Ever Encountered A Celebrity Before They Were Famous?

Brittany Murphy - I'll always remember her as "kid".

Aaron Eckhart

Blake Lively (my friend's little sister)

Jeff

 

I saw a future celebrity on the street one time and I walked up to her and said "Excuse me, can I interest you in an encounter?" She said "Are we not having one now?" I said "I suppose we are." Then we both went our separate ways.

 

I mentioned this in a thread about performers at amusement parks a while back, but I used to visit Kings Dominion and see their musical shows a lot. I knew Corey Reynolds through those performances - not a superstar, but he's had a nice little career:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1556631/?ref_=tt_cl_t11

I also was college friends with Ken Cuccinelli, a VA politician who almost became governor last year...

 

I went to high school with and knew Patrick Ford, drummer and owner of Blue Rockit Records. Through him I met and knew his brother Robben, from high school through his early notoriety and success. I've moved away, but saw Robben last year.

 

So in 1994 I moved out to LA right out of College. I worked on 2 Roger Corman films as a PA. Part of the job was driving actors home after a day of filming.
I gave Jennifer Coolidge a ride home several times. And even picked her up at her apartment in West Hollywood. You may know here as Stiffler's mom from American Pie.
We had such good conversations that I wanted to call her up for a date, but I was too chicken.
Not of this Earth is the first film she was in.
I went to see her at Groundlings and she was in the same cast as Will Ferrell and Chris Katan.
I do remember her telling me she was in a Seinfeld episode
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Coolidge

 

Talk about missing out!

 

Back in the late 1990's my brother worked for a minor league baseball team. He invited me to visit him at work one day and I met some of the players, including future Red Sox player and 2004 World Series ring bearer Brian Daubach.

 

Saw Steve Martin twice at my college before he appeared on the Johnny Carson show and Saturday Night Live and became famous. Admission fifty cents. The shows ended with him leading us into the parking lot, running around doing crazy things.

 

Not sure it would count but I went to school with and played pick up ball with two guys who went on to the NFL and one to MLB.

 

I knew Linda Perry when she was a waitress at Spaghetti Western, a sort of hipster diner that used to be on lower Haight Street in San Francisco in the early '90s. She once brought my friend and I free beers one night, just because.

She invited us once to come see her band play at a basement party in the neighborhood; I thought they were dreadful. Within a year or so, 4 Non Blondes were big stars.

 

Back in the late 1990s I was the stage manager for the Saint Paul's Carnival here in Bristol, at that time there was a vacant building that adjoined the main stage and was within my fenced off stage area and controlled by my stage security staff. A couple of graffiti artists were to paint a piece on the building wall so they had to come into my stage area to reach it, hence I was properly introduced to Banksy who was already well known locally, but has since become rather better known, after that we'd exchange greetings if we saw each other out and about. It's also possible we went to the same school and our time there overlapped, but if so I have zero recollection of him.

I won't mention all the times I passed up acquiring an original Banksy, I'm still regretting those, mostly every time I have to pay the mortgage.

 

Most of these folks don't quite strike me as "celebrities" - as the term generally means.

 

Well, a celebrity could be A list, D list, or Z list. A celebrity to one group of folks might be totally unknown to another. I admit I've looked up several names mentioned, and there are several that are in that boat. I wouldn't have any clue off the top of my head who Jennifer Coolidge is, but "Stiffler's Mom"? Oh yeah.
I've been onstage with many people who were well known, but they had already made it by then.
I haven't mentioned the pro wrestlers I have known since they first started that are now huge stars, or Insane Clown Posse who I've known since before ICP, makeup and Juggalos.

 

His senior year Lansing Everett killed my HS team in the state tournament. To see him play back then was just amazing for a high school player. I didn't feel bad watching us lose a lopsided game to Everett. I will never forget it.(It was played at Ypsilanti)

 

Here is a clip of Jennifer from Best in Show

 

John Gonzales aka Johnny Thunders ran for vice president of my Junior High School

 

I had a signed photo of Johnson in his HS uniform. I wish I could find it!

 

This reminded me of another one, although it doesn't really count: during my Senior year in High School, Bill Walton (Basketball) was a Sophomore. I paid zero attention to underclassman sports, wouldn't have known him from Adam (if Adam had been 8 feet tall), but I almost certainly shared cafeteria or gymnasium airspace with him.

 

I lived near Sean Penn growing up. We went to the same school, played Little League etc. I went to his house and remember a very young Christopher Penn being there (maybe 6 years old or so). I also went to school and waited at the same bus stop as Kristie and Jimmy McNichol. Emilio Estevez also went to my Junior High School (he was a year younger). Yes, I grew up in Malibu.

 

Did you meet Michael Penn?

 

Don't remember Michael. He was a few years older. I also was in the same grade and became friends with Maria Dylan (Sarah's daughter and future wife of Peter Himmelman).

 

Did you meet Jakob Dylan ??

 

He was quite a bit younger. My sister went to school with one of the Dylan boys (Simon?) and remembers him being whisked away in a limo during recess when Bob and Sarah were getting divorced (Sarah's doing). The whole class was traumatized.

 

Ron Howard was a couple of years ahead of me at Burroughs HS, Burbank CA. We used to play basketball in the gym over lunch hour. Actress Rene Russo was there too.

Future NFL star Jim McMahon was in a couple of my classes at USC.

I spent a lot of time getting movie suggestions from Quentin Tarantino when he worked at that video store in Redondo Beach. Still haven't forgiven him for recommending "Dersu Uzala" though