The Most Famous Person You've Met

Kitty O,neil. Kitty O'Neil - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Back in about 1977 My buddy and I were flying over El mirage dry lake, saw activity and I landed on the lake. Kitty was trying for speed records with a rocket car. The group was called Stuntmasters or stunts unlimited. I could be wrong, but I think it was Hal needham that asked me to fly back the next day and standby. We did. I flew a photographer for wide world of sports to film some runs from the air. It was fantastic watching her go over 500 mph! Kitty was a pretty small deaf girl. She still holds many land speed records for women. She gave me a shirt and a belt buckle with some of her records printed on them.
I guess I was jazzed up from watching her. My buddy bill was sitting behind me in my citaberia as we were leaveing. Bill hadnt strapped himself in yet and I assumed he had. I had a climb pitched prop on for towing gliders and felt the need to do something fancy. I took off and decided to do a "Immelman". That is the term for a half loop where at the top when you are upside down you do a half roll and you now are flying higher, rightside up, and have reversered your direction. I heard bill beller some uncomplimentry things at me, looked back and his head and shoulders were on the ceiling of the plane and he was hanging on to the braceing! I still have to laugh every time I remember the look on his face!
 
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Rode in an elevator in Madrid with Michael Jackson in the 80's. Sat next to Marlon Brando in the airport in DC. Lived next door to Leon Russell in Tulsa, OK. Met George Harrison one day in the mid 70's at that house. Sat next to Pete Rose on an airplane in the mid 90's. He was a jerk because I didn't know who he was. Flew in a plane with Robert Plant. Met the Hollies on a flight to London when I was 10.
 
Superflywimpy said:
Flip wilson at Neptunes Net Malibu
Bergis Merideth....aka Penguin Subway sandwich shop Malibu
Frank Gorshin aka the ridler at a swap meet
Steve Mcqueen Ventura drive in swapmeet He bought my antique Mousetrap. The circular kind with lots of holes.
George Kennedy Mr. Breath asure. Lived at Oxnard shores. Delivered culligan to his house.
Mickey Rooney in Westlake California delivering Culligan to his house.
Charles Bronson. Guidos restaurant in Malibu. Loved Unsweetened Ice tea I was delivering working for Pepsi.
Johnathon Winters Neptunes Net Malibu. Loves clams and drove a amc pacer...lol
Martin Sheen. Total Jerk was blocking alley at Ralphs Shopping center in Malibu while talking to a homless man. I honked my horn for him to move and he yelled at me. I yelled back "Some people have to work for a living"
Nick Nolte Buys Icream in Zuma Beach Met while delivering Pepsi. Has Really Really big feet. and wears pj's and a trench coat.
The guy that played Huggy bear from Berreta at Fallbrook mall JC penny outlet. Sorry dont know his name.
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Huggy Bear was Antonio Fargas but he wasn't in Baretta. That would be Rooster who was Michael D Roberts.
 
Worked backstage for 3 years at the biggest concert venue in Columbus.
Met all of the acts coming through at that time. Another guy that worked there went on to play bass for Miles Davis. (Depression=Leaving the hotel for a gig in Cheyenne, Wyoming in the dead of winter, turning on the tube and seeing that guy, at the Grammies playing with Chick Corea.)
Biggest douche was Barry Manilow.
Sold a very rare vintage snare drum to Nicko McBrain from Iron Maiden. got to play his drumkit through a 75,000 watt P.A. where I worked.

Lemmesee...

While I was a staff musician at a recording studio here in town, Ted Nugent was coming through there and booked the studio to record some demos. The rest of his band was Derek St. Holmes (singer on, "Stranglehold"), Michael Cartellone ("Damn Yankees" drummer, now with, "Lynrd Skynrd"), and the bass player's name was, "Charlie", never got his last name but he was in, "Brownsville Station" and wrote, "Smokin' In The Boys' Room". He and I talked about for about 45 minutes about drum machine programming. Being a shooter in a VERY liberal musical community, Nuge and I got on quite well.

Did a gig in St. Louis back in '91 (I think) playing behind a guy named J.D. Blackfoot. Also on the bill that day was Peter Frampton, Bachman Turner Overdrive, the newly re-formed, Kansas, and, Steppenwolf. We were all hanging out backstage in the, "dressing complex" at Riverport Amphitheater.

David Allan Coe's drummer used my drums on a gig a few years back.
I had to use Confederate Railroad's drums once a few years back.

Next month, I'm playing behind a guy and we're opening for Blue Oyster Cult.

A whole bunch more but I guess that's enough name-dropping. Out of all the folks I mentioned, the least successful in the business was/is ME.

Edited to add: Oh yeah, forgot. One night I was playing in a craphole in the bad part of town, looked to the back of the joint and some guy was gettin' the livin' $#!+ beat out him by 3 other guys. The movie, "Teachers" was being filmed in Columbus at the time in the old Central High School building. The recipient of the beatdown at the gig was Nick Nolte. Apparently, a drug deal gone south.
 
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Buffalo Bob, Don Knots, Charlton Heston, Buzz Aldrin, Gen. H. Norman Schwartzkopf, Doc Sevrenson, Roy G. Jinks, G. Gordon Liddy, R. Lee Ermy, Randy Weaver, Paul W. Tibbets (Enola Gay pilot), Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Carlos Hathcock
 
wheelieguy said:
Sat next to Pete Rose on an airplane in the mid 90's. He was a jerk because I didn't know who he was.
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Back in the 1980s a bunch of us got together for Tuesday lunch. The gathering place was on Cincinnati's west side, at a little joint called the Wagonwheel Cafe. Our waitress was Carolyn Rose, Pete's exwife. By that point Pete had moved on to skinny babes and hotties. His ex continued to expand, to put it nicely. In fact, she was so big that she had her own place up by the bar and window to the kitchen. She used 2 bar stools, one for each more than ample cheek. :)

There are a lot of folks here I'd like to meet, too. Cajun Lawyer up near the top of the list, but Leezana Joe should come up near Yankeeland with brother Charlie sometime.

And I'd like to spend an evening talking with Ferilmerril. Bet that would be an interesting discussion. From our posts, we view everything just a little differently. But often come to the same conclusions via different directions and roads! :)
 
Why thanks, Dick, dont know what to say! Frankly I am on the computer a lot since I moved to utah from lancaster calif. A bunch of us used to meet at a cafe for coffee several times a day. There was a core group of maybe 25 guys and you could walk in almost anytime and there would usualy 2 to 5 guys sitting there BS,ing. I really miss going for coffee there and this site is a sort of replacement for it!
 
Hillary Clinton at the 1992 New Mexico State Fair (just a handshake). Bobby Knight at the Phoenix airport a couple years ago (had a nice minute or two conversation with him). As a young Navy photographer in the 70s I took group photo that included Alan Shepard and Werner Von Braun.
 
My few encounters with famous people have all taken place in Vegas on different trips.

John Cusack ~ MGM Garden Arena. Cusack literally tackled me while running up the stairs after the first Tyson/Holyfield fight. He apologized for about 2 minutes and complimented me on my suit. He kept calling me "Hoss". The Guy is first class. With him was Entourage's, Jeremy Piven. Cusack is taller than me. I'm 6ft tall.

Wesley Snipes ~ MGM Garden Arena. We were at ring side, side-by-side looking at semi-comatose Tyson while he was recuperating from his loss and the beating he received from Holyfield. Snipes was upset and seem concerned for Tyson. Told me He couldn't believe that Tyson had lost the fight by knock out. Snipes is somewhat short, but very muscular.

Pamela Anderson ~ Hard Rock Casino. Played a few games of Roulette with her at a table full of well behaved men. She arrived with 4 very big body guards. She was wearing a black skin-tight leather outfit with knee-high laced boots. She was very timid. Didn't say much, but had a beautiful smile. She was a bad Roulette player. I was sad to see her leave.

Mike Tyson ~ The Venetian. Shook his hand at the AVA [Porn] Convention. He shook my hand tenderly. The man has huge hands.

Dennis Rodman ~ Hard Rock Casino. Played a few hands of Blackjack with him . He was "a little tipsy" and was being too loud, specially when he lost. He Left with his two young female friends. Very tall dude. I was glad to see him leave the table.
 
Shook hands & spoke with Johnny Cash with June standing by-for a number of reasons the most moving encounter I've had with a celebrity.
Ringo Starr & his beautiful wife Barbara Bach
Couldn't get up the nerve to introduce myself to Emmy Lou Harris-just stood near & basked in her reflected glory
I played harmonica with Trisha Yearwood,the Del McCoury Band,Spencer Davis & Martina McBride on different occasions.
My wife & I were on Good Morning America with Charlie Gibson-a real gentleman- & with our son on the Dr. Phil(no comment) show-not pleasant experiences but in our minds necessary.
I've encountered enough celebrities to know I definitely don't want to be one.
Regards,
turnerriver
 
Gonzo himself

I met Hunter S. Thompson at the Kentucky authors forum. He drank a fifth of Kentuckys finest while being interviewed by a local tv personality onstage at the Kentucky Theater. Louisville is Hunters hometown and his handler was careful to keep anyone from getting to close. They canceled the meet and greet due to his condition as it were although I noticed no change in his words or behaviour. When I realized I was going to miss my chance to shake his hand I did something I am ashamed of. I told a lie. I said, "Hey Dr. Thompson. I fished with Russ Chatham this summer." He stopped, looked at me, elbowed his handler out of his way and pulled his trademark cigarette holder from his mouth and extended his hand saying, "You know Russ? Really?" I asked for forgiveness and said, "Yes I do." He chuckled and shook my hand at which point we were both pulled apart lest I slip him some pharmaceuticals. Russ Chatham is a semifamous flyfisherman and painter from California/Montana and I knew from their writings that they were tight. Hunter was a strange bird. I heard he sold all of his guns before he killed himself but kept his model 29. I don't know if that is what he used or not. RIP Hunter.
 
General Jimmy Doolittle. When I was assigned to Los Angeles Air Force Station back in the 70s, General Doolittle would often be invited to protocol events and my wife and I had the pleasure of having dinner with the General and his wife on two occasions. Two of the nicest people you would ever want to meet. I was amazed though at his small stature but that was an artifact of the small cockpits in early military aircraft. I've met quite a few 'famous' people but General Doolittle will always be the number one in my list because of his contributions to aircraft development and his incredible bravery in WWII.
 
Ronald Reagan. He came to Chicago to sign a treaty banning genocide at the Air reserve facilty @ O'Hare. It was raining pretty hard so they hastily moved the ceremony into a conference room. I was standing there armed in a hallway and he came around the corner all by himself. We chatted a bit. He was shorter than I (me 6') but broad shoulders. I still can't believe he was left alone with some Air Force cop.
 
Elmer Keith, at the 1974 NRA Convention in Atlanta..what a character!
 
I met Elmer Keith when he was working the Peterson Magazine booth at the SHOT show in St. Louis in 1979.
 
Dan Quayle when he was a senator.
Chief A.J. at the Indy 1500 gun show.
More important, lots of years ago, Dick the Bruiser.
 
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