Have you ever met a celeb in a totally random location? Gas station, grocery store etc.

Catherine Keener at the Home Depot on 23rd Street in NYC. She gave me a kind of shy smile.

I saw Usher in a strip Mall that has a great neighborhood vegan place. Usher was walking through the parking lot, and he was sort of looking at me....I'm slightly above average looking... and I glanced at him and I thought he looked "familiar" and then I realized it was him and he smiled at me. I gave him a little wave and went on into the restaurant...which was mostly take out. He's hot but shorter in person, maybe 5'8" or 5' 9". He was dressed in black, T-shirt, jeans, boots.

Cher at the now defunct Balducci’s at Sixth Avenue and like 9th street. She was getting pasta stuff.

^ oh and Liza once getting out of a stretch black limo walking into the Hallmark at Broadway and 71st

Countless times living in Manhattan (and also in LA, where I lived for two years.)

Probably the best sighting was Woody Allen.

I was in high school and had stopped at a bodega somewhere on Lexington in the high 80s to get a bottle of water. As I was walking out, Allen walked in.

The thing is he was dressed like Woody Allen, or what the Woody Allen you see in the movies dresses like. There was not mistaking that was him.

Most celebrities are dressed like normal people when they are out and about--to wit, I once saw J. Lo walking down Broadway and she was wearing jeans and a ski jacket (it was winter and cold)--and a normal amount of makeup, hair pulled back in a ponytail.

Point being, with many of the celebs, you realize who that was after they pass--you see them, think "that person looks familiar, where do I know them from?" and then realize who it was. (Or at least I do.)

But Allen looked exactly like what you'd think he'd look like and I recognized him immediately, as, from the turned heads, so did everyone walking by.

I walked by Jimmy Carter in a hotel lobby once. He seemed really tiny.

Candace Bergen in a department store in Beverly Hills. We were both looking at his new men's line. It was 1978. She helped me pick out some shirts and pants. I only knew who she was because I'd had a boss who had a boner for her: he said the two most beautiful women in the world were Candace and Katharine Ross.

Spiro Agnew, Roger Stone, at Bitsy Stone, at a Young Republican meeting I was covering for the school paper.

Dick Fisk on some backstreet we'd both parked on, north of Santa Monica in WeHo. We fucked in the back seat of my car.

Jimmie Spheeris at the Apache bar in West LA. We sat and talked a couple of times at the fire pit.

Barry Manilow a few times at Uncle Charlie's on Third Avenue @ 38th Street.

R7 here again. That was *Calvin Klein's new men's line.

I shared an elevator with Jackie Kennedy in 1990. She was anorexic looking and had the strange looking face. I felt like getting her a Quarter Pounder with cheese, and large order of fries. I bet she lived on a lettuce leaf and cigarettes.

Lauren Bacall once in an office building in Century City (LA)

I was in the elevator and when it stopped a woman asked me if it was going up or down. I said down, she said sorry, she needed up.

When I got to the lobby I realized why she looked so familiar

Willem Dafoe at the bar waiting for a drink at a Morrissey concert in Glasgow.

Michael York and Pia Zadora at the old Mrs Gooch (now Whole Foods) in Beverly Hills. Both quite friendly and Pia was very chatty with me while in the check out line.

Paul McCartney in the greengrocers in Hove, England.

Cate Blanchard in a deli in Kemp Town, Brighton, England.

(Her flat was just around the corner in Sussex Square)

lots and lots over the years. too many to mention

Jimmy Carter a couple of times. Flanked by four Sec Ser agents front and back. I think the bulky agents made him look smaller.

I am surprised that we got this far without somebody talking about the baths.

Oprah, on numerous occasions back when she lived in Chicago. Stedman still keeps a place here and pre-pandemic I would see him a lot at the gym. I sat next to Gayle once on a flight between NY and Chicago. And I sat across from Bernadette Peters in LaGuardia's United Club.

Carly Simon and Al Corley(Dynasty’s first Steven) shopping in the bedding dept at Bloomingdales.

I just had to Google when they dated; it was 1982. Christ, I’m OLD.

I was alone in an elevator with Anthony Edwards from ER once. When I met him years later I almost said we’d met once before... then realized he’d never remember an elevator ride where no one talked.

This kind of sums up our relationship with celebrities.

Richard Daley. The real the original Mayor Daley. The one with the jowls. Oh those jowls. Unforgettable.

Bonnie Raitt in the elavator at the Four Seasons in Boston. She smiled at me.

Mick Jagger, Jerry Hall, a bodyguard (I assume) and one of their very young daughters in Richmond Park in London. It was a weekday afternoon. There wasn’t another soul around.

Late '80s, DC YMCA: Lee Atwater used the Stairmaster next to mine on more than one occasion. It made me wonder if what he really wanted was some sauna action.

Theresa Caputo at my ex girlfriend’s boss’s work party (she worked for a florist in manhattan). Theresa was sitting at the kitchen bar and in my head I was like omg the prostitution whore! Also, Matty Healy came in to American Apparel when I used to work there and I was the only one working at the time bc it was lunch hour. He smelled like BO and was short but I don’t blame him for either of those things... also John C Reilly at a gay skating night at the roller rink in LA. He was in a three piece suit with a bowler hat and had an entourage of women skating with him who looked like they were talking to him about business the whole time. I also saw Fiona Apple at a king Princess concert. And Bruce Springsteen in the lobby of my apartment bc I guess he lived there too. OH and Bella Thorne at a bar in soho. My girlfriend asked her to smoke a blunt with us and she said she couldn’t bc she’d get in trouble. She was running around with bare feet and the bottoms of her feet were black!

[quote]found myself in a solo elevatory with Patti LuPone who was on her way to sing for her Evita grammy. We didn't talk but we looked at each other.

One in awe, one in contempt.

Perhaps we should exclude Los Angeles and New York City as they are filled with actors and celebrities doing normal things because that is where they live.

I could rattle off 150 celebs sightings during my seven years in West Hollywood. Jesus fucking Christ.

Kristy McNichol walked up to me at an AIDS fundraiser years ago and asked me where I got a particular type of food. Everything there was free so you could try a bit of everything. She was very bubbly and had a smile I'll never forget. Alison Arngrim did a stand-up routine. I looked around for her in hopes of just saying hi, but I never did see her. People who know her said she's very approachable.

Comedian Richard Lewis in an elevator - Century City, CA. Jean-Claude Van Damme walking through my employer's lobby - Santa Monica, CA.

Eldergay alert! I worked in a hardware store in West Hollywood in the 80’s (I was in high school) and met so many celebs and other names from that era. I got to chat with many of them as I helped them carry things to their cars. Some of the ones I remember are:

Harrison Ford - at the height of his fame (and hotness) and was quiet and soft-spoken but nice.

Rock Hudson - it was toward the end of his life, and he looked thin and gaunt, but he was incredibly nice to me, the lowly shop boy. He was gracious, made some jokes and didn’t make me feel like shit for working in a store. Classy.

Joan Rivers - also spoke to me like a human being, asked me questions about what it was like working there and gossiped with me. Really nice lady.

Ricardo Montanan - older but still incredibly sexy!

Jacqueline Bisset - in person in 1984, one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen. She had a glamorous aura about her. I couldn’t stop staring.

Janet Jackson - tiny and extremely shy. Took off as soon as she was recognized by another customer.

Jermaine and Randy (or was it Marlon) Jackson and their wives - awful, rude, mean to the “little people”.

Cheryl Ladd - cunt.

Good point about NYC and LA; I’ve seen tons of celebs in NYC over the years.

So here’s a random one from when I was in Toronto a few years ago. Christian Glover in Arcadia (used bookstore.). He thought I worked there and I had to tell him I didn’t and I went to look for the cashier for us. He was polite and with a woman; they were both quiet.

Famke Janssen at Kings Road Cafe in Los Angeles. She had an adorable Boston Terrier.

Kristin Chenowith at the Cedar Rapids airport. She was with a handler and when she walked past I thought “That looks and sounds like Kristin Chenoweth!”

She was very gracious when I asked her to take a picture with me. I also had to bend way down to not tower over her - and I’m 5’8.

Also, Peppermint from RuPaul’s Drag Race, on a flight from O’Hare to Boston. This was during her season as well. She was incredibly nice and took pics with my husband and me at the gate after we landed.

Those are the big ones. I’ve also talked to Paige Davis and Donald Trump (loathsome turd even then), and seen but not interacted with Fred Schneider, Robin Williams, and Chris Cooper.

Angela Lansbury on the moving walkway, each going in the opposite direction. Hi Mame, I said. Hi sweetie she replied.

There were a few weeks where I always seemed to be standing in line behind Vanessa Redgrave at Starbucks. She was doing a show at the Public.

Too many to list--one of the footnotes of living in NYC is that many "celebrities" are your neighbors.

Helena Bonham Carter with a basket of groceries in Marks & Spencer, Hampstead.

Told this tale before, but several years ago my Mum nearly got into bother with that beanie-baby cunt Richard Hammond in a supermarket car-park.

Last year, my hetero Fraulein Zillennial sister served Costa coffees to several members of the Lions rugby squad. She cites it as the best day of her life to date.

Quentin Letts (the theatre critic & columunist) once walked into the bakery I worked at, to buy cakes for his teenage son daughters. He’s a lovely man, though I find his writing overcooked and trite.

And I have a strangely-specific childhood memory of spotting Jonathan Ross in Hamleys, c.2002. Apparently he’s a collector of toys.

I was walking past Carnegie Hall one night and the place was dark, no show and not a soul around.. Then a huge double decker bus comes around the corner of Broadway and stops dead on 57th St right in front of me. I hear ladies yelling at me. I look up and it was The Spice Girls and the bus was decked out for "Spice World". The ladies were on the way to Planet Hollywood down the street for the premiere party and stopped to get ready for the the paparazzi out front of the restaurant. They were all laughing and waving to me and I wished them well on the movie.

Sheryl Lee Ralph in a North Carolina airport. She was ahead of me in the security line and told me to go ahead, because I just had a backpack and shoes I was putting through the scanner. Lovely lady and wearing a terrific perfume.

I believe a lot of these but definitely not the ‘Candace Bergen picked out some outfits for me’ one, that reeks of wish fulfillment and is probably the same fantasist elder gay who ‘dated’ Chad Everett and Alan Bates.

A soap actor when soaps were still in NY. I was coming out of my doctor's office and walked onto 7th Ave. in Park Slope Brooklyn and there he was on the street with his kid. I said nothing, he said nothing and I went on my way. Hardly the biggest deal of my life and BTW he looked much better on TV.

Working at the Grammy Awards is not a random place to see a celebrity.

I thought I had already told this story on DL, but maybe not. I was working at a video store in Cincinnati and the strangest guy in a bunch of makeup came walking in. He had two muscle guys following him everywhere. He came up to the counter and I asked for ID. The two guys laughed and he said, "I'm Alice Cooper". Anyway, I still made him show me ID and he rented a bunch of really bad horror movies. He was performing at the concert place a few doors down. He was nice, we talked about how we were both from Arizona.

Richard Deacon in a rest stop when I was a boy. No - nothing “interesting” happened.

Cloris Leachman at the St. Louis zoo in the late 70s, maybe 1980. She was in town doing summer stock, my family was there visiting relatives. I was under 10 years old so didn’t really know who she was but my mom was impressed. She had very short hair (even shorter than on Phyllis) and very freckled skin. Even if I’d remembered The Mary Tyler Moore Show at the time I never would have recognized her

I was at NYU Law School when JFK Jr was there. My dear friend Julie was in the ladies room and it was one of those awkward moments when the person in the next stall finished up at exactly the same time and neither one of them cared to linger in the stall, so they both emerged at the same time. She found herself washing up with Jackie on Assistance.

Andy Warhol once passed me in Union Square and asked me if I wanted a free copy of Interview. I said yes, and he handed one he was carrying.

Kathleen Sullivan (television journalist) on the DC metro. I sat next to her (have no idea why I did - maybe the subway car was crowded) and she started chatting with me. It was a long ride and she was delightful. We had a great conversation that was all over the map. I had watched her for years (years earlier) when she was on 'ABC World News This Morning' with co-anchor Steve Bell (RIP). She was tickled that I remembered them both.

'I still have no idea why she started a conversation with me. I knew who she was before I sat down but had no intention of talking to her. Well, maybe I might have mentioned that I enjoyed her and Steve Bell.

George Michael at a sandwich deli

Aaron Neville at the gas station next to my old house, Christine Baronski at another gas station.

My uncle once drove Kanye West around the desert in Dubai. They’re both mad as a box of hair, so of course they got on famously.

I always tell people the best celebrity interactions are those where it is natural to interact with a stranger. You can say you spoke to them without gushing or discussing their career. Leads to a much more natural interaction.

Kiefer Sutherland during the run of 24. At Les Puces de Saint-Ouen/Cligancourt market. I recognized his voice first then followed him for a little bit. He was arm and arm with a woman his OWN AGE

I met Dionne Warwick in the AA Admirals Club in San Francisco, she was wearing men's clothes and reading a book on how to win the lottery. I also met Joan Rivers in the same place, she talked to me about her daughter being placed in a riding school. I met Katherine Hepburn outside of Macy's in SF - she wanted me to try on a sweater - she was with her famous female assistant. I met Joan Baez twice, once at the cosmetic's counter at Joseph Magnin and another time in customs at SFO - she helped me carry somethings. I and my lover - who died in the 1990's - met Alan Bates and spent a day in Canterbury shopping. I met lots of ballet celebs ( no need to name them all here). A friend if mine and I met Bette Davis. I met Rock Hudson once when he was in SF performing in a musical - then later when I was with Armistead Maupin once in SF outside the Glory Holes south of Market. I met Julie Christie and Chill Wills on the same day at LAX - nobody recognized Christie - everybody knew Chill. I met Warren Beatty at a friend's house - he was dating my friend's sister. I met Nancy Reagan at a Just Say No - Pro's For Kids with the Gatlin brothers. When I was 11 I met Bobby Kennedy.

That twee popstar girl Dodie (I don’t know her last name). This would have been around the time she first got popular and released her first hit, which was unknown to me back then as I don’t rate ukelele and acoustic lo-fi songs about relationships.

Only knowingly encountered her because I used to go to University with the guy she was dating—we were in the same Drama classes, and became friendly acquaintances. I said goodbye to him after one rehearsal, and as I watched him go saw him speedwalk across the quad and up to some anorexic-looking brunette hipstery girl to hug, whom I was later informed by another classmate was the elusive Dodie everyone kept whispering about.

Though they were apparently an Internet-famous couple (news to me, then, I wasn’t ever into YouTube) of interest to many other people on campus, my classmate didn’t ever talk about her or bring her around us, really. If I’m honest, he seemed flirtatious with a few people in our class (including me, a bit, though if course I did not reciprocate or encourage it), so at the time I’m not sure how seriously he was taking the relationship with poor Dodes. But we were all in our early twenties and it was theatre—how faithful can you expect kids like that to be?

It was unexpected, if sort of boring as celeb sightings go. I never actually met her properly, though, so I don’t know if this even counts.

R30 I was in West Hollywood in the 80's and 90's too, and you would see all sorts of celebrities at either the video stores or the Vons / Pavilions, and sometimes even one of the gay bars, not just openly gay celebs. I chatted with Charles Nelson Reilly all the time, and Vincent Price and Coral Browne were at Vons quite a bit. It got to the point where Coral had to sneak out of the house to do the grocery shopping because Vincent would stand in the parking lot forever talking to fans. According to his daughter's autobiography, he would even invite people over for dinner as in "hop in the car!" which after a while annoyed Corale if she just wanted a quiet Vera Charles moment at home. Also the West Hollywood Post office was a common spot to see famous people.

I forgot I met William Shatner at his birthday party. I also met Annie Bancroft and Mel Brooks at my partner's house when they had returned from a movie and a stop at McDonald's.

I was once stuck in an elevator for 7 hours with the Duchess of Windsor.

Woody Allen and Soon-Yi, walking into Central Park around 80th Street or so, about 10 years ago, both wearing long coats. My friend pointed them out, or I wouldn't have noticed. They both looked a little nervous, as if they were afraid we were going to go all Mia on them. He is TINY.

Also, in the mid-90s, I passed woman-of-the-people Fran Lebowitz in the subway, probably the F. It was late at night, with hardly any people. I was drunk, and she probably was not. We smiled at each other.

[quote]George Michael at a sandwich deli

I would've expected the deli's mensroom stall.

Excluding the LA and NY ones, some of my most interesting happened in New England during college. I waited on George Harrison who was quiet and polite (his son went to Brown), walked past Steven King in an empty mall early in the morning (this was after his bad accident and he was limping/looking miserable/leaning against the wall for support as he walked), and had a homeless guy in Boston point out to me that Jennifer Aniston was across the street (“Look! It’s Jennifuh Aaaaniston!”)

I also met Ronald Reagan in 1975. He was standing outside the office I worked in waiting for a limo. I went out and talked to him for a while. He was alone, his limo was late. He dyed his hair and wore heavy make-up. He told me he had been interviewed for a radio show. I also met Alan Alda in Venice walking on the elevated walkway they put up during floods. I met Putin St. Petersburg in the early 90's. An American friend of mine worked for him. I promise I will stop now! I was at Shatner's birthday because my partner's best friend at the time was his daughter Leslie.

Parker Posey at a vintage shop in Newport, RI.

I used an ATM next to Danny Glover, early 90s.

Henry Kissinger and his wife Nancy in an elevator of a hotel in New York.

Lucie Arnaz shopping at Ralph's in Palm Springs.

Patrcia Heaton at Spago in BH.

Tab Hunter helped push my car out of a snowbank in Aspen.

R15 and you think this should be mentioned?

Robert Duvall at the luggage carousel at the airport in Milwaukee. He wasn't wearing his toupee. We chatted!

[quote]R27 Perhaps we should exclude Los Angeles and New York City as they are filled with actors and celebrities

Well, SOME of us have never lived anywhere else!

Katherine Hepburn walked up to our beach house asking for directions. We are a polite family, so my mother didn’t tell the fraudulent old dyke to take a walk. In any case, she was doing that already.

[quote] Henry Kissinger and his wife Nancy in an elevator of a hotel in New York.

And to be able to push them down the shaft!

--- I was thinking about R63's post in a similar light

I stepped over Keanu Reeves in the parking lot of Gil Turners.

I held the door open for Una Stubbs going into Fortnum & Masons once.

Edina Monsoon in Shepherd's Bush. And not on the outskirts either. No, the rich heartland of Shepherd's Bush.

Two soap opera actor sightings from All My Children (can’t remember their real names sorry)

The actor who played Tad Martin leaving a LIRR station ; if I remember right it was Merrick Station. He was wearing a big fluffy fur coat.

The actor who played Jessie was walking close by me in Manhattan when a taxi full of young black girls recognized him and screamed out the window “Jessie!!! Jessie!!!” He laughed and acknowledged them. Made me smile.

Jason Gould at the Zone in New York in the 90s

Jeffrey Tambor cutting in front of me in line at a gas station to pay for coffee

Scott Weiland at Fatburger near his heroin dealer on Venice Blvd

Tracey Scoggins asking me sports-related questions (Who won whatever game?) at Spectrum Club/Howard Hughes Center and giving her the wrong information

Elliott Gould completely naked in the steam room at Spectrum Club and me remembering my Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice fantasies

Dr. Ruth walking with a student on Princeton University campus. I recognized her voice immediately. She was nice...I said hello...she said hello, nice day. That was the end of it. I saw Fran Lebowitz twice in Princeton. Once, on the street and the other time, in a small grocery store. I didn't say anything to her. I made eye contact with her in the store...but she quickly looked away, clearly not wanting to be bothered. I also saw Ed Begley, Jr. walking on a street in Manhattan. That's it.

I was in Shanghai on business and staying at a very nice hotel but certainly not one of top 5-star places. When I walked into the lobby, there was Ted Turner with a woman who looked just like Jane Fonda (as she did in her Ted Turner days). This was a few years after they divorced, so I guess he has "a type". (I think it was the woman in the photo.)

The next morning I went down to the gym and while there, Ted comes in with another man who I presume is his bodyguard / assistant. Ted is wearing a dark suit and tie. He takes off the suit coat, hands it to the bodyguard / assistant, and proceeds to do a light workout with weights. After 15 minutes, he put his coat on and they left. I saw him and the Jane Fonda lookalike later that evening, he was in tux and she was in a gown, surrounded by security types, and they left the hotel in a motorcade.

Rhea Perlman in a used shoe store in LA. She was nice.

Aretha Franklin tried to cut the line in front of me at a sale.

[quote] According to his daughter's autobiography, he would even invite people over for dinner as in "hop in the car!" which after a while annoyed Corale if she just wanted a quiet Vera Charles moment at home.

Why would Vincent Price's daughter write an autobiography?

R79 I’m glad I never met Ted Turner. Think I’d just automatically start railing him about WCW and not be able to stop.

[quote] I met Putin St. Petersburg

Is that a drag queen?

OP, gas stations and grocery stores are not "random" locations, unless one steps on Rita Coolidge's toe in a Taipei fish market or falls down a hillside in Fiji only to discover that you landed on Suri Cruise.

My dad is an exact double of Ted Turner. He's been approached so many times, especially in airports, by people thinking he's Turner, that I can only imagine how many people say they "saw Ted Turner", when it was only my dad!

I saw Mike Tyson exiting as I was entering the Maricopa County Courthouse. I would not even have known who he was, had it not been for the tattoo on his face.

Years ago, Alec Baldwin walking around Greenwich Village with some Asian lady.

Keifer Sutherland in an elevator.

Woody Allen and Soon-Yi walking down 5th Avenue.

Richard Thomas taking a tour of The New School.

Ted Danson eating at a burger joint.

More later.

I saw Larry King walking down the street in DC (this is back when he was sort of relevant). His head was HUGE!

Saw David Brooks on the Amtrak; he looked & acted like the pompous little tool you'd expect

Julia Child in a parking garage in SoMa (San Francisco). She couldn’t figure out how to pay the machine, so we helped her, then she confessed she didn’t really remember where her car was, except it was on the third floor, so we went up and walked both sides of the garage until we found it. She was fun, and opened the trunk and gave us a cookbook, and off she went.

In college, I saw, but did not meet Parker Posey. In May 2007, a girlfriend of mine came to Morgantown to see Ryan Adams & The Cardinals play a concert at the Metropolitan Theater.

Earlier that day, said friend and I were having an early dinner, seated in one of the large front windows of the Buffalo Wild Wings on High Street (a stone's throw from the venue), when Parker Posey passed by outside. It was definitely an unexpected moment, and because we're both big fans, we were thrilled to pieces.

Posey was dating Adams at the time.

I was in an elevator with Yoko Ono once.

In 2006, I sat next to Bob Geldof on a cheapo Easyjet flight coming back from Mallorca. I was one of the last to board, saw an empty seat at the end of aisle on the front row, asked if it was free and Bob said yes without looking up. I wondered why the guy next to me kept leaning away and then saw the people opposite me on the plane grinning. I got up to get something from the overhead lockers and three of his kids were in the row behind (Tiger, Pixie and Fifi). Jeanne Marine or whoever his wife is was his gf back then and she was next to him looking out the window. Bob was reading We Need to Talk About Kevin. VERY very skinny.

This was a flight from Mallorca (Spanish island) to London Gatwick

Lorna Luft was doing a play in the Detroit area in the 80s and sat next to my Mom and her friend at a restaurant.

Lorna ended up going to my Mom's friends house afterward and used her washer and dryer to do her laundry.

I actually just saw soon Yi last week, shopping, she was next to me at the cashier.

Stephen Tobolowsky at the Beverly Hills post office. Class act.

Robin Wright at a deli in LA. No makeup and trying to be as casual and inconspicuous as possible, but she's so striking in person that it's almost impossible not to notice her.

I talked to Edward Albee on the phone once! He was in Cincinnati directing a play and my roommate was his assistant. I said, "No, he's not here" and took a message. So thrilling!

As i said in another thread, Josh Duhamel at Disneyland boarding the Matterhorn ride.

Elijah Wood in a Texas airport (can't recall which one) circa 2004.

Rebecca DeMornay at a Starbucks in LA. This was when i first moved there (2004) and i didn't realize that the coffee bean and tea leaf was far superior to Starbucks.

Didn't talk to any of them. Elijah was unmistakable as was Duhamel. Rebecca was being a snobby bitch to the barista.

Julia Roberts in an elevator of a Financial District hotel some 4-5 years ago, during the Tribeca Film Festival. Her bodyguard tried to position himself between her and me even though I was minding my own business and not looking at her or talking to her, until she told him that there was no need for that. As I'm about to get off the elevator at my floor, she said "Sorry about that."

David Hasselhof in the Altmarkt, Cologne Germany.

It was early, like 6am. I was walking to my hotel from a club and he had just done something to camera. I said hi, he said hi. That was it.

Since I'm more into the social types: Carolina Herrera in Palm Beach, Lily Safra in NYC and Ahmet & Mica Ertegun at the Hanoi Airport of all places.

Many years ago, at a Duane Reade downtown, Lauren Hutton looked shabby and being nasty to a cashier.

Jason Biggs at a bagel shop in West LA. He sat right by the door I just smiled and gave him a quick head nod.

They were these girls that were pointing and gawking. Please just let him eat his bagel in peace.

He may look slightly chunky in the American Pie movies, but in person, he was actually very gaunt and thin.

These stories are so thrilling.

Michael Shannon in a bar (straight bar); he was pretty drunk. He had just given an interview where he eviscerated Trump and I told him I liked it a lot. He brightened up and gave me a sincere "Thank you so much."

Waiting for a table in a restaurant vestibule with Harry Shearer. An older lady who clearly had no idea who he was was talking his head off while he just nodded.

Julie Newmar in a community college adult education class. She was close to 60 then and still had that dancer's body. A little eccentric but not at all unfriendly. I was impressed she was taking this piddly community college class.

R74's post reminded me that I saw Julianne Moore in Fortnum and Mason in the 1980s when she was in ATWT. I suppose they were in London shooting scenes with Franny's British doppelganger character.

Mary Louise Parker tried to pick up my friend who looks like a young and good looking Micky Rourke. This was over 15 years ago at least.

I danced with Joan Crawford, Joan Fontaine and Joan Bennett at the Hollywood Canteen.

Chris Colfer (walking down the street) - 33rd Street and btn 7th and 8th (a few years ago)

Tracy Ellis Ross (walking down the street) - Central Park West

Mike Woods (local TV weatherman) - walking down 7th Ave in Chelsea and at a rooftop party. My ex insisted on taking a photo with him, but he was very nice about it :-)

Julie Andrews - Starbucks in Chelsea - 23rd and 8th. Smiled at her along with every other gay guy getting coffee.

Sandra Bernhard, Sam Waterston (smiled at him with everyone else in line) - Whole Foods - Chelsea 7th Ave

Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman - organic food market in West Village

Eric Clapton (drinking at bar) - Michael Jordan's restaurant in Grand Central

Lenny Kravitz - walking through Central Park

Issac Mizrahi, Wesley Snipes (getting out of cars) - Midtown

John Ritter (talking to someone) - corner of 23rd St in Chelsea when I first moved to NYC in the mid-90s

Sharon Stone in the elevator of the Mid America building, Century City.

Sat next to Greta Garbo on TWA Rome to NYC.

R111 Thank you. Ive just remembered seeing Julie Andrews in Gstaad, Switzerland.

She was on the next table in the outdoor restaurant.

I have seen many celebrities out and about. Some that stand out are Kelly Ripa jogging near Central Park, looking anorexic as fuck. John Travolta at Mastros in Beverly Hills, looking bald as fuck (this was when he was still wearing toupees in public most of the time). Martina Navratilova at Starbucks in Scottsdale. We made small talk while waiting for our drinks. She was so sweet, charismatic and down to earth. We talked about dogs. I left wanting to be her bestie, and I generally hate people. I have seen everyone at the Nike employee store in Beaverton OR. My friend that gets me in told me to never talk to celebrities there, but I have seen everyone (Tiger Woods, George Lopez, Danny Trejo, John Mayer etc). The weirdest was Danny Glover at Fred Meyer in Portland. He walked up to me and asked if I knew where he could find X (I don’t even remember what he was looking for). He looked so familiar, and I grew up in Portland, so I thought he was friends with my parents or something. I had no idea about anything at that store (I was visiting my parents) so I told him that I was clueless, and told him to find an employee. He looked at me confused, and stood there staring at me uncomfortably. I just walked off. As I was leaving, he was signing autographs and the cashier was so excited that Danny Glover was shopping there.

Wanda Sykes at a gay bar in Philly (before she was out). I was drunk, walked up to her and said "I really like you on that Julia show". She was very nice and also very, very, very petite.

Queen Latifah: JFK Flagship Lounge. Lovely smile.

Joseph Cotten: waiting in line to buy candy at Mrs. See's, Palm Springs.

Carrie Fisher and Paul Simon: screaming fight, right by our table, Musso and Frank Grill, Hollywood.

John Madden, David Brinkley, and John Lithgow (separately) buying books at the Harvard Coop, Cambridge.

Joan Allen on the shuttle between the terminal and the gate at Orlando International Airport.

Barry Bonds in line for Test Track at Epcot on New Year’s Eve (he was with his kids and a Disney VIP tour guide).

Minor celebrities I guess. Kathy Najimy in a movie theater in San Diego (I think Normal Heights or someplace there) and Anderson copper in a Columbus circle building. Anderson Cooper appeared to be short in person.

Jerry Seinfeld on a street in Louisville.

Park Square Boston I was cutting across a deserted parking lot and Pele the soccer star was doing the same from the opposite side. I greeted him and he was surprised I recognized him. Go figure. Very sweet man.

Also at the Boston airport at First Class check-in, Rosa Parks, tiny little lady in a wheelchair being pushed by a younger lady. I insisted she go in front of me.

John Boehner, smoking outside a hotel bar the night of Trump's election.

Have lived in NYC for years, where you can see celebs all the time, so I'll mention some out of town sightings.

1. July 1977 - Helped drive my sister's car with all of her belongings to her apartment in a new town to start a new job in Georgia. There wasn't much to see around there, so we decided to go to Plains as a joke (it was close by and very small, like where we grew up). Lo and behold! Jimmy Carter and his wife were in town that day with SS all around. The Carters were friendly and shook our hands. He was normal-sized back then, she was petite.

2. July 2018 - Happened to be vacationing in London during the RAF's 100th anniversary flyover, which was quite thrilling for me to be standing on the Mall with thousands of other people watching it. Afterwards, the crowd began to disperse, and next thing you know, I saw Boris Johnson (the HAIR) was deep in conversations with two young (and quite hot) aides walking away too. He wasn't yet P.M., but was on his way. I was amazed at the lack of security surrounding him. You would never see someone of his stature at such an event in the U.S. without someone watching over him (he was much larger than his aides, who were dressed as mini-mes).

3. Winter 1981 or 1982 (British elder gay alert.....I don't think many Americans will know who this is). Living in London at the time, I was distraught about my bf and walking around town trying to sort out my feelings (I had the feeling he was cheating and/or getting ready to dump me, but he denied it. Of course, I later found out he was lying) and near Parliament Square, I wasn't watching where I was going and slammed right into Michael Foote. He looked exactly like he did on tv, very rumpled with his hair a mess. I apologized and kept on walking down to Pimlico. After walking around there, I headed back north, and yep, you guessed it, I was so deep in thought that I slammed into him near Parliament Square. He said, "Not you again?" I could only laugh and apologize. He was not happy (and I can't really blame him). He was alone both times, no security (this was when he was leader of the opposition).

Yeah but I met a lot of celebrities at my job in a medical center. I’ve seen lots of celebs on the street. Adam Sandler, Barry Manilow, Danny Aiello, Tony Roberts, Samantha Bee, Woody Allen & Soon Yi, Yoko Ono, Jeff Lynn, Olivia Harrison, Little Steven, Nils Lofgren, Ed Koch, Jackie Mason, Keith Richard, Richard Bey, Griffin Dunne, Matt Dillon, Ray Kelly, Bill Bratton, SJP, Kurt Vonnegut (sitting on the hood of a car eating an ice cream cone on a foggy night & in the vegetable section of King Kullen). Mickey Dolenz lived in my building. Goddamned Trump twice as presiden and Bush 1. Jackie Onassis & her friend Maurice at The Nutcracker with a little blonde girl. Years later, the car with her body in it went past my building with a police escort. It was a beautiful day and I was looking out my window thinking how quiet it was.

Oh yeah I forgot Dick Clark came around a corner & slammed into me, didn’t apologize. He was very tan in the brightest white Oxford shirt I’ve ever see and he was TINY.

Ed Begley Jr in the Airport Business Lounge in Cleveland. Very nice.

Si Newhouse exercising at the Paris Ritz (I helped him set the pace of the treadmill), also Anna Wintour and ALT, though months later.

Rob Lowe, Bernadette Peters, Mary Tyler Moore, Anne Ranking, Blythe Danner, Christopher Reeve, all in Williamstown Mass, over the course of a few summers back in school.

Yoko One in a Jaguar along Park Avenue near Fauchon Tea Salon and the Regency Hotel.

the Dalai Lama at the Regency Hotel in NYC, also Nancy Pelosi.

Tina Louise at The Amish Market on East 45th Street midtown East NYC

I've seen both Kiefer Sutherland and Ted McGinley on Bloor Street here in Toronto. All I remember was they were both very tanned.

I remember seeing Kiefer's mother, Shirley Douglas, at a memorial for one of the judges I used to work with. This was at the courthouse the judge worked at. I guess they were friends.

I remember seeing Gordon Pinsent (well-known and excellent Canadian actor who played Julie Christie's husband in Away from Her) outside the former AMC cinema at Yonge/Dundas. He was really drunk but he was smiling and really happy. He smiled at me.

I remember meeting Lin Shaye at a hotel I was staying at in Nashville. I said hi to her. She was very nice. She looks great for her age and has terrific skin.

Michael York at The Charles Hotel in Cambridge Mass

Television host Harry Smith East 45th St, also Rachel Ray.

Matt Dillon at a butcher shop on the Upper East Side

Chloe Sevigny near Gramercy Park

David Gergen at Atticus Bookstore New Haven

A few....

Robin Williams, hanging by himself near a bedroom closet

Whitney Houston, drowning her sorrows in a hotel bathroom

Phil Hartman, shooting the breeze with his wife Bryn

Nicole Simpson, cutting up and playing dead on her front walkway.

JFK Jr, swimming with the sharks off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard

Princess Diana, passed her in a tunnel in Paris. She seemed out of it and almost lifeless, like she was crashing or something

Candace Cameron at a restaurant by herself on the UWS. This was during her ‘View’ stint. She looked terribly out of place… As most annoying as fuck Californians do in New York. Way too peppy and blonde again with the annoying as fuck California accent.

R125, same thing happened to me and Jimmy Smits! Your post jogged my memory of that encounter donkey years ago. It was in the village in the evening, I remember he was wearing a long leather trench coat. He was very tall. He said nothing. I didn't either, we made eye contact. I just went on my way.

Michael York seems to get around.

Ray Charles on the mobile lounge at Dulles airport in DC. In the same trip, I'd almost been knocked into Stevie Wonder at LAX. I was wondering if all my close encounters with celebs would be with blind ones. I also crossed paths with a subsequently disgraced Thai Prime Minister (he's even exiled) at a reception being held at my hotel in Bangkok. He glowed with charisma.

I saw Cher at Mario Badescu skincare place on East 52nd St.

DJimon Hounsou cruised me (I swear!) in the parking lot across from The Coffee Bean on Sunset in the 90s.

Jason Priestly at a corner deli in NYC's Hell's Kitchen buying condoms. We talked and at 1 point I was standing behind him looking over his shoulder as he read the package information aloud. I told him my niece isn't going to believe me when I tell her I met him. (not about the condoms though). I believe he was in NY to do SNL. Verdict: approachable, funny and down to earth.

Kirk Douglas at a performance of Sly Fox with his wife and one of his sons. He acknowledged everyone with a smile when he walked up the aisle. The theater was abuzz.

Michael J. Fox and Tracy sat across the aisle from me during David Mamet's "Race"

Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward during intermission of Chicago when Melanie Griffith was in it. They all were in a movie titled "The Drowning Pool" (1975)

Kaye Ballard sat across the aisle from me on a LA-NY flight and we talked about the in-flight movie that she had already seen and liked: The Verdict. She actually started the exchange and was warm and friendly.

A pregnant Kathleen Turner at Balducci's bakery department getting cheesecake. Pretty though shorter than I expected and she had a very Brooklyn accent.

Elliot Gould on a subway payphone at the W57th street station near Carnegie Hall.

Also spotted Stevie Wonder at an airport SFO). The Dalai Lama at a Marriott Hotel restaurant, surrounded by adoring devotees and bodyguards. Roseanne at a Passover Seder (oy). Angela Bassett on the dance floor at a fundraising event in DC. (She is lovely and kind)

Tell us more, r134. That man is HOT! I’ve never heard gay rumors about him.

I was once at SJP’s for a post-Emmy party and Barbara Walters showed up, then Kristen Johnston and Natasha Richardson. So random!

^ Saw Kristen Johnson post performance of Aunt Don and Lemon at West Bank Cafe on 42nd at the bar with friends having a great, lively time.

A late night at 7-11 I bumped into Andrew Stevens. He was cute and friendly

Clint Eastwood skiing (I fell in front of him.)

Jim Zorn at Burger King

[quote]The actor who played Jessie was walking close by me in Manhattan when a taxi full of young black girls recognized him and screamed out the window “Jessie!!! Jessie!!!” He laughed and acknowledged them. Made me smile.

That was Darnell Williams, R76.

I remember seeing Andre Braugher in a Toronto convenience store with his sons. I think he had three at the time. They were adorable.

[quote] I met Dionne Warwick in the AA Admirals Club in San Francisco, she was wearing men's clothes and reading a book on how to win the lottery.

So far, this one’s my favorite.

I met George Michael at a glory hole. At least I think it was him.

Klaus Barbie at an anti-Australian riot in La Paz, Bolivia.

The drag queen, not the Nazi.

Although to be honest, you'd be hard pressed if you had to decide who was more unpleasant.

Or had the worst breath.

Kathleen Turner - I was on my lunch hour taking a walk along the promenade and Kathleen Turner was coming the other way. Very tall and not half as unattractive as she looks in pictures.

Olivia Newton John - Quietly arguing with her daughter in a cafe. The daughter, who would have been very young at the time, was dressed in tight clothes and high heels. Looked odd and out of place. Olivia looked like the hot Mom that everyone had a crush on at school.

Hugh Jackman - At a gym. Looked skinny and drawn but all muscle.

Isabella Rosselini - Really small and tiny with a handspan waist. Hard to believe that she was lauded as being one of the more "voluptuous" models.

Cindy Crawford - At a magazine function. Huge, angular face and wearing makeup so thick it was odd to look at her. But her makeup artist knew what he was doing because in all pics of the event she looked completely natural and very Cindy-like.

Linda Evangelista - In a department store. Tall, great hair, but very out of shape and built like a refrigerator. No boobs and straight up and down with a paunch. Hard to believe she was a top model only a decade earlier.

Jeff Stryker - Saw him at a radio station foyer. Like a toy come to life. Tiny (5.6 at most), tanned as can be but with terrible acne scars.

Elle Macpherson - In a jewellery shop. Tall and incredibly beautiful. Really the best looking person I have seen the flesh.

LInda Evans - Looked after me in a hotel lobby when I wandered away from my parents! I remember thinking she was very kind with big blue eyes. When my parents found us they were stunned to see her with me - this was at the height f her Dynasty fame. They thanked her and she chatted with them and recommended some places to visit and eat. My mother still keeps an eye on her says that it is a shame that such a beautiful and kind woman ended up alone without children.

[quote]R95 Lorna ended up going to my Mom's friends house afterward and used her washer and dryer to do her laundry.

Wow. Garland really left her kids with NOTHING... not even a washer.

[quote]R104 at a Duane Reade downtown, Lauren Hutton looked shabby and being nasty to a cashier.

She was probably pissed they didn’t carry her makeup.

[quote]R116 Carrie Fisher and Paul Simon: screaming fight, right by our table, Musso and Frank Grill, Hollywood.

What is worth having a screaming match in public about?

Ha R61 - mind you, this was in 2007.

Our interaction was as pedestrian as they come: I thought he was first in line, he wasn’t and told me to go ahead and order. As I passed by him, he said “Don’t take the teriyaki.” I ordered, paid, said goodbye, smiled at Georgie.

And that was it. Wish I had something better to share.

I ran into Woody Allen and Diane Keaton on E. 86th Street one summer evening in the 1970s. Diane walked them over to talk to me, thinking I was someone she knew, but I wasn't that person. Nonetheless, it was nice meeting them. It was after Annie Hall, I think. I'm not sure I would have recognized them otherwise.

I've walked past so many celebs in public...Alan Cumming, took an extra long look at me up and down. Keanu Reeves grinned at me, Ben Stiller (so short) made eye contact, gabriel byrne also made eye contact. Will.i.am from black eyes pea said hi back when I said hi to him.

I walked past a rock star without knowing who the guy was at the time, it was very dark at night...I was going to the drug store and he stood there after getting out of his car and looked at me as I approached him, he probably thought I was a fan who wanted a picture or autograph but I didn't. I later found out that a rock star lived at that house I walked past.

In supermarket, I was behind Rachel Weize (however you spell her name) at the check out. She had no make up on and was very striking. Also saw Brook Shields at the check out line in a supermarket in soho...looked like a man.

many others...

The Queen & Kate Middleton at St Pancreas Station, London.

I'd just got off the London train heading to work and they were heading up to Leicester on it.

Met Whoopie at an outdoor market in New York. She was extremely friendly and sweet.

c.2012-13, Orlando Bloom skulking around Canterbury (or Banterbury, we former students call it) looking unkempt. He grew up there as I understand.

When I saw him, I was on one of my customary hungover depressive Billy-no-mates nighttime jaunts around the river and the Theatre, wandering in the dark and pouring rain. Think it was early summer, but I don’t remember for certain now. And I really don’t know what he was doing outside in the wet so late (he was probably thinking the same about me, if he thought of me at all). We didn’t make significant eye contact or even pass close by each other; I just spotted him from a street away skulking around with a hood up and a maudlin expression, and we had that awkward half-second eyebrush and smize that English people in a miserable mood do.

As a kid, and she was a widow by then, I observed Mamie Eisenhower buying frozen (TV) dinners. She was visiting this community and state.

[quote]Mike Woods (local TV weatherman) - walking down 7th Ave in Chelsea and at a rooftop party. My ex insisted on taking a photo with him, but he was very nice about it :-)

Who was nice -- your ex or Mike Woods?

I saw and spoke to Kris Kristofferson in a restaurant a few decades back.

[quote]As a kid, and she was a widow by then, I observed Mamie Eisenhower buying frozen (TV) dinners.

What, did she run out of canned parsley potatoes?

David Canary and James Mitchell (Palmer Courtland AMC) At a long Island Disco in Ronkomkoma LI of all places but it was close to the Fire Island ferry...nice men. Debra Harry at a Shinnicock smoke shop in SouthHampton

Having lived most of my life in Los Angeles several times but two note worthy..... John Travolta and George Michael in a public restrooms (both true)...Sadly, in neither situation was I leered at, pinched, groped or had my ass slapped. And both times I was in my prime years...what a letdown.

The Queen and Prince Philip at Wimpy's. They were waiting in line just like anyone else. I think it was them.

Boy George at the old Barney's on 17th Street (OK - it was a long time ago). He's surprisingly tall and hard to miss.

Jerry Hall at Zabar's on 81st Street - she and Mick had a townhouse at the time on W. 81st Street around the corner from The Works (I know - I'm old. Do gays still live on the UWS?).

Morgan Fairchild pushing a shopping cart at Bed Bath 'N Beyond on 17th and Sixth. She was wearing a leopard skin catsuit, so she was also kind of hard to miss.

[quote]She was on the next table in the outdoor restaurant.

Hopefully she pushed the dishes out of the way first.

R163 were you around Jerry long enough to get any impression of her personality? I was always a big fan, but lost a lot of respect for her after she married Murdock.

[quote] [R163] were you around Jerry long enough to get any impression of her personality? I was always a big fan, but lost a lot of respect for her after she married Murdock.

R165, why were you a big fan of Jerry Hall? She always seemed unpleasant and like a gold digger to me. She was also dumb enough to get "married" (to Jagger) in Bali (declared invalid) instead of somewhere in the UK.

I was working in summer dormitory maintenance at Northwestern and David Schwimmer spent a few weeks in the dorm doing a summer acting program for high school students. They were doing a play of Kafka's "Josephine: The Mouse Singer" and as I was doing a thesis on Kafka at the time, he loaned me the book to read overnight. That was the extent of my interaction with him and he seemed like a perfectly nice guy. I returned the book the next day and never saw him again, though he later attended Northwestern and we probably overlapped a year.

My friend met Boy George at Limelight. He was totally hitting on my friend who was (still is) very handsome.

R167 interesting. Wonder if it burns Schwimmer up that he isn’t and never will be known for serious drama.

R166 just reading about her in books like The Warhol Diaries and seeing some old interviews with Letterman, she seemed like a lot of fun and just sort of let her tacky, Texas blonde gold digger flag fly. She never seemed to be pretentious and had a pretty good rep with editors, stylists, and photographers who worked with her... she was very well liked in the fashion industry.

Also, by most accounts, she is given a lot of the credit for encouraging Mick to have good relationships with all his kids. Supposedly she advised her own kids with him to not hold anything against the ones from his relationships with that Brazilian woman and the ballet dancer. She felt those kids also deserved siblings who cared about them and that they should be welcomed and treated well. That’s always seemed pretty cool and level headed of Jerry.

I’m not saying she’s someone to be greatly admired, but she was a bit of a character and I liked her. But marrying Murdock? That revealed the ugly side of her gold digger mentality and was very disappointing.

[quote][[R163]] were you around Jerry long enough to get any impression of her personality? I was always a big fan, but lost a lot of respect for her after she married Murdock.

She was standing in the check-out aisle when another registered opened and she asked if it was open and then promptly plopped her items down on the next counter. I was amazed she was doing her own shopping (I doubt she does it for Murdoch but Mick is known to be really cheap). What gave her away immediately was the Texas twang, which is a little jarring on the UWS.

[quote] But marrying Murdock? That revealed the ugly side of her gold digger mentality and was very disappointing.

Thanks, R170, for your explanation. IMO, marrying Murdoch made sense. She was too old to latch on to another rock star, but to Murdoch, she was young enough. It seemed like she and Murdoch both knew what they were doing. No, she doesn't seem super happy to me, but that was the choice she made.

I was in an elevator with Lizzo. She farted loudly then looked at me and asked if I just did that? I responded by saying my bowels could never produce this kind of raunchy odor. She laughed. I didn’t.

Margaret Thatcher then ex-PM arriving out of nowhere to plant a tree at a shopping mall, unannounced. Tiny with enormous hair and a buttercup yellow dress.

Nothing ever marked the tree planting. Perhaps that explains why the tree remains there to this day.

Ryan Reynolds LAX

Timmy Chalamet in my ass.

Margaret Snatcher

Jerry Hall married Murdoch for security and to have a husband (finally, since Mick never legally married her) who was as rich and powerful, if not more so, than the egotistical Jagger. Plus (unpopular opinion) I believe Rupert likely swept her off her feet when they dated, he is known to be charming when needed.

She is a devoted family person above all else. She has four of her own and was a terrific stepmother to Mick's elder kids. Marsha Hunt always credited her as a major player in getting Mick to finally come around to fathering their daughter, Karis, whom he ignored for the first dozen years of her life. No small feat. She is known to get on very well with Murdoch's kids especially his teen daughters with Wendi Deng. She supposedly stitched up relations between those exes as well (Murdoch and Deng) for the kids sake.

I met Clara Peller at a Wendy’s when I was 6.

Harry Connick Jr. sitting across from me in a VIP room at a basketball game. He was the halftime performer and was waiting to perform. He was chewing ice from a paper cup and he tilted it up and tapped the bottom and all the ice fell on his chest then to the floor. He looked a little embarrassed but I politely ignored it.

Jane Fonda coming out of the bathroom dressed like she was in The Electric Horseman.

Judd Nelson sat behind me at a basketball game

Rob Estes, Cynthia Geary, Edgar Martinez, Detlef Schrempf, Elaine Miles— all at court.

My ballet teacher introduced me to Tony Mordente—I was thrilled.

The above all took place in Seattle.

Sondra Locke, Clint and his son standing in line in Sun Valley. Sondra was really pissed at Clint.

The most random was when I was visiting a friend in Maryland and he took me to Rehoboth beach in Delaware and standing in line in front of me waiting for ice cream was Dave Grohl of Niravana. Both of us lived in Seattle and I bumped into him in Delaware of all places.

Eddie Vedder in a restaurant on a date.

[quote] —Kay Summersby

was a cunt for not waiting until Mamie died to publish her book.

There used to be a gas station on Burton Way in Beverly Hills. I was walking by and noticed a Rolls-Royce convertible filling up. The guy was looking my way. Turned out to be Jim Nabors on the prowl.

KC from the Sunshine Band was hit on my sister-in-law waiting in line for ice cream at Niagara Falls. He wasn't hot anymore.

I once saw Jane Fonda pumping her own gas at an am/pm in Newhall California neigh 15 years ago or so.

I was talking a long walk and as there is nothing to do in Newhall California decided to pop into the am/pm for shucks and giggles.

To my myopic surprise there stood Jane Fonda pumping her own gas. I'm coming from the sidewalk as I was taking a long walk and I temporarily scared Jane Fonda prior to when I spoke because I'm a five foot eleven inch Lesbian who said "Jane Fonda, you're as brave as you are beautiful" with passion! Her beautiful blue eyes went from fear (I'm sure Conservatives taunt her) to warmth. Jane Fonda said "Thank you soo very much" in full on Jane Fonda voice while looking directly in my eyes as lovingly as a kindly aunt would. I said "No Ma'am thank you" and then proceeded to walk into the am/pm with my heart racing.

Jane Fonda is sincerely sweet and that voice of hers is her real voice it's not a put on.

I'll stop by at some point to share my Dolly Parton story. It's long. I'll try to pencil it in.

Jeff Goldblum in an Adult Bookstore parking lot. He tried picking me up..

Barry Manilow, Siegfried and Roy, most of the cast of American Horror story when Chaz was on the show, in Vegas at a Cher concert.

I got in a NYC taxi from one side and Mary Louise Parker got in the other side, so we shared the ride up from the Village to Park Avenue when I got out first. She was very sweet and insisted on paying, but finally took cash from me.

I fucked and got fucked by one of the Bravo reality show guys in LA last week. I didn't realize it until I googled him the next day. We've been hooking up for a couple years now. Who knew?

Jeff Goldblum and Laura Dern walking arm in arm at Disneyland. Very smiley and relaxed.

John Waters at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, OH (2018).

Rosalyn and Amy Carter in a candy store in Plains, GA (1981).

Ben Affleck getting out of a car in the University/Museum district of Pittsburgh, PA (1998).

I did jury duty with Isaac Mizrahi. In NYC that means waiting around with 300+ people in a room waiting to be called for jury selection. We did not serve on the same jury. Jury duty may be the only thing in NYC that puts hundreds of people together from all walks of life in a room together under equal circumstances.

[quote] Jacqueline Bisset - in person in 1984, one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen. She had a glamorous aura about her. I couldn’t stop staring.

R30, I love your list. JB would be one of those unique, random encounters. I'm just trying to imagine what she would be doing in hardware store. Did she buy like an air conditioner filter or Swiffer or something?

I've seen a number celebs. Some memorable ones: Diane Keaton at the movies (mesmerizing star power even if you don't like her). Stood in line behind Ashton Kutcher at Coffee Bean. Sat next to Jennifer Anistons table at restaurant on 3rd St. Sat next to Larry King and his wife at Mastro's.

^^what does Aniston look like in real life? I’ve never found her that attractive. Is she in person?

R193, I think she's attractive and looked great in person. She's also very petite. It was the only time I saw people freak out a little. They were outside and saw her come in the restaurant. Two people started pressing their face against window and you could hear muffled voices saying things like "omg, she's in there." The other girl was screaming as though it was the best thing EVER.

My Uncle met Charlie Chaplin at a park in New Jersey, he gave him candy. My parents met Rudy Vallee on their honeymoon in Nassua in the Bahamas; he was nice and popped into their home movies.

I saw Ginger Roger's exiting a theater in the city, she knew she was being photographed and seemed quite vivacious as she pretended to look for her car.

Celeste Holm entered Radio City Music Hall from the wrong entrance for a party and she was quite pushy.

Speaking of Radio City, I was there for the Easter Show and Mary McFadden was there in the row behind me and some annoying queen started to ask her about designing for dance theater, she replied "I've already designed for the ballet."

I saw Mildred Natwicke crossing by Carnegie Hall in a very nice fur coat, my Mother said out loud The Snoop Sisters! and she smiled.

One of the most recent I met was at the Apollo. Charlie Rangel went out of his way to shake hands with John F. Kennedy, Jr., who of course graciously accepted his handshake.

R157 - Mike Woods was very nice. IDK why Google says he is married to Ines Rosales. If true, it is very lavender ;)

I bought Dick Cavett a toothbrush at the gift shop in the Westin Seattle. He'd forgotten his room key card, and the saleswoman wouldn't let him charge it to his room without the key. There were quite a few people in the store, so I walked up to him and very quietly said, " I recognize you, and I'll pay for your toothbrush. It's the least I can do to thank you for all of those great interviews over the years."

He was wearing head to toe new tan fishing gear (I think he thought all Seattleites wore clothes like that) and was so obviously out of place. It almost looked like he was going on a safari. I found him to be very shy and soft-spoken. He quietly thanked me, and off he went, head down, trying not to get any attention.

Oh, I thought of a good one. My aunt and uncle owned a very well-known, very well-respected restaurant, and many stars came through during their 50 years in business.

One night, after hours, they got a call at home from a hotel concierge saying that he had VIP guests who wanted great food in an atmosphere that reflected the city's history. My aunt and uncle got dressed in a flash, headed to the restaurant, where my chef uncle prepared an entire 8-top table with huge platters of fresh seafoods, and various kinds of charchuterie, cheeses, fruits, breads, vegetables, desserts and bottles and bottles of wine and champagne. It was an enormous spread of delicious foods, beautifully presented.

By this time, it's about 2 a.m., and they wait for a knock on the front door, and in come the VIP guests. It was the Rolling Stones, who'd just had a concert in town that night. They had to explain who they were to my aunt and uncle. LOL. But after they did, my aunt secretly called me and told me to get over there fast. That the Rolling Stones were there. So, off I go, speeding, and hoping they don't leave before I get there. I arrived at the end of their evening (well, morning), met all of them, had a few glasses of champagne with them, and we just relaxed. They were very chill, pleasant, chatty, and very down to earth, which surprised me. All of them were very respectful to my aunt and uncle. They just wanted to wind down after the concert.

I sold sex toys and porno tapes to singer Eddie Money circa 1985.

I didn't recognize him (I mean, who would but a fan) and he left as the next clerk came in for his shift who said to me, "wow! That was Eddie Money! What did he buy?" And, I just looked at him and didn't really know what he was asking me but then we looked at the credit card receipt which had his real name on it...and he was performing at a venue just down the street from the porn store.

Judging by all the stuff he bought, we figured it might be gag gifts maybe...he bought quite a lot of things, including a variety of 'toys'.

If I remember correctly, the videos were all straight....there might have been one bi one or something with "chicks with dicks" but it was a very long time ago. Reagan was president and it was a confusing era full of angst and asymmetrical hair cuts.

Prince Hans-Adam almost ran me over in Vaduz, Switzerland. I was crossing the road as he was driving around a roundabout. Missed my be about a foot.

Chris Pine obviously shitfaced drunk, walking down the street with two male friends in LA. It was 6:30pm.

I wouldn't know any soap opera actors if I tripped over them.

Lori Anderson at the Chelsea Cinema on 23rd street.

R198, what town/city was this?

[quote]Margaret Thatcher then ex-PM arriving out of nowhere to plant a tree at a shopping mall,

Did she perform this number as part of the ceremony?

I made a bee line for Tina Louise in a shoe store in L.A.’s Beverly Center mall and quietly told her how much I admired her. She was very nice (though I’ve heard from one of her in-laws she’s a trial.)

I think older stars generally like being recognized because their audience dwindles year by year by year.

Most of the celebs I have met were in Admirals Clubs in JFK, LAX, and MIA. Occasionally I have sat next to one in AA business class. I think they usually fly first; I rarely do.

On the street or in stores, my first was Heather Locklear about 30 years ago. It was in the West Hollywood Pavilions supermarket. She had one of those little handheld baskets with Big Boy blue cheese dressing in it. I loved her for that!

Most recently I stood next to Tristan Harris last week at the check in counter at LAX. He is so damned nice. He must've caught me staring, because when he was done, he turned to walk away and nodded at me and said, "Hey man."

Other random meetings that were memorable: Robert Downey Jr. at the police station/jail in La Verne, CA. I was there to pick up a buddy who spend the night in a cell for a DUI. It was when Downey was in the pokey, in a tiny police station 30 miles away from LA (but still in LA County). In my office at work, Ang Lee had tea with me and an admissions person. His son was considering the school I work at and they were getting the red czarpet treatment. (The kid went to NYU instead. Must've been the tea I served!) Josh Radnor must have thought I was stalking him. We sat next to each other on a flight from LAX-CMH. Then our bags came out at the same time. Two days later, I was shopping in a Trader Joe's and ran into him in the coffee section. He looked at my quizzically. I went to my parents place for a few days and, exactly a week after I landed, boarded the plane for the return trip to LA. Radnor was seated just across the aisle on that flight. He was dorky and soft spoken. We talked about Kenyon College, about his parents who still live in suburban Columbus, and our mutual love of a certain TJ's coffee.

There is a BIG difference between met and saw.

Many times.

Robert De Niro when he was filming a scene for 'The Fan.'

I bumped into Ben Stiller at the Bergamot Galleries in Santa Monica. Short guy. Very nice. He was gracious towards some teens who recognized him.

So STOP telling us all the boring stories about the celbs you SAW and start making DL at least a 'little' interesting and tell us the stories about the celebs you actually MET !

Was it Loni Anderson or Laurie Anderson? Truly can't tell. I'd guess the latter, though, considering the location.

I'm amazed at how some of you can recognize certain celebs on sight. Jesse Tyler Ferguson? Josh Radnor? I would have no idea who the fuck many of these lower-tier celebs are. There are SO many "famous" people these days, it's impossible to keep up with them all.

MET not SAW. (Yes I'm going to repeat this until you idiots start reading the Title).

R210, would you like to start us off with some of your face-to-face conversations with celebs?

[quote]I'm amazed at how some of you can recognize certain celebs on sight. Jesse Tyler Ferguson? Josh Radnor? I would have no idea who the fuck many of these lower-tier celebs are. There are SO many "famous" people these days, it's impossible to keep up with them all.

People who star in long-running TV series are not "lower-tier celebs."

They are for people who don't watch network television.

Jennifer Aniston with Brad’s mother in the West Village. Mrs Pitt asked me directions to that awful Painted Pig restaurant. Jennifer rolled her eyes because I think I gave wrong directions. I saw a lot of celebrities out and about when I lived in the West Village.

My little terrier mix befriended Hugh Jackman’s French bulldog Peaches years ago.

R214. Sure. We went to a Liza concert in San Francisco in the 80's and afterward followed her small, disguised entourage to a small restaurant out in the Avenues. As she was walking in, my BF, snuck up beside her and said 'That's the best concert I've seen'. She actually stopped and started a brief conversation asking how many different performances he'd seen of both her and the other top notch female performers in San Francisco over the years. We both had critiques of Bette and Madonna's shows and kept going on about how Liza's choice of songs, her dancing, etc was so different than theirs. After a couple minutes, she asked for a couple posters of the engagement from her sidekicks and after signing them both, stuck out her hand and said. I'm Liza. We told her our first names, smiled, told her 'that was fun' and then walked in AHEAD of her to the restaurant and telling the matre d' of OUR reservation!. She giggled a bit and then asked, "Who are you Really?!'

Not really a random location, but I met Tracey Ullman and her husband when we had my parents' home in Santa Monica home up for sale. They resided in nearby Pacific Palisades and wanted it as a place to stick her elderly mother. We accepted their offer, but then they kept nickel-and-diming everything left and right to try to get a lower price. It really became quite ridiculous, and we finally told them to FUCK OFF and stopped negotiating."

BTW, my BF at the time was a great looking ballet dancer for the SF Ballet, so that didn't hurt.... :)

I met a lot of celebrities as a psychiatry resident at UCLA- there were some big time stars/family members on frequent rotations.

I once had a job auditing outpatient drug treatment centers.

One day I was in west LA auditing an office. One of the staff members burst into my office and asked if I wanted to meet Robert Downey Jr, who was apparently there for his weekly whatever.

I declined... it felt unprofessional.

That was the weirdest one. I had many other slightly weird celebrity interactions when I lived in LA.

I lived in L.A. and Hollywood (and grew up in a coastal town frequented by retired celebs) and barely spotted a single star : (

In New York Debbie Harry passed me on a crosswalk and in NYC and Dylan Cannon was once in the checkout ahead of me at Whole Foods. I think that’s it!

[italic]I want to speak to a manager...

I used to work in a bar at a high-end chain hotel.

Robert Downey Jr.: Loud, rude, came in with an all-young-male entourage.

U2: Hung out in the VIP / premium floor of the hotel with a bunch of women groupies. Bono had a crush on a good-looking young woman coworker & I saw him trying to chat her up. Larry Mullen was short, handsome, and said hello to me. A coworker told me that The Edge smelled bad.

Michael Hutchence of INXS: Wore a long-sleeved shirt unbuttoned pretty low. Seemed in a bad mood / unfriendly. Did look sexy.

[quote]I wouldn't know any soap opera actors if I tripped over them.

Thank you for your invaluable contribution.

I saw Sheena Easton inside of a “fancy” grocery store in Vegas several years ago. I approached her and asked for a selfie. She said “eat shit and die, trash”. I was devastated.

Diana Ross at an IHOP. She glared back at me

[quote]Too many to list--one of the footnotes of living in NYC is that many "celebrities" are your neighbors.[/quote]

True that. If you live in NYC or L.A., it's a pointless exercise. Lived in Manhattan for 17 years and among those I bumped into accidentally were Frances McDormand, Michael Madsen, Gweneth Paltrow, Andrea Martin, Joan Rivers, Rupert Everett, Cicely Tyson, Celeste Holm, Dylan Baker, Boy George, Alec Baldwin, Chevy Chase and that's just off the top of my head. Not counting all the famous faces I met through work in theatre management. Sometimes you have an involuntary oooh or eeew response, but at the end of the day they're just people. Paltrow was being a total bitch to some poor bodega clerk, Chase emitted so much negativity I could feel it several feet away, and Baldwin was drunk (or high?) off his ass and it wasn't even 6pm yet.

"Diana Ross at an IHOP. She glared back at me"

Because you were dressed just like her?

"... tell us the stories about the celebs you actually MET !"

This thread is no longer yours. It belongs to Datalounge now. Begone, hall monitor!

OJ Simpson at Bloomingdale's in NY in the men's shoe department where they sell those 'ass ugly' Bruno Magli shoes. It was a few months before the infamous murder.

I've encountered a number of celebrities in restaurants in New York City. Two stand out...Woody Allen and Soon Yi...he looked slight and old; she was very pretty in person. At another restaurant -- Orso- fifteen or more years ago, then First Lady Laura Bush and her daughter Barbara were having dinner at a nearby table with three African-American women (grandmother/mother/daughter). It looked as if Barbara was friends with the youngest woman. Laura Bush nodded and smiled, when I looked over. Secret Service were at a table near the entrance, and the big SUVs were outside waiting, when my party and I left. I've seen numerous Broadway actors in the same restaurant.

In high school, Jackie O was in front of me in line at a Merit Farm.

George Steinbrenner, Meg Ryan, and Dennis Quaid on the street. Bill Murray in the subway.

Ray Liotta in front of me at the A&P in New Jersey.

Jack Nicolson on the boardwalk in NJ.

What really impressed me was when my Mom told me in the late 70s or early 80s that she saw Ingrid Bergman in B Altman's

And how many of you bitches have photographic proof? Here's me and my older brother with John Wayne (DL favorite), from an old home movie. Maybe 1973 or so.

Cool photo, R233. But John Wayne is not a DL favorite, IMO. This famous short shorts photo has mitigated the situation, but he's still not a fave. IMO!

Once--in the middle of nowhere in NY state, driving up to Vermont to go to college--I was in a gas station/convenience store and there, five feet away, was ROD SERLING. In a blazer and so tanned--he looked like he should have been in Beverly Hills. Short. Unmistakeable. This would have been in 1970.

I also sat next to Chloe Sevigny in a diner when she was here in Savannah, making a movie. She ordered a BLT with French fries and seemed very nice.

Rod Serling was originally from Syracuse, NY and taught at Ithaca College for a number of years. I believe his wife still lives in the area unless she's died.

Wow, some of these sighting go back a LONG time ago!

In 1999, shortly after moving to LA, I was in the Ralphs grocery store on Olympic Blvd. in Century City.

As I was leaving, I spotted a familiar looking person getting a pack of Marlboro cigarettes from the rack (back in the days when cigarettes were still self-serve). The person was early 30s and had a female on his arm.

He looked exactly like Keanu Reeves, but I dismissed the idea it was him since 1) I was not yet accustomed to running into celebrities in public as I was brand new to LA and 2) I thought Keanu he was a non-smoker.

About a week later, the LA Times or some magazine ran a profile of Keanu and mentioned he chain smoked Marlboros throughout the interview.

[quote] As I was leaving, I spotted a familiar looking person getting a pack of Marlboro cigarettes from the rack (back in the days when cigarettes were still self-serve).

I smoked for 15 years. I don't remember ever buying cigarettes "from the rack." I always had to ask the cashier to reach back and get me my cigarettes.

r239 You must have had very limited experience on where you bought cigarettes. Self serve racks were standard in most grocery stores until about 2000.

Most gas stations, drug stores and convenience stores had cigarettes behind the counter where the cashier had to help you.

[quote]I smoked for 15 years. I don't remember ever buying cigarettes "from the rack." I always had to ask the cashier to reach back and get me my cigarettes.

Lots of grocery stores, gas stations and convenience stores had cigarettes on a rack right at the register, you could just get your own pack. It was usually the most popular brands like Marlboro, Newport, Camel etc. The less-popular brands were behind the register. As the above poster said, this ended around the Millennium, when all cigarettes went behind the cashier.

Yes, [R237]--some of us DO go back. And [cue the music]--WE'RE STILL HERE!!!!!!!

Okay, it was so long ago, but maybe I do remember cigarettes out in the wild, on racks. Was it at the same location as the National Enquirers and candy bars, leading up to the cashier?

Yes as a matter of fact — I hooked up with a guy on Grindr and we were at his place and he was PH and just as I was about to stick it in, I see that Michael Caine out of “Get Carter” is in the chap’s anus, peering out, like one of those tongue lice you see inside a fish’s mouth.

Well this put me right off the anal, and the chap was quite disappointed, but I didn’t have the heart to tell him about Caine.

Yes, r243. I remember grocery stores had cigarettes right above the candy, various brands all lined up side by side. Or the cigarettes were at the end cap, where the magazines are. Instead of magazines, at least a couple end caps were a big cigarette rack instead. Gas stations and convenience stores had a rack of cigs right on the counter. I tried to find a picture, but no luck.

Cigarette cartons were on a giant series of shelves at the end cap of one of the aisles, right before you got to the checkout. I managed to find a picture of that. This is an old picture, but cigarettes were still being sold like this in the 90s. The customer could just get their own, the cigs weren't at the customer service counter or locked away in a cabinet.

Nedra Volz...at my Lucky in the valley. Who you ask? The tiny little psychic woman in Poltergeist. "GO INTO THE LIGHT" I was a 21, just moved to LA and boom there she was. I was star struck. I loved that movie. She looked at me and smiled and said "Okay go ahead ask," she was so sweet. I told her I didn't want to bother her and she said "honey if they ain't bothering you you aint doing something right" loved her.

Zelda Rubenstein was the Poltergeist lady.

These are from several years ago. They are both dead now. Robert Duvall at Bloomingdale's in Century City. He was chatting/flirting with a female employee at register. I stood behind him thinking "you sly dog." He seemed very charismatic. I do remember he had that fresh Mennen or drug store aftershave smell like my grandfather.

Another one was Nell Carter. I was leaving Hugos in West Hollywood on a Sunday morning. Nell Carter had just parked her car at a spot by the stop sign. It was a Sunday morning and she was wearing a nice dress like maybe she had been to church. She was driving an older Jeep Cherokee.

I just remembered one and she's not dead (I think). The woman on Seinfeld who played George Constanza's mother. That voice is real. She and her husband were seated at booth across from mine. I looked over but she never looked back at me. It was at a IHOP on a weekday morning. And I swear the conversation was something like "what do you mean you don't like blueberry pancakes. You ordered the blueberry pancakes. Eat the pancakes."

Estelle Harris is the name of the actress who played Costanza's mother. She's still alive at age 93. Liz Sheridan (Jerry's mother) is also still alive, she's 91.

R248, Robert Duvall is still alive.

[quote] The woman on Seinfeld who played George Constanza's mother. That voice is real.

Pretty sad that that's her real voice. Very grating and unpleasant.

Ben Stiller, on the second floor of Barnes & Noble at 66th Street (long gone) and Broadway, NYC, in the Fall of 1999. He came into the one of the aisles in the entertainment book section on the second floor while I was browsing. Had raccoon-like dark eye circles, like either an insomniac or a hardcore drug addict. There was no acknowledgement of any kind from either party and he started away after about 30 seconds.

Ben Stiller is well-known to be an asshole. Howard Stern was talking about it.

I used to go to that Barnes and Noble all the time. Loved that place.

Sean Connery in Century City in 1980. Emily Watson in Los Feliz.

Allen Funt and Richard Attenborough at the Buenos Aires Plaza Hotel.

Met, not seen. Met.

I grew up in LA, so I have a million.

But one of my favorites isn't mine. It's a family friends' story.

She was driving from the Bay area to LA. It had been a shitty, shitty drive. In a foul mood, she stopped at some little roadside diner about an hour north of LA (can't remember where. Maybe Apple Valley or something like that) to grab a bite. Try and get in a better mood.

She sits down at the bar. A man sits is sitting one seat over. He can tell that my friend is having a bad day. He says, "Can I buy you a drink?" My friend ( a big, lovely dyke btw) looks up.

It's Brad Pitt! She says, "Sure."

They have a beer together. He's absolutely wonderful to her. She leaves in a much better mood and a free meal. From Brad Pitt.

r257 you're not the boss of this thread. All the posts are interesting.

Thank you R249. I almost said Estelle Parsons but knew that wasn't right.

And Liz S. gets on my nerves. She did an interview years ago for something (I think it might have been a milestone anniversary of James Dean's death). She dated and lived with James Dean. She kept finding 50 different ways to insert it into several interview answers. It was so annoying. It was like she couldn't say it enough.

R256 Also met Allen Funt once when he was promoting a film. Sort of a jolly guy, just like you see on TV.

[Quote]lots and lots over the years. too many to mention

R15 Riveting. Oh, to be you.

Got to spend an evening with Lily Tomlin at a restaurant in Monterey after a show. My ex was part of her inner circle before she banished him and I sat across from her at a long table. Lily was wonderful and funny and told humorous stories about working with other celebs. At one point a woman entered the restaurant and sat down at the end of the table hoping to go unnoticed. Lily quickly busted her, asked who she was, and told her she had to leave but the woman just sat there. Finally someone from the restaurant escorted her to the street. The best story she told was about being on set for Tea With Mussolini and how Cher was such a diva, wouldn't consort with the other (bigger) stars, and asking Lily to deliver a dog she adopted to her home in Malibu. (She didn't.)

r247 SHIT I knew that. It was Zelda I just screwed up my weird names. Never met Nedra Volz

R248 Robert Duvall is NOT dead...he's 90 years old.

Actually he's in a Generalissimo Francisco Franco situation

R246 that wasn't Nedra Volz, that was Zelda Rubenstein. Volz was one of the housekeepers on Different Strokes.

Honest to god, I though Robert Duvall died a few years ago. Maybe because I always got him mixed up with Dennis Hopper, who is definitely dead.

I saw Annie Sprinkle at the Piggly Wiggly on 4th Street on Xmas eve 1982.

I bumped into Sally Kellerman at an AMPM gas station in 29 Palms California. She was barefoot and carrying a big bag of Funyuns, asked me for restaurant suggestions in the area.

R257 I met them, bitch. I said hello to both and spoke to Funt at breakfast. What. A. Cunt.

Sinnead O'Connor came within inches of running over my brother on Sunset Blvd. in LA.

I saw Beyoncé at Burger King.

Director Joel Schumacher at a McDonalds (he sat a table away from me)

Actor Clark Johnson (The Wire & Homicide) at a Butcher Shop

I SAW Ava Gardner shit in a gentleman's bowler hat in Russel Park then I MET her at the gate

I saw Lorna Luft being molested in a stairwell of a building on 8th Ave in NY

I tried not to make eye contact.

Annie Potts at a hospital in Atlanta - tiny and beautiful.

Jon Stewart on a street corner in NY - he was talking with an associated - he's short but attractive

Margaret Thatcher in Scottsdale, AZ - her hair was a most unlikely shade of red, and a color that clashed with her dress; surrounded by security

Heard Ted Turner at the CNN Center in Atlanta before I saw him

He's a LOUD talker with a distinctive voice (Jane Fonda says it's because he's a bit deaf); he was handsome and walking fast with a group of associates

Ethan Hawke in a friend's hometown in CT - not exactly ugly but more ordinary than I expected and slightly gungy

Arnold Schwarzenegger with his (theyn) young daughter riding a horse on a Will Rogers Park (in Pacific Palisades) hiking trail. He was friendly.

Sat near Jennifer Anniston and Brad Pitt (many years ago) in a Mexican Restaurant. Also many years ago, Donald Sutherland helped me find something in a grocery store. Stood in line directly behind Eddie Murphy at a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. Tatum O’Neal was very nice when we met in the chemo area of a cancer center. She was with her father, you-know-who. I have more to share, if I can remember some of them.

Michael Stipe at a late night bar in Athens, GA - he's THIN with bad skin

When I made eye contact, he gave me a nasty look and turned and walked awy

Stood in line behind Petula Clark at Safeway on the King's Road. Very friendly. I asked if it was her twat I was smelling and she blushed and smiled sheepishly.

I saw Caroline Kennedy at Clydes in Georgetown at a Sunday brunch - many years ago when I was an Congressional intern - I was impressed at the time but my specific memory of her is hazy

My brother and sister-in-law saw her years later at an outdoor political event - according to my SIL, she arrived late, she was thin, beautifully dressed, and very poised and gracious

R263 why was your ex banished?

OP, did LuPone unbutton her top to flash her tits at you? She's famous for doing that. Like St Viola, Miss LuPone never tires of reminding people that she and her sad-looking knockers went to Juilliard.

R258 validation from Brad! Now I can die happy.

And I’ve heard a few other stories featuring him very similar to that. He must be very sociable, or very lonely.

R285. My ex was like a "superfan" of Ms. Tomlin and would make things for her and send them off. He was eventually excessively proud of his friendship with her and became rather insufferable about it. When we went with him to the restaurant, he had made T-shirts celebrating her appearance and insisted we all wear them. Eventually, he went a little too far and she pulled back. He claims her "inner circle" did him in.

Patti LuPone went to my high school. Everyone in our town claims to have known her. She was always self-confident and at home onstage even at 17 in our school auditorium. When I was a kid, I cut her grass and she came out and brought me some iced tea just before she went to Julliard. Five years later, I saw "The Baker's Wife" at the Ahmanson in L.A. with Topol and was shocked to see her name in the program. She was doing everything she said she'd do that day in her yard. Glad to see she's still working. But don't ask her about Glenn Close!

In 1980s, I was working in a law firm and actress Jennifer Jones and her billionaire husband, Norton Simon, were clients. They came into the office one day to sign documents and I got to meet them. Even though she was in her 60s, she was beautiful (probably had a bit of work to her face). Both were very nice to me.

Spike Lee at the airport in Paris, waiting to board.

I hate to say this since they’re enemy number one but living in Manhattan for years, I’d always see a Trump out and about. Ivanka is actually nice and approachable, Eric seems off but wasn’t rude and Don Jr definitely has daddy issues so he’s overly nice to people to prove himself but then he goes overly defensive of dada for his approval. The first wife looks like a troll and is nasty as fuck. I know this is going to get me blasted but Trump (pre dictatorship/pandering to the religious wackos for votes) was always nice, wanting to engage, loved attention and seemed like a rich kid who knew he got the keys to the kingdom but also was not comfortable being in it so he would try to connect with “real New Yawkers”.

[quote]always nice, wanting to engage, loved attention

Classic signs of the con man. Watch your wallet.

Also, Julia Robert’s is a grade a CUNT!! I’ve posted before but abbreviated version: close friend worked on a few Julia movies in her heyday, one ‘Little Women’ was the worst of all the shite experiences. Shes waiting in her warm trailer in the freezing rain as the kids who were extras stood outside in period piece costumes unable to move per HER request as they needed to be in the exact spot as they were before rain interrupted “her scene”. These kids were risking their health for this pampered bitch to have her “continuity”. She never spoke to any of them and she purposely made comments about “them”. My friend wanted to push her down the stairs. She said another cunt is Meryl “I support a child anal rapist” Streep. She had just been clapping like a mental patient for the pedo Roman Polanski so someone mentioned it and she went OFF. She said “HE IS AN ARTIST FIRST! WE SUPPORT OUR CREATIVES!” Of course everyone said “you know he drugged and raped a young girl” She got one “removed” from the shoot (day player I think can’t recall) and she made it her business to argue with the others. Someone said out of her ear shot but near my friend “she had two daughters but they’re not even pretty enough to be raped by a creative genius” it got ugly. My friend has since retired. She had quite a run and hated almost everyone that America thinks are the “sweet” ones (Reece Julia etc) she loved Angelina (always decent to everyone, never late, truly a pro) P Anderson (knows her role that she’s not a thespian but is such fun and sweet and rambled on proudly about her boys) for guys she said Rob Lowe, Ricky Gervais, of course KEANU and some others were delights. Easy to work with. She also mentioned JLo and the fake boyfriends even back then it’s a known PR set up to make her seem “desirable” (goes back to her rivalry with Mariah “I Don’t Know Her” Carey). So Bennifer2.0 is FAKE. But DLers knew this, middle american house fraus are eating it (with their Twinkie’s and Cheetos) up, though!

One of my friends husbands was Julia Robert’s broker and they socialized a few times. She said she was very unpleasant and rude.

I posted this in another thread a while back. I was in an elevator with Shemar Moore. It was only us and was a smaller building with only three floors (the elevator was relatively small). I glanced at him twice but we didn't talk. The elevator was only a few steps from the building entrance there were a few photogs waiting for him.

Toni Collette gave me stink eye at Cheesecake Factory. It annoys me to this day.

Lauren Ambrose shopping at Gelsons. We were standing a few feet apart looking at salad dressings.

Jamie Gertz and her husband in Saks Fifth Ave. It was in the men's dept. and they were buying t-shirts and/or men's briefs.

Most underwhelming: Zoey's Playlist actress in a Hollywood wine store. I was paying at register and she was next in line.

Observed David Brenner, deceased now, as a patron in an elite Philadelphia disco club in the mid-80s. Also there at the same time were members of the Philadelphia 76ers.

I was a waiter in a very small NYC boutique restaurant on Lexington Ave. We had several celebrities come in. Oddly, the only bathroom was in the basement, past the sink for washing dishes. Whenever a celebrity came in and had to use the bathroom, I immediately had to wash dishes. I didn't care if the place was full and my tables backed up, I had to talk to them. One day, Robert Redford came in and had to go to the bathroom. So, I zoomed down there. When he finished and was washing his hands in the dish sink, I asked him if he ever waited on tables. He smiled at me and said, "No, but I drove an awful lot of cabs." I must say, he looked gorgeous. His strawberry blonde hair and complexion made him glow. He was fantasy material for weeks after that.

Mary Travers of Peter, Paul and Mary came in one day and ordered LOTS of wine. I mentioned to her that my older brother died in Viet Nam and I got all their records from him and enjoyed them. She seemed genuinely touched and gave me a big tip. Celebrities are real people and will open up sometimes if you don't act too weird.

Oh, and Angela Lansbury came in right before she opened in Sweeney Todd. She ordered a frozen yogurt fruit salad. We chatted briefly and she wished me good luck on my career. So sweet.

Ann Coulter spontaneously joined two friends and myself for drinks. This was a decade or so ago. She was very cordial, funny, very knowledgeable on multiple topics, and showed interest in each person at the table. Politics weren't discussed at all.

Brava, R299, for remembering to draw a line between rancid, corrosive public politics and personal charm!

Did you order a grease fire for the rancid Ms. Coulter?

I don't know if Datalounge would consider her a celebrity or not, but I sat next to an elegant lady while waiting for a graduation ceremony at the Malibu campus of Pepperdine in 1984. We were all sitting on concrete benches outdoors. We had a pleasant chat but I don't remember what about. When the announcer introduced notable guests, he announced "Mrs. Charlton Heston" and the lady stood up and waved while everyone clapped. Until that moment I didn't know who she was. She was there for the graduation of their daughter. Charlton was in Europe making a movie. Turns out she was an actress, Lydia Clarke Heston, and a published photographer. Famous before I was born. I wish I had known this; we could have had a more interesting conversation. But I think she enjoyed just having a normal regular old conversation unrelated to Hollywood.

I have told this here before, but probably 20 years ago I met Sean William Scott at an amusement park. I had taken my niece and nephew and they were fans because of that stupid horror movie where all the teens die. Final something? Anyway, it wasn’t like he was big star so I said hello and that the kids were fans. He was SO nice, just super friendly. Smaller than he seems on film, not a “bro” like he comes off in interviews, and yeah he pinged. I hope the stories on DL about him being a recruiter for powerful pedos aren’t true!

Martin Balsam at an ATM right off of Santa Monica Blvd shortly after his Oscar win.

Louise Lasser at JFK baggage claim. I've told the longer version before, but, after a brief chat, she invited me to go into the city with her via her town car. I of course said yes.

Milton Berle in an elevator at one of those Wilshire Blvd. high-rises outside Westwood. My brother lived in the same building at the time. I looked at him, did a double take, and said "Milton Berle???" as in "wtf?" He said "yep, that's me." very graciously.

Martin Balsam received his Oscar in 1966. They had ATMs then?

[quote]Also, Julia Robert’s

[quote]One of my friends husbands was Julia Robert’s broker

Oh, dear.

I've told this story here before. I was seated next to Oprah and Stedman at a restaurant in Chicago. It was shortly after she appeared on the Oscars telecast for Color Purple. We let her eat in peace, then chatted as they were getting ready to leave. She could not have been more charming. Three days later I ran into her again, this time at my health club when she was across from me on an elliptical. She recognized me and said hello. Oprah sightings in Chicago stopped when she moved to California but I still see Stedman at the health club whenever he's in town on business. (Obama worked out at the same club for years, playing basketball every morning, right up until the eve of the election.)

God Bless Datalounge, the last place on Earth where people know who Louise Lasser was.

I had a short, but amiable conversation with Jackie O. in May, 1975. I thought I was the only person looking at the Graduate Design Show at N.Y.U., but discovered I wasn’t. We talked about the skills of the set designers on display. She was alone.

I later learned she was an old friend of Oliver Smith, the Director of the Design School, to whose house in Brooklyn Heights she had retreated the weekend of JFK’s death.

I didn’t mention that I had gone to boarding school with her half-brother. I later learned she had also disliked him.

Something in common with a figure in history.

R275, What's wrong with you? Seriously

Julia Roberts wasn't in Little Women, R294.

Yeah that was Pretty Little Women.

Jake Gyllenhaal was in front of me in line at the Bleecker Mini-Mart. Two people were ahead of him. I said "welcome to the neighborhood." He smiled, " My sister lives here." He bought a pint of Rum Raisin Haagen-Dazs.

I have a "that's random, small-world" Eddie Money story. (see R199)

Many years ago (mid-late 1990s), I went to LAX with my mom's longtime boyfriend to pick her up from a trip. We were early, so we decided to park & meet her at the gate As we walked through the terminal, Eddie passed us (on my side) going in the opposite direction. I did a double-take and stopped, turning around for a moment.

Mom's boyfriend, Joe, asked what I was looking at. I turned back, we started walking again: "That was Eddie Money....cool!" I wasn't a *huge* fan, but still -- he had some massive hits during my childhood/teen years. I didn't expect Joe, a 75 year-old retired cop (that listened to swing/jazz) to know who Eddie Money was, or care, but he immediately stopped & turned around: "Eddie Money?! Where? Which guy?"

I pointed, a little confused: "In the black jacket & jeans, with the shoulder bag". Joe was a big, tall guy (6'4") with a booming voice. He suddenly shouted "EDWARD MAHONEY!!" in a very authoritative tone, as he quickly walked after him.

Eddie stopped in his tracks, turned around, saw Joe...and broke into a huge smile. Joe trotted up, they shook hands & embraced warmly.

What in the fucking HELL?!?!

Joe introduced us, briefly explaining that Eddie's father was one of his best friends when he was with the NYPD. They lived in same neighborhood, he'd known Eddie since he was a kid. I said, "Hi, wow, it's a pleasure to meet you!" He was very nice & they nattered for a bit about Eddie's dad/parents. Meanwhile, I was looking at Joe like, "WHO are you?!" He'd been with my mom 8-10 years -- how did I not know this??

Robert Redford in Denver airport. He was trying to be discreet but walked into a standing ashtray, and the thing went flying, making a racket. He just kept walking, a little faster. This was in the 70s when he was red hot.

Great story, R314!

Back in the 60s, my dad put me on his shoulders and told me to say "Hi Champ" as Cassius Clay walked by. I did and he said hi back and tousled my hair. Less than fifteen years later I was working in a building on Wilshire Boulevard and (the now) Muhammad Ali would come into the little snack bar and sit there for hours. Two different names but the same guy. There was something a little off about him but he was a sweet guy and everyone loved him. He lived nearby in a ritzy neighborhood. I should have said "Hi Champ" again.

Met a few celebs in totally random locations, as well, seen a few more but didn't try to talk to them.

Michael York and wife on a 2007 summer QE2 eastbound, outside on Heli Deck. After sailing by the Statue of Liberty, never saw them again.

Matt Dillon, 2018, still flawlessly gorgeous, at table talking to three friends in SoHo. I actually ached someone was getting all that beauty and it wasn't me. I literally stopped to stare though the window, almost physically feeling how it would be to rub his shoulders and to put my hands around his waist.

Sandra Bernhard, five years ago, walking in front of the Greenwich Village Gourmet Garage on 7th Avenue, gave me a look as my head jerked in startled recognition, as if to say something if I said something, but I kept east on 10th and she continued uptown.

Mary Tyler Moore, 1987, off 7th Ave.walking 45th Street to a deli on 8th before her Wednesday matinee. I followed. Her jaw was firmly set. No one noticed her.

Ann Reinking and Sandy Duncan at an Alvin Alley party in the Minscoff Bldg. rehearsal studios. They only talked to each other..

Blythe Danner, after a matinee of her Follies, 2001. I saw her at W. 45th/Fifth crosswalk, said hello to "Mrs. Paltrow" and we easily walked uptown to Saks …. she was going to buy gloves. Lovely lady, gracious and warm. We chatted as it we were friends for years.

Carol Channing, in a gray Chanel suit, coming east along 57th Street in front of the old automat, with a young suited-tidy boy assistant. Three hours later leaving my office they got on at two, leaving the Minscoff rehearsal studios, then offices for the tour of Sugar Babies she was going out in with Bobby Morse. No recognition exchanged either time, they were talking quietly about the rest of the afternoon. Face to face Channing seemed heavily lined about her mouth and eyes. It was 1980, she was 60;

Judy Garland, Liza, Peter Allen, NBC elevator, circa 1968. I was riding down alone. They got on, were discussing where to go for lunch. I did not tell them I had been upstairs cruising the famed 8th floor tearoom.

Barbara Barrie, walking uptown, stopped at the crosswalk on Madison Ave./53rd, I told her how much I enjoyed her in "Shadows" but she told me she was not in "Shadows." Undaunted, I persisted …. "yes you were" I replied to her blank look …. Oops, all the time meaning "One Potato, Two Potato. Five years later in Grand Central Station she was heading for track 8 and I pounced, again to praise her, this time got the movie right.

Paul McCartney…. buying 1996 summer ice cream at a parlor, with then-wife Linda …. well hello again, Linda Eastman See she was, we'd worked together at Hearst just as she was getting into photography. Linda had the gold earrings, told me how the symbol for nuclear disarmament was the semaphore signals for the letters N and D.. He was quietly English, polite, no mention of music. Meeting an early-acquaintance of his wife, he certainly was not a lorry driver.

Jessie Tyler Ferguson, summer of 2019, with two older women looking his mother and aunt, walking by as I sat on a bench on the High Line. I smiled calling out "love your work," all beamed.

Willem Dafoe getting out of a NYC taxi, W. 4th'Charles, black tank top, sweats, carrying a water bottle and rolled-up yogi mat.

Jodi Foster and wife at Pusitarie's (sic) on Bay St in Toronto.

Saw John Lindsay and wife on the LIRR late-nite coming in from the Hamptons, 1994.. Just the two of 'em, quietly riding along, passing the Times back and forth.

Dean Martin, alone, looking quite worn, boarding the eastbound QE2 1993 He was very "Hi, how are ya'" to all. Had booked 8 balcony cabins for his family. Never saw him on ship.

Woody Allen with Mia Farrow.long ago, they were talking about a movie poster in the Thalia lobby as I walked by back in the day. Well, damn, they ARE dating, saw it with my own eyes! Two elfin creatures dressed in winter brown, long coats, scarves, hats.

Prince Charles, Paddington Station, 2018. quietly coming though The Queen's (Victoria) Waiting Room, He was surrounded by four aides, was dressed in impeccable suiting. The near-empty station hall was quiet, it was as if they glided to the train on water. I didn't tell them I had been cruising the men's room.

Gwen Verdon, at the East End hardware store counter in East Hampton. 1986 …. heard her voice and having just seen Cocoon last night coming in on QE2, wanted to tell her of the "happy stir" in the audience at her scene in the ballroom with Ameche. She lived around the corner from me. Truly a lovely woman.

Dina Merrill, in yellow at home on West Dune Road, 2015. waved me a gracious "thank you" when I dropped off her nanny after a friend's party. The young girl didn't know who Dina Merrill was, for she "worked for Mrs. Hartley."

Yes.

Met Cliff Robertson, in khakis and recent L.L.Bean-cover plaid shirt, walking into Radio Shack to buy batteries as I was., 1990. Laughingly I said 'What a coincidence, I was just talking of you last night." And I had been. I told him a friend from school had phoned, was telling me of once being at a horse show in Virginia with his late-in-life youngest and being so much older than the other fathers. He said the only other father his, our, age was Cliff Robertson. riding a little blond girl on his shoulders. Robertson said 'Oh yes, and now she's riding in those shows." Then we chatted about big-lantern batteries and the glories of Foxcroft. His hair was poofed up with a gel, perhaps, looked like he was wearing a Brillo pad on his head.

Billy Joel, at a cell-phone store, both of us looking. He said he was thinking about buying one for his girlfriend. His skin was amazing. He wore jeans, a simple white tee-shirt that looked as if it cost $1,000 and a simple brown-leather motorcycle jacket. He was spotlessly clean!

Lauren Bacall, seen "in the Hamptons" in a 3/4-length belted coat-sweater in tan wool, in front of her house talking to a worker in a van. She had, according to the paper, just moved in. Further Lane. At first I thought it was Simone Signoret. A summer day a year later I saw her again downtown at Dean & DeLuca. She was in with a well-dressed couple her age, waited up front by the doors as they bought at the deli counter. Few noticed her that I saw, no furor at all. She stood quietly, looking about, wearing a simple day dress.

Joy Behar …. I never see her but she always comes to a yearly Yard Sale neighbors hold for the animal rescue fund. They say she is always well-dressed and well-coiffed, poised, very pleasant poking about commenting on the goods.

Shana Alexander … we both were buying gin. I introduced myself telling her I had long admired her work, meaning well before her recent book fame, specifically her early work with Holiday and Life and McCall's magazines. Later I managed to tell her so, but here I went up, I could not remember the recent book title I meant, instead I managed to blurt out ""oh long before the book on, uh, oh you know, uh, you know, uh, Mrs. Madeira." She laughed and said "Oh, Jean is out in the car now, waiting for me!" (Turned out they became friends after "Very Much a Lady," her story on Jean Harris and the Dr. Herman Tarnower, murder. Mrs. Harris visited her often.) It was a nice bump-into and Shana, now as we were best buddies, asked me "may I put you in my book?" I 'm always short an extra man at dinner." Gave her my hame and number. Two weeks later the local paper had a profile piece on her, content rather heavy on her new boyfriend, Apparently part of his charm was he only had one testicle! Needless to say, I never got a dinner invitation! She died in 2005.

Lily Tomlin and Jane Wagner at El Torito in Van Nuys about 3 years ago. We were having a girls night out with some friends when Lily and Jane walked in. My friend sitting next to me screams, "Is that LILY TOMLIN?" They sat at the table behind us and were eating with a dude. When they were leaving, they walked by our table and we all said hello and Lily and Jane both stopped and chatted with us for a while. They were SO nice. One of my younger friends told Lily how she saw The Search for Intelligent Life in the Universe and Lily LOVED her for that. She even took pictures with us. The waitress that had been serving them walked by after they left and we all said, "Do you know who that was???" and the waitress was like, "um, no. Should I know?" Um, yes you fucking should know.

SJP herself, alone shopping in Amagansett after the big IGA was done over. In dairy I couldn't find milk, was looking perplexed, she went by with a cart, laughingly said "I cannot find the crackers." Same store, long before, Alec Baldwin and Kim Bassinger were checking put, I waited to see their car …. gray 4D Mercedes..

John Amos, going up escalator at 1515 Broadway, NYC, at top turned to look down and at bottom a buddy and I we coming back from lunch, noticed him enough he noticed us, smiled and nodded as if to say yes, it's me, Florida's husband James.

I forgot one - George Takei after a 5k race in Chicago. He was the Grand Marshall of the Pride parade. I had finished, was standing around sweating my ass off, saw him about 50 feet away and - frankly - gawped at a Famous Person from a show that I loved.

He saw me staring and made a beeline over to say “You’re glistening!” in that marvelous deep voice. All I could stammer out was “Thank you Mr. Takei, I’m a big fan!” like a goddamn moron

Ok, mine are not in either NYC or LA, but the DC area. Many years ago I was at Tysons Corner Shopping Mall around Christmas (the reason I remember the holiday is because my mom wanted me to go with her shopping). Anyhow, we went our own ways once inside. I drifted off to wandering around, no real agenda. I head into The Gap. I’m looking at some sweaters on a table. I backed up into this woman (or she backed into me). It was Ethel Kennedy. She had her preppy assistant with her. She said “sorry.” I did too. She laughed and said something along the lines that she gets lost in thought while shopping. She had a bunch of sweaters that her secretary was holding. I was familiar with her because I interned on the Hill so the second rate DC Kennedy’s were seen at local hot spots. I thought it was a pretty cool celeb run-in. I have more but I need to hit the hay.

Not necessarily “random” but I’ve seen Matt Dillon in more NYC restaurants than just about any other celeb. I think it’s been a total of 7 times. Always seems very cool and low key.

[quote] Lily Tomlin and Jane Wagner at El Torito in Van Nuys about 3 years ago.

I'm surprised to hear there are still El Toritos in existence. Good to know.

Used to live in Ojai, came within half a step of spilling a full cup of very hot coffee on Malcolm McDowell. His genuinely startled look is a good one.

On the other side of the street, sitting on a bench having ice cream and found myself chatting with the guy sitting next to me: Larry Hagman. Lucky me; I was with a friend who had an excellent camera, was a great photographer. I mentioned that my mom was a huge fan of Jeannie and Dallas so could I get a picture of us, for my mom? He was fine with it, couldn't have been nicer.

Tennis player Jim Courier. I always had a massive crush on him, so I didn't say anything to him apart from maybe a hello. He didn't ping but that may have been merely because I wasn't his type :-(

A childhood friend"s family was related to Tullulah Banghead. They were a prominent family in Alabama. As a child, I saw her once at a summer social gathering outdoors (see was visiting) in Huntsville, AL. She died just a few year later in 1968. Then, I didn't pay much attention about seeing her once. I was told she was a movie star. I recall she said hello and gave me a slight hug and asked if I was having a good time.

I hope that you called her “Miss Banghead”, R332. A movie star deserves respect!

R331 reminded me of my brief meeting with Tennis Player Todd Martin. At the time we both lived in the same northern Florida seaside town. I was carrying boxes of Christmas gifts into our local UPS Store and he was leaving the store. He held the door for me while I emptied my car, and laughed and chatted with me about all the gayly wrapped Christmas gifts I was struggling to get into the UPS Store. Nice guy. (Great looking.) Just a normal friendly neighborly interaction.

Thereafter, whenever we saw each other around town we always smiled and greeted each other. He had retired by that time, so I never got to see him play again.

R332 - that's funny, Tallulah is one of my relatives, too (my grandmother's from Alabama). I never got to meet her, though, but I like being related to her.

Erik Estrada at the opening of an "upscale" Ralph's on Ventura Blvd in Studio City. We were both sampling cheese while a string quartet played live. Gave each other approving glances over the cheese samples.

Phyllis Diller. Shut the door in her face! Oops. Was in the Hilton big penthouse suite in Vegas running a reception for industry big-wigs at a photography convention. Doorbell rang, a small lady in a gray suit stood there, asking for a name I didn't know. Finally she said "Phyllis Diller". I said "just a minute please" and shut the door. Went to the magazine editor to say "thee's a lady outside saying she is Phyllis Diller". He freaked, forgot to tell me she was invited. Her son big in the industry. Ran to get her. She was a delight! So unlike her on-stage personality. She was quietly charming, totally someone you'd like knowing.

Erik Estrada is a fucking piece of shit. Or spineless. Or both.

Several years ago, he & his family adopted two adorable terrier puppies from a rescue group in Studio City (see article below). I worked around the corner from this rescue group/pet shop, and was friendly with the owner, as I would often pop-in on way my back from lunch to say "Hi" and watch the dogs play. (I ultimately adopted two dogs from her)

Erik Estrada was not the first celebrity (nor the most famous) to adopt from her rescue, but there was a certain level of giddiness given her age (Gen X) -- it was PONCH! I remember her telling me how NICE he was....that he actually wanted a third puppy, but his wife put the kabosh on it -- as they already had two dogs at home -- and he made this big donation, and it was on TMZ, blah blah blah.

Fast-forward two months.

I walked in one day and there were two older, medium-sized dogs in the play area. One appeared to be a cocker spaniel mix, the other was a who knows/Heinz 57. Not OLD-old...but older, maybe 7-10 years. It was strange, as the rescue specialized in young, SMALL-breeds, 20 lbs or less. (it was a tiny place, they didn't have space for large dogs). I asked the owner, "What's story with those two?"

Her face immeditely hardened into scowl, and she seethed through clenched teeth: "Fucking Erik Estrada!"

The older dogs didn't take well to the new puppies (shocker!), and were aggressive toward them. Instead of trying to get a behaviorist/trainer to work with them, the Estradas decided to just get-rid of their older dogs, in favor of the puppies. The rescue onwer wanted to tell him, "FUCK YOU!!" But she felt responisble, and took his older dogs (and eventully found them a home, together).

Jordan Peele buying tampons or maxi pads at a 7-11 in West Hollywood. This was after MadTV was cancelled but before or maybe right as Key and Peele was on. Definitely before his directing career. I was a huge fan of MadTV and wanted to say something but he did NOT look open to engaging. Considering what he was buying I can understand.

We went like tourists to the Harrod’s food hall. Nigel Havers stared at my mum’s ass at the seafood counter. Being of a certain age, she was mildly thrilled.

Oops, sorry. Here's the article.

Ha, R340, I ran into Nigel H., too, in a store in Portobello Road. He was with his wife. (This was about 20 years ago; she's since died.) He was still looking great.

This was such a fun thread until the rescue dog police showed up,

I love your story, R314. Thank you for sharing. How are your Mom and Joe?

Lisa Rinna in The Coffee Bean. Fuck she's loud.

The guy who played Banya from Seinfeld. He came across as a drama queen at the post office.

I don't think I'd approach a celeb that I just encountered randomly on the street or in a store or something. Maybe just a quick nod /smile if ite wouldn't be awkward.

I think they have a right to privacy even if they are well known.

I've seen many celebs in public places but I've never approached them. I don't want to be intrusive and it would just feel weird.

And how humiliating if they snubbed you!

Has anyone here been recognized by a stranger?

No name necessary. We'll respect your privacy.

Yes. Two or three times, maybe. Not in exciting circumstances. Once on a bus in NYC. Mmmmm... somewhere else.

I guess the best was coming into a crowded gay AA meeting in L.A. and the greeter at the door said, “I saw you in an inflight special on United.” I said, “Oh! How was it??”

That did feel nice, because the gaggle of gays on the front steps were a picky, snippy little lot.

It must have happened a few more times, but I don’t really remember : ( There were more moments of “I think I’ve met you before..?” but that’s not really being recognized. It’s just halfway there.

Most of these are from when I was a starstruck teenager in LA long ago:

A tipsy Rue McClanahan tripped over my feet and spilled her popcorn on me at the Los Feliz Theater as she was trying to find her seat for a double bill of the 1931/1940 versions of Waterloo Bridge. She was very nice, apologized and laughed that laugh that immediately gave away who she was. I confirmed it was her when the lights went on at intermission.

Jane Fonda several times on campus in passing at UCLA after first meeting her while my parents and I campaigned for Tom Hayden.

John Wayne handed out his autograph card to me when I approached him while we were waiting for a plane at John Wayne Airport. He looked gaunt, as this wasn't long before he died.

Worked out with Wilt Chamberlain, Mitch Gaylord and Peter Vidmar at the UCLA gym.

Lily Tomlin in a black cape gave me her autograph in a parking lot.

I'd talk to Bill Kenny of The Ink Spots when he used to stop by my parents' restaurant since my father also did some promotional work for him.

At a double bill of The Damned and Death in Venice at the Nuart, some guy chatted me up during intermission and tried to impress me by introducing me to his friend Rip Taylor, who was lurking in the back of the house.

Bette Midler at Tower Books in Westwood. She was snooty.

Exene Cervenka in a foul mood at a convenience store asked me if I had change for $100. I didn't.

Lots of sightings in hotels, restaurants, bookstores, on the streets: Bette Davis, Sylvia Sidney, Ginger Rogers, Jack Lemmon, Richard Chamberlain, Liza Minnelli, Dudley Moore, Peter Cook, Michael Jackson, Suzanne Somers, Andy Gibb, Donna Summer, Jerry Brown.

I once knew a little girl who thought she was a celebrity. We had a rendezvous in a basement,

Mostly 80s, when I was young and buff in London.

John Goodman in a the Sainsbury’s on Cromwell Road, London. At the height of Roseanne popularity. I pointed him out to my partner at the time, who then immediately ran up and asked what he was doing there. ‘Shopping’ Goodman replied, somewhat sarcastically but not unreasonably. ‘Sorry’ I pantomimed and he gave me a winning smile and a wink.

Smoked weed with Harrison Ford in a garage in Hampstead.

An unwell Freddy Mercury in the kitchen at a party. He was very sweet but very sad.

Boy George bought us tea and bacon sarnies at the Foundry, just before he became famous.

John Lydon laughed at a joke I made and danced arm in arm with my ( male ) other half at our local. He was charming.

Anthony Perkins cruised me really, really creepily from the doorway of the Atheneum as I walked past.

Roy Scheider beamed when I noticed him sunbathing in red speedos, sat against a wall outside the Park Lane Hotel. It was a little weird he was doing that right there on the street. Big bulge.

While chatting to a very drunk Peter Ackroyd at a party he fell backwards into and through a hedge. As I helped him up a mate I was with laughed and asked him what he did. Ackroyd actually said ‘Don’t you know who I am ?’, which made my mate laugh even more. Ackroyd spent the rest of the night holding my hand tightly because I had known his late partner. When he left he demanded that if ever I see him anywhere I must say hello. Of course, sometime on I did and he cut me dead completely.

Had great sex with Joseph Ettedgui on a number of quiet weekday mornings in a council sauna on the Kings Road. Short man with enormous, veiny cock.

Turned Jean Paul Gaultier away from a club as he wasn’t in the dress code. My manager shat himself but rules are rules. Gaultier went away, changed and came back. He was charming.

Sat at a bar in LAX watched a diminutive figure in peach and cashmere strut through the terminal with a beautiful woman on his arm. Couldn’t believe I seemed the only one who noticed. As he walks by Prince gives me that classic Prince wink. Made my day. Big fan. Almost as soon as he walks by someone at the bar shouts ‘Prince!’ and they all start standing up and craning their necks. Too late.

Mick Jones of the Clash at various pubs in Notting Hill. Always a good bloke.

Worked out with Bob Paris the morning after he did a meet and greet at my gym. Allowed Keane Reeves to work in with me when his personal trainer, who I knew, asked if it was ok while she took a call. Very shy. Just pre-Speed. Glared at Michael Biehn because he was glaring at me, as we did arms, same gym. Filming Aliens I guess.

R353 - Bob Paris - now there's a guy I'd forgotten all about. WHET to him?

I met Frances McDormand at the BAFTA's. It's true, she's a total whack-a-doodle.

Why, R355? What did she do?

[quote] Has anyone here been recognized by a stranger?

r349 I was an actor of no renowned back in the day. I was surprised when I was noticed in the Atlanta airport by someone. I was sure they were mistaken when they pretty much nailed the time and place where they saw me. Never happened after, but it made me imagine what life must be like for celebrities.

I met Linda Evans in 1987 when I was 17. We were both walking into La Petite Boulangerie in Olympia, Washington. I held the door for her and she thanked me, and told me I was a gentleman.

[quote]I’m looking at some sweaters on a table. I backed up into this woman (or she backed into me). It was Ethel Kennedy.

Years ago, I knew someone who worked at one of the make up counters at the Saks in Chevy Chase, MD and supposedly Ethel was notorious for shoplifting to the point that she'd lift stuff & someone from the store would just contact an assistant/family member person for reimbursement. Not sure if this is true...

I remember seeing Ted Kennedy Jr in Edgartown; I told someone later who laughed & said I was probably the only person who recognized him

[quote]I remember seeing Ted Kennedy Jr in Edgartown

Oh, did his family vacation there?

I'm a firm believer in the "Leave Celebrities Alone Unless They're Working At A Public Event" rule. If you run into a celebrity and it's an organic moment to chat with them then go for it but running up to someone like a git and just babbling like an idiot and pestering them for autographs and photos is so tacky.

I went to see the not very good David Byrne musical "Here Lies Love" with a friend of mine and it was an interactive show that happened around you and David Byrne himself was near us for a large chunk of it, gleefully singing along with his own songs (which was adorable, despite the fact the show itself is a disaster). After the show, I commented on this to my friend who didn't really have a clue who David Byrne was despite the fact my friend was over 40 and desperately wanted to be a famous songwriter. We then went to a nearby bar that was a popular theatrical hangout and sure enough, about 5 minutes after we got our drinks, the cast of the show started coming in to the bar and eventually David Byrne himself shows up. I point him out to my friend and THEN he gets all excited about a celebrity (that a few moments ago he hadn't heard of) and wants to go pester him.

He was really weird and gross and hyper excited about it...talking to a celebrity he really didn't know. It really annoyed me...I told my friend I wasn't about to do that and let's just enjoy the fact we're getting to experience the fun of being in the middle of a cast party and he just got pouty.

I dumped his weird needy ass not long after that.

To the person who said they saw Jason Gould at the Zone - do you mean Zone DK the after-hours gay sex club? I never heard anyone call it the Zone before.

Bernadette Peters at the movies, she and her look-alike sister Donna (who I knew slightly) were right in front of us. Lovely.

Lauren Bacall at the movies, I had to ask her and her friend to shut up, the movie has started. Not lovely.

Agreed on the leaving celebrities alone, R362, though it's not so objectionable if it's a kid asking for the autograph. I stopped asking for autographs when I was 13 or 14.

Sorry, that was meant for R361.

It is an everyday occurrence in LA. I see David Hasselhoff at my CVS all the time so much so we say hi when we see each other (common business friends). DiNero and Pesci waiting for a car. Leslie Jones in the Beverly Center. A random meeting with Vanna White. I was waiting in the lobby of Television City and she came out and looked at me and said 'OH MY GOD I HAVE NOT SEEN YOU IN YEARS" gives me a big hug. She asked me who I was there to see, and I told her, we talked to about 3 minutes and she left, promising to stay in touch...I looked at the guard and said "I have never met her in my life" and he laughed and told me "it's happened before."

This is a (failed) celeb spotting DL will roast me for:

When I first moved to L.A. around 1995, I went to a party with some actor friends at Noah Wyle‘s house, somewhere in the Hollywood Hills (?) I’m sure there were tons of recognizable stars there... but it’s really confusing when everyone’s wearing jeans and tee shirts/halter tops and it’s dim lighting. Without the cinematography they don’t look like stars anymore!

Anyway, I was meandering around and there was a girl standing alone in the foyer. She looked kind of stranded. Black skirt, red off the shoulder sweater, chin length dark hair. But ALONE and looking a little awkward. But she had a nice smile.

I stopped and we chatted a bit - nothing consequential. Then I looked for my friends. One said, “I saw you talking to Gina Gershon! What’s she like?”

I've run into several: Jessica Lange, Julia Child and her husband, Madeline Kahn, Garrick Utley, Danny Aiello, Imelda Marcos (!), Ben Chaplin, Sherry Lansing and William Friedkin...

Bu5t the only one I've ever wanted to run into randomly is Liza Minnelli-- just so I can say, "Lisa, what a nice hat you have on!"

I’ve met many for work, having been in entertainment businesses in LA and NYC.

These are just random ones that had nothing to do with being at work events or locations.

Jeff Goldblum many times with young, pretty, hopeful actresses at Sushi Time on Beverly Blvd.

Babs in an elevator in Century City. She was a pain in the ass, convinced the elevator wasn’t moving because she couldn’t feel it.

Cyndi Lauper and her husband, Bernadette Peters, Paul Schaffer, Amy Schuber, Matt Dillon (still HAWT) all in the UWS, where I lived (multiple times).

George Clooney at an LA Starbucks during E.R.

Jason Priestley and Mel Brooks in traffic in LA. Both were in convertibles. I was too. I said hi, they said hi back.

Nancy Reagan at some hotel in LA. We were having lunch at tables near each other. She was TINY.

That ugly guy from Counting Crows SO MANY TIMES at bars in LA in the 90s. He picked up a lot of chics and I have no idea why. He looked like a human dingleberry.

Angelina Jolie and Maddox (very young) at a Benihana (now gone) in Beverly Hills. She was pulling maraschino cherries out of the bar bin to give to Maddox. She was shy, trying to be discreet, but super nice to the couple of people that recognized her. She was tall and a bit gangly in person, pretty, but also a bit awkward looking. Gwyneth is like that in real life too – gangly.

Madonna in traffic at Beverly Blvd and LaBrea. I assume she was going to the Maverick HQ that used to be there.

Biggie Smalls and Forest Whitaker (not together) both at the McDonald’s drive thru at Sunset and Crescent Heights.

Texas governor Ann Richards with a lady friend at the movies in Austin, TX. I think it was probably right after she was voted out of office in the mid-90s but might have been earlier when she was still governor. They weren't obnoxious but were definitely having a semi-rowdy good time, laughing and commenting at the screen. It was actually cute to see her relaxed and enjoying herself.

I met Ann Richards as well at the opening night party for The Lion King on Broadway. I was working the event and looked up and there she was in front of me. I just smiled and said "I love you, Governor!", and she said "Thank you, Darlin'!" Her date for the event was Liz Smith!

Thanks, R344. Undfortunately, they both died a few years ago.

Robert Goulet in the audience at a Las Vegas show.

Several of the Harlem Globetrotters at the hotel with a rotating lounge on the top floor.

Robert Goulet, shitfaced, years ago (1970's) in a bar after a performance at a local summer theater. I said hello and tried to talk to him but he was neither steady nor focused.

R361 has great difficulty with people's imperfections.

JoBeth Williams at the car wash. She sat next to me on a bench while we were both waiting for our cars. I recognized her immediately, but didn't want to be a starstruck loon, so I just said "good morning" when she sat down. She said, "It's finally a nice day, isn't it? I've been waiting forever to get my filthy car cleaned."

She was completely down to earth. A real "stars - they're just like us" person.

R375 I do.

Especially when it involves people wanting to fawn over someone they had just heard of only because they're famous.

I loathe stupid fatuous people.

Yet, I like you, R375. You FASCINATE me....

[quote]Toni Collette gave me stink eye at Cheesecake Factory. It annoys me to this day.

You should have told her "You're awful, Muriel."

That's a nice Jobeth Williams story. Poltergeist scared the living hell out of me when I was a kid.

r369 OMG I see Goldblum at that Sushi place constantly.

R378 She was probably just embarrassed to be seen at The Cheesecake Factory.

Vicki Lewis from News Radio at a linen store on Robertson demanding a better price..."don't you fucking know who I am?" ...kid you not.

In NYC: Robert Reed in a bodega. Jackie O many, many times. Gerald and Betty Ford and Happy Rockefeller at a party for Betty Ford...I wasn’t a waiter, but agreed to help out the host.

In LA: Surprisingly, no.

In San Francisco: Tons of adult actors.

I just looked up Vicki Lewis and I still have no idea who the fuck she is.

R384, a low rent Kathy Griffin.

Jackie O at a corner deli on Lexington in the early 90s. She was buying Marlboros. I shit you not. Another time, I was standing next to her at a red light on 5th and 80something st. waiting to cross into the park. She was taller than I expected.

Cruised by Andrew Sullivan on a Metrobus in DC--the 900s. A very weird experience. He got off at my stop, but went in the opposite direction.

Jerry Brown on a plane from ATL to SFO---what on earth was he doing in Atlanta (I didn't ask). He was met by a crush of photographers at the airport.

John Lewis at DCA---I wondered why that short Black man looked familiar, then said his name out loud, so went over, shook his hand and explained I was a former constituent. He looked tired and was with some intern-looking type.

I saw carl Bernstein at DCA around the same time, but people I know who've known have always said he was an asshole. There were rules in my old condo building because of him and Nora Ephron.

Jackie O. in line at the Welfare Office seeking Assistance.

She was wearing THE pink pillbox hat.

That Jackie On Assistance shit has never been funny. DL has had so many meme that were never funny to begin with, and just run into the ground.

Harvey Korman at the B of A in Westwood

Betty White with her friends at brunch in a Burbank hotel

Brenda Vacarro at Dim Sum in LA's Chinatown

Valerie Harper at the Beverly Center parking garage

Milton Berle, Don Rickles, Budy Hackett, Suzanne Sommers at Frank Sinatra's funeral

Angie Dickinson, Andy Warhol, Steve Martin at the old Spago restaurant on Sunset

Buddie Ebson just off Hollywood Blvd

Barbara Eden in Beverly Hills Robinson's

Beverly D'Angelo buying drawer pulls at Koontz Hardware

Julie Andrews pushing Blake Edwards in a wheelchair at his artwork exhibit in the Pacific Design Center

George Clooney at Marix restaurant

Deb Messing with Timothy Olyphant, Adrian Grenier and Richard Kind at Angelini Osteria

Brian Wilson on a flight between Honolulu and Maui

Kelsey Grammer at an outdoor mall in Kauaii

Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft. Their son was graduating from the college I worked at. They sat in the row right behind me, on the aisle. They were quiet and surprisingly small in stature.

This isn't exactly on topic, but when I was a kid, my father was a dead ringer for Jackie Gleason, except thin.

So strangers would think they were meeting a celeb in a totally random location when they ran into him. We'd be taken to the toy store in a mall (this is NE Pennsylvania), and as we kids would pile out of the car, some guy would say, "Hey, Jackie, you lost weight!"

And my father would snarl, "Yeah, well, I'm not Jackie Gleason." Which did not work because he sounded like Gleason, too. He would get angry and sometimes there'd be a physical fight. He was a vet, trained for combat, and he'd dive right in and conquer. My brothers and I would cheer him on.

Then, though still quite young, I was taken by an older cousin to see the musical Take Me Along. When I got back, dad asked, "How was the show?," and I said, "You were in it."

True story.

My sister and I saw Karl Malden, of the Streets of San Francisco, literally on the streets of San Francisco, during the time he was filming The Streets of San Francisco. He was walking across the street between the Mark Hopkins and the Fairmont with, I'm assuming, his wife. We didn't actually meet, but we exchanged nods.

Why would Vicki Lewis think anyone would know who she is?

Do celebs regularly get better prices on linens?

Just as the show "Glee" was starting to take off, Darren Criss was on the cover of every magazine. On a Saturday morning walking toward each other on 24th St in SF. He's very short and was with a tall, homely male friend. Both were grungy, douchebag-bro-ish, and nerdy looking, as if they had been high school buds up all night playing Dungeons and Dragons or cards or something. He beamed when he saw that I recognized him. Million dollar smile, but not pretty without hair and makeup. We all turned to go into Peet's Coffee at the same time. I shook my head with disapproval and said to him: "you are so not gay" which made him laugh. "not even a Twink". Very hairy, needed a shave. I hadn't actually seen the show. He and his bud were giddy that he was being recognized. Must have been a novelty back then. I said something to the effect of "congratulations on your new job" and he thanked me profusely.

I got a wrong number from Nana Mouskouri once

[quote]R394 Why would Vicki Lewis think anyone would know who she is?

She’s no Lambchop.

Shelley Winters, holding court at a patio table at the Silver Spoons Coffee Shop on Santa Monica Blvd and Havenhurst. This was the late 90s in West Hollywood, just about every weekend.

Was there on e morning, dining with a friend on the patio. It was quite busy; every table taken. Suddenly, I hear a familiar voice and glance towards the bellowing. It was Shels, standing regally over the table she wanted, a four-top with one lone lone diner, charming/conning her way to it by whatever means possible. "If I pay for your breakfast, would you mind moving to an indoor table?" In what do they call it, a stage whisper? She made sure all within earshot could hear it. And what was the guy going to say, "Yes, I mind!" No, he did the right thing in the land of the Royals. He acquiesced.

R361 R377 Why, now you fascinate me too.

I was in a museum a few years back (maybe 2014ish?) and I could hear a few men talking - they were following the same general path as my BF and I as we made our way through the exhibits.

They weren't loud or anything but something about one of the men's voices just made my ears sort of mildly perk up with recognition.

I didn't think much more of it until about 10 minutes later when I heard them speaking again. I was sitting on one of the benches and the two men walked by.....and that's when I realized where I'd heard that voice before, because one of the men was Jeff Stryker.

Waiting for auto @ wash w/Nick Offerman (fortunately clothed)

Forgot to mention George Lucas and Dianne Feinstein sitting at the table next to mine at The Sand Dollar in Stinson Beach around 2000. All very sotto voce.

In the mid-70s I saw John Lennon sitting by himself in one of the atriums at a the National Gallery in DC. No one was around him. He had that spaced-out, staring-at-nothing look that was his trademark.

[quote] That Jackie On Assistance shit has never been funny. DL has had so many meme that were never funny to begin with, and just run into the ground.

Who pissed on your breakfast cereal?

[quote] In San Francisco: Tons of adult actors.

Same in Chicago.....a whole bunch of them there. The most "famous" one was probably Jason Adonis. There was also one - his full stage name escapes me but I think the last name was Cole.

I saw Roger Ebert and Alanis Morrissette, within weeks of each other, at my old job in Chicago. With Alanis it was back when You Oughta Know was literally *just* starting to get airplay. When I recognized her from that song she was pleased and said I was one of the first to know her song. (That clearly changed!)

Ebert was nearby and would come in often, sometimes with his wife. He was always grumpy.

Mary Fran in Hillsboro

R405 I saw Roger Ebert's dick at a urinal once. It was microscopic.

Now we know why Ebert was always grumpy.

[quote] Ebert was nearby and would come in often, sometimes with his wife. He was always grumpy.

I served him a drink once, gin and tonic. Yes, he was grumpy. In another thread, another poster and I went back and forth about --- am I sure this really happened. Other poster said that Ebert is open about being a recovered alcoholic. I didn't know that. I Googled some articles and figured out that I had served Ebert a drink *after* the time that he claimed he had quit.

Other DL poster finally believed me, I think. I had no idea that about Ebert being an alcoholic. Not sure why people are surprised when others lie / fib about sobriety.

R398 - I think Shelley was rude to ask you to move from your table. Why couldn't she sit inside! Typical entitled behavior. I had a similar encounter with Danny Kaye at a hotel restaurant where the staff asked me and a friend to vacate a booth for him. I looked and saw he had a smirk on his face. We agreed to move as we were finishing up anyway but when we passed him on the way out, my friend snarked, "You're not even fucking funny".

A very tiny, very well-groomed blonde woman came into my store, and I recognized her immediately. It was Jane Fonda. She kept her head down and didn't want to talk, but I just said you're Jane Fonda. Welcome! She said something like, "Oh, no. I'm not Jane Fonda, but I get that all of the time. "

This in the 80s, and it wasn't in CA or NY, so it was odd that she would be there, but I was sure it was her. She's very recognizable with the hair and her voice. We did chat about my store and the surrounding area a bit, and then she bought a scarf and left. She was quite aloof, but not rude. A bit above it all.

I was so convinced that it was JF that I looked in the paper that night to see if she was in the area.

Well, she was! This was during her workout tape phase, and she was shilling her videos at a convention of some sort.

In a coincidence, I also met Ted Turner. I was on the welcoming committee when he brought his ship, a replica of the Bounty, to my city. The committee, including me, went out on a huge yacht, along with about 100 other boats to guide the Bounty into the harbor as a welcome.

Ted was bigger than life, very witty, but had a large ego. He loved being the center of attention. His teenaged children were there, too, and they mostly climbed up the rigging and sat on the mast's cross beams the whole time, not wanting to engage with the hoi polloi. I didn't think much of them. They were spoiled brats.

Ted and the rest of us drank champagne and ate delicious hors d'oeuvres as the sun went down, and we danced on the Bounty well into the early morning hours.

Unfortunately, the Bounty sank during Hurricane Sandy in North Carolina. Ted Turner had sold it by that time, and I think it was being used as a teaching vessel.

Jane Fonda is hardly tiny unless you consider 5'8" to be tiny, R411. I was within 10 feet of her several times at events during the 80s. I'm six feet tall and she seemed to be pretty close to my height.

R404 I think it's Lee Radziwill, still bitter after all these years of being the "spare" and not an heir.

Lee Radziwill is dead

^She'd be difficult to recognize.

R413 In reality, more like Princess Lee on assistance, since Jackie gave her money in her lifetime.

[quote] That Jackie On Assistance shit has never been funny.

RME. The irony of it and the play on Mrs. Onassis' name make it pretty funny.

{quote] That Jackie On Assistance shit has never been funny.

The "such and such has never been funny" cunt has been working overtime these last few days.

JBKO died 27 years ago this past Wednesday.

No I never have and I never will.

The boring, pedestrian memes like "Jackie On Assistance" and that M/G shit that have all been run into the ground are beyond annoying. So much for gay men being witty.

Correction to R416: Mrs. Onassis's name

John Denver walking across a hotel parking lot. He was several feet away and I yelled out “hi John!” He turned and waved and said “hi” back in a happy enthusiastic manner. Made my day.

Another El Torito spotting, Laurie Metclaf at the El Torito in Burbank (it's now a Chick Fila). She was sitting with a group of people.

Jillian Michaels at the Arclight in Hollywood. She was walking through the courtyard, talking on a phone and had a bunch of fat people with her that were probably contestants on The Biggest Loser at the time. I recognized her voice and then I saw her. She's super tiny and loud but I've always liked her.

Pink at the old Borders Bookstore in Sherman Oaks that isn't there anymore. My girlfriend at the time recognized her as I didn't really know what she looked like. I've since become a big fan.

At the same Borders, James Pickens Jr. approached my girlfriend and asked if she worked there.

Roseanne Barr and Meredith Baxter Birney at a lesbian bar in Hollywood that is no more. This was before Meredith came out so it was weird seeing her there. Roseanne was actually standing on a booth and yelling something to, I'm assuming people who were listening. We were not listening. She struck me as totally insane.

Jessica Simpson at another bar in Hollywood. She came out of the one bathroom before I went in and there was no toilet paper left. I didn't know who she was but a friend told me.

Dan from The Block in the local supermarket. Australians will get it.

The thread is about celebrities, R424.

Friend previously worked with the Jolie/Pitt family (outside of the house) and was at a store in the valley. Angelina came up and just started talking to my friend, giving her updates on the kids while my friends friend nearly fainted.

Roy Scheider walking down 6th Ave. As we passed each other on the sidewalk he looked at me then quickly looked away.

Julia Barr from All My Children walking down a deserted Soho street while laden with shopping bags back in the 80s.

Sam Champion cruised me near the Barnes & Noble on the Upper West Side.

Al Sharpton walking by himself down Court Street in Brooklyn Heights. Some passersby greeted him and shook his hand.

Gavin Newsom walking by himself down Stockton Street in Union Square, SF.

Rudolph Giuliani walking down the street near 5th and 59th, NYC. This was before he was Mayor.

A French political figure and his BF rented out my Airbnb in SF. I could hear them having sex in the morning.

I and a friend met Jane Fonda and Ted Turner at the St. Petersburg Film festival. Another friend, who was running the festival, sat us next to Jane and Ted for dinner. We then went with them to watch "On Golden Pond". I had a terrible relationship with my own father and Jane and I talked for several hours about our families. We both ended up hugging each other and crying. For the next few days I went around St. Petersburg with both of them and showed them the sights. He had a team of guys planning for the next Goodwill Games. These guys saw me with Ted and Jane and figured we were close buddies so they buttered me trying to learn more about how important I was to Ted. At the end of their stay they invited my friend and I to visit the ranch. We never went. Jane was super sweet. Ted was endearing but crass - I remember him putting his cowboy booted feet over the railings of the Imperial Box in the Yussupov Theater during a gala performance.

^ oh dear...

I also met Katherine Crosby at a Faberge event at the Russian Embassy in Washington D.C. . She was close friends with another Faberge collector I knew. We stayed the same small hotel. She loaned me a pair of Faberge jeweled Opera Glasses that were worth $250,000. They were the first gift of Faberge that Bing gave her. Every year he gave her something new from ALVR in New York. She had huge collection worth millions. Katherine toured Russia in a musical, I don't remember which one. A few years ago she was a terrible automobile accident, which killed her husband.

Just before Christmas, sometime in the mid-90s, I had gone to the Atlanta Airport (a very busy Friday evening, around 8:00), to pick up a friend of mine who was coming back home for the holidays. The place was like a madhouse (and this was before 9-11, so people were basically free to wander all over the place unimpeded). My friend's luggage had been lost, we finally realized, and so after looking and waiting by the carousels, we were told that all the lost luggage was being put on the floor in the far corner of that HUGE luggage area (the room is at least a half a mile long), and that's where we ought to go look. So we headed down there to this big area of suitcases arrayed all over the concrete floor, and started going through them. I came up close to a man who wearing brand new, "fancy" jeans, probably Helmut Lang now that I think about it. He had on a turtleneck, and around his neck was wrapped a silk leopard-pattern scarf. Dark Aviator sunglasses (it had been pitch night outside for over 2 hours). He had his arms folded and was determinedly looking up at the ceiling, which was very high over his head, as if he were in a trance. He seemed lost and nonplussed. It was Peter Fonda. I'm sure he had just arrived to spend Xmas with his sister, Jane, and her then-hubby, Ted Turner. He looked completely ridiculous and helpless. I said "Hi" and continued on the search for the baggage, which was shortly located..

In the middle of high school my mother decided to move us from Berkeley to Redding, California in 1977. In order to save for college to get the fuck out, I worked at the Holiday Inn, where I was busboy/bellhop/airport shuttle driver (I called it "Redding International").

On one van run, I picked up the loudest, most obnoxious dudes ever. They had inbred accents. Alpha Dude made himself at home in the front seat. I was listening to John Lennon singing "Imagine" when he said "Let's turn off this crap" and he found a Country radio station, which I found to be repulsive and said so. I had two David Bowie and one Manhattan Transfer cassette tapes, but he wanted to throw them out the window.

Back at the hotel, I had to haul their luggage and bus their tables. They were there for too many days. My "boss" was the old lady head waitress. She told me that they were so and so, the famous musicians. The hotel manager made me drive them to and from the Auditorium all weekend. I kept calling them "The Gatlin Boys" or the "Oak Ridgers". "No, we're The Stalers," which meant nothing to me, I told them. I loved to drive that shuttle van because it was a cigarette break and I usually got tips.

As I dropped them off for their first concert, one of the bros put his hand on my knee and said "hey, I can get you in". I declined and used work as an excuse. (I needed to study for the SAT later). This was the same guy who pinched my ass that night as I was refilling his water in the restaurant and I pinched him back in his ribs. The hotel was so busy that summer and I got to work double shifts. They had a bunch of rooms and my "colleague" and I had to deliver room service breakfast while they were there. It was great money in tips. The pinchy brother was always just getting out of the shower in his room, naked, and wanted to chat, which I had no time for during the morning shift while delivering bad coffee to the whole fucking hotel. When he called down for room service, he would for me.

At age 17, I had no clue what sex with other people was all about, let alone the homosex. This would be among many opportunities that I missed because I didn't get the cues. In fact, a few years ago at age 58, my fiance literally picked me up off a beach in Mexico and took me home after we met.

I probably made a few hundred bucks in tips off the Statler Brothers. They were obnoxious but nice. And the best tippers of my "career". Still haven't heard their music, or the Gatlins, Oak Ridge Band, etc.. In someone's mind, these guys might be "celebs". I became an Immunologist. Don't get me started on Tony "The Weasel" Fauci.

R432 I was loving your story until you had to be an asshole in the last sentence.

Tony's a princecompared with Debbi Birx or Bob Redfield.

Redfield would leave his family in the car for hours while "dropped in for a minute" to some cocktail party. Debbi was a horrible manager and there are tons of people happy to see what's happened to her.

[quote]I probably made a few hundred bucks in tips off the Statler Brothers.

That's a great story! If only those gospel-loving, christian frau Statler Bros. fans had any idea!

r433 and r434,

In the 80's during the onset of the AIDS epidemic, Fauci was on the research grant approval committee at the NIH. Immunologists would submit scientific proposals that were rejected -- then a year later Tony's lab would publish papers based on the proposed ideas. In a way, he had a monopoly, and had a horrible reputation in the field. And personally, I think he's been a milquetoast of a public leader during the SARS-cov-2 pandemic.

Come on R427, give us a French name! Who the dude?

Darryl Hannah and Elizabeth McGovern were two customers of a convenience store I was working at one summer. Two takeaways: both were very tall (almost 6 feet), and Hannah's natural hair was a lot shorter and less lush than it appears on screen. Neither made eye contact, as if they wanted to get out ASAP without being recognized, so I didn't chat them up.

[quote] Don't get me started on Tony "The Weasel" Fauci.

Great story about the Statler Brothers, R432. I'd like to hear your story about Dr. Fauci. (I'm assuming the post at R436 is not a personal story.)

My impression of Dr. Fauci is that he is arrogant and not a great communicator.

George Michael in a public toilet. It didn't end well.

Several celebrities came to the hotel where I was working in the 90s:

We had a contract with the WWF, so the wrestlers stayed there several times. I put a few calls through to the Rock.

Magic Johnson and his wife stayed one night about a month before he announced he was poz.

Got a call to be put through to a guest "Rob Hoffman". When the call came back to me after no answer, I asked if the caller wanted to leave a message, and he said "just tell him Dusty called."

Jason Alexander filmed a movie scene in the lobby.

Ronald Reagan spoke at a banquet; it was the last public speaking engagement he gave (it was soon after that it was announced that he had Alzheimers).

I've never heard of the Statler Brothers.

2007 trip to London.. was having lunch at Pret when a guy walked up to me and asked if he and his two friends could share my table. The guy introduced himself as James and the two women were his sisters. We sat together for a good part of an hour chatting about various general topics before they left. Went back to the counter to get something and the cashier said I was sitting with Prince William’s ex girlfriend

R7--love your tricking with Dick Fiske! Lucky you!

Joan Rivers. Had a lovely chat with her on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania waiting for our cheese steaks at the Snow White Truck at lunchtime. Melissa was with her and rolled her eyes and looked the other way.

Dominick Dunne on a flight to London from San Francisco in the early 90's, in London 3 days later in Harrods shopping for more casual clothes(well I was). He had the best stories.

London was great in the 90s, before it turned into Pakistan/the Middle East.

R443, who was the ex? I can't remember back that far. Or was it Kate and her siblings during the brief breakup? More details, please.

R432, do you remember which Statler bro it was who came on to you?

^I looked it up; all four of them can accurately be described as HIDEOUS...

I LOVE these threads. Please keep them coming. I especially love to hear how otherworldly handsome/beautiful celebrities can be (shallow am I).

I have a somewhat boring one, but maybe qualifies. I live in a college town with a big football team and a small airport, and met Jim Brown, the sportscaster, while we were waiting outside of the almost empty little airport to catch a taxi (me) and a hotel shuttle (him). He uses the sportscaster voice when making small talk too.

Not boring at all, R450--Brown was pretty big back then. What was he like, just genial, pleasant and in full sportscaster mode?

R451 That's not the Jim Brown they're referring to.

Lindsey Graham in a fashion boutique a few years ago.

Several years ago, Aaron Neville was staying at the same hotel where my friends and I were staying. We had great fun for a couple of days saying everything in the "Aaron Neville voice." He seemed like a very nice man. Very quiet and friendly with everyone who approached him.

On my last trip to NYC before Covid, I bumped into Michael Emerson from Lost and that CBS show in front of my hotel. I saw him a couple of more times on the street, presumably he lived or was staying nearby. I wasn't that excited to see him, but I was hoping to see his wife, Carrie Preston. I loved her on The Good Wife. Never saw her.

Back when I was smoking, I ran into the corner store in my "flyover city" to get some smokes. When I got in the checkout line, I realized that Diane Keaton was in line in front of me. She turned to me and smiled and I guess by the look on my face she could tell I recognized her. She did the "shhh it's a secret" finger on the mouth thing, and I obliged, but whispered "BIG FAN" and she whispered "THANK YOU." When she left, she turned to me and did a little wave and smile. No one else in the store recognized her, which wasn't a surprise.

I read later that she was in town for some engagement, and had stopped at a couple of houses in my neighborhood she lived and asked for tours and if the owner's would be interested in selling!

r439, yes, indirectly, it is a personal story about Fauci. The lab I was working in lost its NIH grant renewal, as did several other HIV labs that I'm aware of. I think he's a good scientist who purloined others' ideas for his own research lab. Saw him give numerous lectures at conferences, but never met him. He's probably a nice guy, but yes, arrogant and not a great communicator/leader.That could describe many in my field -- myself included! And he seems to be enjoying his celebrity without being serious and forceful about masking and vaccinations.

r434, I would agree based on what I've read and heard from old colleagues who knew them. I consider their behavior to be criminal.

r448, Had no idea who they were (still don't) and they all seemed alike.

Susan Dey at the Hotel Twin Dolphin, Cabo San Lucas, spring 1986.

I was there on vacation with my BFF's family. It was about five months prior to the debut of L.A. LAW, so to us -- as 18-19 year olds, raised on THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY & BRADY BUNCH -- she was still Laurie Partridge. And that is all that she was! Sure, she'd done the short-lived EMERALD POINT a couple years earlier, and some t.v. movies....but for the most part, she'd fallen into the WEHT territory. (like the rest of the Partridges & Bradys in the early-mid 80s)

Twin Dolphin was a small, intimate resort. I don't recall the number of casitas/bungalows, but it was the kind of place that if you were there for a week, you invariably met (or saw) everyone? Or at least, smiled at said, "Hi" -- by the pool, on the paths to the beach, in the dining room for breakfast, etc.

During our first afternoon by the pool, Susan Dey come hobbling into the pool area on crutches, with a big wrap around one knee. I slapped the elbow of my BFF and quietly exclaimed, "OMG, it's Laurie Partridge!" She looked like hell. LOL She was wearing big suglasses, and was plopped down into a chaise lounge by this older-looking guy with gray curly hair ("older"; he was probably 40). Obviously, she'd had some kind of knee surgery.

On the second afternoon she lounged by the pool, my friend & I worked up the courage to go say hello, introduce ourselves. She was VERY nice & seemed charmed by us. We asked what happened to her knee. She explained that after shooting a pilot (the LA LAW pilot) she & her boyfriend went skiing....and she fucked up her knee. We were skiiers, so we sympathized, and got into a long coversation about skiing.....and from then on, she always waved & said hello to us.

Flash forward, summer 1987-- when L.A. LAW was a massive hit. I'm riding my bicycle along San Vincente in Brentwood. As I approached an intersection, I noticed Susan Dey & the gray haired guy in a convertible, waiting to cross San Vicente & head in the opposite direction. They stared at me as I crossed in front of them. I sat up (pedalling without my handlebar), pointed at Susan & yelled, "TWIN DOLPHIN!!!"

You could see it "clicked" and she pointed back at me, yelling, "Yes! Twin Dolphin!" and then leaned over and beeped the horn at me.

I love Susan Dey.

To R458....That's a wonderful story about Susan Dey. Thanks

[quote]plopped down into a chaise lounge

I love your story but you also get an "oh, dear."

The cast & crew of Finding Bigfoot down the road from my farm. Moneymaker, Cliff B., Bobo, and Renee, were all there. It was about eight years ago.

Bigfoot, though, was hiding out with the cows on my property. They never knew.

I've met Jesus Christ everywhere I go, even at home! You can too, just let him into your heart.

Oh, fuck your "oh, dear", R460

DL lacks an ability to go back and edit errors so when tuypos slip bi, who carez?

Accept pedantic twats.

I ran into Wallace Shawn in a supermarket in L.A.

I was directing a staged reading of “Aunt Dan and Lemon” right then, which made it rather surreal. It’s like he had appeared directly from my thoughts. I had the flyer with me and showed him the graphics, explaining why I chose them.

He didn’t come to the reading... but he was in town shooting a movie. So, FINE!

(He had cantaloupe and paper towels in his cart, BTW.)

R460

[quote]Lindsey Graham in a fashion boutique a few years ago.

Was he buying a pantsuit for his girlfriend Bonnie?

Which member of NSYNC do you think bore the brunt of the Statler Brothers attention after this sketch?

Then mayor of Sacramento, former NBA star, and alleged ephebophile Kevin Johnson at the checkout stand at the local supermarket. I had to make an emergency run to get Imodium. While waiting my turn, I smelled some very heavy cologne. I turned around and there was Johnson with Atkins bars and a couple of bananas. What a dandy he was. Grey corduroys, matching gray and tan argyle vest, and gray bucks.

The thing that stuck out most is that there's no way he breaks 6'. The NBA lists him at 6'1". I'm 5'10" and was standing right next to him. I guess his stats submission for the draft stretched the truth. I was going to say "There's no way you're 6'1"" (and could have gotten away with it since I'm a very non-threatening looking female) but was too embarrassed about my single purchase of Imodium.

I saw Bronson Pinchot in Branson and almost shit my pants!

My best friend used to work for the company that does movie preivews at movie theatres all over the country to guage auduence repsonse. The one where they give you a rating card to fill out and a little wooden pencil, and as soon as the movie ends you fill in a bunch of bubble and go.

He was st a screening a while ago, I'd guess 2005, somewhere on the outskirts of the San Fernando Valley. You know how multiplexes always have one room down a long hallway in the back of the back, used for storage and promotional materials and various odds and ends? The movie was minutes away from starting, there's a bit of a buzz in the air, and a higher-up told him to go to the storage room down the hall to get more pencils. (or something) and come right back. So he finds the room, opens the door, and out pops Cameron DIaz from behind a filing cabinet. She says "Hi! Pens and tabs?" Him: "Yup, that's me!" Her: " "How is it going out there?" Him: "The movie is starting in a few minutes!" Her: "Cool! well, hey, dont let me get in your way; looks like you've got a job to do!" Him: "I sure do but no worries, I'm good.: He grabs a box of stubby pencils and heads out. Him: Nice meeting you! Her: "Same!'

Fascinating!

Cameron Diaz lived in a multiplex storage room in the Valley...

What was she doing behind the filing cabinet? Hiding from the crowd, having sex with an unseen partner?

This was way back mid 50;s, I had a nice chat with Howdy Doody, at the Puppet Repair Shop, he was having his puppet strings replaced. He was so nice, and I noted he was not that keen on Clarabell's beeping horn, thought someone farted.

New thread...

I met Michael Pitt at in a Bushwick-based Chinese restaurant around 15 years ago. We chatted briefly. He seemed surprised that I recognized him.

He ordered two egg rolls and waited outside for his order. He smoked Newport 100s.

I was 18 in 1980. Anthony Perkins was trying to make small talk with me in a bookstore in midtown Manhattan. I recognized him, still handsome with a very nice smile, and he was being charming, apparently hoping I was interested. But there was something off about him and I preferred guys my age, as he was probably in his mid forties. I said , nice talking to you, and left. He was still staring at me when I looked back before exiting the store.

I would have forced myself to fuck him. It’s Anthony Perkins!

Jamie Lee Curtis - twice. First time was in a small campstore near Red Fish Lake in Idaho. She was the only other person in the store about 4:00pm other than myself and 2 other of my friends. This would have been late August/early September 2012. She was casually dressed, buying food and cooking items. We recognized her immediately, she looked at us and knew we knew who she was. She smiled, we exchanged hellos and she returned to her business. As she left, she did not pay for anything but told the campstore clerk to charge all of her items to the "honeymoon cabin". We spoke to the campstore clerk who informed us she and her family would visit each year and she always was private but friendly. Fast forward 2 years later, same time of year, myself and the same 2 friends were in Sun Valley Idaho camping and we went to a small little pizza joint and while we were sitting outside eating, a black SUV pulls up with a lady driving and she proceeds to get out, walks past our outside table, and we immediately recognized her - Jamie Lee Curtis again. She looked at our pizzas, asked if they were good (they were), we told her absolutely, smiled, she said great, she went inside, brought her pizzas out and said goodbye as she passed us going back to her SUV. We joke to this day about running into her 2 times in 2 years in the same area of Idaho, she was stalking us.

Martina Navratilova in a ski shop in Whistler in the mid 1990s. She was there with another woman (I assume it was her girlfriend). She was being fitted for skis.

My friend and I recognized her and were whispering about her, apparently not very quietly, and she smiled and said, "Hi! What do you think of these skis?" We said we thought they looked good. She said, "Thanks. Me, too. I think I'll get 'em!"

She was a sweetheart.