Famous People.

[Ray]

Sheyne!  Me!

[Shuggy]

.

[serious crayons]

You guys have cool stories. I myself am surrounded by an anti-celebrity force field. For someone who 1) was a newspaper reporter and 2) lived in New York for a year, I have a paltry few famous-people sightings and no meetings whatsoever (aside from governors and boring people like that). I lived in New Orleans during a time lots of stars made movies there (Tom Cruise, Kevin Costner, etc. etc.) -- never saw any of 'em. I lived in Minneapolis last year, while Robert Altman was making his new star-studded film -- nada. I even lived in Duluth, Minn., in the mid-'80s, when Sam Shepherd and Jessica Lange spent so much time on a movie there that by the end just about everyone in town was practically on their Christmas card list. Never saw em.

So here's my whole list:

-- Walked past Carl Bernstein in Greenwich Village.
-- Spotted John Goodman at the New Orleans jazz festival.
-- Passed Steve McQueen in a grocery store parking lot in Ketchum, Idaho, in 1979.
-- Sat across the aisle from Tom Brokaw when seeing "Proof" on Broadway.

[MaineWriter]

Supposedly all sorts of famous people show up in Portland and Maine, regularly, but I am always a day late and a dollar short in seeing them...but my friends do and tell me about it!

There is a mixing studio here that apparently is quite famous in the recording world. Supposedly Eric Clapton shows up about twice a year, and also Bruce Springsteen. Other musicians are spotted on a regular basis.

Folks own homes here--Kirstie Alley has been getting alot of press and also Martha Stewart (up on Mt. Desert Island). Glenn Close just married a guy with a big house on Prout's Neck so lots of pictures of her in the paper...and as summer gets underway, I'm sure she'll be hanging around.

Jeff Probst (Survivor guy) was (maybe he still is?) dating a Survivor contestant, Julie, who is from Gorham. Many, many sightings of those two, especially when the romance was first getting going and she hadn't moved to California yet. They seemed to like to hang out in the Hannaford (grocery store) in Gorham, of all romantic places.

Of course, we have the Bushes, pere et fils and their respective spouses. Babs is around a lot as the children's hospital at Maine Medical Center is named after her. Laura shows up for various ribbon cutting events. And now that Bill Clinton is so chummy with George, Sr., he shows up for regular golf dates.

Celebrities of a different sort: lots of artists, especially in the summer, but the Wyeths (Andew and son Jamie) are probably the most well known. Jamie hangs out on Monehegan Island in the summer. Nice place.

L

[moremojo]

I've had the honor of meeting George Kuchar and his twin brother Mike in San Francisco in 1990. Both Kuchars were legendary figures in the New York underground-film scene of the 1960s, and were major influences on John Waters. Since the early Seventies, George has made his home in San Francisco, teaching filmmaking at the Art Institute there.

I was greeted by Roy Rogers at his museum in Victorville, California.

I was in a move theater twice with former Texas governor Ann Richards, the first time before she became governor, and the second time while she was in office.

I stood a mere few feet away from Antonio Banderas in a now-closed Barnes & Noble bookstore, several years ago. He was browsing like me, and stopped to ask a clerk for help in finding a specific item. I tried not to stare, and kept a respectful distance from him the whole time.

I attended a film presentation and speech by director Dusan Makavejev once, and hoped to get to meet him afterward, as a friend was a friend of his, but I felt sheepish about all the people thronging around him after the show and bade a quiet goodbye to my friend, upon which I departed.

I did get to meet performance artist Penny Arcade after a show of hers at back in 2004. I thanked her for a beautiful memorial essay she had written for her friend, filmmaker Jack Smith, and she even gave me a warm hug afterwards.

Scott

[henrypie]

After a concert followed, on hot tip, Martin Gore and Andy Fletcher of Depeche Mode to dance club in DC.  We talked to them, tried to be cool....  Understand that Martin Gore was, from age 13, my first True Love (if you don't count Curtis the Lifeguard).  This happened at age 18.  My love had matured, but not dimmed.

Also ran around a grocery store late at night after Hugh Grant, who was in Baltimore for... God, I can't even remember.  It might have been a John Waters premiere.  We followed him at a distance, hiding in the frozen vegetables, grabbing a magazine to hide behind.  Very cloak-and-dagger.  Hugh-and-frozenpeas.

Talked briefly to Elton John outside the Royal Academy of Music in London, which is right down the street from Madame Tussaud's, where he made an appearance for a wax-figure premiere-thingy, and was headed on foot, with small entourage, for Regent's Park.

What is it with these pasty Brit boys?

NOW:
One of the above stories is false.  Which one?

[ednbarby]

I've spotted several folks, too, but never had the inclination/guts to try to speak to them:

- Steve Winwood in the Miami Airport about 10 years ago

- Denis Leary in LAX about 10 years ago

- Tim Roth at the Ft. Lauderdale Int'l Film Festival about 6 years ago - screened a film he'd directed called "The War Zone" and he did a Q&A afterwards - he's a very small, very slight man - no taller than 5'7", I'd say, and very thin.

- Matthew Modine walking by with his daughter in her school uniform in 2000 in the Village, near Washington Square Park - he's VERY tall - I'd hazard a guess at 6'2" or 6'3"

- Chris Noth in the heart of Broadway after a matinee play crossing at the same crosswalk and walking in the same direction as Ed and me for a couple blocks - he was wearing a jacket and tie and looked to be escorting his parents (a considerably older couple) to dinner.  He's tallish, but not as tall as I'd have thought - more like 5'10".

[j.U.d.E.]

Also ran around a grocery store late at night after Hugh Grant, who was in Baltimore for... God, I can't even remember.  It might have been a John Waters premiere.  We followed him at a distance, hiding in the frozen vegetables, grabbing a magazine to hide behind.  Very cloak-and-dagger.  Hugh-and-frozenpeas.

NOW:
One of the above stories is false.  Which one?

For some strange reason, THIS Hugh-chase sounds phoney.. 

~ j U d E

[henrypie]

Wheee!
Nope, the Hugh-chase was real.

I almost forgot: Pope John Paul II.  He was pretty famous.  He blessed me.  And, like thousands of others.  But I was about three feet from him.

[j.U.d.E.]

Wheee!
Nope, the Hugh-chase was real.

Really?! What the hell were you thinking about!?   

I almost forgot: Pope John Paul II.  He was pretty famous.  He blessed me.  And, like thousands of others.  But I was about three feet from him.

Pretty amazing!

~ j U d E