Epic OT: Most famous person you ever spoke with?

[Sky ball]

Matt Dillon and Benicio del Toro.

But actually the biggest was Tatsuya Nakadai, a Japanese actor who's rivaled only by Toshiro Mifune in stardom and fame.

Yea...Toshiro blows away Tatsuya.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

Danny Tamborelli

 

[Palatine]

Probably Michael Jordan but Kidd Rock was also part of the group.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

My best friend and I won a contest back in 1993 and we got to meet Janet Jackson before her show. Very nice, very short. Gave me a hug and took a photo with us.

Back in undergrad, my Constitutional History Class had a 60 minute private audience with Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Being obvious......she was extremely intelligent and more than gracious.

Those would be my top two. Due to former jobs I have met various musicians but no mega stars. Ludacris at his peak and Third Eye Blind just after their peak. Luda, very nice. Third Eye Blind...must have been having a bad day.

I had a drink with a basketball coach at a wedding. Some guy named Calhoun. Seemed like a nice fellow, but damned if I could understand a word he said. Had lunch with Rip Hamilton and Jake Voskuhl when they were incoming freshman.

 

[BlueDolphin]

Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton.

 

[Palatine]

My best friend and I won a contest back in 1993 and we got to meet Janet Jackson before her show. Very nice, very short. Gave me a hug and took a photo with us.

Back in undergrad, my Constitutional History Class had a 60 minute private audience with Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Being obvious.she was extremely intelligent and more than gracious.

Those would be my top two. Due to former jobs I have met various musicians but no mega stars. Ludacris at his peak and Third Eye Blind just after their peak. Luda, very nice. Third Eye Blind...must have been having a bad day.

I had a drink with a basketball coach at a wedding. Some guy named Calhoun. Seemed like a nice fellow, but damned if I could understand a word he said. Had lunch with Rip Hamilton and Jake Voskuhl when they were incoming freshman.

I eat in a restaurant that Sandra Day O'Connor visits from time to time. She is wild. She will scream across the restaurant to get the waiters attention. Very demanding. They all cringe when she comes in. She has always been polite to my wife and myself. But it is a show.

 

[Vuce]

James A. Calhoun
Ted Kennedy
Howie Carr
Many UConn players (most recent being Shabazz, Boat, Giff, etc at 2014 Final Four)
George Wendt
Sen. William Bulger (The Corrupt Midget)
Dave Cowens
Kenny Loggins
Lucas Glover (2009 US Open Champ)

 

[geordi]

Fishy

 

[Walker11]

Gotta be Jeff Conine.

 

[krinklecut]

Bout to win this one

Obama and Beyonce.

 

[Northbound]

Not the most famous, but the best.

Played 18 holes with James Worthy, meaning we rode together in the same cart. As a Laker fan that grew up during the showtime lakers it doesn't get much better than that Worthy chanting your name as you drain along putt. He was an incredibly nice guy.

Now that I think about it Curt Gowdy was pretty damn cool too. Even inviting me to his ranch in saratoga, wy to go fishing with him. I don't take him up on it right away and he goes and dies. I thought that was a very extreme way of getting out of hosting me. This is what makes me accept any invitation I'm offered and have interest in - I may never get a chance to do it again.

 

[John]

Gordie Howe
John DeStefano
Seka

 

[RM99]

Phil G. And Clifford R. Had dinner at my house.
JC
Howie
Ricky Moore
Rip
John Toner
Dee Rowe
Lyman D.
Joe Nameth
David Letterman
Gino
Loved them all. These are my top picks.

 

[Offhegoes]

Eddie Vedder

 

[Northbound]

Bout to win this one

Obama and Beyonce.

Paul McCartney and Bill Clinton

I'm not sure who wins that one. Suppose that depends on the time period and the audience - I could argue either side of that coin

 

[HuskyHawk]

Paul McCartney and Bill Clinton

I'm not sure who wins that one. Suppose that depends on the time period and the audience - I could argue either side of that coin

Either way, it's better than Obama and Beyonce. Yuck.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

David Byrne after a NIN show in NYC.

We nodded to each other as I rode by on my bicycle and he was bringing his out from his home in Greenwich Village.

As for "most famous," it's a generational toss-up.

I collected tolls one summer on the bridge that goes from Wethersfield to Glastonbury. Katharine Hepburn pulled up, looking a bit lost. She wanted to get to Rt 9, likely on her way to her home in Fenwick. I was so flustered that I gave her incorrect directions. Three years later, I was doing the same work, but this time at the northbound Milford plaza where the Merritt turns into the Wilbur Cross. I saw her coming, and had a chance to redeem myself. I composed myself and said, "I admire your work tremendously." With a tremble in her voice, she replied, "Ah, you're too kind." Ever since, I have taken care to focus on my respect for the famous person's work.

Two years before the Hepburn encounter, I was working retail at Sam Goody in Playhouse Square Westport. It was Christmas Eve 1977, ten minutes from closing time. A guy with sunglasses and dark razor stubble asked for some help and bought a cassette of James Taylor's "JT." Co-workers swarmed me afterward, as it was John Travolta during the year of "Saturday Night Fever." In the moment, I'd missed who it was, but then instantly recalled the deep cleft in his chin and his smile.

Also at the tollbooth: Jane Fonda, Dustin Hoffman (a smile & a wink as he went wide for some kind of express lane), and McCoy Tyner (completely uncomprehending that I could know who he was).

Also at Sam Goody: Robert Redford.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Passed Bill Walton while leaving a hotel in Philly, exchanged brief greetings....

Bicycling in downtown San Diego, icognito in a Grateful Dead lightning skull cycling shirt.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Mickey Mantle
Julia Child
Stevie Wonder

Were you the fourth?
Bridge or golf?

 

[bazzdog]

I have a feeling this is gonna get good.

Fishy

 

[boog204]

Steven Spielberg bought some ice cream from me during a summer job in the late 90s. He was incredibly nice and I was the only person there who recognized him. Other than that, a whole bunch of UConn players, Charley Steiner (super cool guy), and a bunch of musicians of varying fame (Robby Krieger, Jimmy Herring, Tim Reynolds, Wyclef...)

 

[Husky1964]

Bill Clinton.

 

[huskiesouth]

Late actress Lee Remick - charming, beautiful beyond description, down to earth.

 

[EdgewoodNHV]

I spoke to Triple H at a WWF house show in Hyannis MA when he was still Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Nobody liked him them so I got to go up to him and tell him how great he was and how the villains were all way better than the heroes. He was really nice.

I saw Cris Carter at the ATL airport in my tram, he was decked out in Alabama gear and looked either very stoned or very tired, I didn't bother him. His kid is maybe going to Alabama?

I recently got to speak briefly to the lead singer of Baroness at a show in NYC, which is only impressive if you're into sludge metal.

 

[jho]

I've spoken with many politicians over the years but more memorable to me was talking and drinking for a couple of hours at the old Chuck's in the Civic Center with former Whaler goons Dave Semenko and Shane Churla. Semenko was near the end of his career and Churla had just been called up from Binghampton. I had the opportunity to provide details of my one and only hockey fight.