Saturday, January 29, 2011

Celebrity Sightings

This blogger I sometimes read posted a few weeks ago about all the celebrities she's seen, so I decided to do the same. Except I'm leaving out the ones who I saw perform in concert or interviewed for work, etc., because that's not really just a chance encounter, is it? I don't know if I will remember them all, but here goes ...

Reggie Jackson: Would you believe it if I told you he owned a car dealership in Quincy for a while when I was a kid? My stepdad worked there, and we met Reggie Jackson one time when he came to the dealership for some sort of promotional event. He told me he'd buy me a horse. He never did. I hate Reggie Jackson.

Neil Patrick Harris and Max Casella: At the Ports O' Call in San Pedro, we stumbled upon an episode of Doogie Howser being filmed.

Sarah Chalke: My sister and I spotted Sarah Chalke when we were at the Universal City Walk with my Dad and Deb one time, eating frozen yogurt or something. This was way back when she was on Roseanne.

Ted Danson: When I was about 19 and had just started working at the Monterey Plaza Hotel, I passed Ted Danson on the sidewalk in front of the hotel as he was on his way to speak at an event on whales or some such save-the-earth event. He nodded at me.

Niki Taylor: Working at the same hotel, Niki Taylor was staying there one time for a Liz Claiborne shoot, if I remember correctly. I was at the front desk when she stopped by to pick up a fax. (If that was today, she probably would've gotten an e-mail on her smart phone and I'd never have seen her.)

Leonardo DiCaprio: Working at a toy store on Cannery Row in Monterey, Leo came in and bought a disposable camera from me. He was wearing a hat and trying to look incognito. Later, I also saw him and Gisele walking down the hall, but I only saw her from behind.

Clint Howard: Ron Howard's brother came into the toy store in Monterey one time when I was working.

Melissa Joan Hart: The owner of the toy store I worked at owned three stores on Cannery Row, and I managed them. One time, a co-worker from one of the stores down the street called me at the toy store and was speaking so muffled, I thought perhaps she was getting robbed. I ran down the street to make sure everything was okay, and it turned out she was just trying to let me know that Sabrina the Teenage Witch was in the store.

Danny Glover: In 1998 I went with friends to see a Boyz II Men concert (opening acts were Next and Destiny's Child) and Danny Glover was at the concession stand.

Bill Murray: I didn't actually meet Bill Murray, but when I worked at the Quail Lodge, he called to make a reservation and I took the call. I thought from his voice it was the Bill Murray, and it was confirmed the following day when all the front desk agents were buzzing about when he checked in.

Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds: Living in Monterey for five years, you'd think I'd have seen Clint Eastwood around town sometime, but that wasn't the case. I actually saw these two together having dinner at a restaurant in Bel Air where my friend Lindsey worked. The paparazzi was outside when we left, and restaurant staff were making plans to sneak the two out the back to avoid the cameras.

John Stamos: Chris and I saw Uncle Jesse at a bar at LAX while waiting to catch our flight home.


Tyra Banks and Ron Howard: Spotted at the Inaugural Ball.

Dennis Farina, Dustin Hoffman, Bo Derek and Mike Smith: Spotted at Santa Anita last year during Spring Break.

George Newbern: Spotted at lunch with Deb last year during Spring Break.

Rod Stewart: Spotted at breakfast with Lindsey last year during Spring Break.

What celebs have you spotted? Did you attempt to talk to them?

10 comments:

Leia said...

OMG Tammy you are the celebrity of seeing celebrities! These are a few of my favorite sightings which all happen to be when I worked at Walt Disney World.
Susan Lucci ended up being in the stall next to me in the bathroom. I did not know this until she came out and we were washing our hands next to each other.
One of the NKOTB, Danny I think it was. He came in to the camera store to buy film. I didn't realize it was him until he left. I followed him out of the store but lost him in the crowd.
In the same store Will Wheaton came in. At first I didn't recognize him but my face must have changed half way through our interaction because he gave me this sly smile like yes its me, Will Wheaton.
I was walking backstage at the Animal Kingdom and I remembered these boys ran past me. I didn't know at the time I had just crossed paths with NSYNC.
And my most horrible MISS celebrity sighting was Harry Connick Jr. He came to my register but I had been in the back. The girl that was there said "do you know some guy named HCjr?" I literally started crying as he is one of my all time favorites.
Non WDE celebrity sighting; Jay Leno. We were in Sun Valley, CA going from my Aunt's house to my grandfather's house and Jay was driving one of his old cars from his collection. I guess his garage was in the area. I have a picture of that moment somewhere.

volksbloggin said...

Tammy,
This list of celebrity sightings is LONG and impressive. I thought about it and if I excluded newspaper work, I had one person: President Bill Clinton. He came to the Clayton County Fair when he ran for president in the early 90s. Otherwise, I have NOTHING. ZERO. And I have a theory about that ... living in Cali you are going to see more celebrities than living in Guttenberg, Iowa. I'm just saying.

volksbloggin said...

Did you talk to Rod Stewart? I thought your mom knows him from the 1970s ... or did I just make that up?

Tammy said...

My dad would like me to add that my first celebrity encounter was jockey Willie Shoemaker when I was just a baby. There's a picture of him holding me at the racetrack.

Leia, you have a pretty good list going yourself.

Michelle, my mom did not know Rod Stewart, but she loves him and calls him Rod the Bod. I did not talk to him because Lindsey told me not to ;-) My mom does, however, claim to have hung out with Steve Perry (of Journey) one time. And if I'm not mistaken, you have seen him before, haven't you?

volksbloggin said...

I did see him eating pancakes in LA, but I don't count it b/c I had NO idea who he was at the time and Benny's friend, Chris, pointed him out and talked to him. I was clueless.

And yes, you should count Shoemaker, especially if there is a photo evidence. That's a fun fact for dinner parties.

Marina said...

hahahah Reggie Jackson. I think you forgot about that D celebrity Titus that had a show for about 5 minutes that we took a picture with at LAX. Also, I'm pretty sure we also saw Shelly Long on a plane once but I might be making that up. Most of my celebrity encounters were with you. I am sure I have others that I can't recall but I do remember seeing Tony Dungy walking around after the inauguration.

Tammy said...

Oh, yeah! I think you might be right about Shelly Long. Didn't we also see the girl who played Simone on Head of the Class at the airport one time? Plus, Dick Van Patten, at the racetrack, like, every time you go there.

Marina said...

Yes and yes!

Kyria @ Travel Spot said...

You have seen a lot of celebrities!!! You must get out more than I do!

I saw Danny Glover, Benjamen Bratt, Cindy Crawford, Kristy Yamaguchi...and maybe a couple others that I forget...or never recognized.

How many have you interviewed? I still think they count!

Tammy said...

Off the top of my head, I've interviewed (or met through work) mostly sports celebrities when I was a sports intern at the Monterey County Herald, including Danica Patrick, Mario Andretti, Herm Edwards and Marcus Allen. Also, one year I shot video for the RGJ at a celebrity golf tournament at Tahoe. My videos were on the fans and volunteers, so I didn't talk to any celebs, but I saw quite a few - Greg Kinnear, Tony Romo ... I don't remember them all.