Your Most Disturbing Realizations

[Paisley]

My aunt was friends with one of Alfred Hitchcock's maids. She and her sisters worked for him in London; when he came to America, one of the sisters stayed behind. Hitchcock would throw parties and later ask his servants who had said "thank you" and who didn't. Those who didn't weren't invited back.

Frank Sinatra was a guest at one of the parties, and he was about to go to England. He was kind enough to take a package to the sister who still lived there.

 

[HudsonHawk]

I used to think my grandmother, who died in 1971--or was it 1970?--had been born in 1876, the year of both Custer's last stand, I believe it was, and the centennial of the United States. But I was disappointed to learn it was actually 1879, when nothing happened, as far as I know.

Albert Einstein was also born in 1879. So she's in good company.

 

[2jakes]

I met tennis champion Steffi Graf who at the time was ranked #1 in the world.
She signed her name on my shirt sleeve for good luck.
I was playing in a tournament at the time.
I got to hit with her.
Very soft spoken lady, but on the court she was very aggressive with her strokes
which were awesome to watch in person.


Btw: She brought me luck.
I also won the finals in the mens tournament.

 

[Inkstainedwretch]

In the 70s my maternal grandmother suffered a stroke and was in dementia for several weeks, though she recovered (partially). Every day my mother and her sister visited her in the rest home in Santa Barbara. Her roommate was another elderly woman in severe dementia who talked nonstop. Her babbling was always about show business, but always seemed to be from a backstage perspective. My mother later learned that this woman was Olivia De Havilland and Joan Fontaine's mother.

 

[Zombie_61]

Degrees of separation. One of my Mom's cousins bred Great Danes with Harold Lloyd. Not knowing who she was going to meet, the first time Mom accompanied her cousin to his house she spent the first half hour wondering why he looked so familiar because her cousin had introduced him as simply "Mr. Lloyd", and Mom hadn't made the connection. Mom said he was one of the nicest people she had ever met.

I met Vincent Price about a year before he died, and spoke with him briefly. He was very charming, and in a room filled with people he gave you his full attention and made you feel as though you were the only person he wanted to talk to at that moment.

And under the heading of "not so famous" (not these days, anyway) my Mom and Dad met while they were working for Anthony Cornero Stralla (a.k.a. "The Admiral", "Tony the Hat") on one of his "gaming" ships, the S.S. Rex.

 

[Trenchfriend]

I know the story of the S.S. REX. She was such a beauty and such a tragic end.

 

[Zombie_61]

Tragic, but that's a different ship. Tony Cornero's Rex was "sunk" by the State of California and local law enforcement, not the RAF.

 

[2jakes]

Under the heading of “What was I thinking?”

I went to film the restoration project (in the 90s) of Al Capone’s yacht
which was supposed to be the one he used while taking a break during
the St. Valentine Massacre.
I kept some wood from the original which I thought would be historical .
Most people think it’s hysterical.
Polo uses it as a scratching post.

And as far as famous people in films. I met Jane Fonda at a department
store @ Hollywood & Vine.
I sold her some luggage & I was out of stock on some fancy wood hangers
that she wanted.
She said to call her when they came in.
I didn’t recognize her at first, until I saw her driver’s license.
She was paying with a personal check.
I told her she didn’t look like Jane Fonda the movie star.
She laughed.... told me, “ how much do you think I'd
get done if I put on all that make-up!”

She impressed me as a very confident woman who knew what she
wanted & not conceited at all.

I bragged to my buddies that I had Jane Fonda’s private number.

They weren’t impressed .

 

[MisterCairo]

I bragged to my buddies that I had Jane Fonda’s private number.

They weren’t impressed .

Should've said you had Barbarella's number...

 

[2jakes]

Should've said you had Barbarella's number...

Looking at her eyes & the film, “The Grapes of Wrath” came to mind.

 

[skydog757]

I drove my car to a concert in downtown Detroit to see John Fogerty in concert. He had just released Blue Moon Swamp and was (finally!) playing his Creedence songs again. He was someone whose music had meant a great deal to me growing up, so I bought tickets for me and my best boyhood friend as soon as they went on sale and scored some great seats. On the drive in, the brakes on my ancient Cavalier went out (not completely, but they were extremely weak). I made it there, but the only parking available was on the 7th floor of a structure. I decided to wait an hour or so after the concert before trying to leave to avoid traffic. We went down the block to a tavern and had a burger to bide the time. When we left, we passed by the back of the venue (The Fox) just as Fogerty was leaving. As there were only about thirty people clamoring to him for an autograph, he walked over and obliged. We got to shake his hand and have him sign the concert tickets (I was a bit embarrassed and wanted to explain that I was not the type to wait around a stage door but, hey; my car broke down so . . .) Anyway, after he signed the ticket with a sharpie I immediately put it into my shirt pocket so that I could shake his hand which of course smeared the signature. My friend laughed at my foolishness. A week later, he had his ticket plastic laminated so as to keep it forever pristine, not knowing that the ticket material was heat sensitive. The entire front of the ticket came out solid black.

I personally don't care about signatures of people I admire, it's just a pretext to actually meet them. I've had some great conversations with some of them when they are willing and able to take the time.

 

[HudsonHawk]

I've actually met a lot of famous people over the years, from musicians during my roadie days, to more professional athletes I can shake a stick at. I guess the most famous from various walks of life are heavyweight champ Evander Holyfield, President George H.W. Bush, and two-time Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling. Some are jackasses, but most were pretty normal. Pauling was up there with Lyle Lovett in terms of being an odd dude.

 

[LizzieMaine]

One of my most hilarious celebrity encounters was with H. Ross Perot during the 1992 Presidential campaign. He had a big following here -- he even outpolled Bush The First that year -- and I interviewed him when he made a whistlestop at our local high school. I had some good well-thought-out questions, but I never got the chance to use them. All he wanted to talk about was about how off-key the school band was when they played his theme song, "Crazy For You."

 

[HudsonHawk]

One of my most hilarious celebrity encounters was with H. Ross Perot during the 1992 Presidential campaign. He had a big following here -- he even outpolled Bush The First that year -- and I interviewed him when he made a whistlestop at our local high school. I had some good well-thought-out questions, but I never got the chance to use them. All he wanted to talk about was about how off-key the school band was when they played his theme song, "Crazy For You."

I was in college in 1988, and was in charge of the student group who put on concerts on campus...everything from big rock and roll acts in the stadium to local folk singers in the campus coffee house. At any rate, one day we got a call that Dan Quayle, who was running for VP at the time, wanted to make a stop and speechify on campus. There was a group that was in charge of guest lecturers and speakers, but those were usually in one of the academic halls or auditoriums, and they didn't know how or have the equipment to do such a large event as a Presidential campaign rally. So they called me and asked if my group could set up the logistics and equipment. I got to briefly meet Sen. Quayle. Now maybe he was tired from all that campaigning, but I'm guessing he really didn't know how to spell "potato".

 

[ChiTownScion]

Got to meet then- President Johnson in the Cabinet Room of the White House in 1967. Sat in the chair of Defense Sec. Robert McNamera while waiting for him to arrive. I was 12 years old and a member of a men & boys choir: our White House visit was arranged by a local Congressman who knew LBJ from his days on the Hill.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

Looking at her eyes & the film, “The Grapes of Wrath” came to mind.

You must be the only one looking at her eyes.

 

[2jakes]

You must be the only one looking at her eyes.

Ha-ha! ...you’re funny !

I most certainly looked.

But let me ask you this!

Do you know of any woman that cannot spot the moment your eyes start to wonder especially
when she is looking straight at you?

 

[2jakes]

I talked with Carlos Santana after an interview at the studios. I was the cameraman.
He has a sense of humor & very cool dude.
I asked him to join me & pull a joke on the crew.
He went along & did. He’s a funny cat.

And former President Clinton flirted with my pretty reporter during his campaign.




(Hello jake......so tells us something we don’t already know!)

 

[Lean'n'mean]

But let me ask you this!
Do you know of any woman that cannot spot the moment your eyes start to wonder especially
when she is looking straight at you?

Nope but some women want your eyes to wander.

 

[2jakes]

Nope but some women want your eyes to wander.

Golly gee & oh my goodness...really ????