Boring celeb encounters

I peed next to Adrian Brody at an NYC Equinox urinal. I didn’t see anything.

Celebrities aren't there to make your chance encounter exciting. Although I also can't see how anybody takes three hours to read the WSJ, or any paper for that matter, except person the Sunday NY Times.

I think it might have been the Sunday WSJ? I don't remember. I was doing a crossword.

It isn't anybody's job to be fascinating at all times.

Three hours to read the newspaper?

Take the hint, OP, he's just not that into you.

I waited on Nora Dunn in a coffee shop 30+ years ago. She had been at the bookstore next door for a signing of something.

Her manager/PA (?) did most of the ordering. She had no interest in idle chat.

I once waited on Robert Redford. He was by himself, he seemed to be in a good mood, and said something about what a beautiful day it was (it was a beautiful day.) I sat him in front of our big picture window. I looked over at him a few times and he was gazing out the window, smiling.

I served quite a few low rate celebrities when I worked in Selfridges. Noel Gallagher (fine), Timothy Dalton (charming), Jerry Hall (a fine suthin woman), Alicia Keys (ghetto), Paul Weller (his credit card declined and he was going apeshit until I told him you'll just have to call your bank)

I once ran into Norah Jones in a coffee shop. She was gorgeous in person.

[quote]I peed next to Adrian Brody at an NYC Equinox urinal. I didn’t see anything.

I suspect his nose blocked your view.

Years ago, Joseph Cotton in a fabulous 40’s style knit and leather sweater with his wife Patricia Medina behind us in line at Mrs. See’s in Palm Springs.

We talked about caramels.

Um, R5, he jostled my elbow at one point and said "excuse me." So....

My friend told me she sat next to Cate Blanchett on a train ride a few years ago. She said the entire time she pretened she didn't know who Cate was just to secretly spy on her, and asked her random questions like the time, train arrival time trivial shit like that. She said Cate was reading the entire time and didnt look bothered when she asked her questions. Said she got off the train before Cate. That's all

You just reminded me, I pretended not to recognize Jake Gyllenhaal waiting on a long light at a crosswalk one time because he seemed apprehensive. We said nothing to each other and then he walked away.

R13 I wonder if Cate regales people with the story of the time she sat next to an autistic woman on a train and got peppered with questions about train schedules.

I also encountered Cate on a train (Sydney Eastern suburbs line). She sat opposite me with a couple of her kids. She got on at Kings Cross. She got off at Town Hall. End of.

Randy Jackson (American Idol and some other shit) sat in the hotel lobby bar next to me in Chicago once. He was polite to the bartender, but basically sat and never said a word the entire time - just scrolling on his ipad.

Am I the only one who has not encountered Cate Blanchett on public transportation?

Matt Smith used my cellphone as a flashlight without my permission, once.

In his defense, I did just have it sitting on the table with the flashlight on. I was trying to light up a dark area.

[quote] Celebrities aren't there to make your chance encounter exciting.

You don't say.

Walked into a Starbucks and saw Michelle Pfeiffer standing at the entrance, holding a coffee cup, talking to someone. She was wearing a ball cap and a track suit (circa Juicy Couture days). For some reason, I looked down at her feet and she had very nicely-kept feet. IIRC, a light pink / nude-ish color of nail polish. Her demeanor was very low-key.

Keira Knightley seems like a lovely person.

I showed Smoky Robinson how to use the video player on a flight to LA when he was next to me. He watched his movie, I watched mine, we both had work to do and we hardly spoke all the way across.

Right, r18. Just how tiny is Australia. It seems like everyone has met Cate Blanchett

R24 well Cate is Australian and she was living in Sydney at the time. Sydney isn’t tiny - 5 million people - but she was known for taking public transport. Besides, only two of us have seen her on the train, and the other person could have seen her anyway.

^^^ “anywhere” not “anyway”

R25 You don't have to go around dryly repeating common knowledge. It's a terrible personality trait. Everyone knows Cate Blanchett is Australian. Please go fuck yourself.

I saw Louis Black smoking outside of a building one time. He looked grumpy.

We can't all personally witness Cate Blanchett riding trains, R27. Please keep your seething, bitter jealousy to yourself.

[quote] Besides, only two of us have seen her on the train, and the other person could have seen her anyway.

R25/r16 which 2? I thought was just r16(you) and r13's friend who saw Cate riding the bus. Which other person saw Cate?

I've had a billion of them, but my favorite was the time I sat next to Bill Russell on a flight from DC to LGB. I had no idea who he was and I kept wondering why all the men on my flight kept staring at me (I was momentarily flattered and then worried I had something on my face.) I asked him, courteously, if he would like me to help him take his jacket off, as his arms were about 19 feet long and he was struggling. He seemed irritated. At one point, I repeated a question from the flight attendant.

We deplaned. Several men came rushing up to him, shoving me aside in the process. I continued on, oblivious, until a FA whispered, "So what was it like to sit next to Bill Russell for five hours?" I replied, "boring."

I served Lucy coffee on a flight in the 70s, and she didn't throw it at me.

My brother saw Sean Penn in JFK airport. Said he was tiny.

Sat next to Stedman Graham in a small coffee shop in San Francisco, we were both eating breakfast alone. He has HUGE hands.

I sat next to or across several movie and TV stars over the years, but the only one that was both boring and quite sad was on a Delta flight from Atlanta to LA. I was in the first row aisle seat in business class. Then in comes Mary Ann Mobley and her clearly drunk off his ass husband Gary Collins. He was so drunk that he had to be helped onto the plane by two male airline staffers. They sat in the first row seats across the aisle. Collins passed out cold practically before they even had him in the seat. MAM sat there and looked like someone had just spat in her face. Everything went okay once we were in the air until they started the dinner service. MAM waved off all food and just asked for a cocktail. Collins was still comatose, so nothing for him. After the dinner service they started the movie. MAM took off her shoes and slunk down in her seat and propped her bare feet up against the bulkhead. The FA came by, leaned down to her and I assume told her to get her hooves off the wall, because as the FA walked off MAM gave her a look to kill as she pulled her feet back to her seat. She crossed her arms and sat there looking like she wanted to kill reading a book for the remainder of the flight. Once we pulled to the gate in LA neither of them made a move to get up. They sat there as everyone passed by. i assumed they wouldn't be able to deplane until someone with the airline came on board to drag that sot Collins off the plane.

R19 do tell, what were you and Matt Smith doing in a dark area, hmmm?

R30 you would have to ask R13 or their friend who saw Cate riding the train (I can’t imagine her riding the bus - I certainly don’t!). It’s possible that you’re overcomplicating things.

Last year, my Mum got on half-full public bus and sat behind Lee Ryan off of Blue. He had on a hoodie and cap (like anyone remembers him these days), and was slumped in his seat with his head down, miserable and mumbling to someone on his phone the entire journey. Mum, an eavesdropper par excellence, said it sounded like he was sober enough but pretty annoyed and the conversation was job/money related, though he kept his volume down to a hissing whine rather than shouting and causing a scene (lucky, as he's apparently got issues with anger). Afaik he's bankrupt and been in trouble and in the gossip rags so many times in the past, he probably just wanted to avoid another stint in the nick or more police fines.

Bill Whitaker and I discussed classical music and literature in a quiet bistro. He is a very intelligent man.

Hi R27! I’m just back from fucking myself - very pleasant, thanks for the suggestion - I have added “dryly repeating Cate Blanchett’s nationality and public transport choices” to the long list of my terrible personality traits.

It’s special people such as your good self who keep me coming back for more on the DL.

As I was saying to Cate on the all stations to Bondi Junction train just now. She says “hi”.

Cate Blanchett doesn't have a driver's license?

R41 I’m sure that she does have a driver’s license - I’ll ask her next time that I run into her on the train - but sometimes because of the parking and traffic situation in Sydney, it’s better to leave the car at home.

Or maybe she just likes to keep it real for the kids. We’re not close - I’m not sure.

I once helped John Lithgow dial a long distance call on my work’s phone. I think it was to his agent as he was arguing over fees for something involving his Shrek character (it had just come out a few months earlier.)

R40/R42 please tell her I send my love

I used to work in the Frank Gehry building next to Tower Records on Sunset. One day as I was walking out the the building towards the off-site auxiliary garage the cogs had to park in, I found myself walking along side Bono. He had just walked out Tower. We walked to the intersection, waited together at the signal, and when it changed I walked towards my car and he walked towards the Marquis. I'm short, but he was shorter, wearing platform creepers, and he had plus on his crown that made him look like he had doll hair.

It was years after the Parkinson's syndrome.

I saw Muhammad Ali at La Guardia and a crowd of people at the gate stood around him watching as he tried to put a pen into his suit jacket pocket. It was terrible. Terrible.

No, I didn't sit and gawk. I looked at the people staring at him.

I did, R44 - she teared up. She’s a little emotional after the Oscars.

She’s Australian, you know - we’re like that. .

[quote] I'm short, but he was shorter, wearing platform creepers, and he had plus on his crown that made him look like he had doll hair.

R45, "crown" meaning a wig?

Yes I saw Bono in Dublin once and yes he is short and wears platforms just like Tammy Cruise. I've been at a dinner that Bill Clinton was at - very ruddy faced. Been in a bookshop with Tony Blair (nothing to report there he was just browsing in the history section). I was in a bodega once and Jonathan Rhys Meyers was buying cigarettes he looked like he'd had a late night.

I shook hands with Bill Clinton once. He held on to my hand for a long time. I don't know why. The crowd was so thick, I couldn't really see him despite shaking hands with him.

R49 should have made a pass at JRM, might have got some crazy ass that night.

I second R51’s suggestion. I still find JRM sexy af.

I work at the courthouse where Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively got married. Their dog was one of their witnesses. Very polite and humble couple. They had a decoy town car parked in the front of the building but exited into another at the back to avoid the paparazzi.

A business associate and his wife sat next to Danny DeVito & guest at the NY Met. Both my associate and DV chattered through all 3 intermissions like old friends as both are dedicated opera fans. DV came across as well-educated, well-mannered, and charming.

Yes, Danny DeVito stayed at a hotel where I used to work and he seemed like a nice guy.

When you're that ugly, you better be nice.

[quote] It isn't anybody's job to be fascinating at all times.

You sound boring.

R53 Danny DeVito is into the opera? That's amazing. Wonder what shows are his favourites?

I owned a retail store near top universities, and had many celebrities come into my store when they were either checking one of the colleges out for their spawn, attending a graduation, or receiving an honorary degree from one of the colleges. Mostly everyone was wonderful, except two:

Andy Williams (honorary music degree)

Dominick Dunne (graduation speaker)

[quote][R19] do tell, what were you and Matt Smith doing in a dark area, hmmm?

r36 Searching for snacks under the crafty tent during a night shoot. The lantern they had posted in the corner ran out of batteries.

I shared an elevator with Phil Keoghan, the host of "Amazing Race," in Washington DC once a few years ago.

R58, what happened with Andy Williams and Dominick Dunne?

I've shared lifts with Richard Branson several times at Zermatt. He remembers that I recognise him and we exchange basic pleasantries but have never introduced ourselves. Come to think of it, that is rather incurious of him because he knows I know him but he has never introduced himself to ask my name.

Southwest flight. Former Senator Mary Landrieu was in the middle seat behind me. Very small woman.

When we were standing before the jet door was opened, the guy who had sat next to her the whole flight said, "Our politics don't agree at all but I'm impressed you fly Southwest and not first class."

She looked uncomfortable and said something like "I do my best."

Boring enough for you, OP?

I shared a bottle of mosquito repellant with Dave Brubeck during a break at an outdoor concert. Guess who was playing? Go on, I'll just Take 5 while you figure it out.

Richard Branson seems like a creep.

I have a Rose Byrne story but as I never actually interacted with her I will put it here. She was in a play in Sydney before she headed to Hollywood to make it big. She was nothing special in the play but in the foyer after she was dressed like Audrey Hepburn which seemed wildly inappropriate for the situation so it was clear she had higher ambitions.

I have another actor - Cate Blanchett. I saw her in a play at NIDA when she was still a student. Her performance was all cat-like movement. I was introduced to her afterward for some reason and commented on her cat. She replied that yes she had initially studied a cat for her character but then dropped the idea and let her imagination take over. But she seemed annoyed that I had spotted the cat as if it was some big technical secret. She sounded like a humorless and pretentious fool which was only noteworthy because NIDA students are trained to suck up to anyone in the foyer in case they could give them a job.

I guess Cate caught the bus to NIDA - no trains out Kensington way.

I sat right behind Chloe Sevigny on a crosstown bus in Manhattan. The M23. She had lovely skin and looked very pretty. Not a word was spoke by either of us.

When I had a job at the post office I served Peter Weir the film director. I asked him what he was working on but I forget what it was. His manner was effete.

I shaw sssherry Sshhephard sssippling a ssspit of ssshhherry and shewing down on a sssubbsway sssammwhitch!

Hilarious, R71!

^Fuck off faggot.

Amazing comeback, R73. I simply cannot compete with humour of that level of maturity!

I went to a live musical performance at Lincoln Center when I was in grad school (a musical showcase of Todd Almond songs), and Patricia Clarkson was seated behind me. I’d recognize that voice from a mile away. I heard her talking and slyly turned around—we made eye contact and I smiled at her. She smiled back, but I didn’t say anything to her. Courtney Love performed a song at the show, and she was sitting with her then-boyfriend at a table to the left of the stage after her performance. I have always loved her music and wanted to approach her after the show just to shake her hand and say thanks, but she was being mobbed by gothy Hole queens who were inappropriately dressed for the occasion, so I decided to walk on past and leave her alone. She looked surprisingly good up close.

I was in a theatre foyer after a show and a legendary actress was standing talking to someone in front of me. Our eyes locked and the person she was talking to walked away. She gave me a smile as if to stay approach but just then someone else jumped in between us and started talking to her. The legend looked at me with regret.

Used to belong to the same gym as Nicole Kidman.

One evening as I was asking in, Nicole and friend were coming in behind me so I stood back and held the door wide open for them, as I do for anybody.

They walked in and didn’t even acknowledge the act in any way. I didn’t want a bouquet but people, especially in NYC, typically nod or something. So, boring and a tad rude/entitled.

Before Cate Blanchett made it in Hollywood, I once saw her saddling up a kangaroo to ride into the Sydney CBD.

R77 - maybe she thought you were staff.

I once saw Ellen Burstyn walking along Central Park West—she looked like a very casual, low key old lady. Also passed by Hank Azaria once in the park. He was talking on his cell phone. I’ve always found him hot, but he was even hotter in person.

R77 Kidman puts on a humbleness in interviews, but I’ve always suspected she is probably a cunt in real life. Still, I’m a fan of her work.

I ran into many famous politicians flying to & from Washington DC - including Bob Kerry, who was seating in MY seat ( I let him keep it, ‘cuz he only has one leg.)

I sat next to that fucking creep Ed Meese - he’s surprisingly friendly.

And, I almost ran Janet Reno’s foot over with a shopping cart at Eastern Market.

I used to work in corporate events. I worked with Dawn Wells one afternoon when she was pitching her line of clothing to healthcare professionals. It was clothing that we held together with velcro instead of buttons and was designed for the bed-ridden community.

In another event, I worked with Dixie Carter who had a half-hour cabaret lounge act. She was high-strung that day and kept wanting us to bring the rounds closer together to make the space more intimate. There has to be clearance around the tables for servers to get in and out. She couldn't understand that this was an event for 500 attendees and there was no way to bring all these tables closer to the stage. She kept saying, "The show is GOING TO DIE if we can't bring everyone closer to the stage". We humored her and moved each table a few inches closer. That seemed to satisfy her for a while. At some point after the rehearsal, she chilled out and was very pleasant that evening.

Southern California: having lunch outside at Kings Road Cafe…an adorable brindle Boston Terrier at the next table came over, wagging its tail. I smiled, looked up at the dog’s owner, and said, “Cute dog!” Famke Janssen said, “Thank you,” and smiled back.

In another sighting I jogged past Joan Van Ark. She was in full makeup, which was odd. This was at the reservoir that Madonna's villa overlooked. At that same reservoir, I got cruised by Keanu Reeves as he was jogging in the opposite direction. And it wasn't just a glance. He gave me a proper gay cruise.

I did the cruising technique where I slowed down and ran backward to see if he turned back around. Unfortunately, he didn't. Then I jogged an entire new loop around the lake to see if he would cruise me again. I didn't see him a second time. But what a great workout.

I was in Marco Island, FL and GL star Kim Zimmer came into a pub with her hubby and kids. Pleasant, not loud and she had to tell her boys she can't order everything off the menu. KZ was blonder, tan and wore a lot of plastic jewelry. People recognized her, and mercifully let her eat in peace.

Many years ago, I did a community theater show with Bess Armstrong's sister. Bess came to one of the performances. It was around the time of her sitcom On Our Own, so she was known. Some of the cast members were agog when she came backstage. I didn't speak to her, but she seemed pleasant enough.

Back in the day, Joan was always out running there. I used to pass her all the time. Very friendly. Very undernourished.

R88 Joan Cusack?

Cate Blanchett barely lives in Australia.

Betty White was at the Beverly Center bookstore to sign copies of her latest book about how much she loves animals. But my friend reported when he went she was sitting alone at a big table with a stack of books in front of her. People were in the bookstore shopping but no one was buying her book or really acknowledging her. She just sat there, pen in hand, waiting. She would occasionally wipe off some imaginary dust to look busy.

I shared an elevator with Downtown Julie Brown around 1990. She was about 4 ft tall in heels, and looked to weigh about 80 lbs. She was very attractive.

I disembarked at JFK on my first trip to NYC at age 12 and Dolly Parton was at the gate (being mobbed).

Lisa Brown, Nola/Iva from the P&G soaps, and her family were buying books where I worked in 1994 on their way to the Outer Banks for vacation. She was really lovely in person.

[quote] At that same reservoir, I got cruised by Keanu Reeves as he was jogging in the opposite direction. And it wasn't just a glance. He gave me a proper gay cruise.

Keanu really is a delight. Every new story I hear about him is pleasing. Legend of put the time.

Tracee Ellis Ross smiled and said "excuse me" in a coffee shop in NYC.

R63 Ugggh, so boring! I did a book report on her when I was in middle school. I don't remember anything about her.

I rode the #6 train heading uptown with Ivanka Trump during rush hour about 20 years ago. She had a seat and was wearing very high heels.

Once upon a time as a teenager, I got snuck into some kind of record company party that was a showcase of prospective bands they might sign. We were there for the open bar (free alcohol!) and I made a beeline to go get us all drinks the second we got there.

There was an unusual looking man sitting at the bar who seemed friendly. He said hello and we had a short conversation, the only thing I remembered was he said he was from Los Angeles- all the explanation I needed for why the looked like he did. I thought he was cool and nice. I was probably saying stupid things, he seemed gently amused by me.

I went back over to my friends, and we noticed at some point that everyone at the party was being weirdly deferential to the nice guy at the bar. They all seemed to be nervously approaching him, like he was very important. We assumed he must be some kind of executive for the record label. Very cool!

Years and years later, I saw some guy being interviewed who looked and sounded so familiar. It was that guy that worked for that record company! ... it was Danny Elfman from Oingo Bingo.

R78, what?

This, R98.

Nice nightmare fuel, R99.

I saw Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins at an airport. We were both at baggage claim and he was talking to an assistant or someone when we made eye contact. He was wearing a ski cap with long ear straps (it was November in the Midwest). That’s it.

One year at Leeds festival I accidentally waved to Peter Crouch across a crowded stage. I was trying to get the attention of someone I know stood near him, but caught his attention instead. Crouchy gamely and enthusiastically waved back at me with a silly exasperated smile, probably assuming I was off my tits and/or a big LFC & England mens’ football fan (actually I was sober at that moment, and while I do like his teams I’m a Wales fan primarily lol). His wife Abby who was next to him smiled a bit too. They seem really lovely and normal. After that set finished and the band (can’t remember who, now) left, and I went in their direction to find my lost friend, they disappeared and I didn’t see them again all festival.

I shared an elevator with Paul Stanley from KISS. Ihe was wearing baby blue cowboy boots.

Ann Richards cut me in line at Einstein Bros. Bagels one morning. Pretty entitled but I guess she felt she’d earned it. Also in Austin, as a teenager I checked out Kathy Bates as she was purchasing a stack of books. I recognized her but said nothing and she winked in acknowledgment.

This is true.

I met Hillary Clinton when she was appearing while Bill was running for president the first time. I told her that I wished she was the one running for the job. She jokingly staggered backwards, bugged her eyes and shook her head no.

TWA used to run a flight from Boston to Mexico City via LaGuardia and New Orleans years ago (has to have been: they were bought by AA in 2001) and we got on in Boston en route to NOLA. A lot of broadcast exec types got on in NYC headed, we learned, for the the annual National Association of Broadcasters convention meeting in New Orleans and filled the rest of First Class. After takeoff from NY, I recognized the then head of Fox News, Roger Ailes in the front row. We never interacted, but when I mentioned it later, a couple of people said I should have hijacked the plane and brought it down, sparing the US from Murdoch, Fox, the Republicans and eventually Trump.

I hate when Australians post and crap themselves over the terrible Sydney traffic and parking, so awful that peons and movie stars all must hang on the straps and get emotional and share Vegemite recipes.

Island syndrome from the descendants of common criminals.

I've just started work on my genius new musical, 'Riding on Trains with Cate Blanchett' which is slated for the Adelphi in 2024.

Years ago I was standing in line waiting to check in for my flight at a small regional airport when Phyllis George (former Miss America, former CBS Morning Show co-host, now just former) arrived and stood behind me. I don’t think anyone else recognized her, or if they did they just pretended not to. She was talking to herself while we waited, like “where’s my ticket? Oh, here it is.” Just a stream of consciousness. She sounded like a ditz or maybe a very nervous flyer.

Helmut Schmidt, the former German chancellor, walking along the beach on Captiva Island off Ft. Myers in a dark suit, white shirt, dark tie, and oxford shoes. He looked like he was headed to or from a funeral surrounded by three or four security people, all dressed for their surroundings in shorts and golf shirts, unlike Schmidt.

In the late 90's, Steve Martin waiting for a water taxi in St Mark's Square in Venice. Hand shielding his face trying not to be noticed.

I waited on Goldie Hawn, her youngest and her brother in Denny's. She was very causal and very pretty. It was quick evident that she parented her child not some nanny.

He must mean Joan Lunden...

I sat next to Jamie Lee Curtis in first class on a flight. she had the window seat, was wearing a baseball hat and sunglasses. She turned to me once everyone boarded and said, "I know you know who I am, but I am really trying to get some rest on this flight so nice to meet you but please don't bother me." I smiled politely and went back to my book.

I saw Dottie West at Shoney's a few months before she passed. from wiki about her passing:

On August 30, 1991, West was scheduled to perform at the Grand Ole Opry. Shortly after she left her apartment at Nashville's Wessex Towers, her car, a Chrysler New Yorker that Rogers had given to her following the loss of her possessions at the IRS auction, stalled in front of the old Belle Meade theater on Harding Road. West's 81-year-old neighbor George Thackston spotted her on the side of the road and offered to drive her to the Opry for her scheduled appearance. Frantic about reaching the Opry on time, West urged Thackston to drive at high speed.

Thackston lost control of his vehicle while traveling through the Opryland exit on Briley Parkway at a speed of 55 miles per hour; the speed limit for the exit ramp was posted as 25 miles per hour. The car left the ramp, went airborne and struck the central divider. Thackston was found to have had a blood-alcohol content of 0.08%. He pled no contest to reckless endangerment and was ordered to complete an alcohol treatment program.

West died in the hospital a few days after the crash.

Every encounter with G is boring, obviously

The Adelphi Theater where On the Town had its Broadway premiere and was used for the famous 39 episodes of The Honeymooners ended up as the George Abbott and was torn down in 1970 so I don't know how your show is going to open there.

R91 Aw, bless. Poor Betty.

[quote]She turned to me once everyone boarded and said, "I know you know who I am, but I am really trying to get some rest on this flight so nice to meet you but please don't bother me."

What an insufferable cunt.

Ypir and I were running on treadmills at the same time in the gym at the Hotel President Wilson in Geneva.

On a road trip with my family sometime in the late 70's or early 80's I spotted Richard Deacon in the men's room of a rest stop. My mother didn't believe me and my father when we told her that we had just seen Mr. Rutherford. So we sat in the parking lot for a few minutes so she could see him going to his car.

I saw Liam Neeson on the street in NYC. The man is huge, like a Sasquatch.

I saw Kevin Bacon on the street in NYC, The man is thin as hell, like a scarecrow.

I stood behind quarterback Dan Marino in the Pittsburgh airport once. He was very handsome wearing a brown leather jacket. He’s quite tall so my face came to about the middle of his back, which was very broad and muscular. It was thrilling at the time.

I used to be a bartender at a hotel, and Vivica A. Fox came in with a guy late one night after an event. He ordered a drink for himself and a house red for her, so I turned to her and asked if she preferred cab or merlot. She gave me the DIRTIEST look, like, how dare I address her directly, and flounced off to a table without answering. The guy said, 'Just give her red, whatever...' and didn't leave a tip (they ordered four rounds, and no tip each time). They also complained that someone else came in and sat at a table near them and tried to get me to make them move. The other guests didn’t even try to approach her or anything — she was just mad that they dared to sit at a neighboring table.

I was buying bagels on University Place in NYC after walking my dog one Sunday morning. Holly Hunter and her two little kids were out front of the bagel shop and I said “Do you mind if I tie my dog here while I’m inside?” Holly said, with a very strong, southern accent, “Go for it!”

[R61] Andy Williams was downright rude for no reason at all to me and my customers who only said a few words to him (they were fans of his and congratulated him on his music degree - no one asked for an autograph) . He was very snarky and put-off, to say the least.

Dominick Dunne - whom I was a fan of and read all his books, acted rather bothered and aloof. All I said to him was that it was nice to see him in my store, and I had read all of his books as I enjoyed his writing. He did an eye roll to me, and didn't acknowledge the compliment.

"I'm in a hurry", he said. "Just ring me up."

I then apologized for wasting fifteen seconds of his time. He rolled his eyes again and left with his purchase.

I find it odd that a manager or a supervisor doesn't follow them out and say were you unhappy with your service you left no tip.

My ex and I shared a 4-top in the upstairs bar at Woody's in Philly with Graham Norton and his very attractive companion. He was a total cunt, and I think he was pissed that no one was paying any attention to him. 15ish years ago.

R123 - I'm sitting here thinking, 'Who TF is Vivica Fox?'

R128 the stripper girlfriend of Will Smith in Independence Day

She does that black acting technique where she overacts by pursing her lips and cranking her neck constantly

I love Vivica A. Fox.

Three hours reading the paper? Be more interesting, David Duchovny! Your job is to entrance the OP!

Carrot Top at the Dallas Cowboys Club at DFW (basically just a bar/restaurant). Sat next to him at the bar. Nice enough. I asked him how his show was going in Las Vegas and he said fine. We watched football after that for about an hour until I left.

I met Lynn Redgrave when she did a play in West Hartford at St. Joseph's College. Stunning up close, very warm and unaffected. Not boring, just pleasant. She signed my playbill and I was in heaven.

R131 I must have missed the part where I said I had a problem with it. He can live his life! My point is that celebs are normal people and meeting a famous isn't that great, usually.

I saw Vincent D'Onofrio at Duane Reade pharmacy early one morning before work. He was hanging over the counter talking to a pharmacist, looking very rough and homeless looking. I was walking around the aisles and he looked over a few times while I pretended not to notice him. At the time he was starring in Law and Order, Criminal Intent, and this would have been around 2002/3.

I once rang up Brad Pitt's order back in the 1990s. He definitely had that Golden Boy aura, like a ray of sunshine lighting up the room. He was very affable and had that laid back SoCal vibe. His then girlfriend, Gwynnie, OTOH, was an ice princess, who barely uttered a word and could only manage a smirk whenever he'd say something to her. I think she was just bored being there. They had matching hairstyles and looked more like brother and sister then a romantic twosome.

Some people have very active fantasies!

I'm impressed with anyone who can daydream up a fake story about seeing a B-list celebrity of the past in a store for two minutes. That takes creativity.

Pitt and Paltrow were like matching Bratz dolls back then, comical.

I once saw Neil Tennant waiting for a train at King's Cross Station. I don't know whether or not he was planning to rendezvous with Cate Blanchett on board.

I got off a bus in Westminster once and was seriously cruised by Michael Portillo.

If that insufferable Jamie Lee Curtis said that to me at R113, I’d have responded, “Sir, you must be mistaken — I have no idea who you are!”

I've never met a celeb.

You're not missing out on anything.

My dad used to go over to Fess Parker's house in Santa Barbara and play tennis with him. I always had to sit in the car and I never even saw Fess or his house.

It can't get more boring than a little old lady sorting merchandise behind the counter of her family's import store. I saw her several times at Toguri Imports on Belmont in Chicago in the mid-nineties. She was around 80 then.

^Oh, shit! I left out that it was Tokyo Rose at r146.

Most celebrity encounters are boring ! It’s like - oh, I saw so and so on a street, or at a restaurant - I live mostly in New York but also go to LA a ton for my work so I have a billion and one stories like that . Do you guys actually want to hear them?

The most “interesting “ thing I can consistently say is I work events and 90 something percent of them all smoke but take pains to make sure it’s not caught on camera. Obviously 30 something years ago I assume no one tried to hide that.

I once screamed, "Show us your tits!" at Brandon Routh at a pop culture convention. Does that count?

R113, the least she could have done is offered you a strawberry Activia.

R119 Who?

R148 Hit us with your most boring one. I want to be underwhelmed.

R148 lots of upper crust people still smoke real cigarettes, only now it’s hidden like a dirty secret. Vaping is for common trash.

Tell us about some of the closet smokers. Who?

Jennifer Aniston for sure.

[quote] I was in a theatre foyer after a show and a legendary actress was standing talking to someone in front of me. Our eyes locked and the person she was talking to walked away. She gave me a smile as if to stay approach but just then someone else jumped in between us and started talking to her. The legend looked at me with regret.

R76, why can't you just name names? This is ridiculous. We're talking about boring stories, not salacious stories. Geez.

Back in the early 1990s as a server, I waited on tv exec Brandon Tartikoff of NBC (all business, no chit chat), actor Charles S. Dutton (cool), playwright Wendy Wasserstein (snotty and rude), John Ritter (very friendly and silly in person), Master P (didn't know who he was, but mostly black kitchen staff informed me later), and Chuck Norris (short and nary a word)...

[quote] I sat next to Jamie Lee Curtis in first class on a flight. she had the window seat, was wearing a baseball hat and sunglasses. She turned to me once everyone boarded and said, "I know you know who I am, but I am really trying to get some rest on this flight so nice to meet you but please don't bother me." I smiled politely and went back to my book.

What a bitch.

[quote] lots of upper crust people still smoke real cigarettes, only now it’s hidden like a dirty secret.

As it should be. I would hesitate to call anyone who smokes cigarettes "upper crust". By its nature smoking is trashy and low.

R123, that's a disappointing story about Vivica Fox because she seems like a cool lady. I've worked in bars before and to not tip after 4 rounds of drinks is plain rude and low class.

R156 there is also a YouTube clip of her and Janet Leigh on Donahue and there were a ton of negative comments on her - being rude to staff or anyone who “wasn’t important,” etc. Unless all the comments are DLers, I’m gonna assume she’s an insufferable cunt.

R157 so is sex and booze but people are still going at it

R148 / Xennial, I'd be happy to hear any and all of the anecdotes you can remember.

I was entering restroom and I held the door open for an exiting Russell Tovey, so I missed seeing his dick.

Hotel Bel Air, Mother’s Day. I’m taking my mom to brunch. As we’re walking in, a pretty black lady in a big hat says “you two look fabulous! Enjoy your special day.” When she smiles, I register that it is none other than Ms Diana Ross, who is waiting for her car with several of her kids.

I know she’s a notorious diva, but she made our day.

In the mid 2000s I saw Tom Selleck walking down the street in Halifax, NS. He was filming the Jesse Stone movies at the time. He was tall, dressed casually in jeans, plaid shirt and vest, and the clothes looked great on him. He was with a shorter man. I went into a popular candy store and he came in, up close he was really tall, and handsome.

I once saw Meryl Streep shoveling snow in front of her old townhouse on 12th St., near 5th Avenue. I’m not sure where her husband or son were but she didn’t look thrilled to be doing the job.

I am aghast that Meryl Streep doesn't enjoy shoveling snow.

R48, sorry that was a typo -- I meant plugs -- plugs around the crown of his head. All along his forehead's hairline, Bono had super-obvious plugs with sprouting, uniformly-spaced stalks of hair popping out of his head. I remember thinking, "You're richer than God -- you couldn't find a better hair guy? This was around 2005 and plug technology, I thought, had improved.

I met Jake Gyllenhall in the Forth Worth first class lounge. He was reading Newsweek. I went right up to him and said I was a big fan, eyeballing him. He took this to be a grievous insult and replied, without looking up, “Move along, faggot.”

R168 That's not boring! 😲

You know how people say they would never date the type of person who claps when the plane lands or sings 'Happy Birthday' to strangers in restaurants? Well I would never date (maybe even fuck) someone that consistently approached celebrities in the wild to tell them how big a fan they were. It just signals a kind of entitlement and lack of self-awareness (not to mention a creepy propensity for parasocial relationships) that I have to believe would bleed over into other aspects of their personality. I believe these to be the same kinds of people that publicly and dramatically mourn the deaths of celebrities on social media for weeks or months.

I agree. Under most circumstances. If you are at an awards show, charity event or party, I have no issue.

I sat beside Matthew Mconnaughey in an airport. It was about 10 years ago. I wanted to say hi, but couodnt think of a movie of his I liked and couldn't lie in case he got into a chat about it..and I just couldn't think of any other introduction that I'm a big fan...but I wasnt, so we sat like the strangers we were for about 10 mins. He was very normal and not a bit showbiz and kind of upbeat.

I fetched a bottle of water for Janis Ian at a music festival when she couldn't find a volunteer to get one for her. No drama, she just said "thank you".

I saw Topol at a store where I was employed during the 90s. The woman he was with did all the talking while he just kind of stared off into space.

One of the biggest jackasses I ever waited on was a local weatherman, who was such a staple when I was growing up and looked so familiar, at first I thought he was a relative. When I gave him the total for his order, he said, "$6.66... that's appropriate, since I'M THE DEVIL." Then he Just stood there staring at me. I didn't want to encourage him, so I just said, "That's nice. Have a good day."

[quote]Walked into a Starbucks and saw Michelle Pfeiffer standing at the entrance, holding a coffee cup, talking to someone. She was wearing a ball cap and a track suit (circa Juicy Couture days). For some reason, I looked down at her feet and she had very nicely-kept feet. IIRC, a light pink / nude-ish color of nail polish. [italic]Her demeanor was very low-key[/italic].

As opposed to what, R21? Running around, flailing her arms about?

R173 The response "have a nice day" to I'M THE DEVIL has had me laughing for ten minutes and I don't even know why. Why are weatherman always so weird?

[quote]I sat next to Jamie Lee Curtis in first class on a flight. she had the window seat, was wearing a baseball hat and sunglasses. She turned to me once everyone boarded and said, "I know you know who I am, but I am really trying to get some rest on this flight so nice to meet you but please don't bother me." I smiled politely and went back to my book.

Hi, Angie!

R147, her real name was Iva Toguri. In the fall of 1977, I went to her store specifically so that I could buy my first futon for my then boyfriend and me to sleep on. I was new to Chicago and I think that was the only place I knew of that might sell futons.

I rode in an elevator in the UN Plaza hotel with Jim Nabors in 1986. I was covering the press event being held there for the NBC fall lineup, and he was there promoting some dumb sitcom. It was crowded in the elevator and I had to stand close to him. He was with another older guy and they seemed uncomfortable.

OP,was there the paper upside down? I wonder if he can read?.😂

Actor Joe Pantoliano came in my store back in the early 2000s (around the same time as Rob Schneider). He was working on a television show where parts were being filmed in the neighborhood. He was very nice, but very queeny and dramatic. He was with a very cute younger guy and he talked to him non-stop as he shopped. The poor young stud looked so bored - like he was being held prisoner. Not sure if the young stud was an actor, crew member, or his boy-toy. I think JP was a little upset that no one in the store approached him or recognized him while he was prancing around. ( I acknowledged him very quietly when he first came in and asked for help with something).

I used to shop at a tiny storefront south of Herald Square on Broadway.... that only carried pre recorded cassette tapes, remainders, or cutouts no less......!

....and Barry Manilow's mother came in. She didn't come to shop, she just wanted to go on and on about Barry to me,

I guess I looked like a Barry Mailow fan circa 1978.

Barry Manilows mother, I kid you not. Going on and on about Barry.

Exchanged small talk with Brooke Shields while there was a very long line at this SoHo coffee shop a few years ago.

She’s extremely tall for a woman (my height, solidly 6 foot) but other than that, a typical NYC frauen.

I saw Goodie Proctor dancing with the devil after midnight once.

R181 WOW! So unusual for a "Jewish Mother". They're usually very humble about their successful kids.

A friend of mine lived in NY in the late 70s - early 90s, and worked for a very popular florist outside of NYC, in NJ. His artistry was beautiful (according to her) and being outside NYC, his prices were more reasonable. My friend took all the phone orders and walk-in orders / customers while the owner did the arrangements.

One frequent caller was none other than Barbra Streisand. Anytime she needed flowers sent to someone in NYC for birthdays, get-well bouquets, funerals, holidays, or events (such as someone's Broadway opening) she would call this florist. My friend said she would pick up the phone and hear, "Hi Ann - it's Barbra..." in her distinctive voice, and then proceed to give her order. She said Barbra was nothing less than kind, polite and humble.

On the other hand, Mary Tyler Moore was also a regular phone-order customer. The phone would ring, and she would hear someone say, "Please hold for Miss Mary Tyler Moore". A long while later, MTM would get on the phone and coldly give her order - with no apologies to how long she was tying up Ann's time leaving her 'on hold'. She was very 'icy' in her demeanor to her.

I used to see James Carville jogging near my neighborhood - also at a neighborhood breakfast place.

I sat next to Chloe Sevigny at the counter in a diner. I recognized her and we talked for a minute or two. Very pleasant. What surprised was what happened next, when the guy on the other side of her, who obviously had no idea who she was, started chatting her up. She was perfectly nice to him. "What brings you here?" her asked. "Oh, work," she replied. No snark or attitude, even after he kept asking her stupid questions. I was impressed.

R58, please elaborate

R187 I already did.

R188, what post ?

R125. I’m Sorry you had a disappointing encounter with D. Dunne . He’s known as being very gracious and warm to Fans . It looks like he was stressed about something

R189 In R125

[quote] Joe Pantoliano ... very queeny and dramatic

For those who don't know, Joe Pantoliano played Ralph Cifaretto on the Sopranos. The writers were known to bring the actors' personal lives into the scripts. James Gandolfini (Tony) got upset about it.

Anyway, I wonder if the writers sensed something odd about Joe P. His character was written as a sexual deviant.

The writers also insinuated that the Frank Vincent / Phil Leotardo character was gay.

R189, just type "dunne" or whatever in the search bar of your phone (I'm assuming you're using a phone). A drop-down menu should appear and you can select "find on this page."

I saw Hillary Clinton and Chelsea at Katz's Deli in NYC at 8:30 in the morning. It was the last day of my trip and I wanted a big sandwich before I flew out. They were filming something and had a lot of lighting equipment. Hilary was dressed to the nines in a eye-searingly blue suit with professional make up and hair. I thought she was a local news reporter until I walked to other side of the restaurant for water and saw Chelsea's distinctive face. When I got back to the table I said to my boyfriend "that's Hillary fucking Clinton". It was such a big distraction that I barely enjoyed my sandwich. She looks and sounds exactly the same in real life. Chelsea's hair looked very clean and smooth. Hillary had soup instead of a sandwich. That was my first celebrity sighting in NYC and I can't wait for it to happen again.

[quote]I’m Sorry you had a disappointing encounter with D. Dunne . He’s known as being very gracious

He's also known as being dead, r190.

R149 did Brandon say anything back?

R181 pushy PR lol

I worked at QVC and would see Joan Rivers every now and then in the halls. Most celebs would stay away from the common areas, but Joan would be in there for some reason.

R33 Mmmmm Shawn Penn was so gorge.

Henry Winkler sat next to my elderly mother at a banquet and absolutely charmed her. She said he's very erudite and well read, but not pretentious. My mother adores you, Henry Winkler!

Henry Winkler well read? He's dyslexic

R201 Word from my mother. Maybe he listens to audiobooks, I never met him.

I know of someone else's close encounter with Cate B. She filmed a scene at a restaurant Maury's Tiny Cove in Cheviot, Ohio, and the management fed her the menu. She adored the potato skins, and their oversize flown in from NYC dill pickles, served as an appetizer. She apparently left with several helpings. She had to negotiate a treacherous narrow staircase, and had assistants go before and behind her and joked about literally breaking a leg. Everyone LOVED her. She was very funny.

Cate Blanchett ordered potato skins one time! 🤩

But seriously, I don't know why it's so hilarious to me, but I love how pointless all of these stories are. I'm cracking up at this thread so much.

Really OP? He was a boring celebrity? That’s shocking!

R205 No doubt ur snatch is boring and empty since the Nixon admin.

Valentine's Day 2020 I saw Johnny Marr in Soho. I smiled, but didn't chat to him as it was raining and he didn't have an umbrella.

When I worked in a second hand record shop in Camden I once served Noel Gallagher. I can't remember what he bought, but he paid in cash.

R181 Maybe she was just a Barry Manilow stalker?

I crossed 6th avenue with Sally Field. She was very tiny, and wore a track suit. She was nice.

R210.......this is my memory of what she looked like.

R285 in this thread hired Jack Dixon to fuck him, but Jack couldn't stay hard.

Jack may be celeb-adjacent only. But it sounds like a really boring encounter in any event.

[quote] Henry Winkler sat next to my elderly mother at a banquet and absolutely charmed her. She said he's very erudite and well read, but not pretentious. My mother adores you, Henry Winkler!

Henry Winkler has an MFA from Yale.

Ok. But it's in acting one presumes.

I once read a series of threads about meeting Cate Blanchett on public transit.

R196 Sorry, I was kidding about that. I am actually a huge fan and would never do anything so disrespectful -- I'd just think about it!

I'm flattered, though, that my little fib inspired a new thread. Neat!

In the late 80's saw Martin Sheen in the Plaza Hotel. I was with a friend, soaking wet, and it was raining cats and dogs. He smiled and said hello in an avuncular, non-threatening way. He was still pretty cute at this stage, but no longer the hottie of Badlands or even Apocalypse Now.

^ I think he was buying cigarettes but could be mistaken.

I waited on James Coburn in the 90's and although an old guy he was still fit and handsome. He was also polite and his wife/gf/date was gorgeous and age-appropriate (within 20 years.)

When I was at the Millennium Hotel in Times Square, I shared an elevator up to my floor with Jai Rodriguez, one of the hosts of the original 'Queer Eye'. He was my favorite of all the hosts.

In person, he was very short and slim, but cute. A 'pocket gay' in every sense of the word. I said hello and he responded kindly, and I could tell he wasn't interested in chit-chat.

When I worked p/t for Macy's in the early 90's, we let Roseanne Barr and her kids come in after we closed to shop. She was more attractive in person and looked like any other UMC soccer mom. She was sedate and not "on."

Hugh Jackman lived blocks away from me in the West Village. He was known to be very cordial to neighbors. Would see him and his wife often walking dogs and had several pleasant encounters. Now he's moved a bit north, probably being agreeable there as well.

I took a crap in the same restroom as Jean Dixon in June 1980. She was whispering to herself. I tried hard to make out what she was saying. After a couple of minutes I could hear her saying “I’ve got to get the fuck out of this toilet. That bitch must have pinched off a 20 pounder. Goddamn it smells ungodly!

[quote] Years ago, Joseph Cotton

It's Cotten, dearie.

I've written about this before, but during one stay, I used to share the hot tub at the Sunset Marquis in WeHo most mornings with Roy Scheider and what seemed like the only copy of the NY Times at the hotel.

We never said much, just pleasantries and stuff like, "Are you done with the financial section?"

One time I waited on Grassle. I forgot about it for 30 yrs until a few minutes ago.

One of my favorite celeb encounters—I hope it's true—happened on a shuttle flight to DC (no seat assignments) when a guy started to sit next to Diane Sawyer. As soon as she saw him approaching, she "accidentally" dumped her coffee on the seat to force him to move along.

R227 Chuck Grassley? The senator?

R62 The thought that Richard Branson would be socially incurious on a ski lift.

Karen Grassle? Little House on the Prarie?

Please, just Grassle. We all know her.

About seven years ago I saw one of the Keno brothers (the antiques/Antiques Roadshow fellows) in the Atlanta airport. I am sorry I cannot tell you which one, because I can't tell Leigh and Leslie apart. I was walking in the middle of the concourse toward my connecting gate. He was standing up in a little hotdog place that used to be there, eating a hotdog. Links Grill? I remember thinking it was odd to see someone who seems to be so tasteful having a humble hotdog. I had actually had a hotdog in the same place about a year earlier when I was desperate for a bite to eat and I was in a hurry.

R219 OMFG that anecdote practically makes you a god. You go, gurl.

In a Manhattan Woolworth’s with my mother decades ago, she spotted actor Jack Warden and immediately went up to him to say she liked his acting. He said a quick thank you and then “Do you know where the shower curtains are?”

I miss my mother (and also Woolworth’s)

R223, we had a temporary doorman who liked to brag that he had worked in the building downtown where Jackman and his family lived. He said they were very nice and cordial, tipped well, no dirt. It was also where La Kidman and Keith Urban’s wig lived. He said Keith was very nice and Kidman was “polite”. Try as I might, I couldn’t get anything more out of him about the shade of lavender of those marriages. But he genuinely seemed to have a very good opinion of Jackman.

Hugh Jackman is one of the few huge celebrities you never hear a bad word about. I remember reading after he finished in”The Boy From Oz” someone connected with the show said every man, woman and dog in the production fell in love with him.

I’ve seen many celebs on the streets of Manhattan, behaving as totally normal people. One time I smiled and nodded at Frances McDormand because I saw her and she looked vaguely familiar, maybe some frau I used to work with on a committee or something. She responded in kind and only later did I place the face.

Tony Bennett on W 57th, very graciously chatting with a gushing old lady who approached for an autograph. He seemed genuinely happy to stop and make her happy. Class act.

I saw Robert Osborne close by the Time Warner Center a couple of times. Once was during the summertime and he was casually dressed in shorts. It was funny to see him wearing something so informal; was so used to seeing him in formal suits on TCM.

Matthew McConaughey once called me a "fucking dolt" outside the Chateau Marmont. It was late and he and three friends were outside the back door (which required a separate key) and too lazy (or too stoned) to go the front entrance. I didn't recognize him and wasn't about to let three strangers onto the hotel grounds. Once he insulted me, I realized who he was and opened the gate. Later, I saw MM and one of his pals urinating outside their bungalow. Classy.

Note: Excuse the humblebrag. I was lucky enough to stay in great hotels through my former job. Now it's Days Inn for me.

Days Inn? You provincial sad cooze.

R229 Karen Grassle, fool!

Robert Redford next to me at a urinal off-Broadway; surprisingly short, and, no, I didn't see dick.

R231 Grassle! Grassle!

KAREN GRASSLE!!

Ethan Hawke at coffee house on sunset in WeHo . Very quiet and gave off a kind energy

How many faces has Matthew Mconnaughey gone through? To me he looks quite different than he did in the past.

I was behind Rachel McAdams at a Gelsons in Studio City several years ago. She smiled at me and was quite demure . Around 5’4

Two from London.

Joan Rivers walked past as we were having drinks at the Ritz.

I saw Carson from Downton in a shop on Cecil Court. He was giving off please don't vibe and it was easy to because it was just Carson from Downton.

R168, are you sure it wasn't Matt Damon?

R204, they have a dining car on Sydney public transit? Wow.

Decades ago (obviously), I sat next to Gwen Verdon, flying from London to NYC. She took her shoes off right away and tucked her legs under her butt, in a sort of kneeling manner, shifting occasionally to the other side. She seemed quite elderly and yet quite athletic. We didn't say a word to one another, but she was charming and warm when she spoke to the FAs.

I saw Stevie Wonder in LA. He didn't see me.

I met Craig T Nelson in Hancock Park . He was so sweet and humble . Good looking too

I seem to recognize people on the M104. Once it was raining and an older woman got on - soaking wet - and she took off her hat and it was Bret Somers. She was impressed I recognized her. The other one was Marian Seldes, who boarded on Broadway somewhere in the 60s - she was dressed head to toe in an acid wash ensemble.

R224 is LOL

At a Pink Floyd concert in the 80s I sat behind Toni Tennille. Some smart ass sitting in front of her turns around just before the concert started and says “what are YOU doing here”? Toni clapped back “Ah turn around, bitch”.

Toni Tenille sang backup on The Wall, so it's not weird that she would have been at a concert of theirs soon after (I'm explaining it to the dolt who challenged her just as if he could somehow hear me).

[quote] I saw Carson from Downton in a shop on Cecil Court. He was giving off please don't vibe and it was easy to because it was just Carson from Downton.

Sounds just like his character, haughty and he only works in a shop.

Peed next to Denzel @ Kiss of the Spider Woman way back. I did not look.

I saw Martin Short on an escalator once.

I blew Richard Speck.

Last month online, I sold a vinyl copy of The Odd Couple Sings to Tony Randall's widow.

R261, that was boring?

Maurgaux Hemingway was really sweet to everyone in line while waiting for a cab (pre-Uber).

I told Lily Tomlin that I saw "Lily on Her Way to Broadway" and she kissed me on the cheek.

I saw Philip Glass in a restaurant.

Was he discordant, R266?

R267 He was positively pulsating.

I saw the blonde Vikki from One Life To Live at Tavern on The Green in July 1988, conspiring with Aggie Nixon to remove me from the group picture.

R113 Haha! I love Jamie Lee Curtis for that! Direct, correct, but not overly dramatic or rude. She is so good at being a star. Glad she has an Oscar. If you see a celebrity, but don't have any specific reason to interact, leave them be. Nothing worse than when people won't let you discreetly sleep, eat, or go to the bathroom in peace.

Met a lot of famous people, irl. All of them were either super nice, perfectly normal, or sort of blank and boring until the camera was on. Never had a star be mean to me. Then again, I have star power, so they like me.

R252 Stevia Wonder bread is known to be a homosexualist. I wonder how he gets sex.

Why tell people you waited on a celeb at a restaurant? It seems so pointless. Like everyone else, I'm sure they want to dine or get their coffee in peace without you gawking at them or pretending they don't exist (while they can feel you desperately wanting them to notice you). It's weird.

R273 Because their cunts and brains are empty. Ooooooh I waited on a dead celebrity 50 years ago! I am a celebrity now.

Thread is "Boring Celeb Encounters." This is the time and the place for that.

I waited on Matthew McConaughey and table of other actors that I'm assuming are also notable (I vaguely recognized some of them.) I was busy and barely remember them. They were talking and laughing a lot. He left a big tip.

R273 Are you able to decipher the title and point of this thread?

R277 It's funny that they seem to simultaneously understand the point of the thread just fine, and yet it is also whooshing over their head at the same time.

[quote] She said Cate was reading the entire time and didnt look bothered when she asked her questions.

Who the fuck keeps pestering a stranger with silly questions when they're trying to read? For Christ's sake, your friend sounds like an asshole. Cate should have gone all Alec Baldwin on them.

I saw Jon Stewart on a street corner in New York about 20 years.

We were all waiting for the light to cross.

Jon was talking to a friend.

I saw Alfred Hitchcock on an escalator in LA. It was like seeing a mythical creature.

Was once travelling by train through France from Paris to Nice as I remember (1st class) and next to my seat accross the coulor was sitting an abandoned suitcase. As the journey progressed and no one was claiming it, my fellow passengers and I started being frantic. Finally, a woman emerged from the bar wagon and casually opened the suitcase. Who was it, but Cate Blanchett. She seemed unmindful of the stir she had caused and someone angrily asked " so it was yours ?" and she seemed a little startled. I couldn't help myself and almost shouted "you have some nerve lady" to which she snapped back "what's your problem ? did you need to be so rude ?" and I said something to the effect of " it could have been a bomb", to which she replied haughtily " I don't live in a world where there a threat every minute", and all I could find was "well, you're lucky".She grabbed her suitcase and stormed off the wagon.

Was Cate taking the long way to Australia?

R283 she was probably on her way to Cannes

Cate really does enjoy her train travel.

“You have some nerve lady”? Who are you, R282 - Bugsy Siegel?

R286 It is funny when these mousy fraus try and be all threatening. The only thing frightening is their musty claptrap betwixt their hairy loins.

I encountered Cate Blanchett on the train to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. She was dressed as a Nazi officer.

^ We told y'all she was a white devil!

Cate Blanchett rode me for hours.

I once saw DefeCate BlandSHIT collecting cans in the lane near my house. She said G'day mate.

I saw Miss Blanchett on the Orient Express

Kate and I were sharing a circuit at les bains romain-irlandais in the Engiadine. She smiled ever so briefly then pretended I didn't exist.

When I encountered Cate Blanchett in a Pullman car on the way to Frisco, she was very dainty and well-mannered. She stuck to her embroidery and a worn copy of Woman's Home Companion.

I forgot to mention which Kate. Moss.

I walked past Bonnie Raitt on the sidewalk once.

Was she incredible, R296?

R168 Fort Worth? Was it the First Class Lounge in a barn?

R296 Did she give you sumthin to talk about?

I sat behind Tom Waits at a Rickie Lee Jones concert. He was speaking to someone next to him (before it started) and the voice was unmistakeable.

[quote] Was once travelling by train through France from Paris to Nice as I remember (1st class) and next to my seat accross the coulor was sitting an abandoned suitcase.

What is a "coulor"?

Probably "couloir", French for the gangway/aisle on a train carriage.

It sucks, I love it! Thank you R280.

I saw Larry King on Fifth Avenue early one January morning about 20 years ago standing on the corner of 55th Street by the St Regis wearing a sports jacket with a silk scarf wrapped over his mouth and around the back of his head. He was just standing there. I didn't say anything and if I had, he probably couldn't have said much back, given that he was wrapped in a scarf.

This was long before COVID and it was about 5 degrees outside that day. Maybe he was protecting his voice?

Protecting your eyes!

I once served breakfast to the members of Anthrax back in the late 1980s. One of them ordered oatmeal.

R280, that was very boring, thank you.

He tipped his hat and took a seat. He said he hoped he hadn't stepped upon my feet. He asked my name, I held my breath. I couldn't speak because he scared me half to death. Buzz, buzz, buzz went the buzzer. Flop, flop, flop went the wheels. Stop, stop, stop went my heartstrings. As he started to leave I took hold of his sleeve with my hand. Imagine my embarrassment when it turned out to be Cate Blanchett.

Embarraschment!

And it wasn't even on a train.

In all seriousness, when I've seen her on Graham Norton, she seems so constipated and a little grand, like she doesn't know how to have fun and will be afraid that Graham knows some horrible secret about her. I'll bet she'd be a boring or at least uncomfortable meet in real life.

[quote] I would hesitate to call anyone who smokes cigarettes "upper crust". By its nature smoking is trashy and low.

Fuck you, peasant.

A dozen years ago I walked past Graham Norton one night on 7th Ave near his studio and said “I love your show” as I went by. He said “Cheers, Mate!”

Around 1995 I sat directly across from Marilu Henner at a gate at LAX. She was reading a script. A 40ish guy tried to chat her up, and she shut him down quickly with a barely polite smile.

I’m sure she can corroborate all of this.

I shared an elevator once here in LA with Larry David. He looked like he had no muscle tone at all, as if his entire body had been carved out of jello. He did say hi to me though.

Maybe 20-25 years ago, when I was living in the West Village, I was walking down W. 4th Street when I saw a woman coming in the other direction. I looked at her thinking I might know her, but couldn't place it. As we passed, I realized it was Winona Ryder. She glanced at me and immediately turned away, covering the nearer side of her face. LOL. I wish I had noticeably checked for my wallet as walked by.

Also, another time, on W 10th Street and Bleecker, I stopped into my favorite deli shop and saw Gwyneth Paltrow being an absolute bitch to the guy behind the counter (who I knew as a nice guy) before rushing out into a waiting taxi. She was buying cigarettes, and clearly having a nicotine withdrawal hissy fit.

R315 Those types are fucked up. I once had sex w this dude years ago and he had zero muscle tone. Chicken legs like Meghan. Fuck it was gross. He was like a walking skeleton.

[Quote] Chicken legs like Meghan.

????

R318 R u a fucking retard. Meghan Markle has fucking chicken legs. Scum.

R319 is blind and batshit.

I saw Judith Light outside a theater in NYC back around 2012. I forget which. She had a large suitcase with her and appeared to be waiting for a taxi.

I gay gasped.

You gay gasped at Judith Light? Judith Light???

I used to see Ethan Hawke eating dinner with his kids all the time at my regular diner - The Chelsea Square. Apparently it was his regular diner too.

[quote] I once had sex w this dude years ago and he had zero muscle tone. Chicken legs like Meghan. Fuck it was gross. He was like a walking skeleton.

Yet, somehow, you powered through.

I saw Luke Perry in an elevator about ten years ago; he was friends with an actor who lived in my building. I nodded as I would to anyone else, and went about my business as any good New Yorker would do, going through the mail and getting my keys out. He was short but still handsome.

After I got out of the elevator, I fanned myself a bit. Mary.

I saw Ian Zeiring in a store years ago, and he was cute but had almost no hair back then. He must wear a toupee now.

I was eating Sushi in Malibu and I saw Jillian Michaels (not too much of a celeb) - laughing and yucking it up with dinner companions.

Sushi is not a proper noun, R327.

You don't know who she is, R328.

I saw Pete Buck I at a Nashville show featuring bands from Athens, GA. He was leaning against a wall and drinking a beer.

I was on a train to Monaco a few years back, it's quite slow and stops at every little town and beach, Eze, Roquebrune, whatever. the view from the window was stunning, so I didn't pay attention to my fellow passengers. When we finally reached Monaco, the woman sitting in front of me rose from her seat too fast and bumped her head on the luggage rail above her . A few people gasped at the STOMP noise so I looked up. It was Cate. Yes the Cate Blanchett. She laughed and moved on.

R217 So that's one confirmed lie.

My friend Julie is a real conductor.

I farted in an elevator next to Gwyneth Paltrow, who politely fanned herself and drew helplessly on her cigarette.

We knew she huffed farts.

Her new GOOP candle is: This Smells Like the Farts of a Guy Who Farted Next to Me in an Elevator Once

R336 - Will it topple her best selling candle, "My Pussy Still Smells Like Chris Martin"?

R337 Awww yoo cunt. Funnest coment on heer yett.

I was on the 4:50 train from Paddington when I saw Cate Blanchett through the window, on the crossing train. She was seemingly being strangled by an unidentified passenger

For a couple of years, I lived in the West Village walkup where Wallace Shawn either lived or worked, at least some of the time. We passed each other on the stairs fairly often. Most of the residents were older Italians who probably didn't know him from Adam. I knew who he was, of course, but never let on. We always exchanged a few words of pleasant small talk. Very sweet guy.

I walked past Rosanne Cash and her husband John Leventhal in Chelsea. They were having a disagreement about something, not raising their voices but she was obviously perturbed at him.

That was Mindy, R339, pissed off because Kate wouldn't let her borrow the faux-leopard bag.

I've seen Marisa Berenson a couple times at Gato in Marrakech

I was reading things posted on a bulletin board inside Jan Hus Presbyterian Church, and Liza said, "Are you waiting for the bathroom?" I said no and she said, "Oh, good . . ." and headed straight into it.

Did I schay thanksch at leascht, schweetie?

Paltrow is a cold fish

I saw Joan Rivers at the Whitney (when they were in the Breuer building in the UES) about a year before she died. She was being given a private tour and seemed to appreciate the art.

Back when Hamilton transferred to Broadway, I snagged a resold ticket in orchestra left, maybe 5-6 rows from the front. Turns out President Obama was seeing it that day. LMM took a seat about 5 mins before curtains up (Javier Munoz was on), and just before the show began, Obama was ushered into his seat about a few aisles behind me in the center. Everyone had their phones out, but the show began immediately. During intermission, they kept the curtains down - later we found that Obama met and took photos w/the cast/crew on stage during at that time.

R345 that is so funnneeeee!

Saw Cate Blanchett at a train station in India. I had bribed my way into the last VIP ticket, as it was a 3 days journey, and she was upset that she couldn't have a VIP bunk (only a 1st class one, which is a notch lower). She was trying to talk the inspector into letting her have a VIP bunk and switch another passenger to her 1st class ticket, to no avail. As I was boarding the train, she turned to me and hissed "why do YOU get the VIP treatment ?"

Are you ESL R350?

are you CUNT R351 ?

When I first moved to New York I worked at a gourmet shop near the Met Museum. Early one evening, a couple came in and I immediately recognized him as Alan Jay Lerner. He was vacant-eyed and bleary, but that didn't stop this show queen from telling him how much his work meant to me. The woman—I later learned it was his 7th wife Nina—caressed his arm and said, "See, Alan, they do remember you." He was unresponsive and the incident made me very sad.

I used to walk on 9th Av in the 30s and 40s all the time and it was prime celebrity-spotting territory. I wouldn't call it an "encounter," but I once walked by Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, just strolling along arm in arm. He looked very frail by this point, but those blue eyes shone out every bit as well as they ever did on screen. I was suprised at how short he was. I didn't expect him to be tall, but he looked (at a glance) no taller than maybe 5'5".

When I was a teen, I was out at dinner with my parents and as we were leaving, a man who was coming in with his date(?) held the door open for us. My father said jocularly, "Thank you, my good man. I'll remember you with a tip at Christmas." The man holding the door seemed genuinely amused and laughed at the joke. My father had no idea who the man was, but I recognized him as John Ritter.

Best anecdote of all fucking time R355. Gotta love that twist ending. Jeesasss phuck.

r354 I can confirm...I am that height as well, and we were the same height when I saw him in Manhattan.

R355 your dad sounds like WC Fields!

I saw Cate Blanchett in Moscow, hammering the wheels of a train with a clinking sound that gave me the creeps

I was in New York and walked past Estelle Parsons.

I once had cocktails with Brenda Vaccaro and Guy Hector at some press event. Lovely couple.

I briefly met Jeanne Cooper backstage at a telethon. She seemed groovy. Jess Walton hustled her away.

[quote] Who the fuck keeps pestering a stranger with silly questions when they're trying to read? For Christ's sake, your friend sounds like an asshole. Cate should have gone all Alec Baldwin on them.

Cate probably knew said friend knew who she was and pretending not to know .

R186, where was that?

I am standing at the train stop hoping to see Cate Blanchett pass by.

I once saw Helen Lawson picking at her toenails backstage before a performance of “Who Gives a Flying Fuck II?”.

She kept mumbling about some pretentious little Australian kid on a train.

Can Danielle's skirt be any shorter?

^^ wrong thread

Is Danielle a whore?

^^ the most whorish one there is

OP, thanks for warning is that Duchovny is a RIGHT-WINGER!!

I was on the Pacific Surfliner going to San Diego, and at a stop in San Clemente, who gets on the train but Cate Blanchett?

I introduced myself, and she said "I'm Meridith Logue". Before I could say anything, she added "Yes, of the textile Logues".

R371 He reads?

A late night on the train train ride from Victoria station, I took advantage of this as an opportunity to meditate — a practice I was trying to consistently do.

Someone got on. I felt a very menacing presence next to me. So I fluttered my eyelids open and there was this terrifying looking woman who was staring down at me with a scowl on her face.

Rather than move away, I said, "Hi." At first, the woman was confused by my greeting, but it initiated the most moving conversation I've had with a human being in my life. That woman was Cate Blanchett

The Cate transportation sightings have become a reach lately, don't you think?

Strangers no more, R374

R375, the Cate sighting posts are parody

We were traveling from Los Angeles back to New York

when suddenly a blond woman jumped up and pulled the emergency brake

Conductor: Madam, did you stop this train by pulling that handle?

Cate Blanchett: Well I didn't do it by dragging my feet.

R375 I don't think she was really on the train to Auschwitz.

I met Ben Aldridge at a charity event a few years ago. He chatted for a moment to people he was introduced to, then just sort of stood there quietly until his then-boyfriend showed up like 30 minutes later to take him away.

I used to see Tony Roberts around, sometimes. I’d say “Hey, Max…” while passing, if I was close enough for him to hear. Kind of bitchy of me, I know.

Everyone’s face looks painful at R342 (Rihanna excluded).

What is going on in the photo @ r342? What photoshoot was that? Oh boy Sandy B needs to go easy on the fillers. She looks plastic honey!

I was looking to book quick passage to New York for my cousin Dalia’s wedding. I, of course, immediately queried about open seats on the Carpathia when I curiously noted an abundance of open first class seats on a new, even larger ship — the biggest and grandest ever, as I was told. I found it odd, given that it was April, the very fever pitch of wedding season everywhere (as I’m sure you’re aware).

Just as I was about to sign my name to the ledger and purchase my ticket on the new luxury liner, a beautiful woman approached me and said, “Dearest, I wouldn’t.”

The year was 1912; her name was Cate and — as you would imagine — we became fast friends!

Seats, R384? You sit for six days crossing the Atlantic?

I encountered Roma Downey in Santa Monica in late 90’s . She was so regal and alluring. A real feminine star . A sexier version of Audrey Hepburn

E381 a friend of my moms got divorced in the early 90s and rented an apt for a couple years from Tony’s brother Ken Roberts. I don’t have any stories , that’s all I know, so it’s appropriately under the boring encounters thread.

Was a prewar coop so they only allow rent for two years - 86th between park and Madison, I believe.

A lady always sits, R385.

[QUOTE] I encountered Roma Downey in Santa Monica in late 90’s. She was so regal and alluring. A real feminine star. A sexier version of Audrey Hepburn

Roma Downey and Mark Burnett fighting dealing interest lawsuits.

Yeah, Trump more than porked her. Burnett has been mum for a reason.

I sat next to Cate Blanchett on a train from Clapham Junction to Waterloo St. back when she was in PLENTY. That's all I've got.

I saw five c-list actors pull a train on Cait Blanchett. She was moaning “All aboard!”

R389, really? Ugh money corrupts some . I think her daughter is phony as fuck

I've seen Cate Blanchett every single time I've traveled by train, and I'm not the only one. Many of my friends have as well

She’s ubiquitous

Out and about

^The woman behind her either recognized her was lez and liked what she saw.

I hung out with Pat Boone at a radio convention in the late 1990s. He seemed pretty chill in his toupee and leather jacket.

Cate on the bus

Here she is again

Helen Mirren and Taylor live down the road from me in Lecce, Italy for half of the year. We often eat in the same restaurants. Usually say hello.

She even waits for the bus

Her audition for Strangers on a Train.

She's a pro

She is just like us

What is this? Is she cruising on public transit?

She’s always been a regular of public transport.

My husband and I were standing right behind chef Curtis Stone at the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg. At my height, I'm almost eye level with his hot ass and wanted to just take a bite out of his tight Calvin Klein jeans. Good thing my husband was there or I would be in jail! Actually, maybe that wasn't so boring to me haha!

R407, I've seen Curtis in his restaurant, and he is hot as hell.

Even better in person than on TV :)

That's for sure!

[quote] My friend told me she sat next to Cate Blanchett on a train ride a few years ago. She said the entire time she pretened she didn't know who Cate was just to secretly spy on her, and asked her random questions like the time, train arrival time trivial shit like that. She said Cate was reading the entire time and didnt look bothered when she asked her questions. Said she got off the train before Cate. That's all

Is that your friend at r399?

Poor man in R399 looks uncomfortable.

That's her husband r412

He does, R412. What are those seats: 8 inches deep? That looks like a ledge, not a seating area but it obviously is.

R380 sounds pretty exciting for Ben

Ron Reagan Jr and his wife Doria were regular customers at my shop...low key, super nice couple.

R412, R413 and R414 that’s how Andrew Upton often looks - I pointed this out a couple of weeks ago and was shut down overnight by the usual DL chorus of ageing naysayers. He had a much higher profile as playwrite, screenwriter and director when he got together with his wife who was an unknown, fresh out of NIDA (National Institute of Dramatic Art) at the time.

Very nice bloke. Very low key.

What are they naysaying? He's gay?

r354 - I met Paul Newman once too, towards the end of his life, at a professional function. I'm barely 5'9" and I towered over him. Same thing with Richard Dreyfuss. That man is practically a leprechaun.

Robert Redford is also quite short. That's a thing with actors, right?

At least they're not Alan Ladd, who had to stand on phone books.

Newman probably shrank a couple of inches toward the end of his life.

R420 I don't know what you consider short but Redford is 5'10". 5'9" is considered average for American men - therefore Redford is AVERAGE height.

I seen him with my own eyes. I'd say 5'7", maybe 5'8".

Not an inch over 5'2".

You guys make me laugh!!

A couple years ago, I stood in line for about an hour at the mall just to hold spot for mother , to meet her Soaps people. We met and took photos with Victor Newman, Nikki Newman and Jack from Y and R

R426, waddya mean we make you laugh? you think we're funny? Funny how? You think we're here to fuckin’ amuse you? how are we funny?

I'm surprised at the number of Kate Blanchette sightings on the train. She acts so grand, I assumed she would see public transportation as something beneath her.

It might be r429. I once saw Cate Blamcheyye whiz by me on a Segway in the harbor area of Sydney. Though I have no idea if she owned the Segway or was renting it.

For R429, “acts so grand” = “knows the basics of spelling and grammar”.

"hammering the wheels of a train with a clinking sound"

What does that mean?

R432, it was most likely written by an ESL poster. Poor thing

I don't believe R1.

Adrien is by all accounts a low hangin' man......

[quote] Kate Blanchette

I don't know her

[quote] [R420] I don't know what you consider short but Redford is 5'10". 5'9" is considered average for American men - therefore Redford is AVERAGE height.

Celebrities always overstate their height. Plus, the older male celebrities have lost some height due to old age.

When I lived/worked in Chicago I saw Roger Ebert and his wife (several times), Henry Rollins, Alanis Morissette, Morrissey, Art from Everclear, and Oprah Herselfeses once, walking down the street in April in a fur coat. (Bitch, it wasn't that cold.)

When I lived/worked in Pittsburgh I saw David Conrad, who was so fucking hot I just wanted to unzip him and sick him off right there.

Sir Paul McCartney in the greengrocers.

Cate Blanchett in the Deli.

Sandy Duncan.

In a wheat field.

[quote] Cate Blanchett in the Deli.

Did she come by bus ?

I was in a hotel elevator with Bob Villa, the original This Old House guy. He smiled, had really expensive luggage, and was kind of hot in person.

Nasir Jones is one the smuggiest little bitches that ever got behind a mic. He signed my name wrong when I was 12 yrs old and got an attitude when I asked him to rewrite my name at his autograph signing at Tower Records. It was then I became a Jay fan.

I kid and he is one of the greatest MCs but still. The bitch gave me the look of death piercing his eyes from above his black shades.

R440 Lol No she walked from her old home around the corner.

Fuck Blanchett

[quote]When I lived/worked in Pittsburgh I saw David Conrad, who was so fucking hot I just wanted to unzip him and suck him off right there.

Yes, I saw him, too. He starred in Richard Greenberg's Three Days of Rain at the JCC, and I saw him that Sunday sitting outside at a coffee shop in Squirrel Hill. I stopped and talked to him for a few minutes. He said he hoped to move back to Pittsburgh someday. As of last month, he was living in London with his girlfriend, Juliet Rylance.

I had very similar thoughts, r437, about his penis. He's really gorgeous.

David Conrad. I had completely forgotten about him. Everyone at Brown had a crush on David Conrad. I had no idea he went on to a successful career.

Met Reese Witherspoon in a mall in LA a million years ago. She was big and pregnant with her first baby, but was perfectly nice to me and my friends.

R442 Lol couldn't even pretend to give a fuck.

I held the doors open to Fortnum and Masons for Una Stubbs.

I made whoopie with Mary Treen in the broom closet.

I met the late Tony Warren (creator of Coronation Street) on a cruise. He said he’d stopped drinking years ago and that sobriety had made him boring. He was right.

Gloria Honeyford pushing a trolley in Sainsbury's supermarket in Sevenoaks, Kent.

Aida Turturro walking a dog.

Not exactly a celeb, Andrew Sullivan, walking his 2 dogs in P-town. Smiled, nodded, looked unusually healthy.

The other day I was cleaning my car and bent over. I felt a fist go easily into my rear and just as quickly it was gone. I turned around and it was DefeCate Blandshit running away.

So thoroughly British, R452.

Absolutely R456.

I also bumped into Adam Faith and Cheryl Baker from Buck's Fizz in the car park there on separate occasions.

Gloria was wearing fluffy kitten mule shoes!

R455, don't quit your day job.

R457 The Sainsbury's of the STAHS 🤩

[QUOTE]Gloria was wearing fluffy kitten mule shoes!

Someone knows how to be famous properly! I hope they were pink.

In a restaurant where I worked, I once complimented JLo on the amazing scene at the end of "Out Of Sight" and the way it was shot. She looked at me as if I were speaking a foreign language.She had no idea what the hell I was talking about.

R459 They were very pink indeed!

I ran to catch a cab on Park Avenue one afternoon, just as Jackie O was emerging from it.

R458 Don't quit being a diseased cunt.

On my way to see Jesus Christ Superstar when my boyfriend and I walked down a side street and saw Jon Secada walking towards us. I whispered to my boyfriend that it was him and my boyfriend yelled "HEY, JONNNNY!!!" at the top of his lungs. Jon looked mortified and so was I.

In an outlet mall I saw Miss Tammy Faye Bakker strolling with a friend and clutching a TJ Maxx bag. She was well under 5 feet feet tall and wearing very high wedge sandals. She looked painfully thin from her cancer struggles but was giggling with her friend and having fun.

At a cigar bar Dennis Rodman came in with a girlfriend. He stopped to say hello and shake hands; his hand was ENORMOUS and quite rough. His girlfriend was a law student at my university and she looked embarrassed once we made that connection.

In a Mexican restaurant, Ted Nugent came in with his wife and family. He was rude and impatient when asked to wait a moment while tables were pushed together to accommodate his large party. He sat himself down at the table before it was even ready and generally behaved like an asshole. His family was very nice and also very attractive.

At a book signing, Patti Smith was annoyed with people taking her photo before her talk and told them they had enough photos already. When we lined up for her autograph it was clear she hated giving the autographs and she was rather unfriendly. She should have just pre-autographed the books because she clearly didn't feel like speaking to anyone after her book talk.

As previously posted here, I saw Amanda Knox in an Apple store buying a laptop. She looked like a very average 20 something year old girl, but I noticed her in an overcrowded Apple store because she was clearly trying not to be seen. That drew my eye to her and I stared until I recognized her.

I met Kevin Spacey through a work event and he was wearing a terrible all linen outfit that did him no favors. He looked quite pleased with himself in that outfit, though. He was otherwise funny and charming.

R451 Tony Warren was boring long before he stopped drinking, he could clear The Rembrandt bar in Manchester in seconds

One day at lunch I was getting soup at Whole Foods and recognized the voice of DJ from Full House (a.k.a. Candace Cameron Bure). I looked up and there was Candace excitedly giving another woman a tour of the prepared foods section, for reasons I'll never know or understand.

Please go into more detail about this, R466, if possible.

R467, it sort of looked like she had a friend in town and was trying to show her around the store while they shopped? But they didn't have a cart. Her voice was so loud and easily recognizable it stopped me mid-soup ladle so I could check out what was going on.

Was she praising Jeebus for all his abundance at Whole Foods?

I’m more annoyed you could hear her… means there wasn’t enough people around telling that cunt to fuck the right fuck off

Please go into more detail about this as well, R465, if possible.

I'm American and knew nothing about him before we met.

r466, Were her pupils dilated?

Saw Duff Goldman of Food Network at Ralphs on Olympic/Barrington shopping in the baking section. I was blocking the aisle and he politely said "excuse me". Very very short, maybe 5'4" but seemed very nice to the people who recognized him.

James Taylor after a concert. Just as great as you’d think. Asked a lot about where I was from.

Adam the lead singer from Counting Crows back when they were huge. Kind of grunted hi when I was introduced but all I did was stare at his fake dreads and how badly they were sewn on his head. It was a let down.

Alec Baldwin back before Iiilllariahh. I was at a party in his building. I was in the lobby after it ended and he walked in. Nodded hello and stopped to chat in a friendly manner to the doorman.

I must have been walking right in front of a 70’s legend in 2004 in Hell’s Kitchen, because a guy coming toward us lit up and said, “Nipsy RUSSELL: baby you look GOOD!”

I waited on Eva LaRue and John Callahan.

I met Brad Maule and Ingo Rademacher.

I once saw Margaret Hamilton in a hotel lobby.

R468 The hell kind of bumpkin friends does she have? That would stop me in tracks, too.

I served gin and tonics to Roger Ebert and his date. This happened during a time when he was supposed to be sober. I told this story in another thread, not knowing that Ebert professed to be sober. Another poster questioned me on it - could not believe that Ebert professed to be sober but was drinking.

Anyway, he was kind of sour-dispositioned and I don’t think he was with his wife, and it did look like a date - not business.

R476, The Culver Hotel in Culver City!

That was me, R478. I did and do believe you, just was disappointed in Ebert. He made kind of a big deal about his sobriety.

OK, thanks, R480.

Steve Coogan walking out his old house in Hove, England.

Speaking of Ebert, I waited on Gene Siskel at a Skokie IL restaurant. He was an asshole.

Alan Rickman loudly complaining the music was too loud in the restaurant.

Once on the Matterhorn I heard Cate Blanchett sc-[italic]reaming[/italic] into her mobile: I am not getting back on that hamster wheel!

So apparently trains and cable cars, but not everything.

R479, no Olympia, WA.

R483, How so?

To R133 Lynn was the best! I got to spend a lot of time with her over a few years due to her work with The Actor's Fund. We walked together on walkathons, went to the theater together, etc. The nicest most down to earth person you'd ever know considering her pedigree and body of work. I'll always feel honored having known her.

I saw Lynn Redgrave at Home Depot in Woodland Hills in the early 80's, she had 2 carts loaded with flowers.

R133 / R488 - Did you ask her why her sister was such a cunt?

When I worked at MTV in the early 2000s, I was grabbing lunch at the cafeteria called "The Lodge" one day. While at the soda machine getting a drink, I turned to my left and said, "Oh, hi Britney". Britney Spears turned to me and said "Hi!" and then we both resumed getting our drinks.

R491, did she show ya her cooter?

Steve Jobs at the Whole Foods in Palo Alto at 2 minutes before closing. He ran in yelling, I know exactly what I want. Left his vintage Mercedes with the NEXT vanity plates illegally parked right in front of the entrance. We were waiting to check out, he tossed money on the belt of the empty register and walked out with his stuff, a beverage and something that looked like dried mushrooms.

A decade ago, I was walking in Manhattan (would walk miles: uptown to downtown to learn about the city and discover its treasures), and I encountered Kelly Riley on a Soho back street coming out of a Duane Reed store. I don’t say anything to celebs when encountering them, but I was so startled that I complimented her and mentioned I really appreciated her work. (This was pre-Yellowstone when her roles were more obscure.)

She was gracious and seemed surprised that someone recognized her.

Ian Somerhalder used to dine in a restaurant where I worked. BDE, always smelling cookies, but couldn't talk intelligently about the weather.

Not boring but not all that exciting, either. I was in line at Lamont (Harvard’s undergrad library) about an hour ago picking up my copy of “Lily Savage: An A to Z Thing” that I requested yesterday having read about Paul O’Grady’s death on Wednesday. It’s a fairly lurid cover: our Lady of the Leopardskins against a shocking pink background so easily noticed by the guy behind me in line at the desk who says, “She died the other day, you know.” I said, “Yeah, that’s why I got it” before realizing I was talking to Conan O’Brien.

He said he spent a lot of time there as a student, was walking by, and wanted to see what it looked like these days. He was friendly and polite to everyone including the guard at the door and the kids working the desk were beside themselves over their brush with fame on a quiet Thursday afternoon.

R491 was she wearing her red dress?

R496 seemed strange at first, but I guess Conan would know since O'Grady was a comedian.

Cate Blanchett dislikes funiculars too.

I rode in a Birmingham hotel elevator with Joe Namath and neither of us said anything.

Birmingham, Alabama?

Yes, Alabama.

[quote] I rode in a Birmingham hotel elevator with Joe Namath and neither of us said anything.

Your mouth was full, and he was busy pretending you were Ali McGraw.

It is well known that Cate Blanchett does dislike funiculars, but less known is that while filming Blue Jasmine she also developed a passionate hatred of cable cars. No one knows why. It's the real reason she walked out of the Ellen interview in 2013.

Faye Dunaway story

I sat next to Judi Dench at the horse racing once.

Barbra's second round of Back to Brooklyn concert. The whole fucking thing was one big expensive, awful snooze-fest. People were leaving in droves way before the end.

Thank you for sharing your experience R455.

Cate Blanchette taking up all the good seats on public transportation is bad enough...

but fisting you without your consent is just damned rude!

I saw Tom Hiddleston once walking through Hampstead Heath years ago...long before he embarrassed himself with beards and back when he was younger and more attractive

Grant Show ignored me at a sex club.

I once asked Terence Stamp how to get to Piccadilly from Haymarket.He told me.

R511 were you in between his legs at the time?

A 5th Avenue department store, maybe Lord and Taylors. Sally Jesse Raphael in her heyday. I forget why I was there but I saw a small crowd of women gathered around Sally standing on a kind of stage. She was giving some kind of talk which I couldn't hear. Maybe some event advertised on her radio show. I'm tall and was in the back and was just about to walk away when she gave me a come hither look. In different circumstances I might have followed up but I must have had something else to do at the time so I hithered away. So, yes, boring.

R510 I wouldn't necessarily say your story is boring.

I think I mentioned this years ago, but oh well... I was watching a play at the Mark Taper Forum when I heard a very familiar voice coming from directly behind me, speaking to their partner / friend / whatever. The voice was deep and husky, and at first I thought the voice belonged to a gay man. During intermission, as I got up to use the restroom, I turned to catch a quick glance at who was sitting behind me and it was none other than Miss Suzanne Pleshette, seated next to Tom Poston. She caught me looking and I smiled. She returned a smile and said, "Hello, hon!"

I used to see Suzanne and Tom at The Hamlet on Sunset. They were always friendly, even to people that came up for autographs- although most people left them alone.

Somewhere between 1979 and 1985. Standing in checkout line at a major pharmacy chain store on Ventura Blvd. (ShermanOaks/Encino/prob. Sherman Oaks) behind Annette Funicello. She had 2 cartons of Marlboros. She was very beautiful.

Rode an elevator with Eric Estrada in a building on Riverside Dr. in Toluca Lake somewhere in the 2000's. He was very beautiful.

R518 Yum. Latinx are so hot.

Eric Estrada and I were in opposite dressing rooms at Bullocks in Sherman Oaks in the early 90s.

He kept coming out shirtless, and asked me how he looked in various pants. Hot AF, and desperate for attention even from an obviously gay man.

Nice enough, and a great view for me

A friend of mine was a preteen visiting his Aunt, neighbor to Nicole Brown Simpson of Nicole Simpson. He’s pretty sure he heard the whole thing.

R519 = Miranda Hobbes

R520 Whoaa! Stop there. You was in a dressing room?

You need to tell us more. It sounds a fascinating story, not boring at all.

R519 Excuse you.

I need more from R510. Doesn't sound boring on the face of it.

I was riding the MTA B6 one day when a dissheveled Cate Blanchett lifted her caftan and queefed at me.

I was on a flight that William Shatner was on. He sat in first class and I didn't.

R527, that would've freaked me out.

I flew with President Bush Sr. (former at that time) on a garden variety United flight from Chicago to Houston. I was in coach and wondered why there were maybe 5 other passengers for the trip. Then as I got off in Houston I passed the president and so many secret service agents they filled all of business class (12 seats I think).

R525, it was at Basic Plumbing in LA, right before Melrose Place.

He already had 3 guys going at him- so it wasn't that I was ignored, so much as there wasn't room.

I was waiting at the gate to board, 3 places ahead in line was this short guy with ridiculous-looking floppy leather saddlebag carry-ons. After he turned around and caught my eye I recognized he was Nate Berkus. Just then two women approached him, with strong southern accents, "We thought that was you. Well what are you doing here?" He engaged with them but it looked a little forced. He appeared sleep deprived.

R531 Poor Nate. At least he was gracious.

Are we going to want a Part 2 or no? This thread is starting to lag pretty badly for me.

I sat next to Julie Andrews at outside restaurant in Gstaad, Switzerland back in 2009.

Part 2 is up:

I was having a raclette and Roussette meal one evening in Courchevel when Sylvie Vartan and David Hallyday sat down at the table beside me. I raised my glass and nodded at them. Mme Vartan responded with a "Bonsoir !"

R536 She didn't look at you at all.

R536 I sat next to H E Ginger in a restaurant in Gruyeres, Switzerland. His museum is there. You can visit Alien. It was a Sunday night, so very quiet. All the tourists had gone home. He was very nice and we talked a while about his work.

Is H E Ginger a Spice Girl?

Damn spellcheck!

H E Giger of course!

I served Penny Hackforth-Jones at a shop. she asked to borrow a pencil and never returned it.

I saw Anne Morrow Lindbergh on the subway once. She was looking for her baby, but Cate Blanchett told her to STFU.

I saw Bobby Hull at Country Kitchen ca. .1976.

I would have asked for a big bear hug from Bobby Hull.

I passed Wayne Knight on the street near Times Square about 10 years ago. He was with two young blondes. He didn't hide of how happy he was.

I encountered Mohammed Ali as well, back in the mid 80s. It was at O'Hare Airport. It was quite late at night and the airport was not busy. I had gone down to baggage claim to get a bag and he was sitting all alone on a bench up against the wall. No one was around him and there weren't enough people in the big baggage claim area to have noticed him. He looked quite sad. I just assumed someone was there with him and had gone off to deal with some sort of baggage issue. But still I found it surprising they would have just left him there all alone.

[quote] I passed Wayne Knight on the street near Times Square about 10 years ago.

Most people are shocked when they find out that he grew up Cartersville, Ga., a small town in the Blue Ridge foothills of north Georgia.

Ypir in the upstairs dining room at little known McDonald's near the Geneva train station. Not the fishbowl one on Rue Du Mont-Blanc. Ypir was having the fish. We'd met a few weeks before at Princess Luisa of Savoy's christening so pretended not to recognise each other at McDonald's. Ypir doesn't slum, officially.

I sat opposite Gyles Brandreth on a train journey home from York. He was so talkative and entertaining that I didn't want to get off the train at my destination!

Was he travelling with Cate Blanchett?

Pardon the lapse in my memory, but who is Ypir, again?

Ypir is an ex Top Model and current jet setter of debated nationality and ethnicity, who hides her face au grand public.

Claudia Christian walked past me in Echo Park in the early 10s. She was carrying a bag of restaurant leftovers and walking with a man who was only mildly attractive. (She was stunning!)

R550 They had 'uncoupled' at that point.

I saw Cate Blanchett cutting her toenails on the Paris to Lyon high speed train. She punched me in the cunt when I told her off for it.

From my taxi, a few summers back I saw Champagne Papi cross the street.

R556 how did he look?

R557 well it was quite a distance view. But I recall seeing shiny coloured sneakers and lots of baggy clothes

I had nothing to do with the Ohio train crash!

[quote] had nothing to do with the Ohio train crash!

Sure about that?

I think I saw Pitbull once. Not sure.

Back in the early 90s I was in Georgetown in DC for Halloween and a lot of people were walking on M street and I said to my nephew: That's Carrot Top! He knew I recognized him but nobody else was paying attention to him.

Pitbull is adorable. I would put him in my pocket any day.

Liev Schreiber in Hudson River Park, with much younger. gf and tiny. dog. (Was shocked that he's playing Otto Frank in some TV movie!)

George Michael ordering a chicken sandwich at a deli near Hampstead Heath, I think this was in the Summer of 2009 or 2010. Wearing dark jeans, a hoodie, a baseball cap. Polite, quiet — and even dressed like a slob he looked incredibly handsome.

Al “Grandpa Munster” Lewis was shilling on the sidewalk for Grandpa’s, his restaurant in the Village, late 1980’s. We were hungry, he was Grandpa, and a chicken dinner was under $10 so we ate there.

R566 This makes me a little sad. I wanted him to be my grandpa. How was the chicken?

......

Dinner was great and we didn't have a coupon. We ate there because my late friend Ralph (who lived in NYC and owned a 26-unit building in Chelsea) was cheap. He had a rule that he wouldn't eat at a restaurant that charged more than $10 for chicken. Fedora's was his usual choice because everything on the dinner menu was always less than $10 and, of course, Fedora herself.

Years later I saw Lewis in Havana holding court on the terrace of the Hotel Nacional for the tourists. He said he spent the winters there.

15-20 years ago: John Simon on the M30-? 8th Avenue bus at 10:30 P.M. Alone. May have been coming from an Off-Off play.

Michelle Pfeiffer helping out a gal pal at a sandwich shop. She seemed to really have fun making my sandwich and said Enjoy.

Mia Farrow and Woody sitting quietly and unrecognized together Lincoln Center Plaza during his play there Floating Electric Light Bulb. She looked radiant even from a distance.

Long ago on Bleecker street, I was heading east to 7th Avenue when I saw large black limo pull up to a semi-trendy restaurant. Out pops Joan Rivers, all of about 4 feet tall, with a couple of other people. She and I lock eyes for a moment as I approach. Joan, who was impeccably groomed, had a "Yes, it's really me, would you like my autograph or a photo?" look in her eyes, but I smiled politely, nodded, and kept walking. I liked Joan well enough, but what do I care about an autograph or photo -- we're not friends or anything so there'd be no sentimental value to it. She did seem friendly and approachable, if not just a wee bit thirsty.

I grew up visiting Manhattan so it was common to see the famous folk walking. I've passed by Maria Shriver - skeletal, wore a print dress, clearly knew her power Rue McClanahan - standing near a car, I caught her eye, she sort of smirked and looked away, quite full of herself Paul Rudd - was eating with some friends and he stopped and looked into the window of the restaurant, wearing a very gorgeous camel hair coat with a striped scarf, looks exactly like he does on TV, seemed bemused

Sadly, based on my own experience, I agree with you about Rue McClanahan. I wished she was nicer, but she was not particularly gracious or friendly when she approached me as the upscale hotel concierge. This was mid-late 90s. Face like a road map, too.

Had the same disappointing experience with Shirley Jones, although she was in much better shape and still pretty.

But if you weren't gay at least Shirley might have fucked you. Or was that Florence Henderson? Or were they both cougs?

A shame to hear that about Shirley Jones, as her voice in Carousel is a true delight.

R575 she’s seems very “off” and just kind of rude , maybe? in most of her interviews, especially as she got older.

Also, her autobio was terribly ghostwritten and couldn’t even get basic dates right that the most casual GG fan would know.

Back in the 80s, watched a very inebriated Richard Gere kissing another guy while they were both leaning against a chain-link fence. It was on Greenwich on a Saturday night.

Greenwich Ave or Street? It matters!

The one at the top of Christopher.

R579 are you sure you didn’t dream that? Whilst jerking off ?

Jocelyn Wildenstein walking down 8th Avenue in the theater district. So striking to see such an odd looking person in public.

Bill Cunningham on an Easter Sunday in the mid-2010s in front of St Patricks. I saw some others recognize him and try to get his attention, but he grunted a bit and agitated to compose a shot to signal to them to buzz off. I just stood further back and admired him at work before getting lost in the crowd.

George Michael ordering a chicken sandwich at a deli near Hampstead Heath

Is that a euphemism? Ordering a chicken sandwich near Hamstead Heath (huge well known beat)

looking to be sandwiched between cock on Hamstead Heath?

Joe Namath walking alone on Lexington Avenue in the 50s. Jason Robards driving alone in the late evening near Times Square

Ali McGraw in the outside lobby of Radio City. She looked jumpy. (Meeting someone?)

Sandra Bernhardt in a small Japanese restaurant on Hudson Street in the West Village. She was about 50 at the time and was with a hot blonde guy about half her age. Around 11 P.M. and I think she was doing a show in the area at the time. I wouldn't have noticed her until I heard the word 'Fuck' in the background. No complaints.

Anne Meara walking down the street with big sunglasses but she was talking and you could hear her from a block away.

George Michael hopped on the elevator that my friend and I were on, en route to the Virgin Megastore on Sunset and Crescent Heights. He was checking out my handsome, muscular, Latino friend, who was oblivious to the famous celebrity riding up with us.

R582-Jealous? And I watched them make out for a while, bitch.

I saw Ruta Lee at the airport in Montreal.

Rula Lenska at Sally's Beauty Supply in Allentown, PA. Late 60s.

Lainie Kazan at Gelson's in Century City, putting 2 filet mignons in her bra. I said Lainie, why not go for the rib roast?

Saw Sandra Bernhard trying to hail a cab on Third Avenue and E 81st (which is where Madonna has her multi-townhouse compound). She was wearing a brown belted coat and looking sour and pissy.

Roger Federer with Bear Grylls - stroking palm, popping fish eyes, the sexual tension is crackling - he's achin' for Bear's bacon.

^^ Oops, wrong thread, duh - still, it is quite boring

I met Cate Blanchett on the streets of London, not on the train. She asked if I was paparazzi before agreeing to take a picture with me

[quote]Had the same disappointing experience with Shirley Jones, although she was in much better shape and still pretty.

I recall a story here several years ago that a DLer or DLer's friend/partner got stiffed by Shriley Jones. The person did a portrait or some kind of painting or photography job for her and Shirley made the downpayment then refused to pay the balance. Then denied owing the balance or even knowing the person. Then gave the person a $100 supermarket gift card saying that made them even. Anyone else remember this? I swear I read it here.

R599 Not boring.