Anyone have any celebrity encounters? Full discolure, I’m 60 and have had many growing up in Toronto just by coincidence and being in the right place at the right time. Mine are as follows, in chronological order.
1) Uncle Bobby - The day man landed on the moon my dad and I went to the beer store at Brimley and Eglinton to get a case of beer to watch the moon landing and Uncle Bobby was standing in the line right in front of us. I was 6 years old.
2) Jim Neighbors- When was about 7 years old I saw Jim Neighbors walking through the airport and immediately recognized him as “Gomer Pyle “ was one of my favourite shows when I was a kid
3) Bob Dylan- In about 1984-85i was upstairs at the El Macombo to see Paul James. It was a cold winter night and I was standing at the bar and a guy was standing next to me wearing a leather parka and dark RayBan sunglasses, a little weird but didn’t think much of of it other than his face looked a little familiar. People started to approach him and he was very polite and engaging. My buddy leaned over and said to me “ Holy sh!t, your standing next to Bob Dylan”. What threw me off was that he was a little taller than than I would have expected him to be.
4)Little Richard- I was pulling out of a gas station in Hollywood in 1987 and there was this big limo next to me at a red light with tinted windows, I knew it was someone famous and was trying look discreetly to see who it was, the window rolls down and Little Ritchard leans out and starts talking to me, one of the most memorable moments of my life.
5) Donny Osmond- I was doing a service call at The Elgin/ Wintergarden Theatre in the early Nineties and was about to enter the stage door entrance, my hands were full of tools and a roll of wire when I heard a voice say “ Let me get that for you”. He opened the door for me and when I turned around to thank him I realized it was Donny Osmond.
5) Frankie Avalon- Also in the early nineties,at the Elgin/ Wintergarden theatre, I was with my ex and her best friend who was a beautiful Korean brain surgeon, I had gotten tickets to see a Howie Mandell HBO show being filmed. We get to our seat and Frankie Avalon was sitting right in front of us . I remember telling my wife’s friend and she had no idea who he was. I always found that amusing that she was a brain surgeon and had no idea who he was.
6) William Shatner-Saw him walking through the Eaton Centre in the early nineties when he was directing a sci-fi show that was being filmed on Yonge St.
8) Rolling Stones - Got to work a Rolling Stones concert at The Rogers Centre in 2005 or somewhere around there. I was a huge Stones fan so it was a dream come true for me. Didn’t get to speak to any of them but got to do set up a lot of their equipment and see the sound check and concert while being very well paid to do so.
Anyone else have a celebrity encounter they’d like to share?
1) Uncle Bobby - The day man landed on the moon my dad and I went to the beer store at Brimley and Eglinton to get a case of beer to watch the moon landing and Uncle Bobby was standing in the line right in front of us. I was 6 years old.
2) Jim Neighbors- When was about 7 years old I saw Jim Neighbors walking through the airport and immediately recognized him as “Gomer Pyle “ was one of my favourite shows when I was a kid
3) Bob Dylan- In about 1984-85i was upstairs at the El Macombo to see Paul James. It was a cold winter night and I was standing at the bar and a guy was standing next to me wearing a leather parka and dark RayBan sunglasses, a little weird but didn’t think much of of it other than his face looked a little familiar. People started to approach him and he was very polite and engaging. My buddy leaned over and said to me “ Holy sh!t, your standing next to Bob Dylan”. What threw me off was that he was a little taller than than I would have expected him to be.
4)Little Richard- I was pulling out of a gas station in Hollywood in 1987 and there was this big limo next to me at a red light with tinted windows, I knew it was someone famous and was trying look discreetly to see who it was, the window rolls down and Little Ritchard leans out and starts talking to me, one of the most memorable moments of my life.
5) Donny Osmond- I was doing a service call at The Elgin/ Wintergarden Theatre in the early Nineties and was about to enter the stage door entrance, my hands were full of tools and a roll of wire when I heard a voice say “ Let me get that for you”. He opened the door for me and when I turned around to thank him I realized it was Donny Osmond.
5) Frankie Avalon- Also in the early nineties,at the Elgin/ Wintergarden theatre, I was with my ex and her best friend who was a beautiful Korean brain surgeon, I had gotten tickets to see a Howie Mandell HBO show being filmed. We get to our seat and Frankie Avalon was sitting right in front of us . I remember telling my wife’s friend and she had no idea who he was. I always found that amusing that she was a brain surgeon and had no idea who he was.
6) William Shatner-Saw him walking through the Eaton Centre in the early nineties when he was directing a sci-fi show that was being filmed on Yonge St.
8) Rolling Stones - Got to work a Rolling Stones concert at The Rogers Centre in 2005 or somewhere around there. I was a huge Stones fan so it was a dream come true for me. Didn’t get to speak to any of them but got to do set up a lot of their equipment and see the sound check and concert while being very well paid to do so.
Anyone else have a celebrity encounter they’d like to share?
Last edited:
