Celebrity sightings come with the territory in places like New York City and Los Angeles—two locales that I have actually logged some hours in. Yet, curiously, both celebrity encounters I have actually had occurred here in the D.C. metropolitan area.
The first one was in the mid-80’s, on a hot summer night in Georgetown, walking down M Street with my two sisters and several girlfriends. It was late, and we had been throwing them back all night, when up pulled a long stretch limo to the curb beside us. Out stepped Mr. T (this was during his A-Team days and he was a pretty big deal then) with an entourage of ladies, all of whom were licking Baskin-Robbins’ ice cream cones.
Upon his egress from the limo, Mr. T. immediately started chatting us up in a very gregarious fashion. We felt like we had known him for years, although I couldn’t begin to tell you what we even talked about. The only other detail I recall from that night, besides the ice cream cones, was my unrelenting, irresistible desire to reach out and stroke the collection of gold chains (his signature trademark) draped around his neck. At the moment of my intrusive contact, he slapped my hand away and bellowed repeatedly, in his deep baritone, “Stop disrespectin’ me!”
He then turned on his heels and huffed down M Street, with his posse of lactose-tolerant ladies still in tow, while my group and I broke out into peals of inebriated laughter. To this day, when one of us feels affronted, we’ll jest in our best Mr. T voice, “Stop disrespectin’ me!”
My second sighting occurred more recently when National Treasure 2 was being filmed at Mount Vernon in 2007 (and it did not involve copious amounts of alcohol so I was much better behaved.) Several evening shoots took place along Riverside Park off of the GW Parkway. One shoot coincided with an evening my mom and younger sister (and my nieces and nephew) were visiting. Since it was novel and since the kids were bouncing off the walls and driving us crazy, we thought it would be fun to take them and check out the shoot.
We opted to walk over, along the GW Trail, even though it was already pretty dark. As we were approaching the set, an older man in a fishing hat passed us in the opposite direction. As he did, I recognized his face and excitedly exclaimed to everyone in my group, “Oh my God, that was Jon Voight!”
He heard me, stopped in his tracks, then turned around and came back to talk to us for a good ten minutes. Our conversation ranged from the movie he was currently shooting, to his grandkids (Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s kids—who, pathetically, I am able to recite all of their names and adopted countries of origin and can also tell you that they have a predilection for Cheetos.)
He also was very complimentary to my sister and me and kept telling us how beautiful and special our own children were. Bottom line: he was a lovely man. And we couldn’t imagine why Angelina had estranged herself from him. Team Jon, for sure! (Especially after her crazy Leg-Gate incident at the Academy Awards.)
I’ve had some other sightings too, but technically, I don’t count them because they weren’t unexpected. For instance, I attended Heidelberg American High School in Germany with 20/20 news anchor, Elizabeth Vargas. I also was at a taping of a Conan O’Brien Show in NYC when Zsa Zsa Gabor was a guest. And recently I met Wolf Blitzer and John King (even caught a glimpse of his famous “magic board” that he breaks out for elections) while on a tour of CNN. But that meet-up was courtesy of a friend of mine who is a producer for CNN’s political unit so I don’t count that one either. It’s the random, unanticipated high-profile run-ins that generate the best stories and that I love hearing about.
So, what celebrities/famous people have you crossed paths with? Patch wants to know about your encounters in the comments section below.
Native Daughter
8:02 am on Friday, March 30, 2012
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-bloom/angelina-jolie-brad-pitt_b_882482.html
Beth Jarvis
10:43 am on Friday, March 30, 2012
Thanks for the link, Barbara. Interesting perspective. I do applaud Angelina for her humanitarian efforts but regardless, I still find her a little kooky. And, unlike the stance the author of that piece takes, I don't think anyone needs to apologize for objectifying Angelina or taking interest in the more superficial aspects of her life. Afterall, Angelina brings much of that unwanted (puh-lease, more like craftily manipulated) attention upon herself. If she really took umbrage with being perceived as a fluffy, femme fatale homewrecker, she could start by eliminating provocative poses at Red Carpet events, choosing less Va-Va-Voom gowns, not bedding married co-workers and making better career choices that don't perpetually pigeon-hole and typecast her. As they say, any publicity is good publicity. And it's also what butters her bread and allows her to be so altruistic. I have a feeling Angelina knows exactly what she is doing. And those of us who feed the fascination with her are just doing our little part to help her save the world! :)
Isle D Belle
9:31 am on Friday, March 30, 2012
I met George Burns while on a trip in Hong Kong in 1982, David Bowie at a nightclub called Irving Plaza in NYC where Big Audio Dynamite was playing in 1980 or so. Mick Jagger and John Entwistle at a nightclub called the Ritz in NYC - I don't even remember who played that night, but it was around 1980. Wesley Snipes outside my place of work in DC during his movie filiming several years ago, Clint Eastwood outside of the now defunct Newsroom newspaper store on Connecticut and S Streets, NW while he was filming a movie in around 1995, Hilary Clinton at the White House when she was the FLOTUS, James Gandolfini at my brother's 50th birthday party about 12 years ago in NYC.
Beth Jarvis
10:43 am on Friday, March 30, 2012
Wow Isle, you're a star magnet! Impressive roster of run-ins.
Julie Denton
11:35 am on Friday, March 30, 2012
Well I'm not sure if Richie Hayward counts as celebrity (he was the drummer for Little Feat and went on to play with many artists), but here's my story. I was a student at AU and my friend was an AV guy and did event set-up for work-study. He invited me to come hang out while they prepared for a concert -- it wasn't Little Feat, Lowell George had just died a year or two before, but it was the rest of the band. So I was hanging out with the band's roadies drinking beers -- having a BLAST -- lots of laughs. The guy I'm sitting next to and talking to the most says something like "excuse me I've got to go do something I'll be right back." And they do a sound check and he played the drums. I knew nothing about sound checks and still assumed he was a roadie. When he came back I told him "that was AWESOME -- you should be in a band - REALLY that was great!" He laughed and thanked me for the compliment and seemed to me to be considering it. After another beer he had to go, and my AV friend was done with his work and commented on how buddy-buddy Richie Hayward and I were. I did not know his name but when the band started I saw my new friend.
Beth Jarvis
11:49 am on Friday, March 30, 2012
Great story, Julie. Hilarious.
Susan Fleischman
12:16 pm on Friday, March 30, 2012
Why is it so fun and memorable to run into celebrities? I worked in LA for several years so definitely encountered more than a few. A sports agent had his office in my building and I saw The Great One (Wayne Gretsky) often. I literally ran smack-dab into Magic Johnson once, trying to catch an elevator; it was like running into a tree, a very tall, handsome, grinning-like-a-cheshire-cat tree. Walter Matthau butted into our conversation once in the elevator -- although it was in LA we all know you can take the boy out of NY, but you can't take NY out of the boy. Closer to home, I ran into Senator Fred Thompson (remember him from TV/movies and a short-stinted run for prez?) in the gum/magazine shop at National a few years ago. We were chatting and I asked him which job he preferred. He snickered a bit and said it should be obvious. He indicated there were a lot of similarities between working in Washington and Hollywood, but better buffets on the set.
Beth Jarvis
12:50 pm on Friday, March 30, 2012
Thanks for sharing your sightings, Susan. Quite an eclectic mix you've encountered. Love the question you posed to Senator Thompson. Did you make the Law & Order "doink, doink" scene change sound before you asked it?
tamara
12:58 pm on Friday, March 30, 2012
I don't know if this counts but while visiting London, we literally stumbled upon the red carpet for some European awards show. We were like - "What's going on down there?" and the guard said "Some awards show...want to take a closer look?" And he escorts us down to the red carpet. We were arms length away from almost every movie star you can imagine including the casts from Harry Potter, Sex in the City, Inglorious Basterds - minus Brad :( ending with TomKat making the grand final entrance in dramatic style. My favorites were Gwenyth Paltrow and Orlando Bloom! Here's my proof :) https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1412806714566.56992.1064471159&type=3
Beth Jarvis
1:05 pm on Friday, March 30, 2012
Love it, Tamara. Thanks for posting these pics. Total A-listers, very cool. Bonus points for casually stumbling upon this soiree.
Kathleen Golobic
11:22 am on Saturday, March 31, 2012
I was lucky enough to see Flavor Flav twice in two weeks - first sighting was in Vegas while on a work assignment - he was at the same show I was at - second was on a plane to California for a much needed vacation. Curiously he got off the plane right before take-off - tried unsuccessfully to get the scoop! Also saw (claimed to see) Jerry Garcia of Grateful Dead fame in a Maui club - lots of alcohol involved so in fairness this sighting is iffy! My fav though was Alberto (Al-bear-to) of VO5 hair commercial fame! Saw him with one of my BFF's at a convention center - we both received extremely cheesy signed photos - mine is still coveted in a box in the attic! Great article Beth - made me laugh and trip down memory lane! Keep them coming!
Beth Jarvis
12:50 pm on Saturday, March 31, 2012
Flavor Flav, twice in 2 weeks? That's awesome, Kathleen. Was he wearing the big clock around his neck? That's probably why he had to leave the plane. All that ticking made the air marshals a little nervous.
Tim Althouse
5:32 pm on Saturday, March 31, 2012
My wife and I were at PF Chang's in Tysons and saw Shaquille O'Neal taking pictures with people as we were leaving. We headed over to Hallmark to look for some silly bands (back when they were more popular). In walks Shaq with his female friend and her daughter. He asked if they had silly bands. My wife says they're over here and he jokingly says, "Step away from the silly bands!" He and my wife chatted for a bit about those stupid rubber bands.
Beth Jarvis
6:14 pm on Saturday, March 31, 2012
Thanks for sharing your celebrity Hallmark encounter, Tim. Shaq always struck me as someone who cared enough to send the very best. It's comforting to know that celebrities aren't immune from the latest silly fads either. Are his feet really as big as they say?