I don't know why, but I was thinking about the recent help we gave a family member here on TIG and that John was able to get James Earl Jones autograph. Now I don't know if John met Mr jones or not, but this got me to thinking about starting this thread wondering if any of our TIG family here has ever had a chance to meet someone famous? Were they cool or what and under what circumstances did you meet them?

I will start by saying I have met several famous persons through the years. I live in a small town south of Dallas and grew up in a town that is even closer to Dallas. It was not unusual especially in the mid to late 90's to run into Emitt Smith, Michael Irvin, Troy Aikman, and other Dallas cowboy football players around in Dallas. Most of them lived there (or close to there) and they would go out to eat or shop or whatever around there. They were usually cool with you saying high or whatever, but most of the time would say someone like this is family time or I am busy or something when you asked for an autograph. I have several others that I will share (including one jacked up meeting), but this can get us started. So tell us who have you met.

very cool Bryan

Back in the day before Pantera became a big band I played Super Nintendo (and partied ) with Phil Anslemo , Dimebag Darrel and the rest of the band on their tour bus after a concert

I was really good friends with a local Enid band at the time who happened to be good friends with Pantera - they took me to a show so I was able to meet the guys on a pretty intimate basis

Very cool topic when it comes to seeing famous people living here is great as we have a thriving entertainment industry, so for me living here in Victoria can be a real treat as we have lots of movies and T.V. shows shot here. Of course I never even thought to get autographs from any of the people I have met over the years though, I wasn't really into collecting them anyway. Now as for the people I have met over the years there were a few when I worked security at a nightclub called The Forge I met Doug Bennett from Doug and the slugs, he was a pretty cool guy. And when I worked at Budget rent a car I was dropping off a car at the downtown office and who should walk in Mel Gibson and Goldie Hawn, they were doing the movie Bird on a Wire Mel was very cool and funny as was Goldie If you watch the movie the motorcycle chase is done in Chinatown right smack in the middle of downtown Victoria. I also met Nick Nolte last year just up from where I work they were shooting the T.V. show Gracepoint. I would have given anything to have met Hugh Jackman and the other cast members of X-Men some of the movie scenes were done here in Victoria as well. And this year if it happens we are going to have a comicon coming here in October and one of the people who is going to be there is Richard hatch aka Captain Apollo from Battlestar Galactica I am looking forward to meeting him .

Of course being a part of the British commonwealth I also got to meet some members of the Royal Family as a member of the air cadets I got to meet Prince Charles and Lady Diana, And when I was in the Military, I was a part of the Queens honor guard/ added security for her it was pretty cool.

That is a cool story James.  Especially the Super Nintendo part.

Ok my second entry is about Deryl Dodd.  He was kind of a jerk, but you will somewhat understand in a second.  For those that don't know, I am an ex police officer.  I started in Duncanville Texas and ended my career in a little town called Keene.  While in the little town there wasn't much to do from day to day so we ran a lot of traffic stops there.  Anyway I pulled Deryl Dodd over for speeding.  As I asked for his license and insurance he began telling me about who he is.  I of course looked at him with the blankest face I could muster and said something like am I supposed to know you.  He asked me what kind of music I listened to and I said country when I wanted music but mostly talk radio (mainly to keep up with current events more than anything else).  He was really offended that I didn't know him.  He tried to show me some cd or something and me in cop mode explained that I could stand on the side of the road listening to him explain who he was or he could hand me his license and insurance so I could conduct my job (I know total a-hole right).  I ended up giving him a warning for his speed which was only like 15 over or something.  I had returned to his truck to tell him about the warning and he was obviously annoyed at having been stopped.  He snatched the stuff out of my hands and took off.  

I have one more really good story, but I will wait for it.  Hint: It is the most recent and it was a television appearance.

And for those like me who had no idea who he is......https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deryl_Dodd

I was posting while Larry had just posted. That is freaking cool Larry. I used to like Mel Gibson a lot but mostly for the lethal weapon movies. After his whole drunk stop I lost a lot of respect for him. How was meeting the royals? Kind of cool to have been security for them I bet.

I didn't know you were a cop Bryan that was what I wanted to be but up here you need like two years of university and a bunch of other stuff, I was thinking about joining the LAPD at one point but I ended up dating and then marring my wife deffinitly a better deal .

I lost a lot or respect for Mel over that as well he was a lot nicer when I met him. Meeting the Royals was pretty cool though, being special forces has it advantages we got to work along side the British SAS which is always a treat.

James That would have been cool to party with a group before they became so famous

Cool thread Bryan    

Like James, my brush with famous dudes is music related. James, that's so cool you got to party and play Nintendo with Pantera  

I've met and grabbed the autographs of Metallica, Ronnie James Dio, Anthrax, Uriah Heep. When rehearsing at various Midlands' studios in the UK I'd say hi to members of Black Sabbath, Napalm Death, Slade, UB40, Pato Banton, Fuzzbox, Duran Duran. Playing drums in bands I've been on the same bill as Editors, Maximo Park, Nasty Suicide (Hanoi Rocks), and Sweet and The Hollies at a 70s celebration festival. One of my favourite moments was at a music award ceremony where I got to kiss (a gentlemanly peck on the cheek) Toyah Wilcox

Wow Paul. You have certainly met quite a few. I am still holding off on my last good one. Hoping to get a few others to share around here. My last one is on you tube so I will share the link..........eventually.

I know a few TIGers met David Prowse recently. There must be a fair few here who have met cast or crew members at conventions and shows at sometime or another?

When I used to do some tading on the convention circuit, I had the opportunity to meet & get autographs from:

Richard LeParmentier - Admiral Motti (RIP)
Jeremy Bulloch - Boba Fett
Gerald Home - Squidhead / Mon Calamari Officer
Dave Prowse - Darth Vader
Kenny Baker - R2-D2 / Paploo
Tim Rose - Admiral Ackbar
Peter Mayhew - Chewbacca
Garrick Hagon - Biggs
Alan Harris - Bossk
Julian Glover - General Veers
Michael Carter - Bib Fortuna
Paul Blake - Greedo
Pam Rose - Jeesub Sirln
Mike Edmonds - Logray
Brian Wheeler - Ewok
Caroline Blakiston - Mon Mothma
Rusty Goff - Jawa / Umpa Lumpa
Alan Flyng - Imperial Officer / Stormtrooper
Chris Barry - Red Dwarf / Tomb Raider
Caroline Munro - Naomi (The Spy Who Loved me).

wow you all met some cool people what was Arnold Rimmer like Cantina I just love that show I here he is pretty cool in person.

I also figured who you met Bryan. I found the Youtube vid from your dash cam.

It turns out that Bryan was sitting at his rest stop eating donuts and having a cup of Jo when this chick raced past on a speederbike, so after he finished his donut he raced after her, With the help of some fellow bike officers they intercepted her. They figured she was on something as she was wearing some gold bikini and telling how she had to get to the shield generator. when they got her ID and found out it was Carrie Fisher she was feltup...I mean patted down by Bryan before she was released, where they all raced to get to the field generator.

Yup that's what happened lol.

arohk wrote:

wow you all met some cool people what was Arnold Rimmer like Cantina I just love that show I here he is pretty cool in person.

Yep, Chris Barry is a very cool person. When my ex had to organise a charity event for work, I approached him & asked for his professional contact details (my ex was not brave enough to do it   ) & we arranged for him to make a guest appearance. When he turned up, he was very accommodating & happy to chat to everyone who approached him & do free autographs.

Most of the Star Wars cast are really nice as well, especially Alan Flyng, Gerald Home, Paul Blake & Rusty Goff.
Unfortunately I found Dave Prowse & Peter Mayhew less amiable.

Man I know a lot of guys think Carrie is not hot anymore, but I am not one of them. I would surely pat her down given the chance. That's a good story. Better than mine..........

I still think she is hot Bryan hell I still have a crush on her. Glad you liked the story lol

Cantina I heard that about Dave Prowse as well from friends who met him at comicons here and in the U.S. But I didn't realise Peter Mayhew was like that as well. It's also nice to know that Chris Barry is such a stand up guy I would love to meet all the cast of Red Dwarf as it is one of my all time fav shows.

Wow Steve you've met some great SW cast Do you keep the sigs in a autograph book or are they all individuals and kept in a folder or something? That's a cool story about Chris Barry and bet it was great meeting horror/sci-fi/fantasy/Bond babe Caroline Munro

arohk wrote:

Cantina I heard that about Dave Prowse as well from friends who met him at comicons here and in the U.S. But I didn't realise Peter Mayhew was like that as well. It's also nice to know that Chris Barry is such a stand up guy I would love to meet all the cast of Red Dwarf as it is one of my all time fav shows.

Thanks Larry. I've also heard from others that Dave Prowse doesn't get into the spirit of things. I guess he may be bored of attending conventions, but he does earn good money from them, so you'd think he could make more of an effort.
I've only met Peter Mayhew the once, perhaps he was suffering from jet lag.  

Artoo_Detour wrote:

Wow Steve you've met some great SW cast Do you keep the sigs in a autograph book or are they all individuals and kept in a folder or something? That's a cool story about Chris Barry and bet it was great meeting horror/sci-fi/fantasy/Bond babe Caroline Munro

Cheers Paul. The autographs are all on photo's which I keep in a folder. Caroline Munro was really nice & still looks very hot.

If I can work my scanner, I'll have to make a limelight.

Limelight. Yes please.

So here it is. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryU1vdZrR-0

If you can't see the link search Conan o Brian as deputy part 2. For whatever reason he decided to come down and play a deputy. I am only on for a few minutes. I own the consignment store. Even though I am only on for a few minutes he was in my store and messing with customers and whatnot for like an hour. I have a signed pic he sent me saying it was cool to meet me. I have gained a ton of weight since my cop days so don't poke fun. We had no idea he was going to be around and in fact I know the sheriff and all the deputies and saw them actually running across the parking lot to the old grocery store and thought what the heck is going on. The sheriff never runs for anything. I of course immediately thought there must be a shooting it something. He was really cool to meet and is freakishly tall. I am 6'2" for comparison. The crappy thing was this was right around the start of winter here and that morning it was hot, but a cold front came in and quickly cooled the place off. Not having a jacket I grabbed one off one of the racks just to stay warm while I was trying to watch them over at the grocery store. You can see the price tag on the jacket if you pay close attention. It is on the upper left chest area. It is probably the coolest interaction I have had with a celebrity as he was doing all sorts of stupid stuff in the store. It was a fun day.

Great story & very funny video Bryan! Thanks for sharing it with us.

Great stories guys

I have met quite a few musicians as well Paul  

Here's a guy that may not be famous to everyone but to me he is a musical genius  

The 1st time I saw Fishbone live , their singer Angelo was signing copies of a book he wrote and I was too embarrassed to approach him . So I promised myself that if I ever saw Fishbone again I wouldn't pass up the chance if I had one .

Years later I saw them again and bought this VHS tape and was actually brave enough to talk to Angelo for a few minutes after the show...



He was extremely kind and friendly



even if you don't like my kind of music please listen to this song ... its only 4 minutes and it would mean a lot to me if you did

It's great that you had another opportunity to meet Angelo James and he turned out to be a nice guy.

I enjoyed the video btw.

@Bryan - great Conan sketch and good acting from all concerned, must have been hard not to crack up laughing all over the place

@Steve - would love to see a limelight of autograph pics

@James - cool story and that's a great song and video. I never had any stuff by Fishbone but remember some of their stuff and always thought of them in the similar style to the Chillis, Faith No More and Living Colour

Yes , Angelo was extremely cool to me . I didn't talk long with him - mainly just told him the story of how I had seen him in Pensacola and was too shy to approach him . He told me I had nothing to fear and gave me a big hug - it made me feel really good because he wasn't hugging anyone else but my story touched him enough to "feel me" and encourage me

Cool video James. According to wiki Sunless Saturday is still their highest chart topping hit. Pretty cool of him to give you a hug and some encouragement.

I'm shocked I actually know Fishbone! My roommate in college played "Party at ground zero" constantly lol


I never met James Earl Jones. I actually just wrote him a thank you note (I'm old school) and asked him if I could buy him lunch to thank him for signing the case. I put my house number. It'll be weird if he calls. I can't imagine picking up the phone and hearing him on the other end. We'll see. I did stand behind him in line at the hardware store years ago, but I choked and said nothing.

I've run into a few people but nothing bananas. I worked in retail and saw Bobby Bonilla, Conan O Brien, Alan Arkin and Vanessa Williams.

However my best run ins were with the Yankees. Nextel had a contract with the stadium so we got to under the stadium and walk around. There was actually a set of rules, which essentially said don't be a fanboy. Besides watching Roger Clemens drop a CD from his Discman as we walked into the stadium my favorite run ins were:

1) Andy Pettite literally almost ran me and my colleague over. He came flying out of the parking lot and almost nailed us. He rolled down the window, said sorry (in that Louisiana drawl) and asked if we were okay.

2) We were walking up from the dugout (yeah, the F*#king dugout at Yankee stadium!!) and Paul O Neil met us as he was coming down. He was on the DL. We asked him how he was feeling, hoping he feels better, etc.. We were very courteous and professional. He chatted with us for a minute or so and we wished him well.  Fast forward 2 minutes we were outside squealing like toddlers on the phone with our wives. They didn't get it.

On a side note, I tried out for The Apprentice (a US TV Show) and met Donald Trump. I told him he should hire me and not bother with the show. He chuckled and shook my hand

What happened with the apprentice? That would be a really cool experience with the Yankees dugout. What a cool thing it would be if James earl jones called.

John: "hello"
JEJ: "John, I am your neighbor"
John:"..............."
JEJ: "are you there?"
John: "I........love.........darth vader, I even named my self darthberizing on my site"
JEJ: click. Thinks to himself, wtf is wrong with that guy.