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They say never meet your heroes...
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JwRosenthal
·I’m a bit conscious about dropping names, but I’ll tell of another encounter because the man deserves praise. I sat at a table with Mel Brooks at a wedding many years ago.
The man was a saint.
He was not just a remarkable person, he had everyone both captivated and crying (laughing) simultaneously. Truly a magnetic personality, genius entertainer and Hollywood legend.
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RonJ
·My wife and I took a trip to Miami about 12 years ago and, after we landed, we went to baggage claim.
I had my wife sit down on an empty bench while I went off to fetch our bags from the carousel.
Of course, it took forever for our bags to show up, so when I finally get back to my wife on the bench, she's sitting chatting with a guy with white hair.
I immediately realize she's been chatting with Don Shula (coach of the Miami Dolphins) and she doesn't realize he's famous.
I guess they had been visiting for over 15 minutes and he was nice as ever.
When I walked up, my wife said, "Let me introduce you to Don".
I said "I know who he is, that's Don Shula". He just smiled and continued chatting.
My wife later asked me "Who is Don Shula?". 😀
.
I had my wife sit down on an empty bench while I went off to fetch our bags from the carousel.
Of course, it took forever for our bags to show up, so when I finally get back to my wife on the bench, she's sitting chatting with a guy with white hair.
I immediately realize she's been chatting with Don Shula (coach of the Miami Dolphins) and she doesn't realize he's famous.
I guess they had been visiting for over 15 minutes and he was nice as ever.
When I walked up, my wife said, "Let me introduce you to Don".
I said "I know who he is, that's Don Shula". He just smiled and continued chatting.
My wife later asked me "Who is Don Shula?". 😀
.
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West Slope
·Going back many years, I spent a night with Billy Zane, one of leads in Titanic. He was in London on a promo tour. I hadn’t seen the film and I noticed a spare seat in a packed Met Bar next to him. Got talking, had a laugh and finally after a couple of hours asked him what he was doing in London! He was in hysterics.
That reminds me of a flight I had earlier this year.....sat down, recognized the person in the window seat but honestly had no idea who he was. As I read my road racing world magazine he struck up a conversation with me about motorcycles (what else is there) and I finally asked him who he was.....turns out it was Eric Roberts the actor. We had a funny conversation about movies, especially about how few of them I have seen, before he mentioned his sister. I looked at him blankly and said "who is your sister"....I though he was going to laugh out loud....apparently the answer was Julia Roberts.
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JwRosenthal
·My wife and I took a trip to Miami about 12 years ago and, after we landed, we went to baggage claim.
I had my wife sit down on an empty bench while I went off to fetch our bags from the carousel.
Of course, it took forever for our bags to show up, so when I finally get back to my wife on the bench, she's sitting chatting with a guy with white hair.
I immediately realize she's been chatting with Don Shula (coach of the Miami Dolphins) and she doesn't realize he's famous.
I guess they had been visiting for over 15 minutes and he was nice as ever.
When I walked up, my wife said, "Let me introduce you to Don".
I said "I know who he is, that's Don Shula". He just smiled and continued chatting.
My wife later asked me "Who is Don Shula?". 😀
.
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Walrus
·I’ve met and talked with a number of pro baseball players. Most of them were really cool and down to earth. Jim Rice, the Boston Red Sox Star not so much. At the time he was on the coaching staff of the Red Sox, I just asked him kindly to sign a ball, he gave me a big lecture about not signing. I tried making a little small talk as we were both waiting for a cab outside of the dome in Toronto he wasn’t feeling it at all. As I walked off I told him he was doing a great job, he told me to stop and said “do you mean that, if you mean that I’m signing that ball.” At this point I almost kept walking but it was my last day in Toronto so I had him sign.
I also met a few stars at a well known treatment facility in my state, it was during the course of my work, found them to be either off the wall or very cool, of course making judgements on people in the midst of detox isn’t very fair.
I also met a few stars at a well known treatment facility in my state, it was during the course of my work, found them to be either off the wall or very cool, of course making judgements on people in the midst of detox isn’t very fair.
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ahsposo
··Most fun screen name at ΩFI'm too old and disillusioned to have "heroes" any more.
Bah! Humbug!
Bah! Humbug!
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Archer
··Omega Qualified WatchmakerI've met a number of celebrities, but most were short encounters. None of them were rude or difficult, so I don't have any bad experiences really. I don't consider any of them heroes, but people I admire for whatever talents they have certainly.
Three stand out to me as being very nice, and one honorable mention...
I serviced a watch for a member of the Canadian band called The Arkells a few years ago. This is him (Mike DeAngelis), presumably wearing the Speedmaster I serviced:
You can just see the crown and pushers. Pretty big band in Canada, have had several #1 hits here, won a Juno for group of the year, etc. He dropped it off at my house and picked it up, we had a chat, but it was all pretty low key, and mostly talking about the watch, but he did mention that he was in the area for a show...
Next was someone with a little wider exposure - William Shatner. Signed a poster for my wife and I after we saw him in a show a few years back. He's certainly someone I grew up watching in Star Trek, TJ Hooker, etc., and although I'm not a real Trekkie, it's probably my favourite sci-fi show in all it's various forms. My after school routine was watching the reruns and I've seen the original series probably 10 times over.
Next one is Tiger Woods. Spent a day shooting a commercial with him, just after he had won the British Open in 2000. He was very nice, down to earth, and was truly interested in the other sports that were being portrayed in the commercial (was a Buick Olympic spot). Got his autograph and a photo with him. This was all well before things went off the rails with his life...
The honorable mention is Steven Page from the Barenaked Ladies. I had a complete brain fart when we saw him in a museum in Ottawa with his son, and when I went to say hello he saw that I couldn't remember his name, so he reached out his hand and said "Steven Page" and I thought that was quite nice of him to bail me out of my temporary amnesia...
Cheers, Al
Three stand out to me as being very nice, and one honorable mention...
I serviced a watch for a member of the Canadian band called The Arkells a few years ago. This is him (Mike DeAngelis), presumably wearing the Speedmaster I serviced:
You can just see the crown and pushers. Pretty big band in Canada, have had several #1 hits here, won a Juno for group of the year, etc. He dropped it off at my house and picked it up, we had a chat, but it was all pretty low key, and mostly talking about the watch, but he did mention that he was in the area for a show...
Next was someone with a little wider exposure - William Shatner. Signed a poster for my wife and I after we saw him in a show a few years back. He's certainly someone I grew up watching in Star Trek, TJ Hooker, etc., and although I'm not a real Trekkie, it's probably my favourite sci-fi show in all it's various forms. My after school routine was watching the reruns and I've seen the original series probably 10 times over.
Next one is Tiger Woods. Spent a day shooting a commercial with him, just after he had won the British Open in 2000. He was very nice, down to earth, and was truly interested in the other sports that were being portrayed in the commercial (was a Buick Olympic spot). Got his autograph and a photo with him. This was all well before things went off the rails with his life...
The honorable mention is Steven Page from the Barenaked Ladies. I had a complete brain fart when we saw him in a museum in Ottawa with his son, and when I went to say hello he saw that I couldn't remember his name, so he reached out his hand and said "Steven Page" and I thought that was quite nice of him to bail me out of my temporary amnesia...
Cheers, Al
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Larry S
··Color Commentator for the Hyperbole.Was at a wedding in Valley Forge PA years ago. I had taken a break from the mayhem and was chilling, drink in hand, in the lounge when Dom DeLuise plops down in the next couch over. We just sat there BS ing for about 10 minutes. Then a very drunk friend of mine comes stumbling over and says to him “Hey, I thought you were going on a diet!” What are you guys? Accountants?” Said he. Fond memory of a nice guy.
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redpcar
·I’m a bit conscious about dropping names, but I’ll tell of another encounter because the man deserves praise. I sat at a table with Mel Brooks at a wedding many years ago.
The man was a saint.
He was not just a remarkable person, he had everyone both captivated and crying (laughing) simultaneously. Truly a magnetic personality, genius entertainer and Hollywood legend.
Mel Brooks!
I met him in 1984. Spring break road trip from Kansas to LA. 6 of us (all engineering students) got into the 20th Century Fox executive dining room for lunch. Mel was a few tables away with a bunch of executives. We were eavesdropping and could hear him on more than one occasion asking about the "table of kids". He finally got up and walked over, introduced himself, and sat with us and chatted for what seemed forever. Never talked about himself, just questions about us.
When it was over, we all just said "WOW".
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Syrte
·Not a story about me but about a friend who’s a bit of a litterature nerd and not at all into pop music... more into classical music. When we were students his father who had some means treated him to a first class ticket to New York. He got seated next to a guy who didn’t take his sun glasses off. My friend noticed the guy seemed to be a bit paranoid about being spotted, but my friend had no interest in the guy and proceeded to start reading a book, possibly in ancient greek or latin. In the end the guy was the one who struck up a conversation, and apparently he was super nice.
Some days or weeks later, my friend was at a another friend’s place, and upon seeing a picture in her record collection he exclaimed « that’s the guy who was next to me on the plane! ». That person was Sting.
Some days or weeks later, my friend was at a another friend’s place, and upon seeing a picture in her record collection he exclaimed « that’s the guy who was next to me on the plane! ». That person was Sting.
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M'Bob
·Wow. Who could have guessed on this small watch forum that Mel Brooks would be the top nice person?
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Norfolk
·As a kid Growing up my two heroes (apart from my dad) were James Hunt and Bobby Moore. I met both of them and they lived up to every expectation I had of them. The stories are too long to go into now but suffice to say I was deeply enriched by both experiences.
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Walrus
·I should mention Pete Best. The Beatles first drummer. Met him and talked for a while. I wanted to ask him if he felt like the unluckiest guy in the world but he probably gets asked that and who the hell wants to remember all the “could have beens”. Anyway very nice guy and he did say he thought he was a better drummer than Ringo.
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janice&fred
·he thought he was a better drummer than Ringo.
I gotta couple of famous drummer stories and I will get to them as well as other celeb stories later today after I finish the yard work in the sweltering heat.
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lillatroll
·I met the runner Haile Gabriel Selassie. He came to our little school in Norway. The headmaster was/is a keen runner and started a local run to encourage people to be more healthy back in the early 80s. That event has grown into quite a big local event. Our school decided to raise money for orphanages in Ethiopia in conjunction with the running event. Our school sent two pupils to Ethiopia every year to see how the money was being used and deliver the money. It was decided to use Haile Gabriel Selassie charity in Ethiopia. One year he came to little Norway to run our local race. I met him in the staff room and we had a cup of coffee and a biscuit. He didn’t speak much english but sat there nodding and smiling a lot. I think he liked the biscuit.
I have met quite a few Norwegian musicians, one of my neighbours, who I said hello to often suddenly turned up on Tv as part of a music show. I didn’t know he was in a band. I also lived above the daughter of Norways biggest TV Sports presenters and I used to talk to him quite often. Norwegians seem to go out of their way to act as ‘normal‘ as possible. I don’t think people would put up with much diva behaviour in Norway.
I have met quite a few Norwegian musicians, one of my neighbours, who I said hello to often suddenly turned up on Tv as part of a music show. I didn’t know he was in a band. I also lived above the daughter of Norways biggest TV Sports presenters and I used to talk to him quite often. Norwegians seem to go out of their way to act as ‘normal‘ as possible. I don’t think people would put up with much diva behaviour in Norway.