The first celebrity I remember meeting was Carlos Montoya a guitarist known for his style Flamenco music. Chris

Another one I forgot about was Ernie Harwell, announcer for the Detroit Tigers. I heard that he was supposed to have been not so nice in person but you could not prove that by me.

He was a customer of the dealership I worked at in the late 90's. I was at the counter when my buddy called asking about parts for his son's car. I told Mike that we had it, gave him a price and the call gravitated to B.S.ing when Ernie walked up. I told Mike that I would call him back, he joked "what, a customer is more important than me?"

I replied "Ernie Harwell just walked up here, gotta go." Mike replied "B*******". Ernie gets this big grin on his face and says "Give me the phone, I'll tell him you gotta go."

Mike hears this over the phone then replies to me "You're not s******* me, that is Ernie. Talk to you later."

Ernie then starts laughing and said "Guess he believes you now!" We both started laughing over that one.

Class act with a sense of humor at least with me.

In 1990 or 91 I met all the living Medal Of Honor recipients when they came to Charleston to honor the start of the Civil War at Ft Sumter...

I remember them being very quiet and reserved; many shared their story but each one of them said they wore the medal for the men who didn't get to come back. (very sobering)

Also I was at a wedding several years ago and the guy who plays Mike Franks on NCIS (Muse Watson) was there, somehow he is related to the Bride so I guess we are all related now HA! He was very accommodating and gave my wife and sisters autographs and spent time taking photos with whomever wanted...very down to earth guy.

quote:

Originally posted by pilot99:
Chuck Yeager.

The cool dude I lease my hangar from, is a senior Southwest pilot / check airman. Back when he was in the Air Force he flew a Lear that was a VIP transport.

He tells the story about the time that his VIP passenger was General Chuck Yeager, who asked him what the devices on the wing were for.

Buzz told him that they were for boundary layer control and started to explain how, without them, air flow would separate from the wings at high speed and how that would be a problem.

General Yeager interrupted him, saying "I know about high speed flight, Buzz."

---

My first big celebrity was Bob Hope. Back around 1964 or 1965 he was receiving an honorary PhD from Monmouth College (New Jersey). The college contracted the air taxi service at our local airport to pick him up at JFK airport and ferry him to Monmouth County Airport, near the college. We used the Swearingen-modified Twin Bonanza for the trip. The college's Homecoming Queen acted as flight attendant. I was co-pilot for that trip, as one of the owners of the air taxi service wanted to fly for Bob Hope. Mr. Hope was a warm, friendly guy, very casual.

Lived next door to Nick Bouniconti as a little kid in Kendall (Miami). Played Pee-Wee football with his son Mark, who was my best friend. Met Jaques Cousteau when I was about 6, I went on a tour of the Calypso and got his autograph.
Then Jimmy Buffet a couple of years later, raced against him in the 1st Annual Abaco Regatta. (beat him, too)
Most recently, Paul Allen, Tiger Woods, Michael Douglas, and Catherine Zeta Jones at a fundraiser in Bermuda for the Institution I was working for. Catherine Z-J is really gorgeous in person.

First celebrity I met was Jackie O. She was a friend of a family I hung around. Didn't even realize until much later on who she was. This was in the early 90's and I was just a dumb farm kid from po-dunk.

Later, most of the 1990's Washington Redskins roster sent their kids to the school I went to, so I would see/meet them in passing. Some time in the 90's, Jack Kent Cook offered to build the school a football stadium with the stipulation that it said, Sponsored by the Washington Redskins....BIG FAT NO GO! The school passed on that and lost 25 million for stadium, equipment, and coaching staff. County also lost the majority of players and as a result their kids that were enrolled in the school. Now that was fun to watch.

Later, I got to drive around ol' Donny Rumsfeld for the better part of 4 days in Baghdad and surrounding areas. Nice enough fella. Missed George W. Bush by about 2 weeks. I had rotated back to Germany when he came through BIAP and rubbed elbows with my old unit. Many folks have pictures with the President from that visit.

Ben Jones has been the most recent celebrity I've met. Crazy Cooter from Dukes of Hazard lives not far from my dad. Pretty nice fella.

Gordon Scott (Tarzan) about 1960.

Among my actor uncle's four wives was the very famous actress Ann Sheridan. They came to visit us in our Chicago-area suburb in the '60s as she was getting ready to start a new TV series.

She was one of the most down-to-earth and nice people I've ever seen from the world of show business---not the full-of-themselves type of celebrity at all. She passed away from cancer a couple of years later, but over the decades everything I've heard about her was that she was one of the real "pros" in the industry who had both feet on the ground.

Not enough of them around, and she died way too soon.

Bo Diddley. Sat next to him on a flight from Fl. to Cal. A really nice guy to talk to.

I feel lame.

My future ex-fiancé and I were all set to watch the comedian Stephen Wright at Virginia Tech early 90s. I'll be dropping my son off at VT in a few weeks as he starts college there. We were walking around the side of Burress Hall where he was going on, very dark and almost isolated spot. A side door opens and he pops out. Asks if we had a lighter. I did not... I was somewhat flabbergasted and had little to say. My GF had no idea it was him.

In 1967, my group performed just before Hank Williams Jr. at a central Ohio venue then known as The Frontier Ranch (now Buckeye Lake, I think). Hank chatted up a girl from my group and asked her to sing a song with his band. She grabbed me and pulled me onto the stage so she wouldn't have to sing alone. We sang "Lonesome Valley."

Bear Bryant, probably.

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
Art Monk was one that I actually remember. I met several other Redskins at Vienna Inn as a kid. Mom would take me there for chilli dogs, and Pac-Man and I assume so she could drink. Lots and lots of 80's players frequented the place. I loved that place, my favorite team's players and video games, it was heaven.

The Vienna Inn. Brings back good memories. Had a chili dog there that had a bright and shiny nickel included in the sauce. Cool place though. Is it still in business? Would love to have a dog there and reminisce about my ol Uncle that used to take us there.

Al Unser shorty after he won his first Indy 500.

I think the first celebrity I met was Chris DeGarmo but that was a previously set up record signing sort of thing. The first celebrity that I bumped into and hung out with was Bootsy Collins.

Only one I ever talked to was Arnold Schwarzenegger. Was 1983 so very early in his celebrity status. We were at the outdoor pool at Snowbird after a day of skiing. Short conversation about a great day of skiing.

Have since seen a number of Redskins, Henry Winkler (short dude) and James Woods.

I generally only speak if spoken to when it comes to public persons. Figure they value a bit of privacy. Know I would.

HRH Prince Philip - our Corps Colonel.

HRH Princess Margaret - guest in the mess.

HRH Duke of Gloucester and Mrs Duke of Gloucester. Patrons of a disability organisation of which I was regional chairman.

The Hon Sir John Major, before and after his 'sir-ring' - he was our local MP.

The late Rev Ian Paisley.

A few other lesser 'sir this and that' and stuff but nothing mind-blowing.

tac

I won a contest and got to meet and hang out with Geddy Lee for about 15 minutes.

Other than that, I used to write for fishing magazines and met and interviewed lots of guys who fish/fished the Bassmaster tournament trail and are celebrities in that world. Alton Jones was one of my most regular sources, and I fished a number of times with him. Probably my favorite single interview was with "The Bass Professor," Doug Hannon, a noted big-bass guru.

Santa Claus

Then after that, Dr Creep. Dayton OH local TV celeb who hosted a Saturday afternoon horror movie show.

Then after that, some democrat jackass Ohio governor. I'd mention a name but I'd get political and ruin such a nice thread.

William Devane. Nice guy and not pretentious at all.

Like in the the Jesse Stone movies too.

RMD