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I don't know if he would exactly fall under the "celebrity" category, but I met Ivan Koloff when he did a meet-and-greet at the Kmart in Goldsboro, NC in December 2006. He's a former professional wrestler that was part of a tag team with Nikita Koloff and wrestled from the late 60's to the early '90's. He wasn't as tall in person as he looked on TV, but he was a really cool dude!
I don't know if he would exactly fall under the "celebrity" category, but I met Ivan Koloff when he did a meet-and-greet at the Kmart in Goldsboro, NC in December 2006. He's a former professional wrestler that was part of a tag team with Nikita Koloff and wrestled from the late 60's to the early '90's. He wasn't as tall in person as he looked on TV, but he was a really cool dude!
I sort of met a famous wrestler once. Back in 1972, I had a girlfriend called Rosie....... Well, she loved watching the wrestling on the telly on a Saturday afternoon. Of course, there were goodies and baddies among the grunt and groan merchants.
The most hated baddie was a guy named Mick McManus. Boy, this guy knew all the dirty tricks........ Rosie would boo him on sight as she sat close to the telly. Well, these telly wrestlers did a 'live' tour of England, and the show was booked to come to Chatham in Kent!
I had to get two good tickets so Rosie would get to see her heroes and hated foes. We had aisle seats so the wrestlers had to walk by us down the narrow gangplank. After a few contests, it was time for the top of the bill - the hated Mick McManus. First came his opponent, a young sweet faced boy........ he smiled and waved to the crowd, then climbed in the ring.
Then the hall filled with booing. Mick came strolling down the walkway, an evil grin on his face. Just as he got to the side of us, an old lady in the opposite aisle seats stood up, and started hitting Mick with her purse! He moved away from her, holding his arm up in defense. Mick fell right into Rosie's lap. She shouted, "I hate you Mick McManus......you are a cheat, and are horrible!" He grinned at her as he stood back up, and said to me, "that's a good looking girl you got there mate!" I nodded, in agreement, and off Mick went to annihilate his poor opponent!!
Here is Mick cheating his way to victory, again and again, back in the innocent days of wrestling......
Loren Greene and Michael Landon were the best and I've met tons of celebrities because my parents used to host a talk show.
I met Jenny McCarthy at a friends funeral and she was an asshat. She was sooooooo rude to me and acted like I wasn't good enough to be where I was, even though she had no idea I was even though the woman who died was my mom's best friend. Jenny had no idea because she was just the latest girlfriend of a friend of the husband. But I cannot imagine acting that way. Just because I didn't hang with the Hollywood elite...not that I'd want to.
Robert Mitchem was very cool. Tony from Peter Piper Pizza was the most giving person I've met.
Just saw Noam Chomsky the other night...that was epic.
John Denver was very nice. I saw him about 3 weeks before he died.
But my favorite of all time was Lawrence Welke. Got to go back stage to meet him and he gave me a little pocket knife with his signature carved into handle. He just talked to me like I was a person, not an dumb kid or something. During the show one of his singers pulled me up on stage and serenaded me. She sang "My Bill" but changed the name to mine. It was doubled cool because my grandfather's name was Bill and he'd just passed away a few months earlier.
I'm interested in hearing about real-life conversations that you've had with famous, or quasi-famous, or influential/powerful "behind-the-scenes" people. By "quasi-famous" I mean people who might not be very famous to the general public, but who are well-known within a particular realm of life, e.g., well-published scientists, authors of all sorts, philosophers, etc.
I'm especially interested in how you felt when you met them, and how they seemed to you. Even the smallest details you can remember would be helpful.
This is relevant only due to the 35 Anniversary of the Attempted Assassination of President Regan today.
Many years ago when I was in college I was working a part time job at a business near the college campus when a customer came in and I struck up a normal conversation with him. It was the usual conversation you would expect in such a setting and of course I had no clue who the guy was when he walked in. I honestly don't remember how or what led the conversation to being about me attending college and the classes of history and politics I was taking but it went in that direction. He mentioned he liked politics too and he asked me who my favorite president was. I mentioned while he wasn't my favorite president per say; I was fascinated with President Richard Nixon both as president and his personal life and he would be the president / person I would most like to meet in my life time.
He was surprised that I mentioned Nixon that way and then told me he had met Richard Nixon on several occasions and I was both totally surprised and fascinated. He then explained he was a UP Photographer and had traveled and taken pictures of Nixon on numerous occasions and that his image of Richard Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew had been on almost every national news paper across the country. I was flattered to be talking to him and amazed at his humble candor and willingness to simply discuss his career and his work. Of course that moment came where he had to leave and I had to tend to other customers and I graciously thanked him for his time and stories.
Two days later he stopped in the store and gave me a 8½ X 11 manila envelope and he simply said, "I think you'll enjoy this" and told me he enjoyed our conversation. He was in a hurry and basically was out the door before I could say anything more.
I opened the envelope and inside was that 8½ X 11 glossy picture of Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew on stage together waving. On the image was an official UP Photo tag and the photographers printed name Phil Huber. On the back a hand written note to me in black marker and his signature. I nearly feel over that he thought enough to take the time to present me with such a gift that was indeed so special to me. I cherished that picture so much and looked at it so may times over the years as it was so special to me.
Regarding the 35th year anniversary of the assassination attempt on President Regan which is today,
I just happened to be staying in the Washington DC Hilton where Regan was shot a couple of weeks after the Assassination attempt and standing in the very area where that historical event had unfold just weeks earlier was indeed surreal. An interesting and ironic fact is that Phil Huber had flow to DC the day of the attempted assassination and captured another historic image which is neatly detailed in this blog post.
Another interesting note is Phil photograph Ross Perot during the 1992 Presidential Election. I had the opportunity of meeting Ross Perot myself during a business transaction in the late 80's. Ross Perot is one of several billionaires I have met.
However although not well know outside of certain professional circles or famous to the general public I will always cherish and respect Phil Huber for his kindness and his special gift of that famous photo he personal took which he gave me a signed print of.
I traveled to New Jersey in late 1989 and took the photo with me because I was to have an opportunity to actually meet Former President Richard Nixon and I was going to ask him to sign the picture. However the meeting never materialized due to changing schedules but the fact I even got so close to meeting Nixon with that picture in hand was exciting to me. I thought it would have neat to have both Nixon's and Phil Huber's signatures on the image for their tied in history.
Out of all the celebrities and powerful people I have met (and I have met many) I consider Phil Huber up there with such individuals and Phil has always stood out to me for his kindness and thoughtfulness in giving a young college kid a picture that was worth more than he could ever imagine.
This one just came to mind.
Graham Elliot...he came into
where I work, totally
unexpected one day.
He just strolled through, taking his sweet
time & everyone was whispering
"Omg do you know who THAT is?!"
Lol......he was very
down to earth & super cool
Now if it was Gordon Ramsay I would
have made a total fool of myself.....
He's smoking hot lol
During a couple decades in the newspaper business I met countless "celebrities", but only a few who took time out of their day to really visit in a meaningful way. These are the good guys!
U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, Budget Committee chairman -- I met Mike the first week that I moved to Wyoming. I was 25 and he was 26 or 27, so we got to know each other pretty well and lived on the same block. He and his wife owned the only shoe store in this small town (pop. 7,500 at the time, now 32,000). After a year or two he threw his hat in the ring for president of our local Chamber of Commerce, but the older guys on the board thought he was too young, so he ran for mayor and won -- for three terms, iirc. He then won a seat in Wyoming Senate and finally, in 1997, won the U.S. Senate race. He's a true gentleman and a politician you can trust -- rare these days. I've only run into him a couple times since he left for Washington, once in the grocery store and once at a fly tying workshop. It's always a pleasure to talk with him; he's just a Wyoming good ol' boy.
Vice President Dick Cheney -- Dick stopped into my office to give an interview (and to get some press) in 1978 when he was running for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. He'd most recently served as White House Chief of Staff for President Ford. The guy really knew politics! I found him to be very sharp and to have a great sense of humor. (I know many here won't believe that!)
U.S. Senator Alan Simpson, minority whip -- I and a few other young newspaper editors from Wyoming met with Alan for lunch during a board meeting in 1978. After lunch we asked him to stay and teach us about Wyoming politics. (It was rumored that he might be running for a U.S. House or Senate seat or for Governor of Wyoming.)
Anyway, we editors spent the whole afternoon huddled around a small table getting schooled on the fine points of politics. I asked him if he was considering running for governor and he scoffed at the idea, in his special comedic way. "Not no, but hell no!" He said the fun in politics is in the legislative branches, and if he ever ran for anything it would be that. A couple months later he announced for the U.S. Senate and won, serving for three terms (plus a month, as our outgoing U.S. Senator resigned early so Alan could be placed in office a few weeks early and have seniority over the rest of the freshman senators). Alan comes from money and power, but he's always been a straight shooter, a fun guy to talk with -- another good ol' boy from Wyoming. You can't talk to him for a minute without laughing!
Finally, my favorite -- Steve Sewell, the Denver Broncos’ 1985 first round draft pick and a running back (and emergency quarterback) from 1985-1991. He played in three Super Bowls during his career with the Broncos.
My family and I were huge Bronco fans and season ticket holders and for several years drove the 700+ mile round-trip to Denver for all the home games. It was no secret that orange and blue blood ran through our veins.
In late 1989 I was diagnosed with a grapefruit-sized brain tumor and given little hope of survival. It was about that time that a friend of mine met Steve when they were seated next to each other on a commercial flight to Denver. Apparently my friend mentioned to Steve that I was a big fan of the Broncos and of my medical woes. At any rate, a few days later Steve invited us (the friend, his wife, me and my wife) to dinner the night before the next home game. He picked us up at our hotel, took us all out to dinner, drove us around Denver for an hour or so and then back to our hotel where we all spent another hour or so visiting. He was a true gentleman in every way.
Incidentally, he ducked the public and didn’t like giving autographs. He said if he gave one, before he could get away a crowd would form and he'd be stuck. Many on this board would probably say he was a jerk because of that. No, he was anything but a jerk; he just valued his privacy when he could get it. On this night he wanted to spend his time with us; on another night it might have been his family. That makes him human, not a jerk. We need to keep that in mind when we see a celebrity ducking the autograph hounds.
Back in the 70s, my mother visited us in Honolulu. While shopping at the Ala Moana Shopping Center just before noon one day, my mother spied actor Khigh Dhiegh, who was famous at the time as the Chinese agent Wo Fat on Hawaii Five-O doing his own shopping.
She caught him and started a conversation. Being the kind of extroverted woman she was, she continued the conversation long, long beyond the time I became uncomfortable and started tapping my watch for her to cut it short. But Mr Dhiegh remained gracious and polite.
Then Mr. Dhiegh suddenly invited us to lunch at a restaurant in the shopping center. They finished the conversation over lunch, and he finally bid us adieu.
Great thread. I have met several celebrities but only in my capacity as an employee at various restaurants in my college days. I'd say the ones that stand out were John Madden, great guy graciously signed an autograph for the kitchen guys and left me $100 tip. Bernie Williams of the Yankees and his family, they were just great people. I've had some negative experiences and have also observed popular celebs doing drugs and treating people in particular women horribly but I'd just rather not name them.
Some great stuff and has been a fun, long read LOL
I have not had the pleasure of meeting any actors
Jack Russell of Great White: Patient with me though I was star struck and am shy as it is LOL
80's band Enuff Z'Nuff: Sat in front of them on an airplane. They were very friendly (someone had to tell me who they were after we landed)
Wes Hopkins: Former Philadelphia Eagle used to live a couple doors down from me when he was playing. Him and his wife were very nice. He played Techmo bowl with my brother a couple times
Met in passing many Philadelphia Flyers as a teen when I went to their practices. Can't say anything bad about any of them.
I am curious if anyone can say anything about a couple of my favorite actresses: Jennifer Connelly, Marisa Tomei and Moira Kelly? I am a huge Gene Hackman and glad he seemed cool.
Thanks
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Well, she loved watching the wrestling on the telly on a Saturday afternoon. Of course, there were goodies and baddies among the grunt and groan merchants.
Loren Greene Michale Landon
