I was thinking about this the other day, surely someone here has had a brush with stardom? The best I can do is walking past Irish soap opera stars in the street Hardly exciting. What about you guys?
Before I was married, I was stationed at Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach Virginia. A friend of mine from the base also did auto repair part time and had a small shop in Va. Beach. I was at his shop on a Sunday adternoon helping him. Handing him tools etc stuff like that. In return he did a tune up on my car for no charge, just parts. A huge bus pulls up and the driver comes in and wants to know if he could check it over that there was an electrical problem. He checked it over and it needed a new generator. He called someone he knew and was waiting for him to bring a generator over to the shop for him. It had started to rain and the driver wanted to know if his passenger could come into the shop for a while. It was winter and a little chilly out. He couldn't run the bus for heat because of the problem. He said sure, I'll put some fresh coffee on. When we walked from the office back into the shop, there was Louis Armstrong setting on the bench. He was on his way to New York for a performance when his bus broke down. He sent his driver back out to the bus for his trumpet as he wanted to practice. We listened to him play for about an hour and a half, while we put the new generator on. We were only going to charge him cost for the parts, and not for labor. He gave us each a $50 tip and said if we ever got a chance to come to one of his performances, that it would be free for us to get in. Unfortunately we never got the chance.
I have met Donna Douglas,(Ellie Mae Clampett)and Kenny Rogers and met Johnny Horton.I also met Robert Horton and Dale Robertson when they were performing at the prison rodeo many many years ago .I wrote this in a hurry the first time Kenny is related to a friend of mine .He was born and raised in Crockett,Texas.He drank coffee at my brothers home, also I have met singing stars Ernest Tubbs ate in our Bar-B- House.Joe Stampley,and Frenchie Burke signed my belt.I have has a good time with Gene Watson. He and my hubby drank all my Black Velvet while I was dancing.He was guest singer at the Sidewalk Cattlemen dance here in Madisonville.He is just a great guy.Frenchie Burke is also.He is marvelous on stage with his fiddle.Those from Louisana probably know him well. The younger ones on here probably don't know most of these.
Daniel Travanti, who starred in Hill Street Blues graduated from high school in my class. He was in several of my classes and since we walked home down the same street once in a while we walked together. He was captain of the football team. Captain Kangeroo came into our store in Kenosha, Wisconsin. We had a penny candy counter and he bought penny candy. I went to a Johnny Cash concert in a small town near where we lived when he wasn't a big star yet. He stayed and talked to all the people after the concert. He shook hands with all of them. The hospital administrator on Trapper John came into our store and spend $28.00 on penny candy. I've forgotten his name though. I did recognize him when he came in the store though. Dooley
*LOL* Dooley, our "6 degrees of separation" just dropped by about 4 degrees. I met Captain Kangaroo (Bob Keeshan) at a bookstore signing event years ago.
I met Carol Burnett back in the mid-60's when she was in Dallas starring in Once Upon A Mattress. Shook hands with her and my goodness does she have long hands. She was doing summer stock after she had left the Garry Moore show and before she got her own show and was really friendly. There were several people in line waiting to meet her but she took her time with each person for a nice chat. Got to meet Ricky Nelson after a New Years eve performance in Dallas the year before he died. After the concert my sister-in-law and I sneeked into the line of his official fan club members behind stage and got to go into the special room set up for them to meet, get his autograph and snap pictures. We didn't have a camera but I do still have his autograph. He was on his way back to Dallas on New Years Eve a few years later when his plane went down out in east Texas. I literally "ran into" Randy White, defensive tackle for the Dallas Cowboys, in a restaurant in 1978. I was heading to the ladies room and ogling the table full of Dallas Cowboys (when they had men worth ogling), turned a corner and ran smack into the biggest, most muscular chest I had ever met. He caught me before I could fall backwards on my butt and make more of a spectacle of myself.
Years ago, in the mid 70's, pre Donna, I was seeing a lady who had gone to Smith College with Joanne Woodward. I didn't know that when we were having our weekly Wednesday lunch at the Ponchartrain Hotel (a posh hotel on St Charles Ave). As we sat down, Jane announced we had friends of hers joining us. Walking toward us was Joanne Woodward, who sat down and was introduced. (As if she needed it.) In just a minute or two, hubby, Paul Newman joined us. I was mostly dumbstruck for the entire lunch.
How could you concentrate on eating with those gorgeous blue eyes to look at????? He is one man who has aged very well.
I am not sure I even ate or, for that matter, talked. I think I just sat there staring at them both. He is the most beautiful man I have ever seen. They were both gracious to a fault and I got a hug from each as they left. Be still my heart!
My favorite brush with a famous person happened while I was a senior in HS in W.Palm Beach. My best friend's mother was the wardrobe mistress of a small playhouse and my friend and I were priveleged to be introduced to Margaret Hamilton (The Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz). She was the dearest lady, and gave each of us a large lollipop which she removed from a huge floral arrangement that someone had sent to her. I was completely star-struck, I can't even recall the name of the play that she was performing in WPB.
In my first year as a gardener, I was weeding the vegetable patch with a co-worker when a man came along asking about the brussels sprouts. We answered his questions and chatted with him for a while and then he left. After he was gone, my co-worker was dancing around saying "don't you know who that was?" It was Lou Gossett Jr. I never did watch alot of movies and had no idea! I also once served wine to Graham Greene.
Most of my 'famous people' time has been with the actors and crew for Lord of the Rings - I am part of a little nonprofit gardening group who got to spend an entire day gardening with Sean Astin (Sam) and his family - he is dangerous with power tools! I've met Sean again a handful of times. I've met... well, it would be a bit of a list...! but all of them only in brief except for Sean A., Kiran Shah (stunt double little person), Richard Taylor (head of Weta's special effects, Howard Shore (musical score) and Alan Lee (conceptual artist) whom we got to spend a fair bit of time with in Seattle. Alan Lee is the most gracious and wonderful man, I just wanted to take him home with me.
I grew up with John McConnell, he has appeared on The Rosanne Barr show, had a one man Broadway play called the Kingfish, where he played Huey Long, infamous govenor of Louisiana, he has also been in several movies of which I can't remember the names. He now has a New Orleans radio talk show. My Mom and his Mom were best friends in high school and stayed friends until Alice passed away. They were some of our Long Pond(see my blog) buddies and we were always at their house or they were at ours. I haven't seen John in years, although I see his brother Martin often.
John (Spud) McConnell played the part of Ignatius Reilly in 'Confederacy of Dunces' and was born to the role. He is on NO radio daily and I hear him often. Does taking care of Bobby Dylan's pond count? I saw him often. Good guy. Paid his bill on time. And a good friend of mine, Mike Cohen, played with Pete Seeger and Oscar Brand waaaayyy back. Mike used to be married to Seeger's sister. Does that count too?
I once held Brittany Spears in my arms and kissed her while she nuzzled my neck. I had to forceably make her leave. Did I mention she was two months old at the time?
