Humorous brushes with fame...

[torbee]

OK, this thread is for amusing stories involving you or someone you know interacting with a celebrity.

When I was a kid growing up in Madison in the 80s, my folks took me over to Milwaukee pretty frequently in the summer to see the Brewers play at County Stadium. Back in the day, you could hang out around the player's parking lot outside the stadium to try and get autographs.

I was there with my folks behind me some distance one time, when Paul Molitor came ROARING up the ramp and out the gate at about 45 mph in his bright yellow Corvette, almost running me (and a couple other kids) over. I'll never forget the intense embarrassment I felt when my mom FLIPPED HIM THE DOUBLE BIRDS and called him a "f----ing a---hole".

To this day, my mom hates Paul Molitor for almost wiping out her precious snowflake.

 

[unIowa]

I nearly had to catch Ben Affleck from falling down a flight of stairs at a swank resort in Puerto Rico. He however was able to catch himself after his first stumble.

 

[hawkeye54545]

Was at a Royals game years ago shortly after Jim Thome was first called up for Cleveland. Someone had dropped a pouch of Levi Garrett on the field. Thome picked it up and was going around asking the fans if it was theirs. It wasn't but we said it was anyway. He handed it to us and chatted with us for several minutes. Was and from what I hear still is a super nice guy.

 

[HawkFantastic]

I was on an elevator with Scott Baio on a school trip in HS. I was popular with the girls for about 5 minutes.

Another HS trip to Nashville I met Minnie Pearl, or rather was within 15 feet of her.

I was on the same flight with Hulk Hogan on a flight to/from FL/Chicago.

Guess none of mine are humorous, though I looked like a doo dah when I 'met' Baio. I had on an Astro's hat (80's bright orange with a stripe) and he said "nice hat".

 

[ping72]

I was in the Minneapolis airport in 1996 in a bookstore. A guy was checking out and the cashier asked him to autograph in a notebook she had behind the counter. It was Steve Forbes and he was still a candidate for the Republican nomination. After he was outed it was like a switch went off on the robot and he walked around to every person in the shop to shake their hand. I was actively trying to avoid him but he caught me and gave me a horrible deadfish handshake.

Last summer I was eating lunch in the private room of the restaurant in Trump's hotel in Chicago. Trump and his gang were in town for a board meeting. He was eating in the main dining area. When he was done he came in, I think largely to see who was eating where he wanted to eat. He cracked a couple of jokes about not liking us University of Chicago folks because he couldn't get in and had to go to Northwestern instead then walked out. Hair was much worse in person, which is saying a lot.

Was at the La Jolla Playhouse. They had two shows that night and we were waiting for the second. A woman was standing just outside the theater with a baby...it was unusual because I had never seen a baby at the LJP before so it caught my attention, I assumed it must be somebody important. A minute later a man joined her and she walked out with the baby. It was Natalie Portman. She saw me staring at her and gave me a big smile and nodded, basically saying "yes, it's me, please let me sneak out of here without everyone else knowing." Yes, the smile almost knocked me over, very cute.

 

[pablow]

The Bush twins, Jenna and Barbara, at a restaurant/bar in 2000. They were gorgeous and looked like trouble (good trouble). George H. was there too - he's very tall.

 

[TJ8869]

About 15 years ago I pissed off Macho Man Randy Savage while we were both stuck in customs at the Toronto airport.

 

[TJ8869]

To this day, my mom hates Paul Molitor for almost wiping out her precious snowflake.

I don't even want to think about what Tuesdays would be like if Molitor had killed you.

 

[HawkFantastic]

The Bush twins, Jenna and Barbara, at a restaurant/bar in 2000. They were gorgeous and looked like trouble (good trouble). George H. was there too - he's very tall.

Really on on Bush twins? On TV I never thought they looked that good. May have to google me some of that.

Not sure when these pics are from.

 

[HawkFantastic]

About 15 years ago I pissed off Macho Man Randy Savage while we were both stuck in customs at the Toronto airport.

What'd you do to piss off MM?

 

[jellyfish10]

OK, this thread is for amusing stories involving you or someone you know interacting with a celebrity.

When I was a kid growing up in Madison in the 80s, my folks took me over to Milwaukee pretty frequently in the summer to see the Brewers play at County Stadium. Back in the day, you could hang out around the player's parking lot outside the stadium to try and get autographs.

I was there with my folks behind me some distance one time, when Paul Molitor came ROARING up the ramp and out the gate at about 45 mph in his bright yellow Corvette, almost running me (and a couple other kids) over. I'll never forget the intense embarrassment I felt when my mom FLIPPED HIM THE DOUBLE BIRDS and called him a "f----ing a---hole".

To this day, my mom hates Paul Molitor for almost wiping out her precious snowflake.

I think I see what you did there as far as the snowflake reference.

 

[pablow]

Really on on Bush twins? On TV I never thought they looked that good. May have to google me some of that.

Not sure when these pics are from.

Yes undeed. I'm sure the Secret Service had to keep an eye out for those two. They appeared to be very nice and down-to-earth.

 

[TJ8869]

What'd you do to piss off MM?

We were both stuck in customs for awhile. I was waiting on my customer to fax some paperwork. I'm not sure what MM's holdup was. At some point the agent who was handling my case told me that we had to evacuate the area because of a gas leak or something. We were ushered into a hallway that was separated from the main concourse by nothing more than a railing. We were still technically in customs and couldn't go on the other side of the railing, but there were hundreds of people in the area.

MM traveled in full character - wild, multi-colored spandex pants, etc. It wasn't long before people started to recognize him and came up to him to ask for autographs. I didn't really want one since I'm not a fan of pro wrestling, but I figured since I was standing right next to him I would get one. I pulled a piece of paper out of my briefcase and asked him for one. As he was signing it I said, "So what's the deal with professional wrestling? Is it real or what?"

He got a disgusted look on his face and said (in his usual gruff character voice), "I'm not gonna answer that. I take too much pride in what I do."

Obviously I already knew the answer to the question, but for some reason it seemed like something to ask him just to hear his response. With the benefit of hindsight I wish I had come up with something a little more clever.

I found out a few minutes later from the customs agent that it was probably an even more annoying question than normal for MM. The Canadian government was in the process of changing professional wrestling from a sport to entertainment for taxation purposes, which meant a higher tax rate and more money out of MM's pocket. So my question to him was probably salt in an open wound.

 

[fredjr82]

We were both stuck in customs for awhile. I was waiting on my customer to fax some paperwork. I'm not sure what MM's holdup was. At some point the agent who was handling my case told me that we had to evacuate the area because of a gas leak or something. We were ushered into a hallway that was separated from the main concourse by nothing more than a railing. We were still technically in customs and couldn't go on the other side of the railing, but there were hundreds of people in the area.

MM traveled in full character - wild, multi-colored spandex pants, etc. It wasn't long before people started to recognize him and came up to him to ask for autographs. I didn't really want one since I'm not a fan of pro wrestling, but I figured since I was standing right next to him I would get one. I pulled a piece of paper out of my briefcase and asked him for one. As he was signing it I said, "So what's the deal with professional wrestling? Is it real or what?"

He got a disgusted look on his face and said (in his usual gruff character voice), "I'm not gonna answer that. I take too much pride in what I do."

Obviously I already knew the answer to the question, but for some reason it seemed like something to ask him just to hear his response. With the benefit of hindsight I wish I had come up with something a little more clever.

I found out a few minutes later from the customs agent that it was probably an even more annoying question than normal for MM. The Canadian government was in the process of changing professional wrestling from a sport to entertainment for taxation purposes, which meant a higher tax rate and more money out of MM's pocket. So my question to him was probably salt in an open wound.

I wish he would have given you the John Stossel treatment over that question.

 

[LuteHawk]

Prior to the 1986 Rose Bowl game between Iowa and
UCLA, my dad and I were taking a tour of the NBC studio
in Burbank, California trying to get tickets for Johnny
Carson Show that night.

We meet Sports Announcer Dick Enberg in the hallways
and started talking to him. We told him we were going to
the game and hoped the Hawkeyes would win with Chuck
Long at quarterback. Enberg said that the Hawkeyes will
probably win because all he could see at the tourist
attractions in L.A. were people dressed in Black and Gold.

 

[torbee]

Prior to the 1986 Rose Bowl game between Iowa and
UCLA, my dad and I were taking a tour of the NBC studio
in Burbank, California trying to get tickets for Johnny
Carson Show that night.

We meet Sports Announcer Dick Enberg in the hallways
and started talking to him. We told him we were going to
the game and hoped the Hawkeyes would win with Chuck
Long at quarterback. Enberg said that the Hawkeyes will
probably win because all he could see at the tourist
attractions in L.A. were people dressed in Black and Gold.

Thanks Ronnie Harmon.

 

[aflachawk]

I am a dodger fan and in the 70's we went to St. Louis to watch them and I rode the elevator down with Walter Alston, then sat beside and got the autographs of Gilliam and Red Adams in the restaurant

 

[Hawkeyemc]

Have met speed skater Bonnie Blair, Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley, Bobby Knight, Dan Quayle, hulk Hogan among others.

Best story was Magic Johnson...at the peak of his playing career, lakers were in Chicago to play Bulls as we had seen several Lakers around the hotel (we were in town for my sisters wedding). Ran into Pat Riley, Curt Rambis, etc but not Magic. On my very last elevator ride down for the weekend, elevator stops after about 2 floors and Magic, Michael Cooper and some other huge guy gets on. Magic smiled as my mouth just dropped open. He says "how are you sir?" I'm about 21 at the time. I said fine. He asked what brought us to town and I said my sisters wedding. He said "tell your sister congratulations from Magic". I most certainly will. When we get to the first floor, we are still chatting when we walk off the elevator in front of my entire extended family, and of course they are peeing their pants. Shook hands and headed out. Great guy.

Oops another story, we were in Tampa for the Outback Bowl and discovered that we were in same hotel as the Florida Gators the night before the game. Our room was a first floor room with a patio, on the corner next to a major walkway. The morning of the game, the entire Gator team walked by our patio on their way to/from breakfast and of course we had 3 huge Iowa flags adorning our windows and railings. As the team walked by Ron Zook comes over and just starts chatting with us. Asks us where we are from, asks us if we like the weather they arranged for us, etc. just a great freaking guy. I know that all of us uniformly agree that he's a bad head college football coach, but it was clear why he could recruit. Super guy to talk to.

 

[CarolinaHawkeye]

OK, this thread is for amusing stories involving you or someone you know interacting with a celebrity.

When I was a kid growing up in Madison in the 80s, my folks took me over to Milwaukee pretty frequently in the summer to see the Brewers play at County Stadium. Back in the day, you could hang out around the player's parking lot outside the stadium to try and get autographs.

I was there with my folks behind me some distance one time, when Paul Molitor came ROARING up the ramp and out the gate at about 45 mph in his bright yellow Corvette, almost running me (and a couple other kids) over. I'll never forget the intense embarrassment I felt when my mom FLIPPED HIM THE DOUBLE BIRDS and called him a "f----ing a---hole".

To this day, my mom hates Paul Molitor for almost wiping out her precious snowflake.

I hate him because he played for the gophers.

 

[CarolinaHawkeye]

Really on on Bush twins? On TV I never thought they looked that good. May have to google me some of that.

Not sure when these pics are from.

Would and would twice.

 

[ANYCHawk]

J.K. Simmons sat behind me at opening day this year. The fact I was wearing my Billy Chapel jersey made it more awesome.

 

[TJ8869]

I wish he would have given you the John Stossel treatment over that question.

He should have kicked my ass on principle. Not because the question was insulting, but because it was lame and unoriginal.

 

[stevenpatrick]

Ha funny I saw this thread today. Just last Wednesday afternoon I walked out of the shower at the gym after my workout, and proceeded to go to my locker and start putting my clothes on. At the peak of my nudity, I glance over, and Dave Matthews was standing next to me. I nodded at him, but took the high road and didn't start a star-chasing conversation in all my glory.

 

[GarryO37]

Ha funny I saw this thread today. Just last Wednesday afternoon I walked out of the shower at the gym after my workout, and proceeded to go to my locker and start putting my clothes on. At the peak of my nudity, I glance over, and Dave Matthews was standing next to me. I nodded at him, but took the high road and didn't start a star-chasing conversation in all my glory.

How was your Pilates?

If you're going to gaze at the man's meat, the very least you could do it talk to him. Or were you too embarrassed because you got caught?

 

[stevenpatrick]

How was your Pilates?

If you're going to gaze at the man's meat, the very least you could do it talk to him. Or were you too embarrassed because you got caught?

Your lack of reading comprehension still stands I see. Next time I will limit my posts to under 3 sentences so as to not confuse the easily-confused.

 

[torbee]

I am a dodger fan and in the 70's we went to St. Louis to watch them and I rode the elevator down with Walter Alston, then sat beside and got the autographs of Gilliam and Red Adams in the restaurant

That's hilarious.

 

[LuteHawk]

I attended a high school athletic banquet where the guest
was former head football coach Ray Eliot from the University
of Illinois. During his time he had won 3 Big Ten Titles and
2 Rose Bowls.

After the assembly had eaten the meal, I went to the restroom.
As I walked in, there was 74 year old Ray Eliot rinsing off his
false teeth in the sink basin. He said to me, "I got to get ready
for my speech." All I could say was, " Good Luck.",

 

[bladel]

Met Bob Dole when he was running for president back in the '80s. I was serving coffee at a hotel where he was holding a rally. "Can I get a cup of that, son?" he asked. 17-year-old me held out a cup to his bad hand (the one with the pencil).

 

[torbee]

Met Bob Dole when he was running for president back in the '80s. I was serving coffee at a hotel where he was holding a rally. "Can I get a cup of that, son?" he asked. 16-year-old me held out a cup to his bad hand (the one with the pencil).

Even more funny - remember that time you were in a platonic homosexual relationship for a week with Jim Nabors only you didn't actually know it?

That one gets me every time.

 

[LuteHawk]

As a youngster I was standing outside the Milwaukee Braves
locker room at Milwaukee County Stadium. I was waiting to
get some free autographs after the game. Out comes Hall
of Famer Warren Spahn who is recognized as one of the
greatest left hand pitchers of all time.

As I get his autograph I asked him, "Do your really eat Wonder
Bread just because you do their TV ads?" Spahn replied,
"Yes, I do, I have a big family and a lot of mouths to feed."

 

[LuteHawk]

As a youngster I was standing outside the Milwaukee Braves
locker room at Milwaukee County Stadium. I was waiting to
get some free autographs after the game. Out comes Hall
of Famer Warren Spahn who is recognized as one of the
greatest left hand pitchers of all time.

As I get his autograph I asked him, "Do your really eat Wonder
Bread just because you do their TV ads?" Spahn replied,
"Yes, I do, I have a big family and a lot of mouths to feed."

 

[LuteHawk]

As a youngster I was standing outside the Milwaukee Braves
locker room at Milwaukee County Stadium. I was waiting to
get some free autographs after the game. Out comes Hall
of Famer Warren Spahn who is recognized as one of the
greatest left hand pitchers of all time.

As I get his autograph I asked him, "Do your really eat Wonder
Bread just because you do their TV ads?" Spahn replied,
"Yes, I do, I have a big family and a lot of mouths to feed."

 

[GarryO37]

Your lack of reading comprehension still stands I see. Next time I will limit my posts to under 3 sentences so as to not confuse the easily-confused.

You didn't answer my question... How was your Pilates?

You could use a little reading comprehension assistance as well. The OP said humorous brushes with fame, not brush with hippies with a bigger unit.

 

[bladel]

Even more funny - remember that time you were in a platonic homosexual relationship for a week with Jim Nabors only you didn't actually know it?

That one gets me every time.

He said he had a place in Hawaii, and I should fly out for a visit. I didn't know he was gay, and just thought he was just being super nice. Turns out that this was the 80's gay celebrity equivalent of "Netflix & Chill".

 

[BABiscuit]

Craig Sager came and drank some beers with a few of us after an ISU game that was broadcast on TBS or TNT. The booth announcers came to, but I don't remember who they were. Craig drank like four beers in ten minutes. He just put them down.

 

[swagsurfer02]

Just Obama. However my old high school had a golf outing last week for charity and Bo Jackson showed up.

 

[BubsFinn]

Back in my restaurant days in Austin, I told a certain frequently nude, bongo-playing movie star that he needed to take a shower. To which he agreed.
We were having a staff meeting between lunch and dinner. All the waitstaff was there. Since many of them weren’t working that evening, they came in street clothes. Since many of them were disgusting pigs, they didn’t bother to wash the previous evening’s pot stench off themselves before attending.
After the meeting, a person I thought to be one of the off-duty staff was seated at the end of the bar. I had to ask the bartender if he needed me to order olives and the like, so I wasn’t really paying close attention to the smelly person to my left. While the bartender checked his supplies, the stench became too much and I said “dude, you need a shower, real bad.” Imagine my shock (and panic) when a distinctive voice replied, “heheh, you’re right I doooo!”
I played it off as cool as I could and retreated to the kitchen. About 10 minutes later, the bartender asked me if I was aware of what I had just done.

 

[lucas80]

Quite a few years ago Mrs. Lucas and I were staying at the Hilton in Lafayette, LA, for a corporate thing. I'd gotten bombed at dinner with a bunch of Cajun co-workers and she was dragging me back to the hotel. As we walked towards the lobby we saw two tour buses coming into the parking lot. The bottoms scrapped as they went up an incline. The elevator seemed really slow, and as we stood there a very friendly guy mentioned to me the one I was standing in front of was broken. I thanked him profusely. I thanked him like Foghorn Leghorn would have. Thank you sir, thank you kind sir. I step to the left and I hear a chime. I look right and the elevator I just moved away from has opened, and Faith Hill is entering it with a kid over her shoulder covered in a blue blanket. I start moving towards the shutting doors telling Ms. Hill's bodyguard who is inside the elevator he's a bastard. Mrs. Lucas is pulling me back. I started to walk to the front desk to bitch about the bodyguard's behavior and poor Mrs. Lucas is pulling my drunken ass back to the elevators to save some dignity. I hate Faith Hill's music to this day.
Second story is by relation, but fun. I've posted it before. Mrs. Lucas mother went to Ball State. She was in a sorority and was pestered into going out on a blind date one Saturday night by one of her sisters whose boyfriend had a friend that needed help getting set up for a date. Even though the MIL was already dating the FIL she agreed to the date because the FIL hadn't produced a ring yet, and she would go out with other guys. On the appointed Saturday night the MIL was picked up by the young man, and the sorority sister saw her off as she left the house. Less than an hour later she returned very upset. She would only say that the young man was not a gentleman. He'd been drunk when he'd arrived to pick her up, and got handsy immediately upon arriving at the restaurant. The MIL insisted on being taken home.
A few years later the MIL was in Indianapolis visiting one of her sisters (Biologic, not sorority), who had just had her first child. She remembers very clearly sitting in the living room folding laundry as the local news was on. When the weather came on she realized that the guy on screen had been the young man from the date years before.
I've told Mrs. Lucas several times that if her mom would have allowed that young man to get some then her dad would have been David Letterman.

 

[MidMOhawk]

Just Obama. However my old high school had a golf outing last week for charity and Bo Jackson showed up.

I met Bo at a nutrition conference once. I told him he shouldn't have beaten Chuck Long for the Heisman. Bo didn't appreciate that.

 

[Hawkness Monster]

I have a few. I once interviewed Tony Dorsett while he was naked. That was...intimidating.

I was pretty excited to see Tommy Morrison at a mall in Biloxi,Ms during his heyday. Apparently too excited as I may have approached him too quickly (I had had a few drinks) and his "security" grabbed me. Close to getting my ass kicked. He autographed a pic for me.

Garth Brooks let me wear his hat and later sat on my head.

That's it for now.