Have You Ever Met A Movie Celebrity

[Uncle Stevie]

I do not mean seen from a far. I mean have you ever met and had a conversation with a celebrity. Please tell us the details. My closest rub with fame was when I met Sammy Davis Jr. at the Deauville Hotel in 1962 while on my Honeymoon. Sammy was appearing there and we met him at the pool in the afternoon. It was a very short chat.

Please tell all. Let us live vicariously through your story.

[Sue Sue Applegate]

Stevie, I was once in Vegas with some friends, and we were leaving the Sahara hotel. While walking through the keno lounge, I noticed Redd Foxx and Slappy White. They were sitting at a table close to the counters.

As I was leaving, they were leaving and offered me a ride in their limo to wherever I wanted to go. They were so funny.

Redd asked me, "How's the weather up there, Stretch?" because I'm so tall.

He and Slappy gave me a ride back to my hotel. They were adorable, and obviously had a great time being
around each other, and it was the funniest limo ride I probably will ever have!

[CharlieT]

No.

[Professional Tourist]

Uncle Stevie, does it count if you exchanged a few sentences with them standing by the stage door of a theater while they were signing an autograph for you? If so, I would have a few. If not, then probably just one, Tony Martin. When I was ten years old my mother and I ran into him in a restaurant in Greensboro, North Carolina. I didn't know him except from a television commercial, but my mother was a bit taken aback. He talked to us for a minute.

[Birdy]

I got nothin'...

ProfT - tell us about your autograph meetings!
B

[klondike]

Well, let me see . . .
When I was living on Vashon Island, in Washington State, I was a neighbor/acquaintance (at different times) of fellow residents Russell Means, and John Ratzenberger, and once I shot darts over a long Saturday evening with Rutger Hauer when he was there shooting some made-for-TV flick.
I chatted up Barry Corbin several times when I was hired as an assistant dog-handler for an episode of "Northern Exposure"; a true gentleman, and very funny.
Back at the very tail-end of the 70's, we had the cast of the PBS production Edith Wharton's Summer, booked into the New Hampshire hotel where I worked, so I got to know Diane Lane, Michael Ontkean & John Cullum [as much as I wanted to]. Once, back in the early 80's, when passing through the nearby town of Hartland Four Corners, I stopped to help an older gent jump-start his pick-up truck, not realizing til the good-byes that it was Mr. Charles Bronson, grateful & in the flesh; I found out later that we were only 7 or 8 miles from his "secret estate" (very privacious).
If you expand this topic to include all show-business folks, there's also my half-dozen social "bump-into's" with Carly Simon, randomly covering nearly twenty years, in & around Cape Cod; I've also shared beers with fellow Vermonter, rock legend Joe Walsh, but that's hardly unique here in Windham County.
Probably the most exposure I've had to "stars" would be to a couple other Vermonters: Whoopi Goldberg, who I chat with 3 or 4 times a year, at various local stores (she's very sweet & approachable, entirely low-key); and back in the 90's, "Memmy" Walsh (M. Emmett), who was an ancillary member of some of my up-country drinking circles (trust me, few can hold a candle to that man's liquor capacity, or endure very much of his purple prose).
Haven't seen Memmy in years now, hope he's still well.

[jdb1]

Uncle S, since you are new to SSO, you probably haven't seen all of the reports of the close encounters many of us have had, since they aren't concentrated in any particular thread.

Having lived in NYC all my life, I've seen/met a whole lotta celebrities. My father owned several different upscale grocery/delis around Manhattan, and was on casual terms with many of the rich and famous who patronized his stores. I myself have worked in law firms for decades, as well as working for while at Gulf + Western, which at the time owned Paramount. By virtue of those positions, I've had dealings with many clients of varying degrees of celebrity. We New Yorkers take our celebrity fellow citizens pretty much for granted, and don't bother them, which is why so many of them choose to live here.

PS -- The lobby of the Gulf + Western Building is where I exchanged friendly nods in passing with Charles Bronson, who even took his pipe out of his mouth, like a gentleman, to perform the greeting. He was so non-celebrity about it that it didn't quite register until I got into the elevator. Then there was the time I was going up to my floor and the elevator stopped at Paramount reception. When the doors opened, literally an inch in front of my face stood Peter Falk, who asked me what time it was, and called me "Honey." I remember he was wearing a really nice pink pullover and had lots of bushy fair hair. When I told him the time, he said "Wow, I better get going!" There were dozens of other encounters there, but so many were in the cause of business that I don't remember them clearly. They were just another day at work.

[Sue Sue Applegate]

Sounds like fun, judith.
Great stories, klondike.

I've also met WIllie Nelson, B.B. King, Leon Russell, Willis Alan Ramsey, Lily Tomlin, Paul Lynde, Lauren Bacall, and others.

Since the TCM festival, I've met Peter Bogdanovich, Alec Baldwin, Diane Baker, Ed Faulkner, Jaqueline Bisset, Ben Mankiewicz, and Robert Osborne. It was so much fun!

[Uncle Stevie]

It sounds like some of you had some exciting encounters. My sheltered life did not expose me to celebs. Those of you who were positioned to see famous people might have had some rewarding experiences. I hope we can find out something about celebs from encounters that are not publicity statements. I have had personal engagements with the Broadway Singing Star Linda Eder who was a star in Jekkyl & Hyde. Her info to be known is that she talks to fans in a big way and waits after concerts to speak and sign for them. She loves fans.

I hear rumors about some stars who shun fans. I recently met someone who had negative comments about Raechel Ray and her fan approach.

Why do you condemm me for being new to the site? I would like to think I bring some fresh ideas and awareness to this chat room. Perhaps there have been comments about this subject in various entries but honestly, who here has read every single entry and also remembers what was posted. I hope you will be gracious to accept my inquiries in a friendly way and certainly any subject more than one year old deserves to be rejuvnated. I mean no harm to your sensitivity but I am, perhaps, overly excited to be a part of this wonderful movie site. I have not responded to all categories and have tried to stick to the rules of similarity. You may be surprised to know that I did "SEARCH" this site for a previous topic involving meeting celebrites. I found none.

I am a 25 year veteran to website membership and have always read and commented only to those categories of interest to me. I have much experience and knowledge to bring to any forum and hope you will allow me to continue to do it.


Uncle Stevie

[Professional Tourist]

Well, since Birdy asked --

These were mostly when I was in my mid- to late-teens, by stage doors after seeing shows on Broadway -- which weren't nearly so expensive back in the day.

Some of the really big stars, such as Henry Fonda and James Mason, as much as I liked them I was too intimidated to wait for them. Some of the better-knows ones with whom I did speak for a moment or two: Richard Kiley, John Cullum, Imogene Coca, and David Selby. Imogene Coca asked me my name for the autograph, then kept forgetting it and made it out wrong. Also, Estelle Harris, who may best be known for playing George Costanza's mother on "Seinfeld" was the mother of a childhood friend.

And now for something completely different. I had a close encounter with Richard Burton eight years after he passed away. I was vacationing in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, taking a tour one afternoon of Casa Kimberly, the house in the hills called "Gringo Gulch," where he had lived with E.T., which was at that time operated as a guest house. I wandered away from the tour group and into one of the guest baths. He was standing over the sink, preparing to wash his hands. When he saw me standing there he looked up and over at me, full in the face, a bit surprised, and then vanished.

[jdb1]

How very odd you would take my comment that you are new to the thread and probably haven't seen most of our reminiscences as a condemnation. You are new to us, and we are glad to have you. And we haven't, in fact, had many threads dedicated to celebrity sightings; such stories usually appear as asides on threads devoted to other topics. Have I said something here that isn't true?

When we share our experiences of celebrity sightings, it's just that -- to share. No one's pulling rank here, friend. We are here to share our opinions, insights and experiences. An accident of birth has put me in New York City, where celebrity-spotting and interaction is a civic pastime. Will you get equally bothered when you find out that many SSO members are industry insiders? And that SSO-er MookRyan is Robert Ryan's daughter? I certainly hope not - we are all peers here. That's why we keep coming back.

[Uncle Stevie]

Ok jdb1. I had no intention to create any friction here. The fact is I love this site and wish to remain an active member. I actually thought you were chiding me for not being around long enough to know what was going on. I did assume that some members were connected to celebrity families and I hoped to start a thread that could be enlightened by an insiders view.

Your "accident of Birth" was no accident. I too was born in NYC as was tens of millions of others. My history exposed me to The Capitol Theater in the city where my Grandfather was the chief projectionist there. In fact, my Grandfather held some patents for improvements made to the theater movie projector and worked with Edison on some designs. He was invited to Hollywood to work there but chose instead to sell his patent to Louis B. Mayer and remained in New York. I was allowed, at age 9 & 10 to come to the shows and watch them run the spotlights for the great stage shows. I do remember meeting Frank Sinatra and Harry James but not with any conversation. Those were grand old days and I treasure my fading memory of them.

I will close happily now and retire in solitude to watch one of my favorite old movies from 1939. Grace Moore in "The King Steps Out" tickles me and I watch it and others like it repeatedly. My purchased DVD movie collection exceeds 170 flicks and I watch 1-3 movies per night. It helps put me to sleep. To explain my knowledge level, I have limited my favorites to female movie singers and have become knowlegable in the lives of Deanna Durbin, Grace Moore, Kathryn Grayson, Jane powell, Jeanette MacDonals, and Evelyn Laye. You could ask me about their lives and I might know the answers. I have studied some of their biogrophies. I do not know everything but I do have information. My two most favorite performers are Deanna Durbin and Grace Moore.


Let's be friends and indeed share information and our love for these many performers from the silver screen.

[jdb1]

There -- see? You've got lots to share, and this is the place to do it.

I've learned so many fascinating, funny and sometimes shocking things at SSO, and I've found so many new routes to explore by virtue of the expertise of our members, and not just on the subject of film, either.

How about searching your memories and telling us more about The Capitol, one of the most important movie theaters in New York?

And please don't limit yourself to the singing divas -- everyone's insights are valuable and interesting here, and we like to hear differing opinions. If everyone here liked the same thing, this would be just another bland fan site, instead of the stimulating forum it is.

[Professional Tourist]

To explain my knowledge level, I have limited my favorites to female movie singers and have become knowlegable in the lives of Deanna Durbin, Grace Moore, Kathryn Grayson, Jane powell, Jeanette MacDonals, and Evelyn Laye. You could ask me about their lives and I might know the answers. I have studied some of their biogrophies. I do not know everything but I do have information. My two most favorite performers are Deanna Durbin and Grace Moore.

Hmmm, no Judy Garland???

[Birdy]

UncleS -
Enjoyed your stories and can't wait to hear more. I, too, go to sleep to my old fave movies, usually b&w 30s comedies. My favorite genre is 30s musicals but it's hard to fall asleep with tap dancing.
Birdy