Namedropping

It can be incredibly obnoxious or really fun, so I'm hoping for "really fun". My blog pal over at Wilke World posted a list of celebrities that he encountered while working in Vegas. As you may know from my 100 Factoids, my first husband worked for CBS Records as an album cover designer, so I had tons of celeb encounters as a result. Second husband was a stagehand on Broadway. I also lived in NYC for most of my life, which lends itself to lots of brushes with the rich and famous. In addition, I work in Greenwich, CT... and I've had several close encounters at lunchtime. So, without further ado, here is my (probably not complete but long anyway) list, in no particular order:

These are all people I actually spoke to. I have a long list of "sightings", which I'll save for another post!

1. Anthony Hopkins - circa 1977, when he was in "Equus" on Broadway and had appeared in the miniseries, "QB VII". My then boyfriend spotted him on the street and started snapping his finger at him, saying "Hopkins...Hopkins.." as if he knew him. He stopped and talked to us, but I couldn't tell you what he said because his EYES WERE SO BLUE I couldn't believe it.

2. Ruth Gordon - stood next to her during the Columbus Day parade in Manhattan, c. 1978. She looked like a bag lady, except the bag was Louis Vuitton. She grabbed my sleeve and started shaking me, saying "Isn't it a LOVELY day for a parade???"

3. Paul McCartney - I've posted about this before, but I was at the premiere party for "Give My Regards to Broad Street", and as Paul and Linda arrived I was scooped up by the crowd of paparazzi and pushed nose to nose with Paul. Neither of us could move, so I said "Hi", he said "Hi" and that was it. We were literally touching noses.

4. Sting - Many, many encounters because one of my best friends is a close friend of his. I've danced with him at his 35th birthday party, slept in his daughter's bedroom, chatted over the London Times Crossword puzzle and listened to him doing yoga in the morning with his yogi.

5. Wynton Marsalis - attended a photo shoot for his album, "Hot House Flowers". Hilarious guy.

6. Branford Marsalis - talked to him at Sting's b'day party. Very sweet.

7. Andy Warhol and Truman Capote - used to go to a bar I frequented in NYC c. 1978 called "Peartree's". Andy would frequently carry a very drunken Truman into the place and prop him up at the bar. I sat next to them one night and Truman Capote drew little cartoons on a napkin for me. I have no idea whatever happened to that napkin... shit.

8. Yousef Karsh - look him up. He was a world-reknowned portrait photographer who took all the famous portraits you've seen of Winston Churchill, Elizabeth Taylor, various royals, Ernest Hemingway in the fisherman knit sweater, etc. Had dinner with him and his wife, and the stories he told were incredible. His favorite subjects? The Marx Brothers.

9. Robert Rauschenberg and Christo - met them at a party, c. 1979. We rapped. (a little Christo humor.)

10. Joe Jackson - attended a party at his tiny NYC apartment for the launch of his "Body and Soul" album (ex-h designed the cover). He played piano while we sat and listened. I looked in his medicine cabinet. Nothing interesting. At another time, we had dinner with him and his girlfriend and I gave him a copy of my Sonny Bono album for his "bad music" collection. He's a very strange and shy guy.

11. Helmut Newton - met him at Sting's b'day party. Very odd dude. Courtney Cox was at that party too, along with lots of cool musicians like Kenny Kirkland, but I didn't talk to them.

12. Bill Murray - my daughter was in kindergarten with his son, Luke. Attended several school functions with him including one where the kids made breakfast for the parents. We sat in their tiny desks and Bill asked the teacher what the specials were. Another time, Emma and I were waiting for the bus in the rain when a junky station wagon pulled up and offered us a ride. It was Bill Murray with his wife and son. He was silly all the way to school.

13. Jonathan Pryce - as posted earlier, he was my daughter's IDOL when she was five and we met him backstage at Miss Saigon.

14. Eric Sevareid - interviewed him for a promotion agency I worked for in the late '70s.

15. F. Murray Abraham - met him in a video store and we chatted about how much we loved The Pee Wee Herman show. Who knows? He was really nice and funny.

16. David Byrne - met him at a party because he and a friend of mine worked on a book together called "What the Songs Look Like", about all the Talking Heads songs.

17. Charlie Pride - my ex-h shot his album cover on the roof of the building we lived in, in Brooklyn. He and his wife came to our apartment and he was THE FUNNIEST GUY I've ever met. Bar none. He called me "Lucille" the whole time and made up names for our cats. His wife seemed totally annoyed with him and kept trying to get him back on track, but I couldn't stop laughing. Loved the guy.

18. Bjorn Borg - met him in the waiting room at my gynocologist's office, c. 1978. He was reading a People magazine while he waited for his girlfriend. He was very sweet.

19. Guillermo Vilas - another 70s tennis star. Met him while he was practicing for the Volvo Classic, and got his autograph for an Argentinian friend of mine.

20. Josh Mostel - sat at a table with him at a dinner after the Rainforest Benefit concert a few years ago. He was very, very funny and we were making up jokes about math. He offered to let me stay in his apartment (no, he wasn't going to be there) but I had a place to stay already. That's his business card I've posted here, phone number obliterated.

21. Gary Sinese - met him because he played on the Broadway Show League softball team with husband #2, while he was doing Grapes of Wrath on Broadway. Went to the Central Park Zoo with him and his wife and their child, with my daughter Emma. Super nice guy. Also along were Terry Kinney (of HBO's "Oz") and Kathryn Urbe (also on "Oz") who were great.

22. Ileana Douglas - starred in an off-broadway play called "Squaring the Circle" that I co-produced with husband #2.

23. Enrico Colantoni - (the bald guy on "Just Shoot Me") also starred in the play. Loved him.

24. James Taylor - met him backstage at a benefit concert...they don't call him "Sweet Baby James" for nothing.

25. Sheryl Crow - met her at that concert too. She liked my necklace. She's really short.

26. Don Henley - same concert. Weird dude. OCD.

27. Charlotte D'Amboise - met her when she was playing Peter Pan in "Jerome Robbins' Broadway". She offered to sprinkle fairy dust on Emma, but Emma wanted no part of that.

28. Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley - met them when my ex-h was working on the Greatest Hits album cover. Talked to them about the Bradley Method of childbirth and they wound up going to our teacher's class.