Celebrity jerks?

Well- I don't have any horror stories. I tend to get a little tongue tied and clam up around the stars. But nearly all of the ones I've met have been good to amazing-


Cynthia Scott (Dietrich the female medtech in "Aliens")- She was an extremely sweet lady! Met her at D-Con in 2006. Our Colonial Marines group (The Aliens Legacy board) met her en masse at her signing table. She spoke with us at length about her time making the movie, then took the time to take pictures with each and every last one of us (there had to be at least 20 of us) for free! (We all took the time to buy a couple of autographed pics from her).

Last day of the convention we're gathered around our fan table to take pictures of our group and Cynthia showed up to say goodbye to us all! What a class act! :thumbsup

Afterward her agent came by to talk to our group- apparently she had been going through an extremely rough time in her life (IIRC she lost her home to hurricane Katrina). He told us that having our group of Marines show up to talk to her really lifted her spirits. It was a wonderful feeling knowing that "we" made a "star" feel great! :)


Another great guy was Lance Henriksen. He was very warm and genuine. Again our USCM group met him en masse at D-Con in 2008 and he took a pic with us all!


One actor I was truly trepidatious about meeting was Michael Biehn- he had a BAD reputation for being a jerk and sometimes being drunk at conventions. But I met him at D-Con in 2009 and went to his panel. Our USCM group was given a bit of special treatment being allowed to go in first to grab seats in the first few rows.

Well that weekend every bad rumour was put to rest- he was a great guy! One thing I got from him is that he might be shy at heart- so he gets a little quiet around the fans. This could easily be mistaken for snobbiness etc. I'm sure he has had run-ins with fans and has had a bad rep for a reason, but he has definitely cleaned up his act and embraced his fans. :thumbsup


But probably the one encounter I remember really well (despite being extremely brief) was Anthony Montgomery from Star Trek Enterprise. Again it was at D-Con in '09. I was wearing my Wrath of Khan captain's uniform. He ran up to me with a giant smile on his face and said rather frenetically, "SAY I LOVE THAT UNIFORM! THAT'S MY FAVOURITE UNIFORM OF ALL! I GOTTA GET A PICTURE WITH YOU!" :D

This made my entire weekend! Here was an actor who worked on a Star trek series wanting to take a picture with "me" and not the other way around! :lol :)


Kevin
 
The Good:
Jeremy Bulloch - Met him at D*Con 2008. He was wonderful and pleasant at his table, but at the Mandalorian Mercs dinner later, he and his wife were just incredible. Actually got to sit next to them at the table. Ended up having to leave due to an emergency (roommate had gotten cracked on the skull and was headed to the ER), and Jeremy offered to take care of my bill, so long as I bought him dinner one day. Finally paid that off at CV.

Daniel Logan - He's definitely a "promoted fanboy". Loves Star Wars, loves the Mercs, loves the fans.

The entire cast of both Firefly/Serenity and Battlestar Galactica - I've met every single one of them, and I think the only bad thing I have to say about any of them is that Aaron Douglas has terrible taste in beer.

Paul McGillion - Took a picture with him at D*Con 2009, but it didn't come out. He recognized me at the Stargate panel the next day, and actually caught me after the panel to re-take the picture with better lighting, as he realized that mine probably hadn't come out (I guess a few other people had asked to re-take pictures with him)

Joe Flanigan - Met him at D*Con 2009 on an escalator. Great guy. I had been coming up from the dealer's room, was carrying a lot of large bags (and having trouble with them), and he offered to help me carry them up to my room (I declined, but it was still awesome)

David Prowse - Don't talk to him about Star Wars, and he's a great guy. Bring up Star Wars, and he turns into one of the rudest celebs I've ever met.



The Bad:
Hayden Panettiere - D*Con 2008. Was rude and dismissive of all of her fans, and her security staff (not con staff) seemed all too eager to rough up anyone who asked for more than one signature, asked for a signature for someone other than themselves, dared to talk about anything that wasn't related to handing over money to her, etc.

David Prowse - As I said above, mention Star Wars at all and he's one of the rudest celebs out there.
 
I met John Astin (Gomez from The Addam's Family series) and his son Sean Astin (Sam Wise from LOTR) one night. They were helping a couple who had just been involved in a hit and run collision. I stood by with them and the couple until a tow truck arrived, and we all just talked about some of the films they'd been in. Both were really nice guys and very humble.
+1 for John Astin. I met him at a convention many years ago. He was not only extremely nice to everyone who had lined up to get an autograph, but afterwards I ran into him on the "sales floor" (where vendors had their booths set up) and we struck up a casual conversation about something (I can't remember what). Just a down-to-earth guy.

Living in southern California I've seen quite a few celebrities here and there, but those encounters were not the kind that lent themselves to me being able to talk to any of them--O.J. Simpson, Alan Alda, Chris Farley, and Dom DeLuise, for example. Of those I've had a conversation with...

Richard Simmons. What you see is what you get. Ran into him at Los Angeles International Airport. He saw my wife on crutches (knee injury) and all but ran to us. He spent about 15 minutes asking about her injury, explaining various ways she could treat it, etc., and seemed genuinely concerned. Say what you will about him, he was really a nice guy.

Dennis Burkley and Billy Idol. On the set of The Doors one day (I was a lowly extra). Both extremely nice and down-to-earth. Billy didn't say much because he was nursing a leg injury and was in considerable pain, but he was very nice in spite of his condition.

Al Lewis. I've heard he can be grouchy, but we must have caught him on a good day because he was joking around and very friendly with everyone who approached him. Conversely, about a year after The Munsters was cancelled my brother-in-law sat behind Lewis and Fred Gwynne at a Laker game; he said Lewis got angrier as time passed because he wanted to be left alone to watch the game, while Gwynne not only chided him for acting that way but went out of his way to spend at least a little time chatting with everyone who approached him (especially children) and was an extremely nice guy.

And my personal favorite--Vincent Price. About a year or two before he passed away he was a guest speaker at a special screening of Frankenstein (to discuss his personal and professional relationships with Boris Karloff). It was a brief discussion in the lobby after the screening, but Mr. Price was one of the most charismatic people I've ever met. Even surrounded by fans, he made you feel as though you were the most important person in the room and the only person he wanted to talk to at that moment. Extremely humble and genuinely appreciative that so many people enjoyed his films. Rest in peace Mr. Price!

The only "jerk" I can recall encountering was John Davidson. He was co-hosting That's Incredible! at the time, so it would have been around 1980. We saw him at Disneyland (Anaheim, California) and he was rude to everyone who approached him, but I got the feeling he was simply annoyed by all of the fan attention he was getting when all he wanted to do was spend a nice day with his family.
 
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Living in southern California I've seen quite a few celebrities here and there, but those encounters were not the kind that lent themselves to me being able to talk to any of them--O.J. Simpson, Alan Alda, Chris Farley, and Dom DeLuise,

Dude - Dom was the nicest and funniest guys on the planet with the craziest damn stories I've ever heard from one person. He came in when we were doing my script at Digital Domain and had the whole place clutching their ribs. He was one of those people who just had a warm soul - y'know, very caring and interested in doing whatever he could to make you smile. I miss him.

I wrote this before but I'll never forget it - I was going to direct the movie and we had The Rock and Pierce Brosnan as well as Jessica Alba set to star - we needed a lot of voices for animals - so I decided to make it a comedic salad and see how many generations I could get - We got Burt Reynolds and Dom to play the part of two alligators - but after Dom came in (he was on crutches barley able to walk), I was in the kitchen getting me a drink and he came in to tell me goodbye - he put his arm on my shoulder and looked into my eyes and said with all sincerity "Thank you for remembering me." It almost had me crying after he left.
 
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The only star I saw behave in a poor way was Lou Ferigno. He was signing stuff for the Incredible Hulk and was just packing up to leave. A family that apparently came late to the convention came up to about 15 feet away from the table he was standing at. The father pushed the little boy forward who was clutching an "Incredible Hulk" poster and he asked if Lou would sign it. Lou turned to the kid, shook his head, crossing his hands back and forth in front of him and waved the kid off. You could see the kid just crushed by it.

That's disappointing. He's my cousin (though in my family, cousins of older generations are called by uncle or aunt, so he's always been Uncle Lou) ... will have to give him crap for it.
 
I'm actually surprised that John Voit is a nice guy. The A-hole characters he's played in movies seemed like they were very easy shoes for him to fill.

I'm glad I was wrong as he really is one of the greats.

He's become pretty good friends with Tawny Kitaen's father... they're an interesting pair to go to lunch with and hear stories about their dysfunctional families.

I like John Voit a lot... been awhile since I touched base with him.
 
I've run into celebs or worked with them when they were obviously having a rough or long day, and it showed. Didn't hold that against them or write it up as anything other than being human and tired/stressed.

The best celeb encounter I ever had was with Sir Anthony Hopkins... hung out with him for about an hour, while waiting for our cars to be worked on. Thought he looked familiar, but couldn't place his face. I kept asking him if he was one of my dad's friends, or where I knew him from... he smiled and chuckled, and kept saying he thought I'd figure it out eventually. We had a great chat about classic muscle cars, british classics, and even a little bit about hunting.

Right as he was leaving, I figured it out. yes, I'm that dense sometimes. When it hit me, I shook his hand & said his name. He thanked me for helping him pass the time, took care of his bill, and drove off. Very humble, unassuming, pleasant man to chat with.

As he left, my friend walked in to pick me up (my car was going to take longer) and said "HOLYCRAP DID YOU SEE WHO JUST WALKED OUT??!!!! IT WAS FREAKING ANTHONY HOPKINS!!!!!!"

I laughed. Mostly at myself.
 
+1111 for George Takei, I met him at at least two conventions back in the mid to late 80's and he was a very pleasant guy.

Same goes for Walter Koenig and Nichelle Nichols, both very nice, at least behind the autograph table.

Someone mentioned "The Shat" being kind of a dick but I had a very different experience with him through a friend that I will never forget.

A few years ago, I had a friend who was dying of terminal brain cancer. Another friend of his family reached out to Mr. Shatner to see if he could arrange a phone call from him. I guess it was one of those "make a wish" kind of things but it didn't come through any official channel. Out of the blue one day not too much later, they got a call from Mr. Shatner's assistant who said that he was going to be in MD for a horse show and wanted to set up a time to speak to my friend. They set the date and time etc.

When he called, he was nothing like you would expect from all the negative stuff that's been said about him over the last several decades. When my friend thanked him for all the work he had done and for his various charity work he turned it around and thanked him for being a fan. When my friend alluded to him being one of his heroes, Mr. Shatner told him HE was the hero for going through what he was going through, and encouraged him not to give up and to keep fighting. When my friend repeatedly called him Mr. Shatner he said..."Call me Bill". They had a nice conversation that his parents recorded.

I know that was probably one of his "on" moments and that it's easy to be personable when you're prepped and ready at a specific time etc. And I'm sure he has been quite full of himself from time to time over the years but this experience stands out in my head and I will forever be a fan because of it.
 
Edward James Olmos at last years Comic Con (2009)...was at a table charging for his autograph and taking pictures with his paying customers...guess he needed the money bad. I asked politely to take his picture and he gave me a very rude impolite no. Now I can respect a no and have before but honestly...if you don't want your picture taken you shouldn't be at a comic con signing autographs with cameras everywhere.......took one anyway from afar just to spite him.

My only reason for taking pictures anyway is to show friends of mine who couldn't go what was there. Most "celebrities" don't impress me anyway....too much ego and "I'm above you" attitude. I'm not into autographs either and REFUSE to pay for any...especially when you see what these guys are screwing fans for.

On the other hand Michael Hogan was at the same table and was happy to sit for a couple pictures...very nice guy and no ego.
 
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Daniel Logan is an a-hole. Here's my story from CIV. My wife and I were at the Hyatt bar at CIV (this was where the "celebrities" stated). Her and I for most of the night were talking to Shannon McRandle (Mara Jade) since she is from VA Beach, but also next to her was Amy Allen (Aayla Secura). They were both great to talk to - we really didn't even bring up Star Wars. Shannon was really humbled by her "celebrity status". As the night drew on - we mostly sat and talked to Mike Kingma (Tarrful) -- this guy is tall!! He was hilarious (though I heard some complaints about him from others saying he was rude - he was awesome to us)....

Well it was about 2am and it was last call. Daniel Logan shows up and walks over to the bar next to me. Looks at me and in a smug kind of way says "Buy me a drink". I snickered and told him "No thanks". Bartender walks over (I am trying to close out my tab) and Daniel proceeds to order about 6 mix drinks...then says" Yeah, he's paying (and points to me)."

I'm a bit livid. I had to explain to the bartender I am not paying for anyone's drinks but mine and my wife's.

I was a bit pissed, but I was ready to leave anyway. I walk over to a circle of chairs in the lounge area. I am sitting across from Mike Kingma, trying to tell him we are headed out.

Next thing you know Daniel Logan is at the corner of my eye and I see him nod to (I assume) his body guard. The guy barks at me to get up. I told him "No, I'm ok sitting her". He yells at me again, I then again say "Wait, I will be leaving in a minute."

Finally I say my good-byes and Daniel tells the guy who just bought him drinks to sit there (where I had been sitting).

:lol:lol:lol
 
Edward James Olmos at last years Comic Con (2009)...was at a table charging for his autograph and taking pictures with his paying customers...guess he needed the money bad. I asked politely to take his picture and he gave me a very rude impolite no. Now I can respect a no and have before but honestly...if you don't want your picture taken you shouldn't be at a comic con signing autographs with cameras everywhere.......took one anyway from afar just to spite him.

I guess it really DOES depend on the day you see him, because I had an opposite experience. At Dragoncon 2008 (I think), he was very warm to my daughter, playing around with her at the table and introducing her to a little girl hge had with him. When my wife asked for a picture with him, he said "I can't right now - the convention has paid photo opportunities with me in a few hours and will get mad if I give one away for free now. But come back here at 6:30 (after the paid opportunity was done), and I'll take a picture with you and they won't be able to say anything about it."

M
 
Edward James Olmos at last years Comic Con (2009)...was at a table charging for his autograph and taking pictures with his paying customers...guess he needed the money bad. I asked politely to take his picture and he gave me a very rude impolite no.

That must have been his Admiral Adama character...

Daniel Logan is an a-hole.

Wow, I have heard a bad story about him.., but all of my encounters with him were actually good. He came and met up with us at a bar party along with Ray Park, after our convention hours. Hung around, while I was making sure a friend didn't fall off a table, because she was drinking a little. He proceeds to wave me over and gives me advice on relationships and leading up to sexual encounters with women.... Was quite entertaining to say the least. He followed with a story about his mother beating him with a wooden spoon. Again, all my encounters with him were good.
 
I didn't ask to take a picture "with him"......just one of him. If I wanted a pic with him I woulda paid for the privilege (ha...like that would happen). Frankly I don't care what kind of day he was having...he should suck it up and be professional. His buddy/co-star next to him had no problem and taking a picture of him wouldn't have violated any agreement he had with anyone if that was the case. Just the way he acted toward me left a bad taste in my mouth.
I don't go outa my way to hunt down celebs and take their pic...was only taking pics at the comic con to show friends who couldn't attend. I honestly wish more people would refuse to pay these guys for their signature. I think its a rip-off for fans...its too bad this has become a business for everyone involved.

I guess it really DOES depend on the day you see him, because I had an opposite experience. At Dragoncon 2008 (I think), he was very warm to my daughter, playing around with her at the table and introducing her to a little girl hge had with him. When my wife asked for a picture with him, he said "I can't right now - the convention has paid photo opportunities with me in a few hours and will get mad if I give one away for free now. But come back here at 6:30 (after the paid opportunity was done), and I'll take a picture with you and they won't be able to say anything about it."

M
 
When I was an extra in scenes shot at the University of Florida for Parenthood, I cringed when I saw other extras asking Steve Martin and Ron Howard for autographs. I thought it was a highly inappropriate time to ask, especially of the director, for whom there are NO spare moments. But they were very nice about it, and indulged them. None of us were professional extras (just university students), so maybe they cut us some slack.

As for cons and such, I've never had any particularly "jerky" experiences. Some celebs have been more aloof than others, but nothing nasty. The high points have been Nichelle Nichols, George Takei and all of the MST3K guys and gals. As for Peter Mayhew, at one of the Star Wars Weekends, he made a point to come to us 501st folks (I think this was before Rebel Legion was included) and give a very gracious speech to us, thanking us.

As for presenting celebs with plaques and other gifts, I think it should be kept in mind that they are given stuff like this all the time, and there is only so much wall space in one's home one wants to devote to things like this. The gesture should be accepted with grace, of course, and any throwing away should be done much later so as not to offend, but I feel much smaller, simpler gifts are wiser. You can't expect the item (not to be confused with the love behind it) to mean as much to them as it was to you, a total stranger, making it.
 
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The Ugly:
Lou Ferrigno: The very definition of prima donna in my opinion. He invited himself to the convention, telling the organizers that he 'just wanted a table and a chair'. Well, when he got picked up, suddenly he had a list of demands, including a young, attractive female handler, and the chair they had at his table wasn't good enough so they had to hunt for a suitable one. He was also not very nice to the fans from 99% of accounts.

He didn't come off as too horrible to me at ECCC, but when I walked up to him with my Blu-Ray cover of "I Love You, Man" and asked how much it would be for his auto on it and he was thinking of figures in his head and just somehow thought $40 was the price. Weird that he was only charging $25 for his hulk stuff, but he wanted more for a Blu-Ray slipcover? I told him I'll come back later and do that. I never went back. That was just ridiculously too much. I'm fine to pay for auto tickets for some of these celebs, but I thought that was a pretty big rip off.
 
It always sucks when you meet someone you've watched on the tele or in the movies all your life. I only had 1 bad one I think?

Guillermo Del Toro = was like talking to a relative, only celeb i've talked to that I fel really comfortable with like someone from my family. great man.

Dan Akroyd = awesome guy, met him 2 times at his vodka signings. signed my stuff and took a photo with me in my slimer shirt. he was fun

Ernie Winston = awesome guy, really humble, signed my GB 1 poster and joked that he wasn't even on it. LOL, i even game him one of my slimer ****s and he put it on and really thanked me a lot for it.

Gene Wilder = such a nice man. met him at a book reading of his in NY, asked him a few questions and he answered everything jokkingly and took pictures. I even got him to sign my Golden Ticket which I thought he wouldnt do.

Stan lee = met him a few times, recently at the NY comic con. waited an hour to see him at a panel, only to have him show up say hi and walk out. so i left and got to walk and talk with him while everyone was still inside at the panel. only guy i have ever met that talks in BOLD font. such a great character and very friendly!

Ernie Reyes = from the ninja turtles movie, i went to the 25th aniversary party in the city and my gf spotted him out and yelled "hey I know you!!!" lol he looked scared like he was about to get attacked by a fan. but he was super nice and thanked us for still being fans of his work.

Adam West = He was really nice and funny. walked into his own panel while we were online and there was a picture of him as batman and as mayor west from FG. he looks at it and then at us and say "well damn, that looks nothing like me, who are these people!". he was kind and very nostalgic when i showed him my gray ghost costume. very kind

Mark Goddard = Major west from lost in space. met him last year at the NYCC, spotted him and freaked out. he was an unannounced guest, he was polite and called me handsome LOL. Really great guy, i didnt even realize but the whole time i kept calling him Major West and he laughed and really thanked me for that. great guy!

THE WORST

BRUCE TIMM = utter D-bag, waited over 2 hours in line just to get his auto walked up to him asked him a few questions about the batman animated series and he didnt even look at me and just gave me vague replies , signed my stuff, and told me he didnt know what i was talking about. while no even looking at me. SMH

Ferrigno = ok guy, just seemed high strung. I mentioned to him that he's pretty big and he just goes "yea I know im huge kid" hahahha. not a bad guy, just you can tell he is there to milk his $ and leave. no heart.

Those were the top ones, I've met some other ones but i cant recall their names. lol
 
The bizarre part was he (Michael jackson) was "disguised" as a clown, handing out balloons to the kids by the Castle...he stood out like a sore thumb due to the fact that Disney Land does not have clowns......especially ones that look like Micheal Jackson.

:confused

Michael jackson as a clown... Hmmmm
 
He didn't come off as too horrible to me at ECCC, but when I walked up to him with my Blu-Ray cover of "I Love You, Man" and asked how much it would be for his auto on it and he was thinking of figures in his head and just somehow thought $40 was the price. Weird that he was only charging $25 for his hulk stuff, but he wanted more for a Blu-Ray slipcover? I told him I'll come back later and do that. I never went back. That was just ridiculously too much. I'm fine to pay for auto tickets for some of these celebs, but I thought that was a pretty big rip off.


Some have said Lou was great, others not so much. My big WTF moment with him was when my husband and I were pressed into helping him carry his stuff down (which we really didn't mind all that much, it's part of escort duty a lot of the time), but how he treated the few fans that were lingering in the hall. One guy brought his little boy (perhaps 2-3 years old) over and asked Lou if he could take his son's picture with Lou with the dad's own camera. Lou wanted them to pay $30 for the priviledge. I was flabbergasted. Yes, I know that that's part of how he makes his living now, but seriously?! How hard would it have been for him stand with the kid for 30 second and endure one flash? We were on our way out of the hall a minute later so it's not like it would've started a rush on him or anything.
 
Slightly off-topic. Frank Herbert was flying from LA to Seattle and Dad met the plane. After everyone had gottten off Dad noticed something left in the seat pocket; it was Franks manuscript for "Dune". He was very happy to have it back as he said it was his only copy. No reward though.
 

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