Famous people you have seen up close and where was it?

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When I was a kid on vacation, my dad and I saw Spike Lee on Martha's Vineyard out for a walk. Said Hi and went our separate ways. He seemed nice.

As an adult I saw the wrestler Big Show at the Seattle airport. He looked about how one would expect a seven foot 400+ pounder to look after getting off a plane, so I did not engage.

I also played high school baseball with a multiple time MLB All-Star. He took my spot in the rotation when his dad threatened to take him to a different school if his playing time didn't increase. Sucked at the time, but in hindsight was definitely the correct decision by the coach.
 

Ogee Oglethorpe said:
I mean, this is Las Vegas, so they're everywhere but limiting it to really up close encounter(s) and not public appearance type stuff;

Iron Mike Tyson waiting in line in front of me at the CVS Pharmacy by my house. That was a little surreal, I didn't even notice him at first

Bryce Harper goes to my gym (LifeTime Fitness) and Bryce's sister actually cuts my hair there
Jason Giambi a few times at the little Rachel's cafe near the house
HOF LT Jonathan Ogden used to go to my yoga class; a little crazy seeing a guy 6'-9 and 350 pounds doing yoga
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Men don't go to Yoga. Men go to stretching class.
 

I was valet parking at the Fine Line down on 1st Ave when I was 18-19 y/o's, in the late 1980's. It was a big operation with our supervisor Brian, and 6 of us valets running non-stop. We had dozens of cars lined up down 1st Ave waiting to valet park. I was standing on the curb, waiting for the next car.

It was a purple Mercedes. It pulled up and a bear of a man jumped out of the passenger seat shouting "Everyone get back, Prince is coming in". He opened up the back door, and helped Kim Bassinger out of the car, then Prince. I was mesmerized. The interior was purple leather, and there were purple roses on the floor. Badass!

Security locked the car, and walked off shouting "Out of the way Prince is coming through". They'd parked their car right in the middle of our valet spot. My supervisor Brian jumped in front of them and said "You can't park there. That's my valet stand!". Security shouted "It's Prince". Brian, crazy bastard that he was, said "F*ck Prince. I don't even like Prince. I'm towing his car!".

Then Prince stepped forward, sort of like the Rick James aura scene from Dave Chapelle, and in the palm of his hand he had a $100 bill that was creased the long way. Like Origami. Prince calmly said "It's cool." and gave the $100 to Brian. Brian turned, looked at all the cars backed up 1st Ave and yelled at us "Tell those people to go around, Prince is parking there!!".
 

I was in a Holiday off 55 in Plymouth on a Sunday morning. There was a line of close to 10 people. That's actually a lot for a Holiday, with only one clerk. I waited patiently, and when it was finally my turn, Sid Hartman stepped right in front of me, flopped down a Sunday paper, paid and walked off.

Part of me thinks he's just an old confused guy, who probably didn't realize he'd cut in line. Part of me thinks he's just a dick, and has been doing that since the 1940's.
 



Costa Rican Gopher said:
I was in a Holiday off 55 in Plymouth on a Sunday morning. There was a line of close to 10 people. That's actually a lot for a Holiday, with only one clerk. I waited patiently, and when it was finally my turn, Sid Hartman stepped right in front of me, flopped down a Sunday paper, paid and walked off.

Part of me thinks he's just an old confused guy, who probably didn't realize he'd cut in line. Part of me thinks he's just a dick, and has been doing that since the 1940's.
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Ah, I misread. Thought for some reason you meant recently. I had some strange visuals going on in my mind where he is plowing people over with his walker.
 


Ope3 said:
Any interesting stories from that encounter?

I would have been compelled to ask if "No bucks, no Buck Rogers" was an actual quote the Mercury 7 used.
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Honestly don't remember much. he was speaking at a local college, and after his spiel, I was able to grab him for about 5 minutes to get a few quotes for the local radio station. I think we talked mainly about NASA's current direction and the future of manned space flight. this would have been late 80's or early 90's.

what I do remember is that he came off very much like a straight-arrow All-American kind of guy - but you never know if that is what someone is really like or if that is the image they were trying to present.
 

Gopher related, my first day on campus Willie Burton sat in front of me in Wiley Hall in Econ 1001. Did not see much of him the rest of the quarter.

Sophomore year I was in an English Lit class with Darrell Thompson & Scott Schaffner, so pretty much the entire starting backfield. Both great classmates/students, Schaffner carried my small group on some project I recall. Thompson was quite articulate, not surprised he's done well on the radio.

One night while hanging out with some Gopher hockey players at Station 19, Chris Zorich sat at our table. This was just weeks after he played in the Orange Bowl, flew back to find his mother had passed away. That night at Station 19 he was quite nice, down to earth and humble.
 



I was on an elevator with Walter Mondale, downtown Mpls. Used to see him in the skyway quite a bit.

One day after work in downtown I was walking to catch the bus. I was coming up on 9th and Hennepin (insert Tom Waits reference here) and approaching what was still the old Broadway Hotel. 9th was sort of blocked off and I thought there was construction. Then I noticed an ambulance and that no one there looked like a construction worker.

Then Matt Dillon walked past me. He was in town filming Factototum, the adaptation of the Bukowski book.

When I told my then girlfriend that story she mentioned that she had been a few seats away from Marissa Tomei at some fancy bar a couple nights before.
 



1988. I went bowling with Stryper, at the Lariat Lanes in Richfield.

My friend's Mom was a caterer. My Senior year (?) of HS she invited us to come have some food & bowl at the Lariat Lanes. Apparently they were having a hard time filling the room for Christian heavy metal band Stryper? In the end, we ended up bowling with them, and they were very nice. They were all quite sincere about their Christianity.

 
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Frink said:
I was on an elevator with Walter Mondale, downtown Mpls. Used to see him in the skyway quite a bit.

One day after work in downtown I was walking to catch the bus. I was coming up on 9th and Hennepin (insert Tom Waits reference here) and approaching what was still the old Broadway Hotel. 9th was sort of blocked off and I thought there was construction. Then I noticed an ambulance and that no one there looked like a construction worker.

Then Matt Dillon walked past me. He was in town filming Factototum, the adaptation of the Bukowski book.

When I told my then girlfriend that story she mentioned that she had been a few seats away from Marissa Tomei at some fancy bar a couple nights before.
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I didn't live too far from the filming of that film. Being a huge Bukowski fan, I thought I maybe he would stumble into the bar I worked at. He never did. I did learn that Matt Dillon did pop in while I was off that night. I also missed Keanu Reeves and Cameron Diaz the night they came in while filming whatever bad movie they did together.
 

tikited said:
Didn't talk to them, but I was standing next to Mark McKinney and Bruce McCulloch of Kids in the Hall fame. First Avenue show (Spiritualized) in the early 200's I think. Bruce was dancing wildly next to me and I remember thinking what a complete weirdo (slower song was being played). I did a side glance and noticed who he was. McKinney was on the other side of me laughing at me looking at McCulloch. I noticed Dave Foley in the crowd below and pointed at him. McKinney looked genuinely worried and left. McCulloch kept dancing. Foley was absolutely wasted. One of the funniest things I ever witnessed. Read an article the next day that Foley made his way back stage after the show and made a crack about one of the roadies teeth (British). Roadie punched Foley's in the face breaking several teeth. Great night.
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That sounds really loud.

What were the three of them doing in Mpls is the early 200's? Wasn't Foley well into News Radio by then?
 

Nokomis said:
That sounds really loud.

What were the three of them doing in Mpls is the early 200's? Wasn't Foley well into News Radio by then?
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The whole crew was there after a show they did at the State Theatre. I didn't actually see Kevin McDonald but I assume he was there. News Radio was over by then. I think it ended in 99.

It was very loud. Jason/Spiritualized had a massive backing choir with them. One of the best shows I have ever been to. I went to the Milwaukee show the night before and they were boring compared. Amazing what a change in venue can do.
 

Ope3 said:
Gopher related, my first day on campus Willie Burton sat in front of me in Wiley Hall in Econ 1001. Did not see much of him the rest of the quarter.

Sophomore year I was in an English Lit class with Darrell Thompson & Scott Schaffner, so pretty much the entire starting backfield. Both great classmates/students, Schaffner carried my small group on some project I recall. Thompson was quite articulate, not surprised he's done well on the radio.

One night while hanging out with some Gopher hockey players at Station 19, Chris Zorich sat at our table. This was just weeks after he played in the Orange Bowl, flew back to find his mother had passed away. That night at Station 19 he was quite nice, down to earth and humble.
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Always fun to have a class with one of the sports guys. Two stick out for me. Brock Lesner definitely fills a room or sidewalk. I did a group project with Johnny Pohl.

Oh yeah, and Mitch Ohnstad was my coworker. Hilarious.
 

this just triggered a memory -

Gary Busey did a movie in the Twin Cities called "Foolin' Around." shot in (I think) 1979 and released in 1980. Part of the movie was shot in and around the U of MN Campus. there was an ad in the Twin Cities Reader for extras. I showed up and they told me to report to some house on Summit Avenue. (which was supposed to be a frat house at the U.) Bottom line was, I sat around all day watching them shoot a couple of scenes, but I never got used on camera. Apparently I didn't look enough like a 'frat boy.' I got paid something (maybe $25) for sitting around all day and they served us lunch. I also got to watch Gary Busey run up a flight of stairs about a dozen times while they were shooting this scene.

And that was my career in the movies. I have a niece who is a screenwriter in Hollywood, so I haven't given up hope of a comeback.
 

tikited said:
I didn't live too far from the filming of that film. Being a huge Bukowski fan, I thought I maybe he would stumble into the bar I worked at. He never did. I did learn that Matt Dillon did pop in while I was off that night. I also missed Keanu Reeves and Cameron Diaz the night they came in while filming whatever bad movie they did together.
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In spring of '95 I was working in a record store, downtown Mpls. I was on the phone with the District Mgr, and in came Keanu. He was looking around for a CD, and I motioned for a sales clerk to politely help him out. He bought Fear of a Black Planet by Public Enemy. To get into the store he had to walk by our full display for Speed which had just been released on VHS.

After work that same day, I am walking by the bar in the IDS on Marquette. Sitting at the bar were Cameron Diaz and Matt Dillon. They were both in town, but filming different movies. Diaz was in Feeling Minnesota (with Keanu), while Dillon was shooting or had just wrapped Beautiful Girls.

Regarding the 2 films, Feeling Minnesota was a complete dud. One my least favorite movies. Beautiful Girls on the other hand, I really enjoyed. When it pops up on cable, I usually stick with it for a while.
 

Ope3 said:
In spring of '95 I was working in a record store, downtown Mpls. I was on the phone with the District Mgr, and in came Keanu. He was looking around for a CD, and I motioned for a sales clerk to politely help him out. He bought Fear of a Black Planet by Public Enemy. To get into the store he had to walk by our full display for Speed which had just been released on VHS.

After work that same day, I am walking by the bar in the IDS on Marquette. Sitting at the bar were Cameron Diaz and Matt Dillon. They were both in town, but filming different movies. Diaz was in Feeling Minnesota (with Keanu), while Dillon was shooting or had just wrapped Beautiful Girls.

Regarding the 2 films, Feeling Minnesota was a complete dud. One my least favorite movies. Beautiful Girls on the other hand, I really enjoyed. When it pops up on cable, I usually stick with it for a while.
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Completely agree on the two movies. The Feeling Minnesota crew had their wrap party at Nikki's where I worked. I was camping that day/night. I heard Keanu made out with someone and made Cameron mad lol.
 

Ope3 said:
In spring of '95 I was working in a record store, downtown Mpls. I was on the phone with the District Mgr, and in came Keanu. He was looking around for a CD, and I motioned for a sales clerk to politely help him out. He bought Fear of a Black Planet by Public Enemy. To get into the store he had to walk by our full display for Speed which had just been released on VHS.

After work that same day, I am walking by the bar in the IDS on Marquette. Sitting at the bar were Cameron Diaz and Matt Dillon. They were both in town, but filming different movies. Diaz was in Feeling Minnesota (with Keanu), while Dillon was shooting or had just wrapped Beautiful Girls.

Regarding the 2 films, Feeling Minnesota was a complete dud. One my least favorite movies. Beautiful Girls on the other hand, I really enjoyed. When it pops up on cable, I usually stick with it for a while.
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Beautiful Girls is a classic.
 

tikited said:
Completely agree on the two movies. The Feeling Minnesota crew had their wrap party at Nikki's where I worked. I was camping that day/night. I heard Keanu made out with someone and made Cameron mad lol.
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I wonder why she was mad, since she was already dating The Flamingo Kid.

I just looked up Feeling Minnesota on Rotten Tomatoes, it only scored 14% so a true klunker. Oddly, Siskel and Ebert each gave it Thumbs Up.

Also the soundtrack had songs from Son Volt and Wilco, two of my favorite bands who had just derived from Uncle Tupelo. The Wilco song, Blasting Fonda, has the distinction of being my least favorite in their catalog.
 

Ope3 said:
I wonder why she was mad, since she was already dating The Flamingo Kid.

I just looked up Feeling Minnesota on Rotten Tomatoes, it only scored 14% so a true klunker. Oddly, Siskel and Ebert each gave it Thumbs Up.

Also the soundtrack had songs from Son Volt and Wilco, two of my favorite bands who had just derived from Uncle Tupelo. The Wilco song, Blasting Fonda, has the distinction of being my least favorite in their catalog.
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I was told by a friend who worked on the movie (set design) that they had a fling but maybe I remember it wrong.
 

tikited said:
I was told by a friend who worked on the movie (set design) that they had a fling but maybe I remember it wrong.
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I am sure she had options. I saw her recently promoting wine on a talk show. I don't like wine, yet I still thought about buying some.
 

Ope3 said:
I am sure she had options. I saw her recently promoting wine on a talk show. I don't like wine, yet I still thought about buying some.
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I was an option if she wanted.
 

Many years ago, I was in a jewelry store in Southtown, Hulk Hogan was in the store, and I heard a older man who worked there, say to his co-worker "I think he plays for the Vikings", he obviously did not watch wrestling. I also saw The Big Show and Goldberg at a chinese buffet, and the Big Show was the largest person I have ever seen in person.
 


just remembered another one.

I spent some time working for Radio Shack in the Twin cities. One day, former Gopher Men's basketball player Clyde Turner came in for something - don't remember what, but I was helping him. this was at the Radio Shack on Lake Street. (oh, I can tell some stories about that place...)

My boss said former pro wrestler Jerry Blackwell came in the store once. I wasn't there that day.
 

Sometime around 1991 I was in the Dayton's Parking ramp, downtown Mpls. I got in an empty elevator near the top and it stops a floor or so later. Door opens and there are 2 huge gentleman (NFL lineman size) bodyguards, with none other than Sugar Ray Leonard and his wife/lady friend.

The phrase that popped in my head was "No Mas!", but the only words I could get out were "Hello, champ!" He smiled, greeted me back. Somehow, we all squeezed in. The group gets out and we all are on 7th Street, it's a brisk early winter day. I'm sure temps were right around freezing.

One of the bodyguards asked me, "Where is Prince's club?" This lead to trying to straighten out if he meant 1st Avenue or the club he owned, Glam Slam/Quest. I am guessing I had that interaction with at least a half dozen out of towners/tourists.

After no more than a minute, it was clear that Ray was not dressed to be outside in Minnesota, wearing a light Members Only like jacket, while his gal had on a full mink coat. Freezing his butt off, they took off in a hurry. As they were walking away, I could hear the woman chiding Ray for not wearing a winter coat.

I wonder why they didn't get a limo.
 


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