<p>Was he “Doc” in college? Did his “Profs” call him “Doc”??</p>
<p>Anne did a great job in that commercial…</p>
<p>I like Alan Arkin…</p>
<p>Arnold Palmer was at a golf tournament. He walked into a restaurant for breakfast. His charisma is huuuuge. All the seats were taken. Many customers said, “Sit with us”. He sat with strangers and had breakfast. He was smiling. And so was everyone in the restaurant.</p>
<p>yup - already ‘Doc’ by his Junior year in college. From the NBA website (via wikipedia)</p>
<p>“Rivers was given his nickname by then-Marquette assistant coach Rick Majerus. Rivers attended a summer basketball camp wearing a “Dr. J” T-shirt. Majerus immediately called him “Doc” and the players at camp followed suit.”</p>
<p>Sapling and I met Walter Payton when Sapling was three years old. He was super nice.</p>
<p>I have met MOWC and almost met JYM626. Do CC celebrities count?</p>
<p>On a serious note, most people involved or following sports in the Dallas area would have plenty of opportunities to meet athletes or athletes who became celebrities after their playing days. I think that half of Dallas has a picture taken with Troy Aikman or Roger Staubach. </p>
<p>MOWC might have forgotten this but Mike Modano presented the Stanley Cup to “our” school. Also, the famous Harvard roommate of the inventor of the internet came to talk to our class. Other famous people --including Presidential candidates-- were often seen on campus and were always eager to chat with the Little Lions. </p>
<p>Through our soccer club, I met plenty of professional players and the US national teams practiced often our “our” facilities. I met Landon Donovan in several places, and visited him in Leverkusen. Of course, soccer players are not that famous in our country. </p>
<p>On a flight back from Europe, we sat next to Eddy Merckx. I had no idea about whom he was, but my dad was on Cloud Nine. Well, with the altitude, we were supposed to be above the clouds!</p>
<p>And then I talked to President Clinton. Once!</p>
<p>momof3sons: DH would be so jealous of you for meeting Mickey Mantle. He was his idol growing up.</p>
<p>In the mid-70’s, I was at an open practice for the New York Islanders (back when they did such things at local ice rinks). After practice, the players came out to talk to fans and give autographs. Among others, I met Mike Bossy, Billy Smith, Bobby Nystrom, and Bryan Trottier. Trottier came out with his arm in a sling and said he couldn’t sign autographs. I told him I didn’t care if he signed with his other hand. My persistence paid off when he took his arm out of the sling and signed an autograph for me.</p>
<p>Do Olympic, World and national champions and/or record holders count as celebrities? I met quite a few back in the days when D was briefly involved in competitive (but not super competitive :)) sports.</p>
<p>Since I have worked in the movie industry and music, meeting actors just doesnt do it for me. But I do get overly excited by artists, writers and scientists. I LOVED meeting: Ray Bradbury, sculptor Richard Serra(very sexy), painter Robert Rauschenberg, and physicist Richard Feynman. And H always LOVES meeting astronauts. He worked on one particular movie that involved lots of astronauts…I’ve never seen him so excited in his life. When Buzz Aldrin gave him a thumbs up…H almost died of girlish excitement.</p>
<p>I met Tommy Lasorda when I was in college. It was at a USC fundraiser and he was the guest of our legendary baseball coach Rod Dedeaux. He was great.</p>
<p>Also while in college I performed with Fleetwood Mac for their reunion concert. It was amazing. Mick and John McVie hung with us for a bit. We tried to get stories out of them about our director from the original Tusk recording but I don’t think they remembered much.</p>
<p>I played broomball with Danica McKeller which was random.</p>
<p>I met one of my favorite singers, Shirley Manson at a Muse concert. She was sweet and of course had a kick ass accent.</p>
<p>My grandfather met John Wayne. He was an air conditioning guy and did work in his house. He was in awe and apparently John Wayne was very nice.</p>
<p>S2 was walking down the bleachers at a bball game and bumped into the man ahead of him; as that man turned S2 apologized only to have the man remove his hat, smile and go “it’s all good man. But don’t tell anyone it’s me, I’m just being a dad today”. It was Denzel Washington. </p>
<p>S2 also, much more memorably, met Jane Goodall when he was about 10. She was here for a presentation and afterwards she greeted people – adults got a friendly hello, but children she stopped and talked to at length, and took pictures. He talks about that to this day.</p>
<p>How about corporate CEOs and other business leaders? </p>
<p>Had lunch w Mike Bloomberg in 1994 and he described the death of newspapers as we know it and predicted that everyone would one day have a device they would download with the news they want to read. </p>
<p>Most interesting CEO was Eike Batista - richest guy in Brazil & 7th richest in the world. I was expecting a huge entourage to show up at our office. Nope, just him, his CFO & the investment banker that set up the meeting. Nice guy, didn’t even have flashy jewelry.</p>
<p>When I was a kid, my dad would pick up extra cash by being the doctor for stuff like wrestling, including the local tv matches. I remember the Terrible Turk, who of course was actually Armenian because the Angry Armenian wouldn’t exactly be a draw. I met lots of hockey players that way because he’d examine their injuries. Bobby Hull had legs like trees. I was such a little kid this stuff is barely a memory. I think more about the overall experience. As an aside, I guess maybe my dad would qualify because a friend of his was then directing episodes of Traffic Court and my dad would come on and play a defendant. I remember him not shaving for 3 days and acting as a drunk driver pleading guilty. My mom was horrified because people thought the show was real. We got phone calls: “I’m so sorry for you.” </p>
<p>Also when I was very, very little I met a guy who climbed Mount Everest back when that was a real feat. I gather I asked him if he really lost his toes. He did. Yuck. I didn’t want to sit near him.</p>
<p>Tom Watson stayed at our house several times when he was in the area for golf tournaments. He was a very nice person and stayed in touch with our family for a long time.</p>
<p>I knew Kevin Costner before he was famous. My boyfriend at the time was attending another college and Kevin was in his frat. I’ve actually kissed him quite a few times since that was the customary greeting at this frat. I went on two Tahoe ski trips with him and even went to his first wedding. He was the first groom I ever knew to cry during the ceremony… he cried the whole time his bride walked down the aisle and throughout his vows. It was really sweet.</p>
<p>My daughter went to boarding school with Rumer Willis and we would frequently see Bruce, Demi and their bodyguards/significant others (pre-Ashton) at the school for parents’ events. Bruce is short and very nice. Demi- tiny except for, um, her chest.</p>
<p>I worked summers in HS and college at a huge international conglomerate in NYC. I moved up over the years from mailroom to sitting in for the receptionist on the exec floor. (Impressive, huh??)
I met a lot of famous people there but it was my encounter with Ted Turner in 1979 that stands out. He was trying to drum up some advertising for some cable news network he was trying to launch. He was incredibly disorganized and sloppy - picked up his briefcase and all of his papers fell all over the floor. He forgot something at the hotel and asked to use my phone. I showed him the little room with a private phone but he wanted to use my desk phone. I let him. I was reading Judith Krantz’ “Scruples”. As Ted leaned over me to use the phone, he asked in this incredible southern drawl, “Scruples, huh? Do you have any scruples, little lady?” I sat straight up and in my most self-important voice said, “Mr. Turner, really!” I sniffed and turned my back toward him. He laughed his head off.
I often think if I played my cards differently, I could have been the next Mrs. Turner…
At the time, I had no idea who this guy was. A few weeks later he was named in TIME as one of the 100 most influential Americans …or something along those lines…</p>
<p>I met Clint Eastwood recently at his restaurant in Carmel. That man is the best looking 82 year old you’ll ever see. Tall, bright eyes, quick wit. My friends and I flirted shamelessly and he enjoyed the banter. He went around to all the patrons at the bar giving everyone attention and making conversation for a very long time, holding one glass of wine from which he rarely sipped.</p>
<p>MOWC interesting about Frank shorter, my dad went to university of florida, at the time I believe FS was going to law school there. We frequently would see him running around town, his wife used to go with him on her bicycle.</p>
<p>A few months ago there was a fantastic article about Frank in Runners’ World where he “came out” about the physical and emotional abuse he suffered through his entire childhood at the hands of his father. It was a very powerful article and none of us had any idea.</p>
<p>At one time or another, I met Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, Muhammed Ali (before he got sick – he did magic tricks, and he looked much bigger in person than on TV), and Phil Rizzuto. I also have a short note from DiMaggio that someone once got him to write and gave me as a present, but it has my old name on it, so I can’t ever show it to anyone! (Except my son, who has no interest in sports whatsoever, I’m afraid.)</p>
<p>Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward lived in my apartment building when I was a child, and I used to see them in the elevator.</p>
<p>The “I knew a celebrity” story that impresses me most is probably that of a woman I know, about 10 years older than I am, who was Janis Joplin’s housemate one summer in the early 1960’s, before Janis became famous.</p>