Mrs. Kennedy has been seeing famous people all over the place lately. I haven’t seen any famous people recently. But I have seen a few in the past.
- We went to New York when I was 8 or 9, and I thought I saw some guy from TV.
- I worked at the Podunkville Cinemas when I was in high school. One night, the manager called and said, “You have to come in right away! Paula Abdul is here!” It was around 9:30 and I was already in bed because I have always loved the nightlife (and liked to boogie). After much pestering from said manager, I got up and drove to the theater where, indeed, Paula Abdul was watching “Desperado” with a guy who, if I were to hazard a guess, was named Larry. He just had that “Larry” look about him. Paula ordered a small popcorn and a Diet Coke. A few months later, Paula and Larry were back to see “Assassins.” Having seen Paula live and in person twice, I can confidently say that she is one of the smallest people I’ve ever seen. She’s wee. But she was nice, nevertheless. I think she signed the “Desperado” poster.
- Rockford and I were going to a Son Volt concert, and we stopped at Wal-Mart beforehand. When we got in line to check out, Rockford nodded toward the guy in front of us and said, “I think that’s Jay Farrar.” He was buying NyQuil. I said, “That can’t be Jay Farrar. Why would he be buying cold medicine at Wal-Mart?” Because he had a cold, as he told the audience a few hours later at the show.
- Two nights ago, I dreamed that Bono wanted to make out with me. I refused, even though he was very charming. I also dreamed several years ago that I met Justin Timberlake on the street somewhere, and he took me shopping and bought me lots of fabulous stuff. I have loved him every since.
And here are some celebrity sightings that were not my own:
- My brother and his girlfriend saw Vince Gill at a guitar shop in Nashville.
- My father-in-law met Robert Redford at an airport bar and had a drink with him.
- Rockford saw Julia Roberts at a flea market in Atlanta.
Do you have any Famous People Run-ins to share? I’m 98 percent positive that Amy has at least one story.
Amy: It only counts as a celebrity sighting if you aren’t stalking said celebrity at the time. So I’m sorry, but none of your John Mayer encounters qualify. That’s also why none of my Jeff Tweedy sightings count. I am sufficiently in awe of your Timberlake story, though.
Sandi: The only thing that could improve that Celebrity Sighting Story would be if you had been in the background in the tabloid pictures.
Cynthia: I love that John Tesh was riding a rickshaw. That’s so very “Seinfeld.”
HELLO Nichole, You’re forgetting, perhaps, the most important celebrity sighting of them all. What about the night that Breanne and I saw John Mayer walk right past us in a parking lot? I was so in awe that I couldn’t even speak. I was literally speechless. We proceeded to stalk his band with Monica and ended up hanging out with them all night. And does touching Jordan Knight count as a celebrity encounter?
Once I was front-row at an NSYNC concert (I know, laugh all you want) and Justin Timberlake actually saw me trying to take his picture so he posed and waited for me to snap his photo all the while giving me the thumbs up.
My favorite celebrity story might be Natalie bowling in the lane next to Vince Vaughan and then talking to him. She also ran into Kirsty Alley once and one of the kids from O-Town.
We saw Jennifer Aniston at the farmer’s market in Santa Monica the week after she and Brad broke up. Her picture from that very day (wearing the same clothes — the paparazzi were all over her) was published on the front of US Weekly the next week.
Other than that, I played piano at the governor’s mansion and shook Hilary’s hand back in elementary school for some Brownie Scout event. I don’t know if that counts.
All three of mine were in NYC.
My sister and I crossed the street with Ethan Hawke in NYC. And, the next day we saw Marv Albert going to the theatre.
The next time I was there (with J-L) we saw John Tesh riding a rickshaw down the street.
Off the top of my head. . . Pauley Shore, Martin Sheen, Charlie Sheen, Emilio Estevez, Mel Gibson, Kevin Bacon, Cindy Crawford, there are many more but they are escaping me.
Bryndyn bowled next to Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman once.
Pretty common place when you live in Malibu. The best place there for a celebrity sighting was the grocery store late at night! 🙂
When I was working in Colorado, at Creede Repertory Theatre, I got to be buddies with Mandy Patinkin. When he came into the theatre to buy tickets he sang to me (okay, under his breath) and then a few weeks later I had this conversation with him:
ring, ring
Me -“Good evening, Creede Theatre, this is Monica.”
Mandy – “Hi Monica, it’s Mandy. Can you tell my kids I’m next door having dinner and have them come over here when the show is out?”
Me – “Sure, no problem.”
Mandy – “Thanks Monica!”
I ran smack into Jonathan Silverman at the Kennedy Center. I want to have his babies.
My parents saw Sally Field in Hawaii and the only thing my mother could say was, “Gene, Gene! The Flying Nun!”
I’m cracking up reading these comments. Monica, I thought you were friends with some famous actress, too? Didn’t someone send you a bracelet?
I was in San Francisco and saw Woody Harrelson playing soccer with his wife and some friends, I immediately jumped behind a bush and took his picture but I was too far away…poor Woody was just a dot. I also saw Ozzie Smith in the Portland airport once 🙂
Oh yeah!!! I totally forgot about that. I’m BFF with Michael Learned (Mother Walton). She was working for a theatre in KC with a friend of mine. SUPER nice lady. She took to me and my friends and bought us all bracelets while she was out shopping one afternoon.
I know there have to be more of these little stories but I’m drawing a complete blank.
Taina: Was Tom Cruise a creepy bowler? I’ll bet he was.
Meagan: I love that you jumped behind a bush to take the picture. That’s very Amy of you. 🙂
Monica: Inigo Montoya sang to you?!?! That’s totally awesome.
Rachel: That made me laugh out loud.
I ran into PJ Brown one time in the airport. He was a forward for the Charlotte Hornets. I got him to autograph a business card from a baseball card shop I frequented. And there was the whole Emeka Okafor thing. I also saw Larry Hagman at an antiques show in Atlanta.
I served frozen yogurt to Yakoff Smirnoff when I lived and worked in Branson.
Celebrity sightings? Hmm. This is a long list.
1. I served many the food of The Dillard House: Jimmy Carter; Jake “The Snake” Roberts; Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz; Waylon Jennings; Burt Reynolds; Lonnie Anderson; Lady Bird Johnson; Evander Holyfield; Zell Miller; Newt Gingrich; Emanuel Lewis (I was tempted to ask him if he needed a booster seat); former Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson.
2. I was flying back from New York City on the day of the 1995 NFL draft. Kerry Collins, a QB from Penn State, was drafted by the Carolina Panthers. They held up our flight to Charlotte for 45 minutes waiting for him to catch the plane. He sat two rows in front of me. The media were scrambling at the gates in Charlotte because they changed our arrival gate at the last minute. He had a slimy agent.
3. I’ve seen most Major League Baseball players , at least those who played in 2000 and 2001, in the buff, including, Mark McGwire trolling the Cardinals’ locker room looking for his toothbrush cap. Some are more gifted than others.
4. I witnessed a Bob Knight tirade in 1996.
5. I witnessed a Mike Ditka tirade in 2000.
6. I shook hands with Michael Jordan following a DePaul University basketball game in 1996.
7. I’ve interviewed Bob Dole, George Stephanopoulos, Pat Buchanan, Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr., Brett Favre, Randy Moss, Ernie Banks and other less notable political and sports celebrities.
8. Marial Hemingway eating dinner at the same restaurant as us in Sun Valley, Idaho.
9. I literally ran into Mel Gibson on the streets of Chicago while he was filming “What Women Want”. He was so short that he was below my “notice zone”.
10. I met James Garner, Ruby Dee and Lawrence Fishburne while they were filming “Decoration Day”, a Hallmark Hall of Fame film, in the north Georgia mountains.
11. When I was a kid my grandparents belonged to the Atlanta Falcons “Falcon Forty” club. I would tag along with them to functions and hang out with the famous Falcons of the time – Steve Bartkowski, Gerald Riggs and William Andrews – while drinking Shirley Temples.
12. I chased Harry Carey through a parking lot in Chandler, Arizona, during spring training in 1992.
13. Carrie and I met John Paul Jones, formerly of Led Zeppelin, after seeing his solo show at the Park West in Chicago.
14. Nichole, Alex and I watched the premiere of Dogma with and then interviewed Kevin Smith (Silent Bob) at a theater in the north suburbs of Atlanta.
15. Carrie and I saw former Buffalo Bills coach Marv Levy walking with his wife along the lakeshore in Chicago.
16. I was alighting a flight at O’Hare and some of the WCW wrestlers (Saturn, Disco Inferno) were sitting on the floor, playing cards, while waiting for a flight to Atlanta.
17. Michael Richards’ (Kramer) daughter was in the drama program at DePaul University. He was at the same play I attended and was very loud – but not yelling expletives at helpless minorities.
18. I saw Dan Quayle, Marcus Allen and Charles Schwab playing in a celebrity pro-am golf tournament in St. Andrews, Scotland.
19. Chicago Cubs trainer Bob Grimes, then with the Boise Hawks, was once in my living room.
20. Luis Montanez, the #1 draft pick of the Chicago Cubs in 2000, spent most of the summer of 2004 at my house. He is now with the Baltimore Orioles. We took him and another player to Wendy’s for dinner after their first practice in Boise. He offered to buy us a Frosty, but we declined, not wanting to burden a poor minor league baseball player who makes $800/month. The next day we found out that he received a $2.7 million signing bonus.
21. Others: Dick Butkus, Moose Skowron, Ichiro, Lou Piniella, Bobby Cox, Ryan Klesko, Tom Glavine, Mark Grace, Sammy Sosa, Isaiah Thomas, Frank Thomas, Randy Johnson, etc., etc., etc.
Oh my gosh!! How did I not mention that I was eating at the same restaurant as Brad Pitt while he was in Columbia?? That’s a major sighting on my part.
I sat next to Ben Stiller at a playhouse in Laguna Beach, California. It was 1972 and Ben was there with his parents Anne Meara and Jerry Stiller. I knew his parents were comedians and who would ever have thought that the little boy with them would be a big star today. I also saw John Scheider from the Dukes of Hazards fame in the little village of Piermont, NY. I have been to NY many times and have probably passed alot of famous people but never really paid attention. Nikki, does the old guy that was dressed like Uncle Sam count as a famous person? I know you kids were scared of him.
greg dulli of the afghan whigs saw me sitting outside his concert way early and laughed at me and told me i looked forlorn. then he directed me to a place to get a coffee. this edges into the stalking category though, i think. i would choloroform and kidnap that man, given the opportunity. years later we met again at a show and he took me backstage and shared grappa and a j. but i think it was more to do with the fact that my friend adrianne was with me and she has [hey, this is a family-friendly establishment!] the size of her head. (and she was wearing a t-shirt that said “j’ador baiser”)
i waited on newt gingrich at the most boring wedding ever in highlands. rich baptists from alabama and no alcohol served. awesome. he was fat and pink and ate like a pig. go figure.