i was at MARS bar in SF. saw jerry rice, with a bunch of huge ass 49ers. rice is not a big man. his teammates were huge! i stood behind 2 of them in line for the bathroom. a third huge man, tried to cut in line in front of me to stand next to his teammates. he looked at me, and i said, "dont make me kick your arse" all three laughed and let me go ahead of them. very nice guys, and they were with a bunch of sporty HOT chicks. i wanted rice's sig, but i didnt want to admit that i didnt reconize anyone else...

Jeez... in L.A., you're tripping over them all the time. I'm not into bothering celebs nor getting their autographs.... though sometimes, I've wished I had:

Chris Farley -- sitting alone in a deli in Santa Monica, really craving attention.

George Harrison -- talking with Cheech Marin. Couldn't bring myself to interrupt; exchanged nods.

Pierce Brosnan. By all accounts super nice & approachable. The guy is all over Malibu.

Britney Spears -- a bit more ordinary in person.

I once was at a trade show and Stallone came in with his entourage. He's 5'9" and had carefully chosen everyone accompanying him to be no taller.

Mel Gibson -- probably 5'8." We were racing to get our claimchecks to the valet. I won.

Jack Nicholson -- what can you say about Jack? He's just the coolest guy, ever. Very offhand about his money & power. About 5'9."

Don Henley -- famously unfriendly and intense.

Jaclyn Smith -- I got an award from her... I pretty much couldn't speak/think. Looked great close-up.

Dennis Miller: a-hole.

Lee Iaccocca: pretty decent guy, but used to a life insulated from 'common folk.'

And a couple dozen more that don't come to mind at the moment.

I once saw Herve Villachaize in a liqour store with a chick who was about 6'6". Now that made him REALLY look short.

His girlfriend for a while was Susan Tyrell -- not a small girl by any means. Check 'em out in "Forbidden Zone."

John Wayne...he was huge. Of course I was only 6 at the time. He was on the Washington coast filming the car chase on the beach scene from McQ.

Janine Turner - Northern Exposure, talking to me with her mouth full of a Taco Time chicken burrito...that was weird.
Harry Anderson - Night Court (tall...like 6'5" tall)
Eddie Vedder - Pearl Jam vocalist (short), saw him in the early '90s at a local pizza joint my GF worked at.

I talked to Turner and Anderson but only because they asked me a question...otherwise I wouldn't approach any celebrity.

Is Harry Anderson the actor who played the Guard on Night Court...if so I talked to him quiet a few times...the first time I asked to borrowed a book of his on Artist signatures...he likes to collect Plein Aire art...I didn't even recognize who he was....

A good friend of mine is Harry Landers...He played Dr. Ted Hoffman on the Ben Casey TV series...he was also in the Wild Ones with Marlon Brando... etc etc

When I live in So CA I used to frequent Abels Auctions...I used to rub elbows with the rich and powerfull in LA and didn't even know who they were... we would just chit chat about the latest auction and what we found there...

No, Harry Anderson played the judge, who was named Harry.

Drew Barrymore showed me her tits once.

Sooooo...I got a 2nd look from Julia Roberts....but that was before I moved to LV and started hitting the Buffets...

gotta love the passion but the product is kinda meeger!

The apartment where they filmed was around the corner from the house I grew up in. I was a little tike then too. I have a picture of me and the Duke and I'm sitting in his chair. I was too young to have a clue who he was.

Ohhh I totaly forgot.....on Sunday while I was fleecing...I mean playing Poker with DTW....I was sitting next to M-16..aka Jefferies KIA....anyway he's going to fight James Toney on Oct 1...PPV...for 7 figures...We've talked briefly since about investing money...

At the "Penthouse" in downtown Vancouver, BC in the mid-nineties.

My friend and I were sitting at this long table near the stage enjoying the "show". We were the only two at this huge table so when I group of people needed seating the manager asked if we minded if they sat with us.

Dave Navarro and Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers along with three or four girls, one of which I later learned was thier tour manager.

Sat and drank and enjoyed the scene with them for a couple of hours before last call came. Navarro looked pretty freaky but was actually a pretty cool dude. Smith could've been any other guy off the street, nice enough though. I never did ask where Anthony and Flea were...

That's my only brush with rock stars except for watching Eddie Vedder pick up a pizza to go :)

I see them every day on the studio lot and on locations. I don't speak to the talent. Jennifer Garner (aka Mrs. Affleck) is prego right now and huge. Very nice lady. Geena Davis still looks good. don't know if she's nice or not, have seen her very much. The ladies on Desperate Housewives are all nice and not catty like you read in the trades.

Years ago, I interacted with her slightly. Probably one of the nicest actresses, ever. Modest and genuine.

and smart too!

Almost forgot...Joel McHale, host of E! network show Talk Soup is a H.S. friend of my wifes....but now were talkin' small potato's. :)

I grew up in LA so you do tend to see a lot of 'em.
Kevin Costner at a movie theatre in Universal City
Gary Busey at a club in Malibu
Ricardo Montalbon on the set of Fantasy Island
Claude Akins in San Marino
Tippi Hedron at an art supply store in Arcadia
Kurt Russell twice. Once at Brackett Airport where he just came in in his Bonanza, once at Santa Monica Airport where he got out of a nice 400 series Cessna.
I did see, briefly, the back of his head, Steve McQueen, It was not long before he died. It was at Santa Paula and he taxied by in I think what was a Tiger Moth. My Dad and I had just landed there in a Decathelon (he was flying) and he said "look over your shoulder - quick".
Many others just can't remember

Many years ago I almost got in a ruckus with Rick James one day at the New Orleans Hilton or maybe just his bodyguards. I had the only free table and had been there for hours. He proceeded to sit next to me, kept bumping my knee, acting stupid and trying to get me to move. After $250 worth of Vodka and much more than that of another substance, I wasn't in the mood to move. He actually blew his nose in his hand and wiped in it his hair. I told him "you can dress him up but you can't take him out" that's when the body guards stood up the first time of several times. Never got him to say "I'm Rick James B*tch" though.

Funny, I wonder if anybody remembers Susan Tyrell. I grew up with her little sister, Baba.

But my favorite celebrity story involves another woman. Back in the late 60s, my father was good friends with a rising young German oncologist, Dr. Ernst Windor. "Ernie" was a true character, brilliant and rakish, a real ladykiller with his thickly accented charm and even thicker mane of black hair. We went over to his house one Saturday morning, to pick him up for a tennis game. As my brother and I were standing at the bottom of the stairs, we heard a soft voice over and behind us... "Ernie will be right down. Can I get you anything?" We looked up to see Kim Novak, in nothing but a man's large dress shirt, smiling and descending the stairs. I was a little young for the full effect of this dazzling and unexpected sight, but my older brother, about 15 at the time, can remember to this day the shiver of thrill he felt to see the woman of his dreams in the flesh -- and more of the flesh than he had a right to hope for. All through the tennis match he couldn't wait to take "Ernie" home. Alas, she had left by then.

Ernie Windor died a few years ago after a really incredible career as a cancer researcher and public health advocate in New York. I was lucky to have known him, for more reasons than his various romances with beautiful women.