First-hand celebrity gossip - Page 8

Lily · November 19th, 2006, 11:22 PM

When I worked in publishing, Stephen King was one of our authors. I was the assistant to the publisher, so I dealt with a lot of FAMOUS PEOPLE (Kirk Douglas nearly hugged me in the elevator....it was an odd moment). Ben Stein left me voicemails. That kind of thing.

But we all loved Stephen King. LOVED him. He is such a good guy. First of all, he's very tall. The man is, like, 6'3" or something. He's also amiable, funny, warm, and approachable. He knew the mail guy by name, and spent lots of time talking with the assistants--not condescending, but genuinely interested in what we were up to. He was just great.

My boss also told me that Howard Stern was a joy to work with. She said he was nothing like his on-air persona. Huh.

leapinglilies · November 21st, 2006, 09:43 AM

wow! very cool about howard being not like his on air persona. i love his show but he's so obnoxious on air sometimes.

Lily · November 21st, 2006, 10:05 AM

I know--when my boss told me, I thought she was kidding. And she said, "No, seriously, we loved him." Then she brought me into the EIC's office, who was a lesbian feminist (she rocked!) and my boss said, "Who's our favorite author?" and the EIC said, "Howard Stern!"

Reptillycus · November 26th, 2006, 02:48 AM

Somehow knew that Stephen King was a good guy, would love to been almost hugged by Kirk Douglas, I love him.
Thanks!!

Honey · January 14th, 2007, 01:57 AM

Entertaining thread!

A BF I had worked on a movie Ashley Judd was in and said she was horrible, and stuck up.

sprynkles · January 14th, 2007, 10:19 AM

I watched a show about the Judds. ( There was nothing else on, I swear) They talked about Ashley being shy and quiet. She was always thought of as stuck up in school.

Zee · January 14th, 2007, 11:07 AM

Met her at a horse show. She is quite stuck up and did not come across as shy.

Cali · January 15th, 2007, 02:07 AM

Awesome thread! Glad it got bumped to the top! I have all sorts of random encounters... i could go on and on. Here are some that come to mind tonight.

Mena Suvari is just the tiniest slip of a person in real life. My friend is 5'2 and she accidentally ran into Mena at a fashion show, and knocked her over! She's just incredibly tiny. I was really surprised. But also completely flawless, like a little doll. She was really sweet and chill about the whole encounter.

Rachel Lee Cook is also completely adorable and sweet and beautiful in person. I actually talked to her for the better part of the night at a party, and she is just completely down to earth and funny and beautiful. She's really smart and knows her art, music and movies. We spent the night talking with a cinamatographer about old arty movies. LOVE her. Cannot say enough positive things about her.

Same thing with Eva Mendes. My old boss is best friends with her, so Eva would come by the office all the time for lunch, in sweats and a t-shirt. She's just completely down to earth, normal, beautiful and great. Unlike what the media says about her romantic life, she's not dating any of those people. She's been dating this director named George for years and years. I dont know who George is, but she'd always call the office and tell me to tell my boss that she was "at George's."

Jessica Biel is also stunning in real life. She's much more petite and compact that you'd think. She just looks like she's in the absolute best shape for her frame-- she's not this volumptious person the media makes her out ot be. Just atheletic and fresh-faced and beautiful. Also very low-key. I met her at an event, and she showed up by herself, in jeans and a ponytail. I was impressed with how normal she is.

All of these actresses really. You'd probably pass them on the street and not realize they were famous.

Cali · January 15th, 2007, 02:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lovely bones

For whatever reason, I tended to meet sports or music celebrities when I was younger - haven't met any lately! lol.

Because they're now kind of "obscure" I've included pics below as a reference:

Muhammad Ali - he spoke at my high school back in the 70s. He signed autographs for EVERYONE in line - there had to be at least 200 of us! When it was my turn, I almost passed out, he was like a real-live super hero to us kids back then. He was in his late 30s or so, but he was so damn handsome, tall and VERY nice. Just classy and polite, very softspoken. None of the poetic rants he had with Foreman back then. So sad what's happened to him.

Ah that's so cool! Reminds me of one of my father's stories. He was a photographer in the 60s and 70s, and he shot Muhammad Ali in his personal home. My family has all these cool photos of Ali and my father, chilling together in Ali's 24-k gold bathroom. Seriously, the sinks, the tubs, everything was 24k gold. My dad thought the world of him, said he was just an outstanding guy. Granted, my father was alot like him--- a very blunt, gruff, no-nonsense kind of personality. So they got on great.

Karistiona · January 15th, 2007, 03:17 PM

On a slightly less grand scale, I met Alan Cumming a few years back and he was a total diva, not very nice at all. He was warmer to me than others though because I'm scottish and he said it was "unexpected" to hear a scottish accent. We were at this meet and greet, and he showed up late, looking like hell, as if he'd been up all night drinking, and then was signing without even like saying hello to people, and talking to other people around him while you're there trying to say hello. I dunno, maybe he was just having an off day, but I was really disappointed.

TonjaLasagna · July 11th, 2008, 11:07 PM

Just ran into Cheech Marin at the Four Seasons.
He is very nice, was in a great mood and his 'date' was about 21 yrs old............my girlfriends & I got a kick out if him.

ekee · July 12th, 2008, 12:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by karistiona

On a slightly less grand scale, I met Alan Cumming a few years back and he was a total diva, not very nice at all. He was warmer to me than others though because I'm scottish and he said it was "unexpected" to hear a scottish accent. We were at this meet and greet, and he showed up late, looking like hell, as if he'd been up all night drinking, and then was signing without even like saying hello to people, and talking to other people around him while you're there trying to say hello. I dunno, maybe he was just having an off day, but I was really disappointed.

i ran into alan cumming and his boyfriend in the East Village in NYC a few years ago. my friends and i said hello. he seemed friendly enough.