Prince, Kobe, Elon, were all very very nice but the top 2 for me were Aaron Judge and the nicest was Ken Norton Sr the boxer. His hand was massive and he had a kind smile and smooth demeanor. I guess that’s confidence that comes along with being the only guy to beat Mohammad Ali.
Marky Mark was a dickhead when I met him. Paula Shore and Bill Maher were cool but drugged up.
Dan Akyroid. Met him in a BevMo. He was really sweet. Also, my son was with us, and he stepped away from all the alcohol to take a picture with him without that in it.
Sylvester Stallone was super positive and encouraging. Jon Burnthal helped me and him survive a boring, 1 hour rain delay, largely alone, in the Shreveport, LA airport. Would not tell secrets about his upcoming final season on WD. I tried.
Barbara Stanwyck. In fact, she and I dated briefly before she became famous. Of course, I knew her as Ruby back then. Hell of a nice gal, and a damn fine seamstress too!
Not the most famous I’ve met, and most of them were very pleasant, but I think the absolute nicest was Claudia Brucken, who sang in a band called Propaganda.
Not long ago I met Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite) at a fan con. He was really friendly and we had a good conversation. He seemed like he was genuinely happy to be there.
Believe it or not Mike Tyson ! His upper arms were like huge hams. I couldn’t help but stare. He let me on the elevator in Vegas same time as him and entourage. He didn’t believe I would do him any harm lol
Jim Belushi- Just the nicest guy. I actually talked with him while he ate dinner cause he said he hated eating alone. He asked me questions and was genuinely interested. Got to talk about my favorite movie of his (Mr. Destiny).
Anthony Daniels – he was signing autographs at a convention. He could see there were a few of us who couldn’t afford an autographed photo, but we wanted to stand around and gawk at him anyway. When he had a few moments to spare, he came out from behind his autograph table and shook all of our hands. Super nice guy.
Ran a spotlight for Charlie Daniels just before he became famous with “The Devil Went Down to Georgia”. He had the whole college production crew down on stage after the show and we all sat around shooting the breeze for nearly an hour drinking the Heineken he bought us.
Monica Lewinsky. I was an assistant at a very small company she occasionally had some meetings at. She always took time to say hi and catch up with me. She was also the only one who remembered my birthday (boss forgot) and she stopped by that day with a gift for me. She was such a wonderful human being and I have immense respect for how she’s lived her life since the scandal.
Dan Aykroyd. I ran into him years ago at the Met in NYC. Told him my son was a big Ghostbusters fan and asked for his autograph. He grabbed me by the arm and pulled me be behind a statue. I thought he was going to kick my ass, he’s much bigger a than me. He said he didn’t want to create a scene, hence the statue hide out, then wrote a nice personalized note to my son (including take good care of your pop) and signed it with the A in Aykroyd in the shape of a Conehead. So cool. Nice guy
Gregory Hines. My partner and I were promoting our monthly club night just off the main drag through downtown Memphis. A ton of people were in town for Tyson vs Lewis and looking for stuff to do afterwards. Apparently the deep house music coming from our club night caught Mr Hines’ ear. He paid to get in and danced his ass off all night. Just the nicest guy. Shook our hands and thanked us on the way out and everything. I was barely 22 and it blew my mind.
Giancarlo Esposito was a blast to meet. He spoke at my college years ago and he told us about his life and working on Breaking Bad. He even spoke briefly about his time on Community as well.
As others will testify, growing up in London and working in retail as a student, one encounters celebs very frequently. Tbh, a lot of them were very pleasant and initiated any dialogue. Off the top of my head, John Deacon was probably the nicest but he did know me as I went to school with two of his sons.
John aside, the Footballer Tony Adams was a real gent, as was Marcel Desailly, Yasmin Le Bon, Paula Yates (Bob Geldof is an absolute twat) Lennox Lewis was very chatty, Nigel Benn was a legend, Steffi Graff and Andre Agassi were lovely too.
That’s just a few I met that were nice, there were many more.
Chazz Palminteri was a complete gentleman. Ran into him outside a restaurant in Manhattan in the middle of Santacon in the early 00s.
Chatted and made time for us to get a selfie.
Ran into Jon Stewart in Balthazar. Didn’t have a chance to talk to him as he was coming out of the bathroom with his (then) young son, but I gave him a gigantic smile and a nod that I hope said, “Dude you’re fuckin awesome and your takedown of Crossfire is my go-to pick me up video whenever I’m having a shitty day.” Smiled and nodded back, seemingly happy I wasn’t making a scene. 😅
Ethan Hawke. I met him back in the 90’s outside of a small theater in NYC. He was asking me more questions about me than I could ask about him, he seemed like an old friend.
Fitz from Fitz & the Tantrums right before they blew up. I don’t even really like their music like that, it just stands out over a decade later as being a really swell guy
Sissy Spacek lives in the same city I do, and is always so, so kind. I had her as a customer at my store five or six times, and recently my wife and I were behind her in line somewhere where she was returning an item, and was extremely patient with the young cashier who was struggling (and had no idea who she was). She turned to me and apologized for making me wait, with a smile.
Antony Starr aka Homelander – I think due to his character, I was expecting some kind of super star ego however when I go to cons to meet someone I always bring a small box of chocolates and a thank you card, its just my way of saying to them thank you for taking time your of your busy schedule to come a greet the fans such as myself.
When I gave it to him, he paused and looked up to me, and yes, in that moment, I was scared haha thought I was about to get into trouble as he might be in on a strict diet but he had gave me a massive smile befor saying “you trying to stop homelander getting into the suit” I laughed nervously and said “I would be saving the world if I did” and he laughed again, he asked me why I brought gifts and I explained I said to him if he didn’t want to eat them I understand and to pass it to comic con staff. He was honestly touched and asked me if I wanted a hug…. I nearly fainted! A hug from a star who plays the deadliest villan in a tv show… Yes! Honestly he is boss to meet!
Rollie Fingers (Hall of Fame MLB closer) was at the table next to mine at a steak restaurant in Arizona. My dad and I are both huge baseball fans who were down there to watch the Brewers in Spring Training, so this was an added bonus for us. Dude was a class act and was only too happy to talk “shop” with us regular folk!
I sat next to Robert Duvall on a commuter flight from D.C. to NYC many moons ago. He was really personable, and we enjoyed exclaiming over the sight of Manhattan as we flew over it. I wasn’t 100% it was him, so I memorized a mole on the right side of his nose. Sure enough….
Kathy Ireland is a real sweetheart. A friend of mine works in the showbiz. I have met her many times over the past 30 years and she’s always been very nice.
I’ve met some other celebrities via my showbiz friend and no one else even comes close to being as nice as Kathy Ireland.
No one here will know them but all members of Anathema, especially the Cavanagh brothers, particularly Vincent. I made him a beanie to swap at a meet and greet but his beanie was made by a late friend. Instead we swapped beanies when we had photos with the band. Absolute legend.
Last year I met Don Bluth (director of such movies as All Dogs Go to Heaven and Land Before Time) at Denver Pop Culture Con. I grew up with his works so I was very excited to meet him. he had no line and I think I talked to him for a good five minutes. He was so patient and nice just listening to my ramblings. Worth meeting if he is ever at a con or anything.
Donny and Marie Osmond comes to mind. Incredible nice to the fans at every concert, deeply religious but NEVER in your face like the hypocrite Duggars.
Hi! At an event I met more celebrities than I’d ever dream of seeing in my life! I was working at the time.
There were many, many a-listers. So many my knees felt a little wobbly. We are talking greatest of all time directors, fashion designers, tv franchise main characters, I mean… universally known names. When they talked I was like “hey that sounds like their voice!”. Lol I had to hold a lot in.
Easily the nicest of all – not “a” list though – was Greg Kinnear.
The a-listers were pretty normal. Just ladies and gentlemen eating and drinking.
Only 2 were slightly obnoxious. And not even beyond “maybe they’re just having a bad day”. As an introvert I can’t imagine being them and never being able to have a bad day without scrutiny.
So overall, 10/10 experience for me personally lol.
Ester Williams the movie star/swimmer if anyone remembers her. My wife and I got drunk with her at a Xmas party about 30 years ago and her bawdy Hollywood stories were hilarious and she was a sweetheart.
David Bowie. He was so lovely, he said my name correctly (it’s pronounced in a different way than most others with it say it), and he thanked me for my help.
Not sure how famous she’s considered, but novelist Jennifer Egan. She won the Pulitzer Prize for one of her books and is one of the most famous American novelists today. I met her at a book event and she was so kind and nice.
Comments
Bill Murray was an absolute gem of a human being!
I’ve met more than a few over the years and most are pretty chill – but the ones who surprised me with their politeness and affability were ICP.
Don’t know what to say – they were just friendly guys.
Jon Bon jovi
Never met one
Prince, Kobe, Elon, were all very very nice but the top 2 for me were Aaron Judge and the nicest was Ken Norton Sr the boxer. His hand was massive and he had a kind smile and smooth demeanor. I guess that’s confidence that comes along with being the only guy to beat Mohammad Ali.
Marky Mark was a dickhead when I met him. Paula Shore and Bill Maher were cool but drugged up.
Greg Dulli
If Yo Yo Ma is a celebrity, then Yo Yo Ma.
Dan Akyroid. Met him in a BevMo. He was really sweet. Also, my son was with us, and he stepped away from all the alcohol to take a picture with him without that in it.
Weird Al Yankovic. He is awesome. A true gem.
Sylvester Stallone was super positive and encouraging. Jon Burnthal helped me and him survive a boring, 1 hour rain delay, largely alone, in the Shreveport, LA airport. Would not tell secrets about his upcoming final season on WD. I tried.
Clay Walker, country music singer.
Lucy Hale!
Paul mescal, I see him quite a few times a year as I work in London. Only ever met him properly once tho
Weird Al.
Barbara Stanwyck. In fact, she and I dated briefly before she became famous. Of course, I knew her as Ruby back then. Hell of a nice gal, and a damn fine seamstress too!
Not the most famous I’ve met, and most of them were very pleasant, but I think the absolute nicest was Claudia Brucken, who sang in a band called Propaganda.
Aaliyah, Ja Rule & Montell Jordan.
I mean they were just as humble, nice and pleasant as you can wish ..
Bruce Campbell was super kind in a 1-on-1 chat
Hank Aaron, Billie too!
Kevin Smith was an absolute delight when I met him on the streets of Hollywood after one of his podcast tapings.
Donna Tartt.
Patrick Dempsey
Not long ago I met Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite) at a fan con. He was really friendly and we had a good conversation. He seemed like he was genuinely happy to be there.
Haven’t met any I hope to one day
Spent a night carousing with Keefer Sutherland, he’s nice. Also, Sergio Argones was fun to talk to…
I met one of the guys from Simon and Simon about 30 years ago.
Believe it or not Mike Tyson ! His upper arms were like huge hams. I couldn’t help but stare. He let me on the elevator in Vegas same time as him and entourage. He didn’t believe I would do him any harm lol
Jim Belushi- Just the nicest guy. I actually talked with him while he ate dinner cause he said he hated eating alone. He asked me questions and was genuinely interested. Got to talk about my favorite movie of his (Mr. Destiny).
Eva Longoria. Met her after a Spurs game when she was still with Tony Parker. She couldn’t have been sweeter. Even introduced herself as ‘Eva.’
Also, absolutely stunning in person.
Mickey Mantel , I met him in an airport and he couldn’t have been more gracious
Anthony Daniels – he was signing autographs at a convention. He could see there were a few of us who couldn’t afford an autographed photo, but we wanted to stand around and gawk at him anyway. When he had a few moments to spare, he came out from behind his autograph table and shook all of our hands. Super nice guy.
Peter O’Toole.
David Draiman of Disturbed. So smart, soft spoken, super nice guy. Best hug I have ever received!
Dave Matthews.
Ariana Grande. Sweetest girl, talked to my friends & I for ten minutes and asked US if we wanted a photo. Will cherish that moment forever.
Bob Woodruff
Little Richard was kind, genuine and extremely nice
Sid Haig. Talked with him for a long time took pics with me and the kids…. just an absolute cool dude.
Ran a spotlight for Charlie Daniels just before he became famous with “The Devil Went Down to Georgia”. He had the whole college production crew down on stage after the show and we all sat around shooting the breeze for nearly an hour drinking the Heineken he bought us.
Monica Lewinsky. I was an assistant at a very small company she occasionally had some meetings at. She always took time to say hi and catch up with me. She was also the only one who remembered my birthday (boss forgot) and she stopped by that day with a gift for me. She was such a wonderful human being and I have immense respect for how she’s lived her life since the scandal.
Tessa Thompson was soooo sweet
Teller from penn and Teller he is a saint
Dan Aykroyd. I ran into him years ago at the Met in NYC. Told him my son was a big Ghostbusters fan and asked for his autograph. He grabbed me by the arm and pulled me be behind a statue. I thought he was going to kick my ass, he’s much bigger a than me. He said he didn’t want to create a scene, hence the statue hide out, then wrote a nice personalized note to my son (including take good care of your pop) and signed it with the A in Aykroyd in the shape of a Conehead. So cool. Nice guy
Gregory Hines. My partner and I were promoting our monthly club night just off the main drag through downtown Memphis. A ton of people were in town for Tyson vs Lewis and looking for stuff to do afterwards. Apparently the deep house music coming from our club night caught Mr Hines’ ear. He paid to get in and danced his ass off all night. Just the nicest guy. Shook our hands and thanked us on the way out and everything. I was barely 22 and it blew my mind.
Giancarlo Esposito was a blast to meet. He spoke at my college years ago and he told us about his life and working on Breaking Bad. He even spoke briefly about his time on Community as well.
Fran Drescher. Here’s a comment I made about meeting her. https://old.reddit.com/r/OldSchoolCool/comments/1ipajp0/fran_drescher_in_the_90s/mcquif3/
Joe Mauer
As others will testify, growing up in London and working in retail as a student, one encounters celebs very frequently. Tbh, a lot of them were very pleasant and initiated any dialogue. Off the top of my head, John Deacon was probably the nicest but he did know me as I went to school with two of his sons.
John aside, the Footballer Tony Adams was a real gent, as was Marcel Desailly, Yasmin Le Bon, Paula Yates (Bob Geldof is an absolute twat) Lennox Lewis was very chatty, Nigel Benn was a legend, Steffi Graff and Andre Agassi were lovely too.
That’s just a few I met that were nice, there were many more.
Elijah Wood is incredibly nice and normal and will just chat it up with anybody like a regular Joe. Maybe the most normal former child star?
Jessica Alba came to my furniture store a few times with her parents. She was very sweet.
Leslie Nielson
Great guy. He use to shop at Costco and always joked with everyone. Always had a smile on his face.
Springsteen!
Live in Vegas/ work on the strip for 20 plus years and have had my share of interactions.
Nice List:
Rude, D-Bag List:
Most fall somewhere in the middle lol
I haven’t met many, but Bruce Campbell and Rob Zombie were chill dudes
2nd gen kpop boy idol
Source: went to the same middle school
Chazz Palminteri was a complete gentleman. Ran into him outside a restaurant in Manhattan in the middle of Santacon in the early 00s.
Chatted and made time for us to get a selfie.
Ran into Jon Stewart in Balthazar. Didn’t have a chance to talk to him as he was coming out of the bathroom with his (then) young son, but I gave him a gigantic smile and a nod that I hope said, “Dude you’re fuckin awesome and your takedown of Crossfire is my go-to pick me up video whenever I’m having a shitty day.” Smiled and nodded back, seemingly happy I wasn’t making a scene. 😅
Leslie Nielsen. He was genuinely funny off camera, too!
Ethan Hawke. I met him back in the 90’s outside of a small theater in NYC. He was asking me more questions about me than I could ask about him, he seemed like an old friend.
Fitz from Fitz & the Tantrums right before they blew up. I don’t even really like their music like that, it just stands out over a decade later as being a really swell guy
Michael Hogan (Col. Tighe, Battlestar Galactica), met him at a con, we ended up drinking at the hotel’s bar most of the night lol
Joe Biden
Kobe Bryant
John Cleese.
Aaron Gordon!! Phenomenal person. ♥️AG
Dave Grohl
Sissy Spacek lives in the same city I do, and is always so, so kind. I had her as a customer at my store five or six times, and recently my wife and I were behind her in line somewhere where she was returning an item, and was extremely patient with the young cashier who was struggling (and had no idea who she was). She turned to me and apologized for making me wait, with a smile.
Antony Starr aka Homelander – I think due to his character, I was expecting some kind of super star ego however when I go to cons to meet someone I always bring a small box of chocolates and a thank you card, its just my way of saying to them thank you for taking time your of your busy schedule to come a greet the fans such as myself.
When I gave it to him, he paused and looked up to me, and yes, in that moment, I was scared haha thought I was about to get into trouble as he might be in on a strict diet but he had gave me a massive smile befor saying “you trying to stop homelander getting into the suit” I laughed nervously and said “I would be saving the world if I did” and he laughed again, he asked me why I brought gifts and I explained I said to him if he didn’t want to eat them I understand and to pass it to comic con staff. He was honestly touched and asked me if I wanted a hug…. I nearly fainted! A hug from a star who plays the deadliest villan in a tv show… Yes! Honestly he is boss to meet!
Kenny Loggins and James Taylor
Marv Leavey
Tobias Forge. The best hug ever! Shaq, Tyra Banks and Mark Tremonti were super cool as well.
Colin Raye
Rollie Fingers (Hall of Fame MLB closer) was at the table next to mine at a steak restaurant in Arizona. My dad and I are both huge baseball fans who were down there to watch the Brewers in Spring Training, so this was an added bonus for us. Dude was a class act and was only too happy to talk “shop” with us regular folk!
Mikey Madison is a gem, very sweet and a little shy
Bob Saget
I sat next to Robert Duvall on a commuter flight from D.C. to NYC many moons ago. He was really personable, and we enjoyed exclaiming over the sight of Manhattan as we flew over it. I wasn’t 100% it was him, so I memorized a mole on the right side of his nose. Sure enough….
Kathy Ireland is a real sweetheart. A friend of mine works in the showbiz. I have met her many times over the past 30 years and she’s always been very nice.
I’ve met some other celebrities via my showbiz friend and no one else even comes close to being as nice as Kathy Ireland.
No one here will know them but all members of Anathema, especially the Cavanagh brothers, particularly Vincent. I made him a beanie to swap at a meet and greet but his beanie was made by a late friend. Instead we swapped beanies when we had photos with the band. Absolute legend.
Jay electronica
Last year I met Don Bluth (director of such movies as All Dogs Go to Heaven and Land Before Time) at Denver Pop Culture Con. I grew up with his works so I was very excited to meet him. he had no line and I think I talked to him for a good five minutes. He was so patient and nice just listening to my ramblings. Worth meeting if he is ever at a con or anything.
Jimmy Carter. What a nice man.
Bradley Cooper. I worked at his talent manager’s firm and he would always chat with the lower level staff. Such a nice guy.
Dave Coulier ~ we grew up in the same city (Saint Clair Shores) Michigan. He played hockey with my brother.
Jimmy Carter.
Donny and Marie Osmond comes to mind. Incredible nice to the fans at every concert, deeply religious but NEVER in your face like the hypocrite Duggars.
Steve O was so nice.
RUDE:
Mini Me.
Jerry Springer.
Rachel Ray.
Leigh Nash of Sixpence None the Richer is so friendly. She’s coming to Gruene Hall in a couple of months and I can’t wait.
Abraham Benrubi who played Kubiac in Parker Lewis Can’t Lose and Jerry Markovic in ER. Met him at a show in Chapel Hill NC, super chill dude.
Mick Foley.
Hi! At an event I met more celebrities than I’d ever dream of seeing in my life! I was working at the time.
There were many, many a-listers. So many my knees felt a little wobbly. We are talking greatest of all time directors, fashion designers, tv franchise main characters, I mean… universally known names. When they talked I was like “hey that sounds like their voice!”. Lol I had to hold a lot in.
Easily the nicest of all – not “a” list though – was Greg Kinnear.
The a-listers were pretty normal. Just ladies and gentlemen eating and drinking.
Only 2 were slightly obnoxious. And not even beyond “maybe they’re just having a bad day”. As an introvert I can’t imagine being them and never being able to have a bad day without scrutiny.
So overall, 10/10 experience for me personally lol.
Ester Williams the movie star/swimmer if anyone remembers her. My wife and I got drunk with her at a Xmas party about 30 years ago and her bawdy Hollywood stories were hilarious and she was a sweetheart.
David Bowie. He was so lovely, he said my name correctly (it’s pronounced in a different way than most others with it say it), and he thanked me for my help.
Not sure how famous she’s considered, but novelist Jennifer Egan. She won the Pulitzer Prize for one of her books and is one of the most famous American novelists today. I met her at a book event and she was so kind and nice.
Richard Dreyfuss. Class act
Vincent Pastore. Worked with him on a film. The Director was mistreating me and he wasn’t having absolutely none of that.
Robert Smith (Cure) was absolutely a really kind and genuine person during a pre show meeting.
Toss up between David Nelson of NRPS/ David Nelson Band and Jorma Kaukonen of Jefferson Airplane/ Hot Tuna. Just regular guys.