and Adrianne Barbeaux was In line. I(GAY) was stareing. at her enormous Tee Taas. She smiled and said " I thought you were gay ", I replied "if I keep looking at those I won't be. " She said let me give you a closer look and hugged Me and kissed me on the cheek .

Steven Tyler

this will kill M BUT

Glenn Close was such a nice woman. I worked in a bookstore as a teen that she frequented. She was like the only star I'd ever seen. (and this was a few years after Fatal Attraction so she was super famous.)

I'd get so nervous waiting on her but she one time kind of tilted her head down and made eye contact and started a conversation. (I think she thought it was sweet how nervous she made me.) Then I would talk to her all the time.

I even told her about a book that Jessica Lange had bought the rights to and tried to make into a film but then decided against it. I thought she might be interested in it. (neither one of them ever made the film.)

My personal experiences...

Margot Kidder

Shirley Knight

Julie Newmar

Lily Tomlin

Kate Mulgrew

Alex Kingston

Marina Sirtis

Crystal Gayle

Betsy Palmer

Patricia Quinn

Little Nell Campbell

Barry Bostwick

Dana Barron

John Waters

Elijah Wood

Sybil Danning

I ran into Andrew Sullivan out one night, I was on bicycle, he was walking his dogs. He said hello first. Not such a prick, and better looking in person.

R204 Was the book “Machine Dreams”?

I second Kate Mulgrew, Betsy Palmer and Dana Delany!

All salt of the earth.

You can tell so much about R205 from this list.

Wow, I have not thought about Betsy Palmer in decades!

Tennis Diva from the past: Martina Navratilova. Very friendly, nice, funny, just like an old friend.

Did she eat your pussy 211?

R167 Patti Smith appears to be high as fuck on that kiddie show.

R204- What book??

LOL R212.

Mean, mean, mean!

R214:

[quote] I even told her about a book that Jessica Lange had bought the rights to and tried to make into a film but then decided against it. I thought she might be interested in it. (neither one of them ever made the film.)

Jayne Ann Phillips' novel “Machine Dreams.”

Thanks R216!

David Hasselhof in the Altmarkt in Cologne, Germany in the 90s.

What a charming man.

Yes! It was Machine Dreams that was the book I told her about.

(wow DL is really aware of things!)

R219 😘

I met Heather Locklear at the height of her TJ Hooker/Dynasty fame. She had no reason to even acknowledge me and she could not have been friendlier and more upbeat. And she was absolutely gorgeous.

Journalist Sally Quinn is a doll.

r222 must be joking. Sally Quinn is a well-known rancid cunt who is hated by many.

50 Cent - Monte Carlo 2003. He was lovely to talk to.

R212 = teenager with nothing to do

Robert Downey Jr. Met him at a club called Le Boy in 1990. Friendly.

Barbara Cook..

Took my pre-teen daughter (a Broadway fan from age five) to see her at the Cafe Carlyle. Sitting right next to the stage, she waived her program for an autograph, she was rebuffed and was crestfallen. After the show we were leaving when a waiter approached my daughter and said, "Ms. Cook would like you to come up to her suite". She did, and not only got an autograph but a bit of face time and sweet chat with the gracious diva. We didn't need a taxi as she could have floated home after that .

Runner up. Bobby Short, also at the Carlyle, a prince among men

[quote]I met Heather Locklear at the height of her TJ Hooker/Dynasty fame. She had no reason to even acknowledge me and she could not have been friendlier and more upbeat. And she was absolutely gorgeous.

A friend was waiting tables in college when Heather and her date came in. He said the same thing: she asked his name, what he was majoring in, told him she went to UCLA and was chatty and lovely. Left a big tip too.

A month later, she came back and asked if she could sit in Jon's section. He was blown away by the fact she remembered his name and her kindness.

[quote]Took my pre-teen daughter (a Broadway fan from age five) to see her at the Cafe Carlyle. Sitting right next to the stage, she waived her program for an autograph, she was rebuffed and was crestfallen.

Holy crap! Are you saying that your daughter tried to get an autograph in the show room during the show, or right after it ended, by "waiving" [sic] her program right in front of Barbara Cook???!!!! How much of a "pre-teen" was your daughter? If she was any older than five, she should be ashamed of herself, and I would have thought you'd be too embarrassed to accept the incredibly gracious invitation up to Barbara's suite.

R228

Only second hand interaction, but she was really sweet to some girls in the park one day. I recognized her on the lawn, and saw two young girls walk up and she talked to them very affectionately. Mom of the girls recognized her and she was equally sweet to the (exasperated) mother.

I didn’t talk to her, but “spying” her from a distance was enough for me to think highly of her.

R222 = Quinn Bradlee

They were all pretty nice, but I would say John Lithgow

R228 Another vote for Heather Locklear. I sat in front of her at the Hollywood Bowl a few years ago, amid headlines of personal difficulties for her, and yet she looked upbeat and great, and gave me a little high-five at one point as we all enjoyed the concert (who was playing, I forget).

The Romper Room Lady was nice.

I'm not surprised to hear the nice stories about Heather Locklear.

Back in the 1980s, there was a TV show called "TV Bloopers and Practical Jokes" hosted by Dick Clark and Ed McMahon, and every week, they would do some hidden camera prank on a celebrity. Since the celebrities didn't know they were on camera when they were being pranked, you got a sense of what they were like in "real life."

Heather Locklear got pranked by her co-star on T.J. Hooker, James Darren, and throughout the prank, she was still sweet and nice. When Susan Lucci was pranked, however, she was a total cunt. When they let her in on the prank, she put on her fake smile and acted all nice and happy. Nasty bitch.

Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones in Monaco. He’s self deprecating and friendly, much how he seems in interviews. She was strutting her stuff, lol.

R234, Here in Boston, it was Miss Jean.

LOL R235. Lucci's super sweet and fake graciousness has always been hilarious to me.

Anyone have any encounters with Rashida Jones? She seems like she would be nice.

^ Well, if you thinking being outed is nice, she's you're girl.

Was the pre-teen expecting Cook to stop, mid song, and walk over to sign her program?

I hope you went up to the suite, too...otherwise that sounds pretty creepy.

I met Ariana Grande and she was extremely kind. No diva vibes from her at all.

[quote]she's you're girl.

Oh, dear.

Another vote for Tony Bennett. I’m friendly with some people who work in a local theatre. He is widely admired for being a kind man. At the other end of the spectrum, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa impressed those who dealt with her as an entitled, gratuitously unpleasant woman.

r244 and what's wrong with that?

R229, I don’t recall the Cafe Carlyle ever distributing "programs" vis-à-vis their cabaret performers.

I've also heard that Dame Kiri isn't the brightest bulb, r244.

Patsy Kelly...I know she could be a gruff dyke - especially when she was in her cups

but she had the most beautiful plump vadge...and was so good at scissoring

R240 I’m surprised she did that. She seems cool, and that was not particularly cool.

Sandy Dennis

Heard from a black law professor, who actually became President of prestigious law school, who was assigned to pick up Cicely Tyson from an airport...

she was aggressively nasty and cutting...most unpleasant

R251 I've read a lot about what a cunt Cicely Tyson was and how unpleasant she was to be around.

I used to do the AIDS ride, a 7-day bike ride from San Francisco to LA , and I encountered the following celebrities on the rides:

- Meg Foster. She was the best. I was waiting in line at a port-a-potty at the end of one day's ride, and she came out of one. She looked at me and said, "Oh, I'm so sorry. You might wanna wait a minute before you go in there." Then she laughed and said, "It's been a long day." I took her advice and waited for a different port-a-potty.

- Dan Butler, who played Bull on Frazier. He was volunteering at one of the pit stops, handing out food and water. He was very nice, very friendly, a little flirty even.

- Andy Lauer, the cute little twunk who used to be on Caroline in the City. He played the guy who was always on roller skates. He was very laid back, very cool. Not a "star" bone in his body.

- Gedde Wattanabe, Long Duck Dong from Sixteen Candles. Super gay, but super funny, too.

- Finally, newscaster Charles Perez. He was famous for about 15 minutes back in the 90s, only because he showed up on a few episodes of the original Real World when he was Norm's boyfriend. What an asshat he was. One day I went to one of the massage tents. He was waiting for his turn, and I sat down in a chair next to him. I said, "Hi." I didn't even recognize him at first; I was just trying to be friendly. He took his baseball cap, pulled it down over his face, slumped down in his chair, and didn't even acknowledge me. Acted like a total diva bitch, as if he was some A-lister.

Heather Locklear sounds nice. I read "The Dirt" by the members of Motley Crue. Tommy Lee (Heather's ex-husband, Pam Anderson's future husband) said that Heather was cool as a cucumber when busting him for fucking another woman. Tommy Lee said Heather just presented him with the evidence (what she heard) in a calm voice. Next thing he knew, Heather filed for divorce.

Not sure what Heather expected when marrying Tommy Lee. Then, to repeat the mistake, she married the guy from Bon Jovi, who left her for Heather's good friend Denise Richardson (ex-wife of Charlie Sheen).

When Cicely Tyson died a friend of mine (who's black) just rolled his eyes and said "she was always playing a damn slave."

R240, Carrie Fisher on John Travolta in 2010 . . .

We knew that Carrie Fisher was gay-adjacent when she famously divorced agent Bryan Lourd after he came out of the closet, but we didn’t know that she dropped this little bon mot in an issue of Out last year, when discussing what gay men shouldn’t pester straight women about: “We don’t really care that John Travolta is gay.”

The Advocate was unwilling to let that very interesting statement slide, and when the magazine recently asked Fisher whether Travolta was in the right for litigating Gawker (which has published gay rumors about the star), Fisher was pretty blunt: “Wow! I mean, my feeling about John has always been that we know and we don’t care. Look, I’m sorry that he’s uncomfortable with it, and that’s all I can say. It only draws more attention to it when you make that kind of legal fuss. Just leave it be.”

I'm guessing Carrie Fisher had a beef with John Travolta. Her statement was disingenuous. She knows very well that someone being gay might be an open secret in Hollywood, but you don't go on the record confirming things. Unless you have a beef.

R257, Especially when there were rumors for years about Debbie being a lesbian.

Princess Madeleine of Sweden. She lived in New York for several years. Unlike in Europe where she was always on the covers of magazines, in America she liked to keep things low key and preferred her anonymity. I think it was around the time she broke off her first engagement because the guy was cheating on her. She was generally regarded in retail and service industries as a total sweetheart to deal with. Unfailingly polite and friendly, but not chatty. I worked in midtown and saw her often. I think she lived in the East 50s closer to the Sutton Place area. A friend of mine worked in a particular store and there was one day when the princess who was a frequent customer came in with her mother the queen of Sweden. He said it was really weird because mother and daughter spoke English to each other the whole time they were there. He was expecting them to be talking Swedish.

She wasn't being disingenuous, r257, she was being honest.

R260 she was because there have been definite rumors about her mother, so one could in theory make the same argument about her - it’s an “open secret” so why not admit it?

R261 The difference being that John Travolta IS gay and Debbie Reynolds was just the subject of rather vague rumors over the years. that were never ever really based on any kind of evidence other than people just constantly repeating "oh, she and Agnes Moorehead were GOOD friends".

I went to a performance of Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean...on Broadway. Somebody hit the fire alarm in the middle of the first act, and we all ended up in the middle of the street, including the cast! Lucky me, I noticed I was standing right next to Cher. I had to think fast wanting to use the opportunity to engage her in conversation without coming off like a typical fawning fan. We ended up discussing her sister, Georganne's, appearance on General Hospital. She was warm and friendly and then apologized to me when theatre staff came to rush her to another location.

Not a huge celebrity, but years ago, I literally bumped into Cedric Yarbrough at a restaurant in Los Angeles. He was on RENO 911 at the time. I wasn’t drunk, just being my usual clumsy self and not watching where I was going. I was an idiot, but he was very nice about it and even hugged me. Nice man, and very handsome in person.

Amy Grant. I have a friendly relationship with her manager, so I've had the opportunity to interact with Amy on a few occasions. When you are talking with her, she is very engaged, attentive and can be funny. But mostly she's just very sweet and down-to-earth.

One time we were having breakfast with Amy's manager at a diner in Nashville. Vince Gill came in and sat at a table by himself. On our way out, we stopped at his table and our friend introduced us to him. He was very gracious and friendly. But I felt uncomfortable having interrupted his meal.

My husband has been a huge fan of Crystal Gayle since he was a young teen. After attending one of her concerts, she was doing a rope line meet-and-greet. When she reached my husband, I said "He's had a crush on you since he was in the 8th grade." Her face just lit up and she reached over the rope and gave him the biggest hug. I think it kind of embarrassed him, but I know he loved every moment.

Let me see if I can explain this to you, r261. She was asked about Travolta litigating Gawker...NOT her friggin' mother.

R255 YES! I feel as though she has played so many slaves that I can only picture her career as a long line of slave-only roles. How sad is that? I've always found her to be physically attractive in kind of a cute-ish way. I feel like her talent was wasted on so damned many slave roles, however...

An actor has to pick among the roles they're offered, R267, and if in Miss Tyson's heyday there weren't a lot of good roles for a black dramatic actor other than slaves and people involved in the Civil Rights struggle... then they end up in movies about slavery and the Civil Rights struggle.

R266, It's called empathy, sweetie.

It’s also called none of Carrie’s beeswax.

R270 Hi, John! Fingered any masseurs lately?

John Cameron Mitchell, Parker Posey, and yes, Glenn Close.

He seems to be both loved and loathed here but I've met Dan Savage several times and he was smart, friendly and funny every time. He also looks great in person, much better than his leathery overstuffed bf.

Do soap actors count? Constance Ford was absolutely delightful when I met her years ago. A real class act..

Carrie Underwood is the biggest cunt...

R275, In creation?

R274 see R120

Was it a gay club R226?

Carol Burnett (she snuck my friend and I into a Sondheim benefit), Sarah Jessica Parker (in a grocery store, and sorry haters, she was lovely) and my favorite, Tommy Tune.

Kathy Bates. She was the special (unpaid) guest at an event that I was involved in a few years ago. She was ill, and we didn’t know for sure if she’d make it, but she arrived at the last minute. She obviously didn’t feel well, and I felt really bad for her. When it was time to be “on” it was like she flipped a switch. She was glowing, sweet to everyone, listened intently, just perfect. A STAR. She and I had a fun, somewhat bawdy little chat. When the event was over, it was like the switch turned to OFF, and she literally powered down and was whisked away. I was very impressed that she made the effort to honor her commitment and gave it her all, even when feeling like shit.

Debbie Harry. Without ego, asks you questions, has liked what I'm wearing etc. She's funny, friendly, and even now, otherworldly beautiful in person. I was delighted by how lovely she is.

Marlene Dietrich was too nice. Dead drunk and I got tongue. OK, I was 18 and pretty (male), BUT. Once a Berlin broad, always a Berlin broad!

Another vote for Sarah Jessica Parker. Couldn't have been nicer, not fake nice, but sincere nice. A lovely human being.

R280 There's a DL' er who (I believe) claims he is Kathy Bates' cousin and has posted on a few different threads how wonderful she is. Could that be you?

I remember seeing something on TV where some young celeb tried to get some publicity by taking some geeky guy fan to a celebrity event. I can't even remember who she was, but she ignored him while they were there. SJP and MB obviously realized this and started talking to him so kindly.

I remember you posted about Jodie Foster's potty mouth in another thread, r86. I realize you're a gay male, but was she wearing a hot bikini?

Cat Stevens.

r287, don't leave me hanging, tell more...

Well, he was sucking the breath out of babies...

Lily Tomlin.

Nope, not me, r284.

Casablanca from the strokes, met him a few times, cool dude, not snobby.

Have posted these here many times...

Met Nancy Pelosi, the same year she was first elected to congress in the 1980's, crossing Market Street in SF, dressed to the nines with a society lady, on their way to a fundraiser. Boyfriend and I in our 20's (we had campaigned for her opponent, Harry Britt, who took over for Harvey Milk after he was assassinated) dressed in vintage (i.e used and affordable) tuxes on our way to the Black and White Ball. From out of nowhere, she grabbed our arms and said: "Gentlemen, would you help two old broads get across Market?" as if we had a choice. Long light at the crosswalk. Her friend said: "Oh, Nancy, how do you always find the young handsome men?!". Don't remember exactly how she responded, but it was hilarious, bawdy, and made it me blush.

They were in heels and we lifted them over the MUNI tracks across Market to safety. You wouldn't believe the mouth on her. Just delightful, kind, and funny. Her friend played along. We chatted about local politics for a few minutes. Being impressed about her pro-gay stance and early power in Congress, I told her that while we had campaigned for Harry, she turned out to have bigger balls. She said that she doesn't have balls; she busts them. We walked them up to some ballroom at a hotel on Union Square where she invited us for cocktails ("I think I can get you in for free"), but we were in a rush to catch whatever band was opening at the Black and White Ball at Civic Center.

Mario Cantone - on a gay cruise to Mexico. Found myself standing next to him at a bikini contest or something by the main pool. I said to him that he's so good looking in person. "Oh, so I look like shit on television". He, his partner, and I hit it off, making snide comments about the "contestants" and the whole scene in general. Was invited to meet them for dinner or drag bingo at some point. Very nice guy, modest, down to earth. He's a pocket gay and his friend was tall. Don't remember if it was Coco Peru, Lady Bunny, or Heklina hosting bingo (have met all three and they're all as nice as you'd think) but I didn't see them at that event. This was before cell phones happened. Was preoccupied with the bf who was obviously looking to hook up with other guys. Pissed at my soon-to-be ex, I bumped into an old friend who had been married to my favorite (female) colleague. I'd had a crush on him before I met my bf. We ended up finding a place to play -- a remote, pool at midnight, with no one around. We had searched the entire ship for a place, as like the movie "Trick". Who should walk by -- Mario and his friend-- who looked at us said something like "Oh, we missed you, but I can see that you're busy". It was surreal. I'm thinking that someone I've seen regularly on TV is now seeing me naked -- had never been naked in public, let alone having sex, let alone with two guys. It only occurs to me now that I could have invited them to join.

Carmen Electra on numerous occasions. Tiny and beautiful, too.

Worst: Jamie Foxx. Complete asshole every time.

Joe Cocker. Very nice, humble and down to earth guy. Met him on Wells Street in Chicago's Old Town in summer of 1968. It was his first tour of America with the Grease Band (they were there with him exploring the hippie shops in Old Town) and I had never heard of him but a local Chicago radio DJ there introduced him. I was so surprised one year later when there he was on the stage at Woodstock. I was glad for him that he became famous.

Also briefly knew the bad ass character actor Sonny Landham. (He played Billy in Predator.) Nice guy with incredible charisma and a presence that demanded attention. He really looked like a movie star. He was an Indian and a genuine bad ass who (so I've read) even Arnold was leery of because of his violent temper and I can confirm that you would not want to cross him but if you're nice he was nice and friendly.

R295 Sonny Landham started out as a porn actor. He did a ton of X-rated movies in the 70s and was the rare crossover actor from that industry.

My dad met George Michael in a hotel lobby in Beijing when he was doing his Wham show there. He said he was really down to earth and signed a cassette for him. I've met the actress Shu Qi at a few parties. Really nice person. Ella Chen is a big phony snot though.

LOVE the Nancy Pelosi story, r293! Thanks for that.

And I've worked with Mario Cantone, whom I just adore. Hilarious sense of humor, his impressions of elder Bette Davis and Liza are incomparable. And he's so sweet and cute.

I didn’t technically meet John Lithgow but was on the same plane. He and his wife were a bit confused on what the gate agar said over the PA for boarding groups. John and his wife attempted to board early, flying coach, the gate troll publicly snapped at them to wait their turn. It was so uncalled for and I’m sure she didn’t know who he was. They weren’t trying to be specially, they just couldn’t hear with the multitude of announcements going off.

Both of them stood back against a wall to wait. Meanwhile, other people around him started expressing their love of his Winston Churchill and telling them they have been big fans of his. Season 1 of The Crown had just come out. He was graceful and appreciative but not trying to cause a seen.

They boarded when their group came up and acted like normal passengers. Not sure why they were in coach but I was annoyed that they hate agent had to be so rude.

I think I know who you are r179. If I’m correct, you’re very attractive!

I attended a taping of Kate and Allie years ago. Yes, I'm a elder gay. I met both Jane Curtin and Susan St. James. One was a doll, the other not so much. I'll leave it at that.

Madge

r301, don't you dare leave it at that! Spill!

By all accounts Curtain is a honey and St. James.....we can see her after Monday.

R304, I believe she became a much nicer person after her young son died in that plane crash.

Didn't John Belusi hate Jane Curtin and said she was a major cunt during SNL?

[quote]Didn't John Belusi hate Jane Curtin and said she was a major cunt during SNL?

I remember watching a special on him and the perspective there is he thought women largely could not be funny and only like Gilda. It sounds like he might have been the one with issues. I think she also was more where she did her job and went home and did not go out and party and do drugs with much of the cast, so it is possible he did not understand that.

Jane Curtin wouldn't take any of Belushi's obnoxiousness or misongynist bullshit. She would call him out on it.

"Jane, you ignorant slut."

Jane said that John was sweet and considerate to her when they first met, but after he started on SNL he changed. She said he didn't respect the women on the show and thought that women couldn't be funny.

In her TV archives interviews, Jane said that she and John were really good friends before SNL, and that he was a sweet, introspective guy struggling to establish a career. They lived in the same building or same street in the West Village, and they used to hang out on her stoop and just chat about what they wanted out of life. She said that the SNL fame went totally to his head and his personality did a 180. Sounds like a really sad guy.

I worked in entertainment publicity for a few years about thirty years ago and honestly most of the actors I met were friendly, pleasant people. Betty White was one of the nicest for sure

Jane Curtin is a down to earth no bullshit woman who is easy to work with. She does not suffer fools though, So if you hear someone complaining about her, it's them not her

Ask Lois Nettleton all about Betty White!

Nicest celebrities I’ve ever met:

Trace Beaulieu

Jona Ray Rodrigues

Nicest: Deb Messing

Rosie O'Donnell and Cher

R315, tell us more about Trace Beaulieu!

I always thought he was kind of hot. Even as Crow.

He’s nice and not just Minnesota nice. He’s patient with fans and lets them know he appreciates them.

Despite the niceness he’s very sharp and extremely funny.

R314, Lois was dating Jack Cassidy before he self-cremated in that 1976 apartment fire.

Jack Cassidy's death was horrible. He passed out drunk with a lit cigarette and the couch caught on fire. His body was charred, they had to identify him by dental records.

Should I dig her up or do a seance?

Should I dig her up or do a seance R314?

[quote]Lois was dating Jack Cassidy before he self-cremated in that 1976 apartment fire.

I had always thought Lois Nettleton was very religious and a maker of the lez-lez.

According to Shirley Jones' raunchy autobiography, Jack was dating Yvonne "Batgirl" Craig at the time of their divorce and then Lois Nettleton at the time of his death.

Shirley was also very candid about Jack's bisexuality and confirmed the fact that he had an affair with Cole Porter which got him cast in his first Broadway musical at the age of 16.

She also confirmed that Jack was very well endowed, which all of his sons inherited.

R293, great story about Nancy Pelosi et al. crossing Market Street. I can kind of picture it all happening. Thanks for sharing!

Despite her superstar status, Miss Kay Lenz was the most friendly and fun. I approached her with great apprehension - she was wearing a mink coat in May! With blue jeans. She smiled that Breezy 20 million dollar smile and told me I was so handsome. She said that she loved long hair on a man. By now I was blushing. After dismissing her bodyguards, Miss Kay Lenz carried me across the street! Later we had lovely sandwiches and she offered to look after my cat for the weekend. We were given second row tickets to her opening night too, of course. She's a complete class act and even more beautiful in person.

[quote]Jack Cassidy's death was horrible. He passed out drunk with a lit cigarette and the couch caught on fire. His body was charred, they had to identify him by dental records.

Whenever I hear that story, I think: Holy crap, how goddamned drunk do you have to be to not wake up when fire starts flaming up all around you, within inches?

Why has no one mentioned me?

Best: Naomi Judd (Yes, I know). She was sweet, down to earth, and very bawdy with her language and jokes. We talked several times across a two day period. She was lovely.

Worst: Ashley Judd: Complete cunt. Rude and very arrogant. Kept her head down and would only talk to her step father. Ignored Naomi and even her own staff. She came out of a bathroom about the same time I was walking around the corner. I smiled at her and said good evening. She replied back with “No autographs”. I said. Don’t worry, I‘ve no interest in that. She gave me a fuck you look and stomped away.

Naomi Judd and Ashley Judd would never be in the same house at the same time. That old lying whore Naomi wasn't even at home when her kids were malnourished children with ringworm and impetigo. She was always off in some motel making the rent.

Wow, Ashley Judd sounds full of herself. On top of that, can’t act. See Double Jeopardy for proof of no skills.

Shelley Winters was warm and interested in other people, the only time I met her she treated me as if she'd known me all my life.

[quote] She came out of a bathroom about the same time I was walking around the corner. I smiled at her and said good evening. She replied back with “No autographs”.

Superstars do not enjoy being stalked in a washroom. I don't blame Ashley Judd at all. R330 is leaving out part of the story if he liked Naomi Judd. Is R330 a male prostitute or a drug dealer? Or maybe a magazine writer. Naomi Judd left her own children at a bustop to fend for themselves when they were less than 6 years old! She's a monster. Ashley is quite naturally distrustful and self protective. Don't follow her into the bathroom.

R327 Kay Lenz was a superstar who needed bodyguards? Are you sure she wasn't shooting a commercial? I mean, her career was pretty much DOA. By the way, she's dead now, too.

Kay Lenz isn't dead

^^ Sorry, no she isn't. But she might as well be.

r316 = Which Deb Messing are you talking about, honey? Cause that sure as hell doesn't sound like the one I met!

R328, From Shirley Jones' autobiography . . .

"All we knew is that Jack was drunk when he came home that night, that he lay on his Naugahyde couch, smoked a cigarette, then fell asleep. In his sleep, he must have dropped his cigarette onto the couch, and the couch exploded in flames. Jack was burned to death.

Horrifically, in the eleventh hour, he must have woken up, seen the blaze all around him, and started crawling to safety. But blinded by all the smoke and flames, instead of moving toward the apartment door to the corridor and safety, he lost all sense of direction and crawled toward the balcony instead. Which is where his body was found, on the floor, facing the balcony."

^ I know someone whose elderly mother did this, smoking in bed, and burned herself to death (and destroyed a very nice condominium full of antiques). She had been warned about it many, many times, but she was French, and so HAD to smoke in bed.

R288, it wasn’t anything earthshaking. I was just a fan (one he wouldn’t be attracted to I’m sure) he was very nice to when he didn’t have to be. This was many years ago.

Thanks, R339. So he did indeed wake up and tried to escape. How horrific.

Shelly could be prickly, r333.

^ShellEy

Cheech Marin seems nice. I was standing in line at a very busy restaurant. He was there with his wife, just quietly standing in line as well, not trying to pull a celebrity card.

R340 My condolences to the antiques.

"Kate Jackson in an elevator in Chicago". So damn lucky.

More celebs I LOVED working with:

JEAN SMART

ROGER REES

JULIE HARRIS

ARTHUR HILL

KATHERINE HELMOND

JIMMY SMITS

MARY KAY PLACE

VIGGO MORTENSEN (incredibly shy....almost inarticulate)

VALERIE HARPER

CHARLES DURNING

RUE McCLANAHAN

How long did you linger over Charles Durning's inseam measurements R348? Now the story can be told.

I fucked Jimmy Smits in his ass off the coast of the Atlantic for one whole summer in his ASS.

Dolly Parton and Anne Murray. Also, Fredrica von Stade and Lucian Pavarotti.

I had the good fortune of collaborating musically with all of them.

r349, didn't linger over Charles' inseam measurements but was horribly embarrassed when my standard 60" tape measure was not long enough to encircle his waist. But he took it in good humor.....probably not his first time, lol.

Tell me more, R350! Pavoratti has this image as this sunny guy who spread sunshine and pasta everywhere he went, was there anything of that in the real man?

And if you've worked with opera singers, feel free to tell us horror stories about Kathleen Battle. Here's mine: When she did "Daughter of the Regiment" with the SF Opera, after her run was finished the stage crew had "I SURVIVED THE BATTLE" t-shirts printed. True!

^ That story has been told about a hundred times, about just as many Opera companies R352. You have no experience with Kathleen Battle at all.

"Kate Jackson a brilliant person whom I had the opportunity to meet during an inconsequential collision between our two cars on the other side of the globe in the 90s. Another life another place."

R348 Yes! I met Valerie at Joe Allens one evening. She was a sweetheart. Also had a long dealing with Cloris Leachman and was surprised at how down-to-earth and kind she was. Others say she was impossible to deal with but I found her to be the exact opposite.

One singer told me about doing a Live from the Met with Pavoratti as a replacement. She never sang with him and she was going to be broadcast.

At the end of an act, he blew his snots into his hand then grabbed her hand with his snotty hand to lead her out for the act bow.

I wouldn't have wanted to run into Kate Jackson the day after Meryl won the Oscar for Kramer vs Kramer.

R348, can you tell us some little anecdotes of some of the people on your list?

It's the "I fucked ______in the ass of the coast of_____" Troll. Again. Fuck off R349

R357 Goes for everyone in the same situation. Understandable she was unhappy. Who wouldn't.

I met Helen Girly Brown in the 80s. I think she was thought of as snobby and pretentious, but she actually sweet and very down to earth.

We could create a portmanteau out of Kay Lenz’s name and it would still be her full name: KLenz.

[quote] Helen Girly Brown

Oh DEAR.

Oh shut up r363.

You sound so catty, r364 — dare I say, positively gurley.

Does Billy Magnussen count? Ridiculously gorgeous and the nicest guy ever. Not opposed to being serviced on a hot summer night, but I do think he’s mostly straight, sadly.

I take every opportunity to sing Kate Winslet's praises. She was amazing to work with (I'm behind the scenes)- on time, professional on set, funny as hell, and likes good food and wine.

[quote] and likes good food and wine.

That much seems clear

Agreed, 367. Very fun, funny and down with “the gays,” too, in my experiences with her, as well.

R367, sorry.

You were lucky, R350. Pavarotti could sing like an angel, but he could also behave like a petulant, selfish, demanding, spoiled child.

Hildegard Behrens, however, was heaven on earth.

Kate Winslet is obviously down with the gays because she and Leo have been close friends since Titanic.

The active thread about THE NANNY made we wonder if anyone here has met Fran Drescher? She seems like she’d be nice.

Fran is absolutely fabulous. She luminous in person, as well. Needless to say, a huge friend of the gays, well. Incidentally, I was at an event with her that Jake Gyllenhaal was at and we both gave each other “the look” and stifled laughter when he said something especially queeny. She’s everything you’d expect her to be.

I have only heard good things about Fran Drescher. She's a lovely person by all accounts.

I know people who went to school with Fran and they loved her. All of them thought when they were in high school that she would work much with her voice, and were glad that she proved them wrong.

R357 Oh, I know. I feel bad for her when I think about that. She would have been very good in the role, I bet.

If you can't *fix* it, r376...*feature* it.

"You put a *greased naked woman* on all fours with a dog collar around her neck, and a leash, and a man's arm extended out up to here, holding onto the leash, and pushing a black glove in her face to sniff it. You don't find that offensive? You don't find that sexist?"

Wouldn't a thread about "The biggest jerk celebrity you've ever met" be more interesting, if you included the story about them being a jerk?

Reddit has some great "celebrities who are assholes" threads.

r381 So does DL.

No shit r382

I've posted this before but here you go.

Mary Tyler Moore couldn't have been more lovely. I met her and her husband on 5th avenue early on a Sunday morning and she wanted to pet my puppy. Turns out we're both fans of Golden Retrievers and she had three.

TV shows won't do anymore. Found others!

Go mop the floor & pull some weeds

IOW, get a life for yourself!

[quote]Reddit has some great "celebrities who are assholes" threads.

Can you post a couple for those of us elderfeebs who find Reddit impenetrable?

r386 I'll post a few. There are some names who are only of interest to younger Millennials and Gen Zers, but there are also celebs everyone else would know. Here's one...

Another

Best and worst celebrity encounters

Waitstaff who've served celebs

Billy Joel is always out and about on Long Island. Very nice, pleasant guy. Totally normal. Bruce Springsteen is the same. Friends of mine have met him in NJ.

Thank you for the links! Try as I might, I don't understand how Reddit works at all.

I've met most of the Dynasty ladies..

Linda, Joan, Diahann, Heather, Emma Samms, Pamela Bellwood, Tracy Scoggins, Stephanie Beacham, all incredibly warm and down to earth. Notice I didn't mention Pamela Sue Martin.

I worked for a backstage catering company in Vancouver for a few years in my 20s and so mine are all music world. Most weren't nice but not mean either, a few seemed like kind of nasty people, but these ones stand out for being nice:

Britney Spears. Distant but kind. The Violent Femmes: nicer than most, all of them. Alice Cooper: seemed like a nice guy, exactly how you'd think he would be. Frank Black: nice guy, interesting.

I met Benedict Cumberbatch at a party in around 2008. He was incredibly charming and went out of his way to be nice to me (I was brought along as the date of someone who worked on the show, so no one knew who I was and no one else really bothered to speak to me). He was clearly brought up with great manners.

R394, Oh, I've met the bassist from The Violent Femmes (he and his wife run or used to run a Japanese tea shop here in my home town), and he was really nice! If not slightly dim because it was me, the lone guy, with a group of women on a hen's day function, and he looks at me surrounded by all these women and says, impressed: "Whoa, man! What's your secret?"

Just as an aside: Kate Jackson would not necessarily have won an Oscar for Kramer Vs Kramer.

Meryl argued the point that "Joanna" was too 1-dimensional as written and the Director agreed. Streep created that courtroom speech to explain why Joanna left but also why she also returned.

They also changed the end where Joanna finally realises her son already has his home and she cannot take him out of it. In the book Joanna is much more selfish, opaque and flighty.

I think fleshing out the character and making it more about changing gender roles helped not only make the movie a big talking point, but also very relevant to societal changes at that time.

Bottom line, the character offered to Kate Jackson was not the same as the complex one thst ended up in the movie.

I don't know who R397 is but they sure ain't Jane Alexander.

Hmmmm

Mick Jagger - erudite and informed; very poised but interested. Often frequented a restaurant where a close friend worked and would ask thoughtful questions about the food and wine. Looked like an old accountant.

R400 Mick Jagger tried to pick up my mum in a hotel bar in the 80s. Actually my dad was right next to her, he is white and she is black and had Mick assumed they weren’t together. He apologised profusely, my parents laughed heartily and he bought a few rounds of drinks and they hung out talking.

My dad dined out on that story for decades!

Great story, R401. I'm glad the situation was smoothed over so nicely.

Clooney wins this thread. Seen him in so many situations and he recognizes that people want to meet him and obliges, taking a moment or two to chat kind of like a politician. He's been able to keep low drama on his sets because he understands everyone else (including the director and other actors) can only behave as badly as he allows them to. Many other actors have that power but choose not to exercise it or don't even realize they have it.

His fist fight with David O. Russell is legendary and it was over Russell's treatment of extras.

Clooney is a charming sociopath.

There have been several, but I'd say the most surprisingly nice person was Tony Curtis. I met him briefly through theater work (he was about to tour) and I was fairly low-level. He was so polite, so considerate, and so friendly. Not an ounce of diva that I witnessed.

Angela Lansbury

Who gives a toss if a celebrity is nice or not? It's only indicative of neediness. I don't need someone who has clawed their way to celebrity to be nice, including to me. I'd be surprised, given the swirling psychosis most live in, if they were even conscious of it.

Mike Vogel

Michael T Weiss.

Sweet shy guy

Valerie Harper was known for being one of the nicest women in the business. She would play the lead, show up for all the necessary publicity and do it cheerfully, and also bake cookies for the cast and stage hands. She was hard working and always well loved by the company members.

Ditto for Frances Sternhagen. When a company member had a birthday, whether cast or crew, it was likely to be Franny who remembered and organized a cake and a small party for the company.

Colleen Dewhurst. Legendary in the theater community for being friendly, kind, warm, genuinely caring. She was hit time and again by non-profits to appear at their gala, serve on their board, read their Public Service Announcements... all for free. And she did as many of them as she could.

I'd forgotten that Colleen died so young . . .

"Dewhurst's Christian Science beliefs led to her refusal to accept any kind of surgical treatment. She died of cervical cancer at the age 67 at her South Salem, NY home in 1991. She was cremated and her ashes were given to family and friends; no public service was planned."

[quote] Valerie Harper was known for being one of the nicest women in the business. She would play the lead, show up for all the necessary publicity and do it cheerfully, and also bake cookies for the cast and stage hands. She was hard working and always well loved by the company members.

Yes, to Harper. When she and Moore were shooting that reboot movie pilot for Mary & Rhoda, they shot a scene in the building where I worked in NYC (around 2000). I was out that day so I missed them, damn it. But when I got back everyone told me how friendly and sweet Harper was. Moore, who I suspect was neurotically shy and insecure, wouldn't talk to anyone. RIP ladies.

Josh Brolin once took a dump on my living room carpet to show me how it's done!. Nice guy.

Call me crazy but that pic at R413 TURNS me the fuck on ! Nothing hotter to me than a man who can make fun of himself.

R413, Was he inspired by Frances McDormand's performance in "Nomadland"?

Give him an award!

R413

Josh still looks good, but Babs has simply had too much work done.

Josh looks old to have a daughter that young. He looks more like the grandfather than the father.

[quote]Why has no one mentioned me?—Betty Bacall

Betty, you old Cunt - you're old enough to know better.

Come sit this one out at the bar with me, Lucille Ball, and Marlo Thomas...

We're giving all these Girl Scouts the stink eye

Kristen Bell was seated next to my husband on a flight from JFK to LAX. Our daughter and I were across the aisle. I was star struck, but my husband was not. So I showed my daughter a video of Bell singing as Anna in Frozen. Eventually my husband switched seats with our daughter and she slowly got the courage to ask Bell if she really was Anna.

Bell spent the next hour interacting very kindly with my then-seven year old. A few times when the conversation waned, she actually stimulated it to start up again. She was, truly, the sweetest thing. We started watching The Good Place so my kid could watch her "BFF" until a few months later when summer started and she was distracted by other stuff.

Julia Barr. She was a guest celebrity at an event in NYC I was helping to manage. She made her obligatory tour around the room for the cameras, then asked me if there was a place to lie low. I took her to the VIP lounge and we hung out for an hour over martinis. Then I took her downstairs, she got herself seen once again... and home she went. It was a great hour.

r420, yes, you are correct that was amazing. So nice and graceful of her. But wow, that was a dick move on your part. Leave celebrities alone, especially when they are trapped with you. If anything, you should have waited until the flight was landing, have a few minute interaction and then give her the opportunity to quickly exit.

R420, you should have been put off that plane at 35,000 feet.

R421

OP asked for celebrities, not "who the fuck" is that. Julia Barr? Pffft.

[quote] She was hit time and again by non-profits

Gee, and I always thought it was by George C Scott

[quote] Kristen Bell was seated next to my husband on a flight from JFK to LAX. Our daughter and I were across the aisle. I was star struck ... So I showed my daughter a video of Bell singing as Anna in Frozen. Eventually my husband switched seats with our daughter and she slowly got the courage to ask Bell if she really was Anna.

Your daughter didn't even know who Kristen Bell was and it should have stayed that way. Then, you change seats to be closer to Bell. It's not like Bell can change seats, so she's stuck. IMO, that was uncool.

R420, You basically stalked and harassed the woman.

^^ r427 Dax Shepherd back on the meth

Oh shut up Susan you old untalented cunt, you're not that much better known these days yourself.

R428 It's really cringey behavior. Especially being stuck on an airplane.

Listen, Suzie Barf... I'll have you know I was on Dallas, Devious Housewives, and Hot in Cleveland! Where the fuck have you been? Planting petunias in Passaic, that's where you washed-up hag. Now shut your pie hole before mi marito's NJ construction company makes you disappear -- and I mean even more disappear than you are now. Stupida vecchia mucca, ti rompono il piede nel tuo culo!

Susan, get the fuck over it already, TRUMP LOST!!!

You dumb deplorable UNTALENTED cunt.

For whatever frequent DL'ers are out there: Don't be that guy who keeps repeating a rumor he read many years ago. Can I suggest that if you've repeated a trashy rumor (like something you read online but have no knowledge of or have seen no actual news or even tabloid investigation of) and you've done it more than 3 times, give it a rest. You're just being a pig and you're not contributing to the conversation.

I have so many interactions and stories to share about celebrities i've actually spent time with (or have friends who have worked for/spent time with) and its gross how people on here use a celebrity's name to reflexively jump in and repeat the most awful rumor they've ever heard about that person.

Example: I met Liza Minelli backstage at a performance and even though it was intermission and she needed to get dressed, she still took a moment to say hello, repeat my name, make a joke, even though she was short on time and i was only there because she knew my friend.

Two posts later someone will write: Liza fucks animals.

Julia, if only you were as financially successful as me, you would have voted for Trump too. Enjoy paying taxes on your unemployment checks, bitch. Fingers crossed you get that understudy in gig in the Akron summer stock repertoire.

Cameron, aren't you a Canuck? You shouldn't be voting for any American politician in the first place!

Ooooo....is this yet another example of VOTER FRAUD on the part of a Trump voter?

Naughty, naughty.

Totally agree with those above RE Valerie Harper, lovely lady.

Valerie Harper. (With Luke.)

"Two posts later someone will write: Liza fucks animals."

Well, it's not like she was getting any from her gay husbands.

R437

She was such a cutie, and I didn't realize she was already appearing in films as early as 1959.

BTW, is this a musical about Bob Mizer? He was very handsy.