Tenuous Brush with Fame

I happened to be reading this blog post the other day:

Minor Celebrity Moments

For those that didn't click the link, readers were invited to share their minor brushes with celebrities. The more obscure, tenuous, and/or convoluted the connection, the better. My favorite was the woman who said her daughter's second cousin on her father's side is Julia Robert's half-sister. The original blogger said that her ex-husband helped talk Mr. T out of beating up a bartender for serving drinks to Leon Sphinx too slowly. If you clicked the link, mine was about Alton Brown mispelling my name in a cookbook he was signing.

So I invite the whole LVA forum: what is your tenuous brush with fame?

My wife used to work with David Copperfield's first cousin on his father's side. My mother's first cousin's son is in a famous rock band. I met Joe Frazier and Terrible Tim Witherspoon at a party a few years ago.

It's Leon Spinks, not Sphinx. I'll sign you up for a beating.

I saw Leon at the sports memorabilia store inside the Forum shops last time I was in Vegas.

Seems that 99% of the time it's either Leon or Pete Rose there.

I always see Pete Rose, whether it is winter, sping, summer, or fall at the sports memorabilia store inside the mall that runs between the Mandalay Bay and Luxor. Sports Illustrated has an issue dedicated to him this last week.

Looks like Pete Rose got a better offer and moved from the Forum Shops.

Oops, my bad. Don't tell Mr T.

Hmm,

Given that no one was in line at the folding table and this guy had no name on his t-shirt(everyone else had Pete Rose team or whatever) I actually ended up asking(notebook and pen in hand- naively) Pete Rose if he was Pete Rose.... forum shops... yeah I really did! When I called my husband he did not want to pay as much for the cheapest item they sold to be autographed... I don't blame him.

Did see an new store(the memorabilia one) last trip but was not where the previous poster found one.

Long time reader and follower- tried to register years ago, it failed, tried again and it said user name already taken(by me... go figure) so finally able to comment!

Debbie (dasminis)

The times I've seen him in there, it was as if he was chasing customers out of the store as opposed to bringing them in - - - Lonesome Town.

A gal who was a senior nursing student when I was a junior (Memphis) dated Elvis Presley for a while (some time in the '60s). I think she was too tall for him. My friend's friend was a dental hygienist for Elvis' dentist, saw him several times. Again, Memphis in the '60s.

I was on "20/20 with Geraldo Riveras" for about 20 seconds in 1975 or so. The feature concerned a toddler's failure to thrive linked to defective formula. That was before Geraldo's famous treasure vault fiasco. Our doc had asked me "do you want to be on 20/20 with Geraldo?" I was overjoyed. Turned out our part was filmed in our hospital in Memphis, but Geraldo did his part from NYC. Oh well, I still had my 20 second TV career.

Pat Day, the jockey [retired, I guess] was on the plane when I flew to Dallas, connecting for Las Vegas. I was waiting outside the bathroom when Pat walked by. I called to him, he stopped and we talked a few minutes. He was real nice.

My father's step-cousin's grandfather, Capt. John T. Daniels, took the famous photo of the Wright brothers' first successful powered flight. The photo is in the Smithsonian.

I shook hands with Bill Clinton when, as Gov. of Arkansas, he toured our hospital on Veterans Day. Before he became President, before Monica, the dress, etc.

I talked with Hillary Clinton during a garden party for the Kidney Foundation at the Governors Mansion.

Had dinner at a table next to Joe Theisman's at Jack Binion's Steakhouse at the Horseshoe Tunica. He probably looked our way at some point. He was drop dead good lookin'. This was probably 1990 or so.

I played 3/5 play VP next to James Woods (The Shark; Lester Diamond in Casino) at Bellagio some years ago. He was very chatty and fun. I never let on I knew who he was 'cause I thought he might clam up or walk off if I acted star struck. I suggested he switch from DDB to DB. Right after he switched he hit for $800 and hugged me. You'd have thought it was a million, he was so excited.