Celebs both well known and obscure that you have more than just met | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Celebs both well known and obscure that you have more than just met

In 1969 I was in a band and in playing clubs around we became friends with Elf. This was Ronnie James Dio's group. Our manager set up a tour for a week for us in NY. It was in Cortland NY, Ronnie's hometown, that found us playing in a bar on the night Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. The bar was set up like ant other with the room we played in on one side and the bar on the other. Talked with Ronnie about the landing before we went and he said I'll keep an eye on the TV for us. At that point Ronnie starts waving his arms when the walk on the moon was about to happen. The entire room spills into the bar side and watches the walk. Ronnie and I watched elbow to elbow at the bar. Ronnie was also a guest over my house for dinner with the group one night in Waterbury. He could not have been a nicer guy. RIP

Also ran into Redd Foxx in Vegas. My wife asked for his autograph in the Hilton lobby. He said the management does not like guests to stop entertainers, he says, "do you have some time?" We proceeded to find a table, sat down and talked for 30 minutes. Come to find out he was in Waterbury at one time and mentioned a few names and I knew who he was talking about. Believe it not he did not even say damn and entire time. Fun.
 
I went to Herb Kenny basketball camp at Wesleyan in the mid 70s. One of my station coaches had a really long name that he knew no one could pronounce, so he went by Coach K.

I had a bad tendency to miss layups, which he picked up on after about 30 seconds. So for the next few days he had me show up early and do nothing but lay the ball in for like 15 minutes. It didn't help.

One year we had this super hyper coach show up who basically told us you do what you need to to win at any cost. Coach Kenny got the whole camp together the next day and essentially told us to ignore what Dickie V was preaching.

Another guest coach had me shoot corner jumpers in front of the entire camp to show what pressure could do. That was Jim Valvano. (Made the first, missed the rest)

On a side note, my team coach one year was Jack Phelan, who recently passed. He was an awesome guy.
 
WillB4 said:
In 1969 I was in a band and in playing clubs around we became friends with Elf. This was Ronnie James Dio's group.
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A couple months ago I mentioned having seen Elf in the early 70s at the Ezio Pinza amphitheater in Stamford. Nobody here ever heard of either the band nor the place. So at least you're proof there was a band, lol.
 
August_West said:
Ketih Richards (been to his house for a party)
Bill Walton (used to feed me beers in Taper section at GD shows when he was with celtics. I also picked him up hitchhiking)
Kate Moss (in my apartment a couple times for parties)
Al Franken (another multiple time GD show hangout)
GG Allin (crazy man was with him the week he died)
Allen Ginsberg (we frequented the same Alphabet city coffee shop. Leshko's if that means anything) anyway he liked to chat especially to young men ;-)
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Have to know more details about your GG Allin encounter
 
Met Ben Folds at a personal concert in a buddies backyard. He stuck around after the show to do a meet and greet. Friendly guy
 
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I had a 45 minute audience with Justice Sandra Day O'Connor in a library at the Supreme Court. Until that day, I thought I was really smart. 40 minutes with her......I realized I wasn't special at all.

I got a hug from Janet Jackson in her dressing room at the Civic Center. Only spent 10 minutes there, but she is really, really nice. She is also really short.

I also had conversations with Dr. Cornel West on two occassions and Dick Gregory on another (damn he was funny).

I had a couple drinks with Chris Berman, Tom Jackson, and Cris Carter (he did not drink).
 
Met Harrison Ford at a bar in Fort Worth, TX many years ago with some co-workers. Was not a nice guy and didn’t want to be bothered.
 
I spent a day with Bud Grant at his lake house in Wisconsin. Enjoyed some burgers,fries and shakes with him,his wife, his son and my uncle. I even took a shower at his house after spending time in the lake.

He is most notable as a HOF coach but he was also a great athlete. He played pro football along with being a professional NBA player for the Minneapolis Lakers. He told a lot of stories and when I asked him who his best all around player was he said it was Paul Krause. I remember him being a great DB who made the HOF.
Bud was/is a real nice guy.
 
Several years ago my boss and I were joined by two Hartford Whalers for a round of golf at Minnechsug CC in Glastonbury (still 18 holes back then). One was Russ Anderson who was one of the key defensemen and the other Bob Sullivan, a minor league scoring phenom who never quite translated to the NHL. Sullivan , a lefty, was friendlier, but Anderson was okay, and a top shelf golfer. Probably pro level if he’d chosen golf. He also spit through his teeth a lot like Reggie Jackson used to. We had a beer with them after the round.

Spent several minutes talking to Walter Mondale when he was V.P. elect. It was at my wife’s cousin’s Bar Mitzvah in DC. Mondale was a close friend of my wife’s uncle, who was a top member of the DC press corps. Nice guy and obviously not in a political setting. I can truly say that I’ve slept in the same bed as Mondale, but not at the same time.
 
Played foosball with Cliff Robinson at Ted's a few times. Actually, me and a friend against him and Jeff King.

A dorm mate invited Otis Day and the Knights to our dorm in Crawford after their show, and they showed up and partied with us for a couple of hours.

Met and talked with Howie Carr, a well known Boston area radio guy, and also Sen. Scott Brown back when he was running for Senate. A local Southie politician, my then neighbor Brian Wallace wrote this book. DeNiro evidently wanted to make it a movie.

My wife has a long list of musicians.
 
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temery said:
Nearly every top pro tennis player, 1990 to 2000. nearly every NBA player who player in the hof tip-off classic between '81 and '84.
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I actually forgot my days working the Simsbury senior tennis tournament. Stan Smith, The Gulickson brothers and others.
 
wheelerdog said:
I went to Herb Kenny basketball camp at Wesleyan in the mid 70s. One of my station coaches had a really long name that he knew no one could pronounce, so he went by Coach K.

I had a bad tendency to miss layups, which he picked up on after about 30 seconds. So for the next few days he had me show up early and do nothing but lay the ball in for like 15 minutes. It didn't help.

One year we had this super hyper coach show up who basically told us you do what you need to to win at any cost. Coach Kenny got the whole camp together the next day and essentially told us to ignore what Dickie V was preaching.

Another guest coach had me shoot corner jumpers in front of the entire camp to show what pressure could do. That was Jim Valvano. (Made the first, missed the rest)

On a side note, my team coach one year was Jack Phelan, who recently passed. He was an awesome guy.
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Went to Mr Kenny's camp a couple years in the early 70's they were fun camps, staying over and making new friends from all over. Jim Aiken was my coach he played for Herb years prior we got along great, helped me win an MVP. I also played high school with Mr Kenny's kids, Herb Jr and Patrick with Jr one a year older the other a year behind. Mr Kenny still alive and doing well, I still stay in touch with Herb and Patrick was at my wedding good friends. Those were the days.
 
I've spent time hosting a lot of literary people, and I have some close friendships still with a few of them. I've spent the entire day with people like Salman Rushdie. I still do this occasionally, and it means inevitably driving up to Niagara Falls or seeing a Frank Lloyd Wright House with them, occasionally roughing it down at the old grain silos on the waterfront.

Non literary, I carried cooked spaghetti & tomato sauce (3 occasions) into the trunk of Jennifer Beals car (don't ask, don't know why) when I worked at Clark's and she was a student at Yale. Some famous people have passed through my Dad's restaurant in New Haven, and I've talked to them at length (Andre the Giant -- more a grumble than a talk, really, but when he asked me what I was doing in college and I told him reading fiction, he said that Samuel Beckett was his chauffeur when he was a child!). Unbelievable. JFK Jr. had also been in my Dad's place numerous times, but always just for coffee and maybe a danish (later at Boston U., I knew his future wife).

My housemate sophomore year at Boston U. was an Islanders top draft pick, and his best friend played for the Edmonton Oilers. Woke up one night at 3 am to hear commotion downstairs, and I walk into the kitchen to see Esa Tikkanen and Grant Fuhr taking part in all sorts of illegal substances.

And finally, I worked down in DC for ProServ, a big sports agency at the time, competitor to IMG and eventually bought up by IMG. So, I met a lot of big time athletes as part of my work as an assistant to an agent. I put together a marketing video for Michael Jordan (his agent David Falk was part of the firm) and also Yannick Noah and others, but really my relationship was always just professional, tried not to bother them at all, just small banter.
 
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Griffman said:
Whenever Joe Namath is in town he has dinner with the family.
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Is he still running the football camp at Quinnipiac? He used to harass my younger brother there for his fandom.
 
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Forgot one. I got the chance, through a co-worker/friend, to meet John Bush, former lead singer of Anthrax, in his hotel room when they played the Webster many years ago. Met his wife as well who was very pregnant with I think their first kid. Also got to go backstage and meet the band. I have a pic with Scott Ian, me rocking a very metal Homer Simpson shirt. I am what I am.
 
The "Greyhound", Walter Davis. Walter was coaching private basketball lessons for youngsters at the health and tennis club to which I belong to here in Denver. Having been a BIG fan of his when he was both at UNC and then w/the Phx Suns, I signed my son up for coaching lessons when he was in grammar school. Over the next few years I became personal friends with him, playing golf and having him over to our house for dinners. He is one of the nicest guys I have ever met, and I am honored to have him as a personal friend!
 
alphasigko said:
The "Greyhound", Walter Davis. Walter was coaching private basketball lessons for youngsters at the health and tennis club to which I belong to here in Denver. Having been a BIG fan of his when he was both at UNC and then w/the Phx Suns, I signed my son up for coaching lessons when he was in grammar school. Over the next few years I became personal friends with him, playing golf and having him over to our house for dinners. He is one of the nicest guys I have ever met, and I am honored to have him as a personal friend!
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People forget how good he was on the court.
 
My wife and I had dinner next to Joanne Woodward & Paul Newman. I had to keep kicking her to stop staring at him.

My wife wrote papers that were turned in by John Thomas for Kiddie Lit .
 
I think august west has an impressive resume. All I got is smoking weed with John McEnroe at a Mets game, partying with Mike Wagner at a small private wedding in RI, partying with David Bowie’s son in London for a day and a half (he looks exactly like Bowie), and having an after brunch drink with Jack N while he was filming a Batman. All celebrities cool as long as ya don’t act like an balloon knot asking for autographs or pics.

Hmm, seeing as it’s been 25 years since I partied hard I guess my meeting celebs Is done. Although I did sit next to author David Baldacci at Smith mountain lake for dinner at the bar last year. Great guy.
 
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Man you guys live some interesting lives, I think the only person I've more than just spotted or said hi to was Howie Dickenman. Was visiting my brother in Boston back during the '08 playoffs and we went to the TD Garden area to watch one of the playoff games at a kind of divey bar. Were sitting there drinking and I spot him walk in with his unmistakable posture/gait. Next trip to the bathroom I said hello walking back, said he was in town to watch/support Ray and since it was a pretty dead bar and he was waiting for someone he was more than happy to talk basketball and UConn basketball with some fans who knew enough to know who he was.
 
Andy Rooney in an elevator with me "three sheets to the wind" at a trendy Philly bar.

Actually, the fact Andy Rooney was there, not sure if it is trendy or not.
 
HuskyHawk said:
Played foosball with Cliff Robinson at Ted's a few times. Actually, me and a friend against him and Jeff King.

A dorm mate invited Otis Day and the Knights to our dorm in Crawford after their show, and they showed up and partied with us for a couple of hours.

Met and talked with Howie Carr, a well known Boston area radio guy, and also Sen. Scott Brown back when he was running for Senate. A local Southie politician, my then neighbor Brian Wallace wrote this book. DeNiro evidently wanted to make it a movie.

My wife has a long list of musicians.
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Wait til Otis sees us. He loves us.
 
JohnFSilver said:
Andy Rooney in an elevator with me "three sheets to the wind" at a trendy Philly bar.

Actually, the fact Andy Rooney was there, not sure if it is trendy or not.
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It’s trendy if it was yesterday.
 
Indirect/Famous: My best story by far is the time I broke into Doc River's sisters house and got paid for it. She and her husband were moving from NYC to suburbs in 1994, I was awaiting a job in Boston and trying to raise cash to afford an apartment upon starting in November. I was hired to paint the entire interior, but even working 12+hrs day I was running out of time before my new job started. I even pulled one all-nighter, but ultimately I had to tell Doc's sister that I would not be painting the closets (a dick move but I had to cut something) and that I wouldn't be able to paint her living room. She became very upset and threatened to terminate me without paying the 50% of job balance I was owed. The next morning I showed up to try & at least finish what I promised to paint and the locks had been changed. I knew how to get in via the garage, so I broke into the house via a garage window and started painting. Doc's sister showed up 5 hours later and was very surprised to see me, but never asked how I got in as she didn't want to also admit that she'd changed the locks. At the end of that day she paid me in cash for the work up to that point and we parted ways.
 
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