Thursday Thirteen #46

A few weeks ago, lovely Di did a TT about famous people she has met. Well, because I have no shame, and because Di herself said to me that if you can’t steal from your blog friends, who can you steal from, I am about steal, pinch, borrow, requisition, adopt, grab (pick the verb that you think most suitable) her clever idea.  So here’s a TT of famous people I have met.  I had to set myself some ground rules. “Met” means at least exchanged a word or two with, if not an actual conversation.  Just seeing someone doesn’t count.  I once held the door open for Rowan Atkinson (Mr Bean) in a pub in Great Portland Street, and got a smile and a nod in return, but that doesn’t count as meeting.  Neither does sitting three seats away from Jane Seymour at a play, or standing next to Tim Rice by a luggage carousel in Heathrow Airport.  But within the parameters I have set myself, the following count as meetings, however brief.

             Thirteen (or thereabouts) Famous People I Have Met
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1.   When I was a child, we took a family holiday in the west of Ireland, in a town called Waterville in County Kerry.  At the hotel we stayed at there was also a large family from Switzerland.  Several children and young adults.  Their parents didn’t join them until some days later. There was quite an age difference between the glamorous mother, in middle age, and the father, who was a much older, silver haired gentleman who said little but smiled a lot.  One day I was walking down the corridor to my room as he was coming the other way. “Hello” I said to him.  “Hello there.” he replied, with a smile.  And that was the sum total of my one and only conversation with……

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Charlie Chaplin   

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2.   Lois Maxwell   A family friend, who sadly left us last year,  best known for playing Miss Moneypenny in fourteen of the Bond films.  My favourite performance by her, though, was in “The Haunting”  (the black and white original, not the ridiculous 1998 remake).  I told her how much I had liked it, but she said she had been disappointed in it.  However, when I told her that after seeing it when I was in my early teens I had had to sleep with the light on for about a week, she was very pleased!

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3.   I’ve met two members of the cast of “Are You Being Served?”

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John Inman    a.k.a. Mr Humphries.   He occasionally used to drink in what then was my local pub, The Crown, in St John’s Wood, which has since been renamed Crocker’s Folly.   I don’t think it was his local but apparently he lived not too far away.  I saw him a few times, and once I found myself at the bar next to him the day after a repeat of that sitcom had been shown.  I told him that I had enjoyed it, and he said something very gracious in reply.

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Arthur English   who played Mr. Harman.  One evening I was standing in the queue outside the best fish and chip restaurant in London, the Sea Shell in Lisson Grove (is it still there?) when an open top Rolls Royce pulled up and parked, and out got Arthur English and his very young wife.  They stood behind me and my two visiting chums from Canada, and we got into a conversation about how good the food was there. 

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4.   Chris Barrie   A friend of mine at work shared a house with several other people, and for a while one of those was Chris Barrie, later to gain fame in “Red Dwarf” and  “The Brittas Empire.”  I met him at a party my friend threw at that house. He seemed a nice enough person, and we exchanged a few pleasantries, after which we never saw each other again.   I think it was at that same party that I also met……

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5.   Hugh Laurie    This was before the days of  “Blackadder”  and “Jeeves & Wooster”  and centuries before “House” was even thought of.  I recognized him from a series of Building Society commercials he did with Stephen Fry.   I remember we spoke briefly but I can’t recall for the life of me a word of what we said.  It must have been very important.

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6.   When I was a constable in the Metropolitan Police, I once did duty at the old Wembley Stadium on Cup Final day – the most important event in British football (yes, it’s called football, not soccer).  I was lucky enough to be posted to the Royal Box, which adjoined the posh seats where celebs and rich people sat.  At one point I had to stand guard over the FA Cup itself, and it was there that I met…..

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Pele   The greatest footballer who ever lived.  He said something to me but I can’t remember what it was because I, who couldn’t give a damn about sport of any kind, was overawed at meeting him, even this fleetingly. 

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That same day I met two other famous peeps in, of all places, the men’s room below the Royal Box.  I was standing at the middle of three urinals, doing what I had to do, when I noticed that to my left was…..

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Michael Parkinson   The most well known, and the best, talk show host in Britain.   And to my right was the man who at that time was..…

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The Archbishop of Canterbury,  George Carey.  They both said hello to me, probably because I was in uniform and they were well disposed to the police.  I said hello back to them.  Then , in keeping with proper men’s room etiquette, we finished what we were doing without saying another word, avoiding eye contact at all costs,  washed our hands in silence and left one by one.

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7.   Apart from a few I was at school with (whom I won’t mention because it would be unfair to some of them to tell the world what wankers they used to be, and besides, they weren’t famous then), I have met only a few people in politics.

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Sir Clement Freud    Writer, gastronome, bon viveur, restaurateur, personality, grandson of Sigmund Freud and for 14 years a Member of Parliament.  I met him after watching a recording of two episodes of “Just A Minute”, the BBC Radio panel game. As the audience left the theatre, he joined them, presumably not being able to spend time enjoying BBC hospitality in the green room, or maybe he needed to get down to the House of Commons. Anyway, I found myself walking upstairs next to him, so I remarked how much I had enjoyed the shows and we actually got into quite a long conversation that continued on the pavement outside the theatre for about fifteen minutes. 

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Ken “Red Ken” Livingstone     He is now Mayor of London, but I me t him when he was still a member of the Greater London Council, which was abolished in the late 1980s.  I was working for a survey company, taking opinions door to door, and one evening during the middle of a GLC election campaign I was canvassing residents in a council high rise, and I saw this man on his knees talking through a letter box to people who obviously didn’t want to open their front door.  “Hello, my name is Ken Livingstone. I’m canvassing for the Labour party in the GLC election.”   I waited till he had finished and had got to his feet again and then I warned him not to bother with the elderly lady in flat 147 because she was confused and afraid of callers.  He thanked me for the advice and we walked downstairs together.  “So, you’re the mad Marxist I have heard so much about.” I said.  He giggled.  “I’m not really a Marxist.”  It was the “really’ that I found interesting.  We had an interesting chat about politics and I found him rather personable but I didn’t vote for him.

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Jim Hodges    I met him when he was Governor of South Carolina.  Quite young for the office he held, he had been a classmate of my wife’s at high school. So when we were looking round the State Capitol in Columbia, SC, we went to the Governor’s office and my wife gave her name to his secretary.  The Governor was busy – which was what we had expected, but it was worth an attempt at saying hello.  A few minutes later we were still looking round the building when the Governor’s secretary ran upstairs after us saying  “He wants to see you!”  Back downstairs we went and were admitted to the Governor’s office, and he remembered my wife from their old school days.  I found him a very pleasant  fellow, ands was sorry to hear that he failed to be re-elected a few years later. He has now left politics completely.

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8.   Two Terrys

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Terry Jones    I was very pleased to meet him because I have been a Monty Python fan since forever.  I was briefly dating a French woman who had been the Jones family’s au pair, and on her return to London after a long stay in India was staying as their house guest.  After we had been out to lunch she invited me back and I met Terry Jones, who greeted me like an old friend, not a total stranger.  I, for my part, did not behave like a fan, as was able to enjoy an afternoon’s conversation without once mentioning dead parrots, nudge nudge, lumberjacks or nude men playing the organ.

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Terry Waite    I saw him on the platform at Marylebone tube station.  He is a very tall man, and he was in a smart suit and tie, carrying a briefcase.  It was hard to believe he was the same man who had spent four years as a hostage of Islamic Jihad in a basement in Beirut, dressed in rags and chained to a pipe.  I asked him if I could have the honour of shaking his hand, which he smilingly granted me.

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9.   I have met two Doctor Whos (or should that be Doctors Who?)

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Patrick Troughton    who was the second Doctor.  Not the most well remembered – certainly not as well remembered as Tom Baker, Doctor #4 (who married the older sister of one of my school chums, though I never met him), or Peter Davison, who was #5.  But he was my favourite.  His Doctor used to wear black and white check trousers and play a penny whistle while he was concentrating.  He was a very good, dependable actor, and a very nice man with it.

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Peter Cushing    When thinking of Dr Who, most people forget, if indeed they ever knew in the first place, that there was a film called “Dr Who & The Daleks” in which the Doctor was played by Peter Cushing.  Of course he is far better known for  the dozens, or even hundreds of horror films he played in, as both good guy and bad guy, and as a villain in the first “Star Wars” film.   He was a gentleman in every sense.  My then wife was a great fan and was almost overcome when he kissed her hand.

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10.   Joanna Lumley   best known as Patsy from "Absolutely Fabulous"    I went for a job interview at  the Royal Albert Hall, with their events promotion and marketing department.  I got there a little bit early was put into some kind of waiting room. On the counter along one wall was a British Legion collecting box and a tray of poppies, this being early November.  I put a coin in the box and took a poppy, which I the tried to attach to my lapel.  An instantly recognisable voice next to me remarked that Remembrance Day poppies used to have wire stalks, which were much easier to attach to clothing than the modern plastic ones.  It was Joanna Lumley, looking utterly gorgeous.  She was obviously not there for the same job interview as me, but had been asked to wait in the same room.  We talked about stuff I can’t remember and I tried not to stare, until they came and called for me a few minutes later.

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11.   Three people that only Brits will recognize:

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Norman Wisdom    I was very young, but I do remember that my father had business of some sort with him so we visited him at his house in the country.  I can remember a long, undulating lawn and a very nice man.

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Dick Emery    We went en famille to a pantomime in South London many years ago, starring Dick Emery and some lesser known actors.  It was at the invitation of one of the lesser knowns who was hoping to get a job with my father that we went, and afterwards we were invited to his dressing room.  While we were there, Dick Emery dropped by and chatted to us for a while.  It must have been ages ago because he died in the 1980s.   I don’t remember forming much of an impression of him. 

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Henry Kelly    When I was on police duty, outside Kenwood House in north London, on an afternoon when there was a concert in the grounds, this fixture of British TV, who is in fact Irish, came up and chatted to me.  He was very pleasant and told me how he admired the police and the work we did.  He said he was on his way to The Spaniards (a well known pub there) and if I or any of my mates wanted a drink, the first round was on him.  Sadly, drinking in public in uniform was an absolute no-no, but I thanked him kindly anyway.

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12.   Don Murray    Fans of  “Knot’s Landing” should know who this is, even though he left the show long before it ended.  I met him in Ireland where he was filming.  A quiet, friendly person.

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13.   Sir Elton John     He was famous when I met him but not yet mega-star famous.  Years ago, I went into a small café in Poland Street in London and after getting my cup of tea I saw there were no free tables, so I had to share. That is not at all uncommon in places like that, so I went to one of the booths where a man in glasses was sitting reading a newspaper.   “Is this seat taken?” I asked, pointing to the empty side of the booth. “No, help yourself, mate.” replied Elton John, for it was he.   So, he drank his coffee and read his paper while I sipped my tea and read my book.   After a few minutes, he finished, got up to leave and said: “See you later.”  but actually he never has.

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Comments

[Candy Minx]

That is an impressive list indeed...I think British people meet more of their famous peers because of the pub or less seclusion than say Hollywood...?

I think it is so cool who you met many whom I recognize. Awesome! I love Hugh Laurie and the Black Adder set.

I adore Joanna Lumley what lovely anecdotes and humourous details about each meeting. YGreat post!

I still can't seem to log on to Thursday Thirteen!

Here is my weird list:

http://gnosticminx.blogspot.com/2008/02/help-therapy-and-blogging.html

[pussreboots]

I am in awe of your list. I think it's Doctors Who. Happy TT and thanks for stopping by.

[Chelle Y.]

Hugh Laurie is the best, but my to my son, he will always be "Mr. Little." :)

[ellen b]

That is quite a list! I so enjoyed Miss Moneypenny. I've never met Elton John but I did meet and sit in a press box with Elton John's mother at his concert at the Dodger Stadium in 1975 in Los Angeles. Weird...

[Malcolm]

Good job of telling the stories behind your meetings with these famous people. I enjoyed reading about your encounters with Chaplin, Joanna Lumley and Elton John the best.

I had forgotten that Peter Cushing played Doctor Who. Although I haven't seen the film, I remember reading about it somewhere.

[Morgan]

I will again, tell you how completely jealous I am of you meeting Hugh Laurie. Really. I don't know any of the others on the list except for Elton John. (Why do you call him "Sir Elton John"?)

[marcia v]

Very fun,the Elton John story is impressive I did this last year

[SJ Reidhead]

I must laugh at your listing of Don Murray. He was doing a play in Atlanta during the summer of Star Wars. My sister, cousin, neighbor and I finally managed to get in to see it during the middle of the week, at something like 11AM or so. Everyone was talking about the 'movie star' who was there. Naturally we ask who. My sister goes, "I've never heard of Don Murray in my life. He must not be much of one." Murray, who was standing near us, was not amused.

This is also the same sister who managed to insult Michael Crichton after an early showing of The Lost World. He was asking people in the theater how they liked the film. She thought it was terrible and told him so. I was trying to get her attention or that of our mother to shut them up, but it was impossible. They unloaded on him. He asked me what I thought. I told him I wished they had stuck to the storyline in the book, which I thought wasn't bad.

SJR
The Pink Flamingo

[Milan - zzz]

You've met Terry Jones!?! I'm a huge fan of Monty Python and whe I heard that Michael Palin is coming in belgrade I was there, outside waithing him (not actually speaking).

And Charlie Chaplin & Pele?
Great indeed (and now I'll jump and check Di's famous list)

[The Gal Herself]

You met Charlie Chaplin! That is so amazing. I'm also impressed by Lumley and Cushing. And I'm glad Sir Elton was polite, but sorry you two never crossed paths again. (And thanks for visiting my TT)

[On a Limb with Claudia]

Whoo HOOO!!! I get a Brit card. I know Dick Emery AND Henry Kelly... Happy dancing ensues.....

Oh sorry, I was being loud and effusive.... Did I lose my card? Crap.

Happy TT.

[No nonsense girl]

That's great!!!! I never met anyone famous. I did saw a comedian called Michel Barette in a mall but that was my brush with fame. ;)

Have a great week!!!

[Nicole Austin]

Wow, great list. You've met some interesting people. How cool to have met Charlie Chaplin. Too bad you didn't get to have a conversation with him.

[Lori]

Very cool...although I must admit, I havent heard of most of them;) Happy TT. Great list.

[susiej]

I can't believe he lied like that, "See you later!" I was a huge fan of EJ in the 70s, and I don't think I could have held myself upright while that close to him. Now, that I'm older and wiser, I still think he's got a lot of talent (I think every lyric is still in my head.) So, what year did you see him?
Quite a list --- I you've been around, and seen quite a few stars!

[Sanni]

Very impressive list, especially Pele and Sir Elton John!

Happy TT!

[Winter]

OMG! You met Moneypenny! She was my hero in every Bond movie. You were right about it being a very Brit list, but it was still very cool.

[Missy]

Wow! I'm impressed. Truly. I've never met any famous folks... well, I was thrown on stage with Sawyer Brown, but I hightailed it out of there as fast as I could. Didn't want to be thought of as a groupie and at 17, I wasn't ready to fulfill the duties of such a position. ;) Great list! Thanks for sharing.

[SandyCarlson]

That's a great list that spans the last century, really.

[Candy]

Charlie Chaplin and Pele? Wow, wish I'd gotten to meet them, too. You've certainly met a lot of famous people.

[YellowRose]

Ok, I'm officially impressed!!!

Hugh Laurie....My daughter and I love him! Elton John, that was a very cool encounter!
Don Murray, I loved Knot's Landing...he was a favorite of mine!!

And I'm a HUGE Doctor Who fan, so Peter Cushing...very cool!!

I throughly enjoyed this thirteen!! Thanks for sharing!!! :)

[tommie]

How fun to have met so many cool people! I can count on one hand how many I have met. Though one is a family friend, so I don't think he counts!

[Susan Helene Gottfried]

I once threw a party and two members of Metallica showed up... does that count? (yes, they'd been invited)

Fun stuff, Nicholas!

[momhuebert]

Wow. I haven't met ANY famous people!

(Well, okay, once as a teen I got John Travolta's autograph, but since he hardly even looked at me, much less spoke, I don't feel like it counts.)

[Dane Bramage]

The Haunting scared the life out of me when I was a kid. I love it to this day. Terror set by atmosphere and lighting, not CGI or million dollars SFX. You are pretty fortunate to have met so many famous people. I think I will steal this idea but it will have to be a Thursday Three or something similar. Thanks for visiting my T13.