What are celebrities REALLY like?

[mabus]

Steph responded to a thread recently saying how most celebrities are assholes. I had a friend who told me once how celebrities are mostly down to Earth, regular folks like the rest of us poor slobs. Who's right? (My friend only met a few, by the way, and they were B-list at best)

I have never met a famous person in my entire life, and probably never will. What about everyone else - what are the famous folk like, anyway? Give details, don't say they're nice, or they suck, say why.

 

[The Sean Man]

We don't get many celebrities through my neck of the woods, but when they are here, I try to get them on my morning radio show. They ARE regular people just like you and me....they just happen to have higher profile jobs lolol. Seriously though, I can understand how some become assholes. Think about it....always travelling, promoting whatever your new project is, answering the same questions over and over and over. It's hard to have a normal social life (hanging with family and friends) when this is going on. And the constant adoration does start to wear after a while....like anybody else, they do like some privacy now and then. The smart ones bite their tongue, put on a smile, and do the job....the others who can't handle it become assholes.


The Sean Man

 

[jugner]

I met one, lead singer of country group Alabama, Randy Owen, very nice guy, came over and talked to me for a few minutes, very nice guy(granted I'm i a wheelchair, so most of the talk was how he admired me for being in college)

 

[Iwon'tgrowup]

Although it's been a few years, I've met and talked with a fair number of celebs: Donnie and Marie Osmond, Keith Jackson of ABC Sports, the late Conway Twitty, Mike Farrell of M*A*S*H, Robert Goulet (to name several). Granted, these are all people who appeal more to my age group and therefore may have better manners (and I mean that). But I have never met a celebrity who was less than polite. Most, although maintaining proper professional distance, have been warm and friendly. All have given me very nice memories.

 

[milagros317]

Celebrities vary greatly. Some are decent people, and some are ***holes.

 

[tickleterror]

i agree with milagross a celeb is just a person and like normal people they vary depending on their own personality

 

[Myriads]

Celebs are like the people you meet everyday at McDonalds or at work. They simply have jobs that put them in the public eye. They run the spectrum from nice to idiots. The personality drawn to acting/public stuff may shade the percentage of the sort you get in the group of course.

The folks I've met over the years from A-list, down to D-list have tended to be down to earth folks who are polite and friendly.

Myriads

 

[steph]

Ok babe, I'll elaborate a little, but just a little 😉 My comment comes just from just my personal experience and I was speaking of celebs in general. I waited tables for some of these people, went to school with their kids, etc.

First, a little history~The town I grew up in is about 2 hours north of LA and very lovely, a lot of stars have homes there because it's NEAR Hollywood but without all the starstruck hangers on, paparazzi, etc.
My folks, like me now, were very middle class and bought a home there back in the 60s when no one knew about the place. The house that I was born in, my mom paid 10K for, recently sold for $900,000 😱
Anyway, because of all the $ around, we're a town and a people that are pretty hard to impress.
Ronald Reagan owned a ranch there, Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch is not too far away. John and Jackie Kennedy were married there, as were Paul and Linda McCartney. We'd walk the beaches and see Dudley Moore (who was a dick) and his girlfriend Susan Anton (who was a sweetheart.) You might run into John Travolta shopping in my friend's toy store~he's always cool.
My pop taught junior high and had Laura Dern in class~she was very nice, as were her parents (also in show biz.) Anthony Edwards (ER) went to my junior high school and signed my yearbook~he was 2 grades ahead, a thoughtful, kind of shy guy. My bro did community theater with Eric Stoltz, so I got to know him a little~also a sweetie.

When my pop got transferred and moved us to a small town outside Boston, I still got a to meet a few famous people, although these were more athletes than actors. We did get to party a little with James Spader who attended private school with my high school sweetheart's little bro. James was a pretty cool guy, sort of a stoner. I went to high school and hung out with the Cheevers kids (their dad coached the Bruins back in the 80s) And if you're a baseball fan, you'll recognize the name Yaz. His pop lived on the other side of our complex and Yaz came by quite a lot, I think he though us kids were cute, we were always cracking him up.

So there are some nice, "regular people" around. My comment was more directed at the stars who beleive their own hype, think they're better than everybody else when they're not. Folks I have no respect for like Demi Moore (you don't need an entourage of 30 people honey, you're just an actor, not the President, get real.)
In college about 15 years ago, I was clubbing with my friend Lisa and this big redheaded guy came up and started talking to us. He was more interested in Lisa than me, but basically invited us back to his hotel room. We politely declined. His reaction? "Do you know who I am?" She and I looked at each other and burst out laughing. "No, we don't" Lisa said. "And if you were anyone who actually mattered to us, you wouldn't have to ask."
As we left the floor laughing, we were rushed by all these guys, "Are you FRIENDS with him?" "No, why?" "OMG that's Mark McGuire!" We're like, "who?" We just didn't care...

I could go on and on about those I know are losers but I won't. Anyway, hopefully, I clarified things a bit. As always, it's just my 2 cents.
XOXO

Steph responded to a thread recently saying how most celebrities are assholes. I had a friend who told me once how celebrities are mostly down to Earth, regular folks like the rest of us poor slobs. Who's right? (My friend only met a few, by the way, and they were B-list at best)

I have never met a famous person in my entire life, and probably never will. What about everyone else - what are the famous folk like, anyway? Give details, don't say they're nice, or they suck, say why.

 

[milagros317]

In college about 15 years ago, I was clubbing with my friend Lisa and this big redheaded guy came up and started talking to us. He was more interested in Lisa than me, but basically invited us back to his hotel room. We politely declined. His reaction? "Do you know who I am?" She and I looked at each other and burst out laughing. "No, we don't" Lisa said. "And if you were anyone who actually mattered to us, you wouldn't have to ask."
As we left the floor laughing, we were rushed by all these guys, "Are you FRIENDS with him?" "No, why?" "OMG that's Mark McGuire!" We're like, "who?" We just didn't care...

I'm willing to believe that all of the famous people who have hit 70 or more home runs in a season are assholes. 😀

(That would be Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds, for those of you who aren't baseball fans. You didn't care enough to learn that his name is spelled with a "w". 😛 )

 

[steph]

Funny Mil! Actually this was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay before he was famous for "that" back in his single days when he played in the Bay~so unless you WERE a baseball fan, vitually no one knew who he was anyhow~that's why we thought it was so hilarious!
Oh and thanks for the spellcheck BTW.... 😀
XOXO

I'm willing to believe that all of the famous people who have hit 70 or more home runs in a season are assholes. 😀

(That would be Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds, for those of you who aren't baseball fans. You didn't care enough to learn that his name is spelled with a "w". 😛 )

 

[Oddjob0226]

I've met some celebs from my work, and written to celebs as a fan. It's true, they vary. But there's also that little gray area that none of us regular folks really deal with, so we don't know how to describe it.... Since famous people are constantly having people trying to get a little piece of them in some way, from autographs to shady business deals to people wanting to set the celebrities straight about some or other issue, they get surrounded by overly cautious business people, bodyguard and managers. So if you have to deal with them, the celebrity themselves may come off looking bad, or the celeb may indeed be a jerk, but it only comes from years of being unnaturally shielded in such a way that, if carried out as an experiment, would have been considered too cruel to actually perform.

Quincy Jones is pretty much a "Do it my way" egotistical jerk, but then again, he's seen things I wouldn't have wanted to go through, and he has created and enormous body of good work. The man himself though, oooo-wheee!

Stevie Wonder is VERY giving in causes he believes in, but his managers, including his own brother, are very pushy people. So, is it the people he surrounds himself with to protect him, or is it an accurate extension of himself?

I wrote to both Bruce Dern and Janet Leigh more than once to get them to sign some Hitchcock memorabilia I have. They were both incredibly kind in their brief notes back to me. Never met him, but I hear from many sources that James Woods in an incredibly good guy. Just don't ask Sean Young. But then, I hear things about her.....

Back in 1999 I was on a commercial shoot with Destiny's Child, back when there were four of them. Even though they were high school kids and just starting to go through that insular stage with their parents and protectors, when it came to getting the work done they were fine. The make up guy gave us more problems! I imagine now the members of Destiny's Child would be complete monsters, but really, I have no idea.

Oprah Winfrey is very business like and no-nonsense.... her body guards are rather a pain, but their not overly pushy or dangerous. She's not easy to get to, and not especially warm, but she gets the job done without creating waves, which is fine if that's all you need.

I've also worked with some non-famous heads of businesses, millionaires, who were utterly unpleasant people.

Vanilla Ice, believe it or not, is pretty decent in person, as is the band The New Bohemians. Despite breaking up in the 1990s, they did a recent secret unannounced gig and were utterly approachable. And I saw Iman and David Bowie at an event I did work a crowd full of strangers kindly and dutifully. Celebs are used to being treated with kid gloves much of the time. Although it may seem unnatural and demeaning, to start the approach of a celeb off with respect, even a little reverence, they'll eventually warm up to you. From their point of view, you are a stranger to them, and a stranger who probably wants something.

On the other hand, how many here have jerky neighbors, coworkers or have met just some unpleasant schmo on the street? While people often ramble on about who Sean Penn should just keep his mouth shut and entertain us, I can't help but think that THOSE people are also kinds of getting on my nerves. And they don't look as cool! There are people I went to school with for 5, 10, 12 years and I wonder how I kept from killing them all that time.

 

[Mitchell]

I probably have posted this on here before, but my family used to know some celebrities when I was growing up. My father was business manager for the rock group "Kiss" from 1973 to 1981, and we used to spend quite a bit of time with them. I met the guys from the group on numerous occasions, and to me, they just seemed like nice, down to earth guys who put on weird makeup at night to do very loud rock concerts. My mom spent quite a bit of time with them socially, and attended events like Ace Frehley's wedding, and she said they were just normal guys.
Besides this, my father was singer Paul Simon's frat brother in college, and attended the same high school as both Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. I heard stories from my father about how Simon had to wear elevator shoes to get a date in college, before Simon and Garfunkel hit it big with Sounds of Silence. Again, just two normal middle class guys from Queens, who just happened to strike it big with a few hit songs.
Another major celebrity that my father knew very well was movie director Mike Cimino, who was his friend and client from the early 1960s until about 1982. Mike was a bit different then most celebs my family knew. He was a pretty normal, down to earth guy until the success of the Deer Hunter, and then became slightly big for his britches with his infamous Heaven's Gate movie. My mom told me stories of how certain things in our house became ruined during construction, because of being on the phone with Mike's producer, and girlfriend, from the Heaven's Gate filming site of how weird he had become. That was one case where a celebrity let a degree of success get to him.
Myriads makes an excellent point. For the most part, most celebs are just usually normal, down to earth people who just happen to have a degree of talent or fame in a certain speciality or area. While there can at times be "arrogance", many times they are just regular people who just happen to be in the spotlight.
I have, of course, met other celebs in the course of my life, but dont feel it necessary to belabor this post with all those experiences. I prefer to focus on the ones my family knew personally, and best, and our experiences with these people as part of our lives. For the most part, they were normal people from regular backgrounds who achieved a degree of success in certain areas. Not much different from the rest of us, except that they have achieved fame, fortune, and noteriety from having a specific talent.

Mitch

 

[witchtickler]

Ok babe, I'll elaborate a little, but just a little 😉 My comment comes just from just my personal experience and I was speaking of celebs in general. I waited tables for some of these people, went to school with their kids, etc.

First, a little history~The town I grew up in is about 2 hours north of LA and very lovely, a lot of stars have homes there because it's NEAR Hollywood but without all the starstruck hangers on, paparazzi, etc.
My folks, like me now, were very middle class and bought a home there back in the 60s when no one knew about the place. The house that I was born in, my mom paid 10K for, recently sold for $900,000 😱
Anyway, because of all the $ around, we're a town and a people that are pretty hard to impress.
Ronald Reagan owned a ranch there, Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch is not too far away. John and Jackie Kennedy were married there, as were Paul and Linda McCartney. We'd walk the beaches and see Dudley Moore (who was a dick) and his girlfriend Susan Anton (who was a sweetheart.) You might run into John Travolta shopping in my friend's toy store~he's always cool.
My pop taught junior high and had Laura Dern in class~she was very nice, as were her parents (also in show biz.) Anthony Edwards (ER) went to my junior high school and signed my yearbook~he was 2 grades ahead, a thoughtful, kind of shy guy. My bro did community theater with Eric Stoltz, so I got to know him a little~also a sweetie.

When my pop got transferred and moved us to a small town outside Boston, I still got a to meet a few famous people, although these were more athletes than actors. We did get to party a little with James Spader who attended private school with my high school sweetheart's little bro. James was a pretty cool guy, sort of a stoner. I went to high school and hung out with the Cheevers kids (their dad coached the Bruins back in the 80s) And if you're a baseball fan, you'll recognize the name Yaz. His pop lived on the other side of our complex and Yaz came by quite a lot, I think he though us kids were cute, we were always cracking him up.

So there are some nice, "regular people" around. My comment was more directed at the stars who beleive their own hype, think they're better than everybody else when they're not. Folks I have no respect for like Demi Moore (you don't need an entourage of 30 people honey, you're just an actor, not the President, get real.)
In college about 15 years ago, I was clubbing with my friend Lisa and this big redheaded guy came up and started talking to us. He was more interested in Lisa than me, but basically invited us back to his hotel room. We politely declined. His reaction? "Do you know who I am?" She and I looked at each other and burst out laughing. "No, we don't" Lisa said. "And if you were anyone who actually mattered to us, you wouldn't have to ask."
As we left the floor laughing, we were rushed by all these guys, "Are you FRIENDS with him?" "No, why?" "OMG that's Mark McGuire!" We're like, "who?" We just didn't care...

I could go on and on about those I know are losers but I won't. Anyway, hopefully, I clarified things a bit. As always, it's just my 2 cents.
XOXO

DAMN Steph, Can I have your autograph??? That is a wonderful history you have. You have got some good memories to carry you through life and I must say I am impressed. I still want your autograph though!!!!

witchtickler

 

[steph]

OddJ~ 😉 I too have heard the same thing about Beyonce and Co. I think a lot of people are unaware the success they so richly enjoy now is the result of having worked VERY hard to earn the dream they had in childhood--they grew up together!
And Bruce Dern, as you know is Laura's father~I think her first acting role was about the age of 7. Youngsters may not know her mother as also movie veteran Diane Ladd. She didn't come to school in a limo or anything like that, she dressed just like us, they were just very down to earth, regular folks. Laura would always smile and say hi to everybody, it was obvious her parents wanted her raised not feeling she was practically Hollywood royalty.

And witchtk~you're very sweet. Unfortunately the rest of the childhood wasn't so amazing but that is a story for another thread, hmm?
Geographically, as kids, we just got lucky, that's all. We didn't realize we weren't rich or anything. We thought everyone grew up with the stars, it was all we knew. Remember, this was a really long time ago. We were never autograph hounds or anything and treated them like they were regular people (in our minds they were) so they treated us well in return. We looked like them, hung out and acted like them, I doubt if they knew the difference either~it's the nice thing about being a kid, yes? You're such a clean slate...
XOXO

DAMN Steph, Can I have your autograph??? That is a wonderful history you have. You have got some good memories to carry you through life and I must say I am impressed. I still want your autograph though!!!!

witchtickler

 

[giantfan121262]

During my time I came across a few prominent sports figures but there were a couple of actors I remember. When I went to work with my mother one time, we went to the bank next to her office and we ran into Alan Alda. He was a local in the town where she worked and just came across as a regular guy. He didn't bring alot of attention to himself and if you didn't watch MASH, you would have never known. Once I met Paul Newman. Much to my surprise, he was a dick and a half. He races his car at a local track where my mother lives (in PA) and he was just bossing his crew around like I have never seen. IMHO, nobody should be talked to the way he was talking to his staff. this was really disappointing because he lives in the town next to me in CT and he is really involved in charity work. He markets his own product line of speghetti sauce and donates the all the proceeds.

I also met Lawerence Taylor, Jim Burt, Willie Randolph, and Rickey Henderson. Taylor was really nice and will talk to you about football or whatever you want but there is a dark side to him. A couple of starstruck kids asked him for his autograph while I was talking to him and he told him, in no uncertain terms, that he would not sign. that gave me a bad vibe

Jim Burt I met in a racquetball club when I was in my early 20's and he was a great guy. Funny, smart, and really down to earth. I ended up playing him in a couple of games and we each won one. My advantage was that I was making him run on a bad knee and I think I just outlasted him, believe it or not, If you set him up, he will just crush the ball. I remember the sound it made when he hit the ball against the wall when serving. It sounded like a 45 calibor pistol going off. All in all, it was a pisser.

Willie Randolph came to do a baseball clinic at a baseball camp I went to when I was about 13 years old. He was a great guy also. I remember talking to him like he was one of my friends. He was not much older than me at the time. The highlight was at the end of the day when I walked up to him to say goodbye. He said to me "I hope to see you in about 10 years". I just looked at him and he said "seriously". I just didn't know what to say.

Unfortunetely, my experience with Rickey Henderson wasn't as pleasant. He was so full of himself. some of my friends and I went drinking at a local sports bar, and he was sitting 2 tables from me. The waitress we both had was complaining about him. He was constantly bitching that there wasn't enough alcohol in his drink, he had her running back and forth to get this, that and the other thing. As the night went on, the waitress came back in such a funk. I asked her if she was all right and she told me that Henderson left her a $2 tip on a tab well over $100. I just wanted to punch him in the face.

Another time was when I saw that Ron Giudry and Catfish Hunter were signing autograph and a local sporting goods store when I was in 8th grade, I told my father that if he took me, I would take out the trash every day for a month. I was not disappointed by either one. Very distinguished southern gentlemen with a really dry wit about them.

 

[TklDuo-Drew]

Haven't met any actors or actresses ever in my life, but met a few musicians back in the 80s. ZZ-Top(kinda snotty), B.B. King(very nice), The Judds(incredibliy gracious, actually took time to hang and b.s. with the fans), and bluesman Lonnie Brooks. During intermission at a show at a small club, I got his autograph and asked if he would mind if I took a couple pictures during his next set. When the second show started, he stepped off stage and started posing with his guitar right in front of me....while playing! Now that, I thought, was a really classy thing to do.


Drew

 

[unclebill]

Steph, I enjoyed your Mark McGwire story. But at the congressional hearings a few months ago, I thought I heard him say that he was not there to discuss "Stephs of the past."

 

[steph]

Oh, you! 😀

Steph, I enjoyed your Mark McGwire story. But at the congressional hearings a few months ago, I thought I heard him say that he was not there to discuss "Stephs of the past."

 

[Ignatz]

As a disc jockey for nearly twenty years, I met a fair number of stars, mostly country musicians, and they were all the epitome of courtesy. But then, meeting a DJ is just another performance to them, so of course they're going to be nice. You could usually tell, though, who was really friendly and who was forcing himself. But a lot of entertainers are uncomfortable in interviews, so you have to feel for them a little. Some are talented but essentially brainless and "Yeah...I like singin'" is the best you're going to get out of them.

As far as grace under pressure goes, I'm reminded of a story my great-uncle used to tell. When he was a young man in the 1930's he was hitchhiking from a temporary job site back to his home in Fort Worth, Texas. A Ford V8 pulled over and picked him up. He climbed in and found himself sharing the back seat with a veritable arsenal of Tommy guns, sawed-off shotguns and ammo boxes. The two men in the front seat he quickly recognized as Clyde Barrow and Floyd Hamilton, two of the most infamous outlaws of the Depression era. But despite the fact they were wanted by police in half a dozen states...police who, knowing Clyde's reputation, would gun them down on sight...they were affable and accomodating as anyone you'd want to meet. They took him into Fort Worth, dropped him within walking distance of his home and drove off. Just goes to show you.

 

[giantfan121262]

I told you all about my limited meetings with celebrities and I have gone by a method when I do see them. Just treat them like you would any other person you would come across. I am sure they would love to be able to shoot the breeze like a regular person. None of this "Gee... Can I have your autograph", " I loved your last movie" etc... It would be refreshing to them to have a regular conversation rather than "talk shop".

 

[DonnieBrasco]

What Do I Put Here

Hey Regular Joes like you and me!


Ok I have a cousin who is a name we have seen on the credits on the big screen and she is and always will be my little cousin. No attitude change in her and I like to believe the family has kept her feet on the ground so to speak.I will say that some celebs need to have "an entourage" to buffer them from people who just hound them. I am talking about the wack jobs, and you know if people didnt smother them, they would probably venture out in public like us regular joes, but that is not the case. My Aunt and Uncle worked for Ann- margaret for 25 yrs- I met her on my 18th Bday a very nice woman althought she was smoklin hot!!! LMAO

Ok Bye Bye now
DB