Story Time: Famous People You Found Yourself With

To be honest, I don't follow celebrities, and probably have had numerous contacts without even knowing.

However, I was "saved" by Billy Graham once. My family used to vacation down in Florida every spring break ..my grandparents lived there, and we stayed at the same Holiday Inn. My parents enjoyed cocktail hour on the beach every night before going out to dinner with my grandparents. To keep the kids quiet, they would usually give us a dollar to go to to the Coke machine.

So one night (probably early 70's), older sister and I ran down to the Coke machine... we were probably 10 & 12 years old; I had the money, and she was pestering me when i couldn't get the dollar to feed, so I turned around and hit her. She of course went crying back to my parents to tell on me. My father came running out of the hotel room, yelling GODDAMMITT (my name) ! and came face to face with Billy Graham ... who was also staying at the Holiday Inn. I don't know if Billy Graham said anything, but Dad was chagrinned enough that he didn't whoop me. (I was completely unaware at the time, but always wondered how I got away with hitting my sister).
 
Old Navy BGO said:
... so I turned around and hit her. She of course went crying back to my parents to tell on me. My father came running out of the hotel room, yelling GODDAMMITT (my name) ! and came face to face with Billy Graham ... who was also staying at the Holiday Inn. I don't know if Billy Graham said anything, but Dad was chagrinned enough that he didn't whoop me. (I was completely unaware at the time, but always wondered how I got away with hitting my sister).
Click to expand...
There was the briefest of glorious moments when I hoped that G****** was actually your name.
 
The enjoyable thing here is I suspect none of us would bring these encounters up in casual f2f conversations, unless it was a bar game of “who’s your most famous encounter.” Anonymously, though, we are opening up those attics and having fun. I do appreciate the wide variety of responses, while I admit to secretly thinking, “who ARE these forum members and where do they live/what do they do, to run into people like this????”
 
Old Navy BGO said:
To be honest, I don't follow celebrities, and probably have had numerous contacts without even knowing.

However, I was "saved" by Billy Graham once. My family used to vacation down in Florida every spring break ..my grandparents lived there, and we stayed at the same Holiday Inn. My parents enjoyed cocktail hour on the beach every night before going out to dinner with my grandparents. To keep the kids quiet, they would usually give us a dollar to go to to the Coke machine.

So one night (probably early 70's), older sister and I ran down to the Coke machine... we were probably 10 & 12 years old; I had the money, and she was pestering me when i couldn't get the dollar to feed, so I turned around and hit her. She of course went crying back to my parents to tell on me. My father came running out of the hotel room, yelling GODDAMMITT (my name) ! and came face to face with Billy Graham ... who was also staying at the Holiday Inn. I don't know if Billy Graham said anything, but Dad was chagrinned enough that he didn't whoop me. (I was completely unaware at the time, but always wondered how I got away with hitting my sister).
Click to expand...
Priceless.
 
ALF648 said:
This thread is like opening up an attic I haven't entered in years...

I spent a weekend in a seminar with Tom House - throwing coach for Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Nolan Ryan - who is also the guy who ocaught Hank Aaron's 715 HR in the bullpen. I typically see Barry Bonds riding his bike about once a month. And I just remembered that my eldest played against Joe Ryan - who is now the top pitching prospect for the TB Rays.

Ran into Pierce Brosnan in the little market in Hanalei about 15 years ago. Sat across from Howard Stern at lunch
Click to expand...
Sammy Hagar, Bill Weir, Spencer T., Barry Bonds - we live in the same area but I've never seen Barry Bonds. I knew it is unpopular to like Barry Bonds but what can I say - chicks love the long ball (tag line from an old TV commercial).

I've seen lots of musicians around (Santana, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich and Huey Lewis to name a few) but have only interacted with blues musician Robert Cray and Elvis Costello.

My husband works out at the same gym as Jared Goff's father and reports he wears plenty of Ram's gear and people are always trying to talk with him while working out.
 
kinnem said:
I have to add Adm Grace Hopper to my list. She came and spoke to the Comp Sci majors a couple times. I got to hear her tale of how , back in the day, when something went wrong with the computers it was literally a bug (insect) that caused the problem.
Click to expand...
Did she hand out "nanoseconds" ? She came and talked with us at USNA, and handed out little strands of copper wire , which was supposed to represent a "nanosecond" ..

I met and shook hands with President Ronald Reagan ... May 22, 1985 --USNA Graduation.
 
Old Navy BGO said:
Did she hand out "nanoseconds" ? She came and talked with us at USNA, and handed out little strands of copper wire , which was supposed to represent a "nanosecond" ..
Click to expand...
Nope. Great idea though!
 
DH has Presidential seal cuff links given to him by President Richard Nixon. He’s met a few folks over the years, including the former Shah of Iran. As I noted, I left military and political figures off my list, because they were so much a part of the military job at times. I do admit to getting a kick out of running into David Robinson or Roger Staubach or former Chiefs of Naval Operations or a former Chairman, JCS (a long-time mentor) in the Mid Store, browsing for Navy swag.
 
Being a Brit mine are probably not recognizable.

Ralph Schumacher - Michael’s brother and also a F1 driver for a time.
Juan Pablo Montoya - F1 driver and an ignorant sod.
Frank Bruno - Heavyweight boxer.
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall - TV chef, we featured on one of his TV programs when we ran a community farm and he then invited us to his house for a meal. Really nice guy.
 
This is a mabye Rock Star sighting 30 years ago. We were playing gulf at a public golf course in Valley (Los Angeles)). Decent place but nothing to write home about. Anyway, we were standing doing whatever and one of my friends says hey that looks like Steve Perry (lead singer from Journey). He was standing mabye 40 feet away so it wasnt obvious if it was him or not. So the group was talking about whether it was him or not. So I yelled "hey steve" he reacted and turned around to see who called him and I went to my friends, "i guess thats him" and we went about our day.

Fast Foward 30 years, my wife and I were walking this place called Fryman Canyon (nice trail that is very steep at first and then becomes normal) which ends in a high end residential neighborhood. George Clooney house is there and the house that they show as where the Kardashians lived is also there. For you information, the Kardashians never lived there, They paid the owner of house to show it on TV. Anyway, who is walking down the neighbor street with us but Steve Perry. I dont how it even started, but my wife turns around and says it to him, "i know you"although honestly my wife had no idea who he was except that he was someone famous. He smilled and said yes it was him and it was nice meeting her and that was it. Everyone went on their way.
 
Devil Doc said:
I’ve seen him on TV. Very impressive man. I bet when he was with CHP he was a motorcycle officer.View attachment 7926
Click to expand...

Devil Doc said:
I’ve seen him on TV. Very impressive man. I bet when he was with CHP he was a motorcycle officer.View attachment 7926
Click to expand...
Cant see the picutre but it was Eric Estrada I was at El Torrito restaurant in LA. Its a chain Mexican restauarnt. Anyway, he was sitting next to us and we said hello and he came up to your table and starting talking to my family. Very nice man
 
An old friend of mine had connections to the Los Angeles Dodgers. He took me to a game, we got field level seats and we got to run onto the field to play catch with some of the players for a special event they were having. I played catch with Andre Ethier and shook Magic Johnson's hand. When I say he's a mountain of a man, I truly mean it.
 
Old Navy BGO said:
To be honest, I don't follow celebrities, and probably have had numerous contacts without even knowing.

However, I was "saved" by Billy Graham once. My family used to vacation down in Florida every spring break ..my grandparents lived there, and we stayed at the same Holiday Inn. My parents enjoyed cocktail hour on the beach every night before going out to dinner with my grandparents. To keep the kids quiet, they would usually give us a dollar to go to to the Coke machine.

So one night (probably early 70's), older sister and I ran down to the Coke machine... we were probably 10 & 12 years old; I had the money, and she was pestering me when i couldn't get the dollar to feed, so I turned around and hit her. She of course went crying back to my parents to tell on me. My father came running out of the hotel room, yelling GODDAMMITT (my name) ! and came face to face with Billy Graham ... who was also staying at the Holiday Inn. I don't know if Billy Graham said anything, but Dad was chagrinned enough that he didn't whoop me. (I was completely unaware at the time, but always wondered how I got away with hitting my sister).
Click to expand...
That's a great story.

I heard Billy Graham preach in Communist Era Krakow, Poland (Fall 1978). Was almost surreal. Everyone in the country was either a Communist or a Catholic, sometimes both. I took the poster off the door of the (Catholic) Church and took home to my Grandmother who was a big fan.

Fast forward 40 years. I was grabbing a late quick BBQ sandwich in a non-descript "order at the cash register" type restaurant. In walked a group of 6-7 people, including a man without his suit jacket wearing a holstered gun. I naturally took a closer look at everyone and one guy in particular looked very familiar. It took about 5 minutes for me to realize it was Billy's son Franklin. I walked up his table, excused myself for interrupting, introduced myself and told him about hearing his father in Poland. We exchanged a few more pleasantries and I finally said, "I'm from Tennessee. You're from North Carolina. What are we doing eating BBQ in Nebraska?"
 
Can't believe I forgot this one - I took my 2 oldest sons to Spring Training in 2010. we were at Scottsdale Stadium early on day 2. Because the Giants run started in 2010, there was no one there. My sons were 9 and 7. I was sitting all by myself near first base when I realized that Cal Ripken Jr was walking by himself down the right field line. I called the boys over quickly and said - "that guy is one of the best players ever. if you politely ask him, he might sign a ball for you". There was no one else around and he nicely stopped and talked to them for a bit. I saw him talk with my 7 year old, ask a question and start to laugh. Evidently he asked "who's your favorite baseball player?" My son answered XXX XXX. When Mr. Ripken asked who that was, my son explained that that was his own name. Still not sure if DS was starstruck or just super confident.
 
Gosh, you people are amazing. You travel in far different circles than I do.

I don't really get into "famous people" all that much so it isn't something I even think about. I have probably been on flights or walked past lots of them due to all the travel I did before the pandemic.

Best I think of: Walked past Gov Christie in O'Hare airport when he was still a Presidential candidate.
Runner ups: Sat in coach behind Buffalo Bills Quarterback Jim Kelly who was in First Class. Brief conversations with the Canadian Brass at a restaurant after a concert. Took my daughters to see Dominique Moceanu (Olympic gymnast) at a book signing.

Oh... and the Oscar Meyer Weiner mobile was parked next to my plane at an airport once. ;)
 
Well i got one this is very appropriate for today. My son the AF pilot was a baseball pitcher in high school and was going to play college ball (which he didnt, i can hear my son in my ear, get over it dad) He had accuracy but he wasnt fast enough. So we went to the trainer that is very well know. His name is Tom House who was a famous pitcher in the 70s but his claim to fame at the time was that he caught Hank Aarons 715 home run. House is well known all over the country for helping pitcher excel like Nolan Ryan. However, he not only does pitchers but he helps golfers and NFL quarterbacks. What was even cooler is that he works out USC baseball stadium (used to be the USC pitching coach) Who did my son train with (along with 40 other pitchers) but Mr Tom Brady himself. Honestly, if i didnt who he was, i never would have thought he was football player although I have never met another quarterback so i have no idea what they look like. We were excited because Peyton Manning was also supposed to show up the following weeks but he wanted to train alone and House wouldnt go for it. As for Brady, he was friendly. He didnt go out of his way to be everyone's friend but he didnt shy away from anyone either. He was just another guy there and got along with everyone. One of House's exercise is throwing the football back and forth. Not that my son did it, but there was guys throwing the football back and forth with Tom Brady. Pretty cool
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top