Fame broiled

I have met a whole bunch of famous people in my life. I am not sure how many famous people most people meet in their lifetimes, so maybe I am below the curve.

Still, it feels like a whole lot. Here are some of my favorites.

Mr. T:
I have met Mr. T several different times, and I am glad to say it has been more exciting each time. Most recently I met Mr. T at an autograph signing with Hulk Hogan. I was so excited about meeting Mr. T that I absentmindedly walked right by Hulk Hogan who was standing there (I'm told) with an outstretched hand waiting to shake.

Alec Baldwin:
Not much of a story here, but he was one of the first celebrities I have ever passed in the street. I passed him on West 34th in NYC. He was wearing a suit and sunglasses and talking very loudly to a woman who was with him. I resisted the urge to tap him on the shoulder and ask him if he and Thomas the Tank Engine were still friends.


Meg Ryan & Dennis Quaid:
Meg was shopping in a bookstore wearing army pants and a tanktop. STUNNING! I asked her for her autograph. She complied and said "would you like me to get Dennis'?"
I said "no" and went to get it myself. Quaid was as ornery as a goat with the gout.
I am so happy that I met Dennis Quaid as it gives me a chance to say "goat with the gout" every now and then.

Arnold Schwarzenegger:
I shook hands with him during a pre-election rally in fabulous Santa Monica California. His head is HUGE.

Howie Long:
I was at the Magic Kingdom in Florida in late February 2002 when a big lug bypassed the line and cut right in front of me. I kept waiting for Disney Security to say "Excuse me, but if you want to ride Splash Mountain, you have to wait like everybody else."
Then I realized it was Howie Long, and waited for them to say "Excuse me, Howie Long, but if you want to ride Splash Mountain, you have to wait like everybody else."
Alas, security never came and I got to ride Splash Mountain WITH Howie Long.

Phil Donahue:
I went to a taping of his old show at NBC in New York. Phil shook hands with everyone as the left after the taping. I resisted the urge to ask him if Alec and Thomas the Tank Engine were still friends.

The Rock, Chris Jericho, Al Snow, Blue Meanie, Dan Severn, Mick Foley, Droz, Mark Henry, D'Lo Brown, Sergeant Slaughter, King Kong Bundy, Sable, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Rocco Rock, The Headbangers and a few others:
I have been to WAY to many wrestling autograph sessions, but my favorite was Virgil.
Me and a friend met him at a Wizard Comic Book convention a couple of years back. I went over and he KEPT trying to sell me his really badly scanned 8x10's. I had found a way to weasel away from him by pretending to want to go to an ATM machine when my friend said "Hey, you don't need to go to the ATM. I will loan you the $20."
Uh... thanks.
One really odd detail was that Virgil NEVER looked me in the eye. He always looked over the top of my head, or around me. Very odd.

Roscoe Orman:
Roscoe (Gordon from Sesame Street) did a signing at a mall. I out ran all the little kids as they went to get his autograph. He didn't seem to be too pleased with that.

Kevin Smith:
I ran into him more than once, but my favorite was at a film festival in 2002. He stood next to me as I watched Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back for the 4th time. It was rather awkward, I felt obligated to laugh at all of the jokes. Oddly, he laughed at them even more than I did.

George Clooney:
This may be my favorite story. I was at a diner in NJ when a friend of mine saw a guy who looked like a 'short George Clooney'. After that we proceeded to make fun of Batman & Robin really LOUD. The next day we read in the paper that George Clooney had eaten at a diner in NJ. I went back to that diner every day for two weeks to apologize to Clooney, but all that happened was a mild case of botulism.

Donald Nixon:
When visiting the Richard Nixon Library in fabulous Yorba Linda California I happened to run into the President's younger brother Donald. It was surreal. I wish I had a long list of celebrity's brothers that I had met.

In addition to these fine members of movieland, I shook hands with Billy Bob Thornton and Robert Duvall at Walk Of Fame unveiling. I talked to Kevin Murphy from Mystery Science Theater 3000 and I met Arlo Guthrie. I high-fived Adam Sandler, traded emails with Claudia Wells (Back to the Future) and ran into Bebe Newirth (Lilith on Cheers & Frasier) at a video store. I once waited for plane tickets behind Danny Glover, I talked on the phone with Burt Ward and Andy Richter and shook hands with three different Governors of New Jersey and Dee Snider. I also met John McCain, Al Roker and high fived Jay Mohr. I shook hands with Conan O'Brien and had Jimmy Kimmel point at me and laugh. I talked on the phone to Janet Leigh about Psycho and I talked to Andrew Bryniarski (Texas Chainsaw Massacre) about playing a Psycho. I watched Tom Savini steal $10 from a friend of mine, and talked to Penn and Teller. I saw Matt Lauer hail a cab, and saw Razor Ramon drive a rented honda.

Yet, after all of these folks I still get excited every time I see the guy in the Mickey Mouse costume.

Related junk: Gonzales-Gonzales rises to fame, Stallone's awesome names, and Mr. T is EVERYWHERE!



What celebrities have you met?