Geronimo, however, tells me about meeting Madonna in the elevator (She's very fit, but her legs have really bad varicose and/or spider veins).
He also tells me about none other than Cloris Leachman. (I mean, Madonna? zzzzzzz, but Cloris -freaking- Leachman?! This is exciting). Of course, in my zeal, I forced him to go into detail. (He wasn't very cooperative)
She was funny. She was very sweet. He worked as her assistant for some HRC event.
He held her shoes! (The silly fool didn't notice the size).
Anyway, it got me thinking of some of the other celebrities that friends have told me about meeting or knowing. Off the top of my head (I know I'm forgetting some), in no particular order:
Chris Isaak, whom a very good friend of mine dated a while back. (Accoring to her, he's hairier than one might imagine...he's showing his age up close...but very charming. She still has his number...even met his parents.)
Kevin Spacey, by way of my friend Ben, I hear tales of his penchant for men.
(Yeah, I know...zzzzzzzzzz)
Harry Connick Jr., with whom Marshall went to high school (no dirt thus far).
Jude Law, whom my friend Jennifer met while working on his movie...(taller than you might imagine, very thin, but sexy in person, she says, and great with his kids.)
Ann Margret, the last guy I dated knew her personally. Ok, so he kind of worshipped her. Unfortunately, he cound't see objectively enough to give any dirt.
Snoop Dog, whom my friend and mentor, Mary, and her girlfriend Marla flew with to Japan, I believe. (He didn't light up a blunt on the plane or anything, alas. According to her, he seemed very low key and normal).
Sarah Jessica Parker on a plane, by way of my friend Lisa (she looked very homely and didn't wear a bra....but was very thin). Lisa charmed her way into using the first class bathroom as an excuse to brush up against SJP.
Prince Charles/Bob Barker (by way of Debbie), never did hear any info about them...her recounting of these meetings seemed mainly..well, about Debbie.
Patti Labelle, whom William served as a one time p.a. (She was not the nice, cuddly diva you might expect, according to him.)
Anne Wedgeworth(of "Filthy Rich"/"Three's Company" fame...surely you know her?) that Michael met on the street in NYC.
Peter Facinelli, (among many others), whom my friend Danni met while working at Tower Records.
Mary Tyler Moore, whom my friend Mark saw on the street while waiting for us to arrive in NYC. I was on the phone, trapped in Newark Airport, listening to him go on and on. I could have killed someone from envy.
And to think, I was briefly two degrees of separation from nearly every important person you can imagine by way of Annie Leibovitz. This art critic I once dated...sort of...was connected to or knew just about every celeb you can imagine, by way of his friendship with her (no dirt however, except that he did say that Annie, much like Jude Law, was very tall and handsome).
So, do any of you have any sightings, so that I can shamelessly pad out my rolodex of two degrees-of-separation celebs?
8 comments:
Okay, let's begin with a question. You were at the Tony's?
And are Prince Charles and Bob Barker one in the same?
Danny Kaye? When? Where?
You forgot that Carlos was in line behind Jude Law, who didn't wear deoderant. ;)
I was outside of that cathedral across from the benyet(sp.) place when a limo stopped and Mr. T jumped out and started screaming about something. He then started waving to everyone.
I said, "Excuse me" to John Goodman about two months ago as he shopped for cereal at Whole Foods. He looked really unhappy (not at me, just in general), totally grey, and very tall/big.
I saw Lou "Captain Lou" Albano (the wrestler who was in the "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" video. He was Cindy Lauper's dad in the video. Anyway, he was in line ahead of us at a bank in Brewster, NY. I was a kid and don't remember much other than the rubber bands hanging from his beard.
My father had a conversation with Paul Newman in the '70s when he was doing a film in New Orleans (Paul, not my father).
A friend of mine dated one of the writers from the X-Files.
Another friend of mine is best friends with Gillian Anderson's mom.
My lesbian neighbor is in the film industry and is always telling me things like, "I was on the phone with Kathy Bates the other day. . ."
I helped Ann Rice's dog, MoJo, get his head unstuck from the fence. ;o
I don't think I've had any other sightings.
Near the Tonys, not at them...though I dont think I would have known any of the stars there. I'm pretty theater-ignorant.
Danny Kaye? I was in 5th grade. He came to the Westbank for Unicef. I don't think I even knew who he was then.
And I remember you telling me about Captain Lou. Very cool.
The others, well...wow...that's a lot of interaction you've had.
I had no idea.
Is your lesbian neighbor really friends with Kathy Bates, or just someone named Kathy Bates? :) How cool!
And I was trying and trying to remember who it was that Carlos had said smelled, didn't remember it was Jude Law.
Oh my, where to begin? Nothing recent...
In about 1980 I shook hands with MOHAMMED ALI. They were surprisingly soft. He was with his lovely wife at the time, VERONICA (mother of the fabulous LAILA). He asked if I was a fan. Of course, for the moment I was!
I've met all the Steppenwolf actors who are big stars now: JOHN MALKEVICH, LAURIE METCALF, JOHN MAHONEY, GARY SINISE, etc...
My roommate used to hang out with TOM WAITS. She also had an affair with CAMPBELL SCOTT (son of GEORGE C. SCOTT and COLLEEN DEWHURST), she was really in love with him until she found out he was married!
In the eighties I worked at a nightclub in Chicago where quite a few celebs came in. One evening I was DAVID BOWIE's personal bartender. This was before IMAN, he was with some blonde bimbo. It was quite obvious that he had some work done around the eyes. After attending to his every drinking need, and those of the rest of his large entourage (who all drank "on the house")for almost three hours, I was left $7.50 for a tip. Oh well, at least it left me with a good story!
PRINCE came in one night. The place was in an uproar. People were dancing on the tables, it was crazy! His head is way too big for his tiny body.
A very drunk MATT DILLON came in one night. He was surprised that I charged him for a round of drinks and after mumbling incoherently, threw a crumbled twenty at me. Later DIANE LANE apologized, asked if he had left me a tip, then gave me a ten.
I talked to a young KIEFER SUTHERLAND, and also AIDAN QUINN while I was working there. And a hateful AL JOURGANSON from Ministry.
Speaking of rockers, I spent an hour with PETER MURPHY a few years back, and he put me on the guest list for his show. I've hung out with SIOUXSIE and BUDGIE (from Siouxsie and the Banshees), they also put me on the guest list, later I even got some personal emails from them. I also met LYDIA LUNCH, she was very friendly. (For what it's worth, another old roommate of mine is now the drummer of INTERPOL.)
In the early eighties MR. T came to the hospital I worked at at the time, to visit the patients. Of course, he also lived across the street then, so it was hardly a big deal for him. Or for anybody else!
Long ago I had my ass grabbed by DIVINE, after a brief show at a gay club. And a while later, I was kissed on the mouth by EDITH MASSEY ("Edie the Egg Lady") who was wearing a rainbow-colored afro wig. I was also tripping on acid at the time. This is true and my friends can vouch for me, though they'd rather not.
I saw ANN MILLER once, in downtown Chicago. She was wearing one of those Ann Miller wigs, in full Ann Miller make-up. Fabulous!
Also I went to a book signing BETTE MIDLER had years ago. She was a hoot, of course. She wore a little typewriter for a hat.
Oh yeah, saw RICHARD GERE a few times. Very pleasant.
GEORGE CLOONEY, while filming on location a few years back. He was very friendly to all his screaming fans, and was much thinner than one would expect.
About 25 years ago, a friend and I hung out by the back door of the Dorothy Chandler Pavillion during the Academy Awards. We watched some of the show on a small tv set through the windows of LIZA MINNELLI's limo (she was one of four hosts that year). So we came within, like, two feet of almost everybody who was anyone back then. Too many to remember, but names that come to mind are CHER, SYLVESTER STALLONE, OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN, MELISSA MANCHESTER, RICHARD PRYOR, DUDLEY MOORE, RAQUEL WELCH, JESSICA LANGE (who was very sweet and quite radiant after having won her first Oscar), JANE RUSSELL, ROBERT MITCHUM, ,etc., etc. All in their finery, of course. Somewhere out there, there are photos of me with my hand on MERYL STREEP's shoulder, telling her to "Keep up the good work!" after she won her Oscar for "Sophie's Choice". We were surrounded by paparazzi, and once again I was rather high, this time on MDA (I used to take a lot of recreational substances. Not anymore!). The icing on the cake was when LIZA came out to meet her fans and bask in the glow of her Lizaness. It was a fabulous night. My friend who was with me then is dead now, and I think of him every year come Oscar time.
Well! I can't believe I've written so much on someone else's blog! I don't even write this much on my own! I'm sure there are other famous people I've had contact with over the years, but I'm old now and my memory is fading. Possibly because of all the aforementioned drugs!
(This doesn't count seeing well-known actors in plays, of course. But speaking of Cloris Leachman, I did see her play three different roles in the play "Twigs", a long time ago. She was marvelous, of course!)
Anyway, I would almost trade it all in to be behind Jude Law, no matter how he smelled!
(Sorry again for how long this is, and it keeps getting longer! I just haven't thought about any of this in many years. Memories...)
Oh yeah, I was also kissed on the lips by PATTI LABELLE! But that's another story...
And I partied with NICK CAVE one long night. He was looking for drugs, but not good ones.
OK, I promise I'll stop now!
Okay, Thombeau wins! :o
My neighbor isn't exactly "friends" with Kathy Bates, but she (Debbie, the neighbor) reads scripts. She thought Kathy Bates would be good for a part and had worked with her in the past, so Kathy read it and called Debbie to say that it was lacking something.
Debbie also was working around some concert stage doing something (can't remember the details), when all her co-workers went for lunch, leaving her alone. A man came out on stage and said hello to her and sang a song a cappella. When the co-workers got back, Debbie said, "That guy was really good. Who is he?"
They replied, "That was Sting." ;)
Are you kidding? Thombeau puts us to shame! :)
Jesus, Thombeau. Nick Cave, Tom Waits AND David Bowie? I'm officially jealous.
Hmmm, I met DAN QUAYLE at some fund raiser back when I thought I was a republican (I know.)
I sat next to JOHN LINNELL from They Might Be Giants on the subway when I was in NYC a few years ago. I was too nervous to actually say hello so I just took a picture from my lap.
I walked into work one day last year and VAL KILMER was at the cash register asking Vannessa about his iPod.
I met a few people when I worked at WRNO and B-97. The guys from SISTER HAZEL were totally cool. I hung out with FRED LEBLANC from Cowboy Mouth tons of times there. He was in the studio the day that Princess Diana died and we were swapping Diana jokes and Christopher Reeves jokes.
I met SUSAN POWTER when she came in to do an interview (ya gotta eat, ya gotta breathe, ya gotta move).
PAUL PRUDHOMME, LeANN RIMES - also at the radio station.
I used to have PETER STEWART's (Dog's Eye View) personal e-mail address before they got 'famous' for that month and a half. I met him after one of their shows and we were pen pals for a while. Super nice guy.
I played with SHAWN MULLIN's dog, Roadie, tons of times when he'd open for Mike West at the Neutral Ground - again before he had a Top 10 single. Shawn was always very nice.
Hmmmmm.
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