Have you ever met someone (celebrity-ish) you thought was awesome?

[Bertha Venation]

Last Wednesday, my sister met June Lockhart, who visited me in the hospital when I was a baby! My sister thanked her.

Cool!

That's all.

Have you ever met someone you really thought was awesome, for whatever reason?

[HopeHoops]

1. I met Professor Kool when I was in 2nd grade or so.

He was a local TV personality in the Baltimore/DC area - wore a graduation gown and mortar board.

[BurtWorm]

30. ...and promoted Kool cigarettes?

"Kids, you want your smokes to be menthol, don't you?"

[TZ]

2. Someone people in DC would know...

Doreen Gentzler from Channel 4 news. She is a very nice down to earth person (who looks a lot different without makeup!). I met her when I was working retail at White Flint Mall years ago...

[Bertha Venation]

3. I love Doreen.

:)

[abq e streeter]

4. The Dixie Chicks ( before they were celebrities)really nice and down to earth,as were

Willie Dixon, Del Shannon,and Bonnie Raitt... Jerry Lawson of the Persuasions--(showed and explained how he did his vocal warmups before a show..); just a few I can think of at the moment.

[MorningGlow]

5. I've posted about him before, but it bears repeating

Douglas Adams was a DOLL. I miss him very much. :cry:

[Tommy_Carcetti]

6. Jane Goodall, Bill Moyers, Janet Reno (twice)

Plus I once said hello to future Vice President Biden in the hallway.

I met Randi Rhodes which I thought was awesome at the time, but she's then since kinda annoyed me with her ego and her volitale behavior.

[1gobluedem]

7. Cokie Roberts comes to mind

She was visiting our local library for an event; I work at an NPR affiliate and was invited to the VIP reception. When she found out that I worked for a member station she spoke to me as a colleague. I really appreciated that; not all of the network personalities do that.

[Steely_Dan]

8. Adam Sandler...

He was a real nice guy.

[underpants]

12. Yeah he does seem like a good guy

I'm not much of a fan really but the weight of the evidence is that he is the kind of guy me and my buddies could hang out with

[Tommy_Carcetti]

24. I didn't actually meet Adam Sandler, but he filmed "The Waterboy" at my school...

....and he took time out from filming one of his scenes to talk to a group of us. Seemed like a nice enough guy....he actually talks in that shy stutter of his, which is kinda strange.

Of course not a fan of him supporting Rudy 9-11 for president, but his movies are usually good mindless fun.

[Left Is Write]

9. I've met many, but the one who sticks out in my mind as the most awesome is Raul Malo.

My favorite interview ever.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

10. Jane Krakowski is really nice

I've met her a bunch of times.

Chloe Sevigny is a total b-word. I wanted to just smack her.

[jobycom]

11. Ralph Yarborough, former senator from Texas, and almost JFK's running mate.

I worked as a researcher and office assistant for him. He was 89 when I started, and I got to attend his 90th birthday party at the Governor's Mansion (where I also met Ann Richards and William Wayne Justice, both of whom were also awesome).

He had a unique ability I've never seen in another person. No matter how I felt when I saw him, after a couple of minutes in his presence I started to smile. Don't know why, don't know how he did it, but he did it every time, and I watched other people, from lowly grubbers to state judges, respond the same way to him. He was nicknamed "Smilin' Ralph," and it had as much to do with him making others smile as with smiling himself.

Of course, it was also interesting to hear stories about JFK, LBJ (both were close friends of his), the assassination (He was in the motorcade, next to Johnson), a lot of Texas politicians (the Bushes, Jim Hightower, Bentsen, Connally, Richards, Jake Pickle, Sam Rayburn.

Also, this was in 92, and Yarborough had connections to Gore and Clinton, as well as to HW Bush, so he had lots of insights into the election.

[backtoblue]

13. Well, he's not really all that awesome or celebrity-ish

but I met John Daily a few times. He's exactly what you would imagine.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

35. Was he sober?

I met him sober and he was a pretty cool guy.

[arbusto_baboso]

14. Bill Shatner is a really nice guy.

Back in college I dated a girl who lived in Calabasas, California. Shatner lived down the street from her. He came over one day. I didn't recognize him without his toup or make-up. But he's a truly great guy.

[AngryAmish]

15. Tom Watson

When growing up I worked at a facy golf club. I met most every golfer of note who were playing then. Tom Watson is a complete gentleman in every sense of the word. Arnold Palmer also but I did not talk to him that much. I was just impressed that he had his own golf cart. Jack Nicholas, not so much. Seve - go back to Spain. Vijay Singh - utter, complete asshole (and a cheater, too).

[graywarrior]

16. Willie Nelson

Stephen King

Both totally awesome.

[Symarip]

17. My whole reason for being in bands

Is to open up for my heroes. I give them celebrity status in my head but most people would never know who Hepcat, The Slackers, The Pietasters, The Aggrolites, etc, are. But to me, hanging out with them and sharing music is the the epitome of awesome.

[mnhtnbb]

18. Walter Matthau spoke to me in the bank one day many years ago.

My son was acting up while I was trying to take care of some business at the teller's window.
As I ran over to grab him before he went out the front, streetside door, Mr. Matthau, sitting beside a bank officer's desk said to me, "He's a real Dennis the Menace, isn't he?"

I thought it was very odd, since my son was only two at the time. About a year later, out came the movie
with Walter Matthau playing Mr. Wilson. In retrospect, he must have either been shooting the movie
or reading the script at the time he spoke to me.

[Aristus]

19. Harlan Ellison.

He's an absolutely spell-binding speaker. And if you like people who don't suffer fools gladly, you'd love Harlan; he doesn't suffer fools at ALL! B-)

[Xipe Totec]

34. I love Harlan Ellison!

Loved his book, The Glass Teat.

Some of my favorite quotes are by him.

"All fluff and giggles, with a mind wherein a cogent sentence would find itself in coventry"
- Harlan Ellison

[mnhtnbb]

20. This story is secondhand from my brother: he was on a flight with James Earl Jones

from L.A. to Chicago some years ago.

He was sitting across the aisle and up one seat (first class, of course) from him. My brother's third oldest boy was a huge Star Wars fan, so my brother sat thinking of how to ask for an autograph.

He finally turned and told Mr. Jones that he had a son who was this big fan, would he mind signing
a cocktail napkin for him. Mr. Jones gave him one of those looks (to kill)and asked, "what's his name and
what would you like me to say, 'May the force be with you'?"

My brother says, "No,sir, just sign, 'I wasn't here; it didn't happen'." Mr. Jones let out one of his
big, booming laughs and happily signed the cocktail napkin.

For anyone else who is a fan, that line is a slight variation from one spoken by his character in "The Hunt for Red October".

[Bertha Venation]

22. I remember the line very well.

He's on my list of people to meet. I doubt I'll ever meet any of them, but anyway, he's on the list.

[XemaSab]

33. It's also a line from his character in Sneakers

:D

[myrna minx]

21. I bought John Waters a cocktail and he kissed my on my cheek and said I was sweet.

:loveya:

[redqueen]

23. Edward Albert

He was the most down-to-earth, friendly celebrity I ever met.

He died way too young.

[plcdude]

25. Actually I have

spent some time with Garth Brooks and he is a very thoughtful, nice, involved, gracious individual.

[abq e streeter]

26. an old girlfriend knew him in Stillwater, and said pretty much the same thing

[blueknight]

28. my aunt was a country singer

and i met garth also, very nice,decent guy. but i met tons of country stars over the years, and my favorite was probably dolly parton, very neat lady

[cemaphonic]

27. Neville Marriner was cool

He seemed pretty amused that a group of teenagers snuck backstage to say hi to a classical music conductor.

Does Dan Savage count as a celebrity? I used to run into him all the time, and he always seemed like a pretty nice guy.

[foxfeet]

29. Judy Collins. She's a tiny thing with enormous blue eyes.

When I was a student in Germany, she and Tom Paxton came to Hamburg for a concert. Another of my American friends and I spoke German well enough to talk our way backstage before the show. She let us into her dressing room and, along with her entourage, we had white wine and snacks while she chatted us up. She was very gracious and warm, even offered to let us watch the performance from the wings.

[Shell Beau]

31. I met Uncle Jr. from the Sopranos when I was in NYC!

In a Little Italy restaurant of course! He was so nice. And he cleans up very nicely. He isn't the sickly weak looking guy he plays. He and his wife were so friendly to us. We took pictures and hung out for a bit. It was right after he shot Tony on the Sopranos too. I had to ask about that of course. He said Tony deserved it! hahaha!

[Xipe Totec]

32. Jean Chrétien

1938 - Born on August 20th in La Rochelle, France. Chretien became the first astronaut from outside of either the United States or Russia to carry out extravehicular activities (EVA).

1970 - He became a fighter pilot in the French Air Force, entered the French test pilot school.

1977 - Worked as a test pilot, he was made a deputy commander of the Southern Air Defense Division in Provence.

1980 - He became an astronaut and was one of the final two candidates in a joint French-Soviet space project.

1993 - Elected Canadian Prime Minister in November.

1995 - He was appointed chief of CNES' astronaut's office, then posted to the NASA's Johnson Space Center.

1997 - Took part in the Space Shuttle mission.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

36. Buddy Rich.

Grew up watching his guest appearances on Merv Griffin. My brother took me to a tiny hole-in-the-wall jazz club in Lynn, Massachusetts. Slipped them some green to get me in (I was underaged). At the end of Buddy's set, my brother walked me right up to Buddy. I was frozen, the proverbial deer in the headlights. All I could get out was "Hi." Buddy paused for a minute, gave me the once-over, said "Hi" in return, and walked around me.

The guy was a legend. What can I say?

:rofl: