Name a celebrity you like who's supposed to be a jerk in private?

[bif]

I really admire Mel Torme's singing. But he was supposed to be an arrogant dick in person.

[tigereye]

1. Natalie Merchant was said to be a terrible tipper....

[devilgrrl]

18. I've heard she isn't very friendly either...

too bad because I like her music.

[tigereye]

50. I once saw her perform in a small club prior to her fame

and she performed with her back to the audience. Maybe she is very shy - many performers are....

[devilgrrl]

99. That may well be but her "shyness" comes across as pure...

unadulterated hostility.

[tigereye]

113. it's interesting, because often people who are shy

tend to be seen as indifferent or hostile, don't they? And I suspect if they were asked if that is how they felt, they would be very surprised.

(just for the hypothetical nature of it.)

since I don't know her, it's probably hard to tell....

[devilgrrl]

118. Then I suggest you talk with folks in her hometown...

I've yet to hear anything nice said about her. I'm telling you, she's unpleasant.

[Orrex]

52. A few years back

I worked in a sub shop @ Penn State when she was performing on campus one Sunday evening. About an hour before the show we got a really bitchy phone call from one of the on-campus entertainment coordinators, who demanded that we deliver two eighteen inch meatball subs with extra cheese at once because Natalie required them before performing.

We delivered the sandwiches, of course, because that was our job, but I can't quite convince myself that Ms. Merchant makes a habit of shotgunning a yard's worth of meatballs, cheese, and bread just prior to taking the stage. And the driver reported that the tip was about average.

So I don't know if Natalie is a good tipper or not, but her PSU facilitator was a real jackass, if that counts for anything.

[Skittles]

142. she is a terrible singer too

that think, shaky voice of hers just creeps me out

[datasuspect]

2. david bowie is said to be the type of person

who can know you for 20 years and then drop you and act like you are a stranger.

at least that's what his long time bandmates have said.

as an aside, he had mike garson around for some time in the 70s, dropped him for 20 years, and is his shadow nowadays.

[ScreamingMeemie]

3. Sam Elliot.

My brother worked with him on a movie. He had 10 ties (all the same pattern) and would get pissed off if someone brought him the "wrong" tie.

[ComerPerro]

75. I can just hear Sam Elliot

in a low, gruff, angry voice:

"That's the wrong God damned tie!"

[shrike]

106. Others have had good things to say about him

Sorry your relative had such a bad experience, but when he starred in a movie in a town near me, everybody complained about the movie folks and the other stars, but nobody had a bad word to say about Sam. He'd walk into a crowded restaurant, lean against the windowsill with a cup of coffee and wait his turn, that sort of thing. Real laid-back, don't-mind-me attitude. Well, I guess everybody has their a**hole side.

[seaglass]

4. I love Russell Crowe. I think he's supposed to be a bad boy,

wasn't he the one who through a phone at someone?

[Bombtrack]

8. if by bad boy you mean constant raging asshole

then yes, he is a bad boy.

[Zavulon]

89. I love his work, too, but having met him once

I'd probably have taken a swing at him if given a day of amnesty. He's the sort of dick that makes even dicks say "Christ, what a dick." Even if Crowe kicked my ass, just being able to punch him once would be worth it.

[Sugar Smack]

5. William Shatner.

[Darth_Kitten]

6. You are kidding me, right?

Bummer.

[Sugar Smack]

7. There's one instance I heard of-

Maybe he was in a bad mood, but some kid wanted his autograph and he just yelled at the kid to get away from him. I don't really know that that's true; I just heard it somewhere.

[TOhioLiberal]

9. William Shatner IS a dick

...back in the day before cons charged extra for you to get an autograph, he was routinely charging up to 300 smackers for his. AND PEOPLE WOULD STILL LINE UP FOR IT, KNOWING THAT!

[Sugar Smack]

14. THAT's another thing I heard!

CHARGING 3oo bucks for his autograph. BLEAUGH!

[TOhioLiberal]

15. He made my 'geez what an A-hole list'...

...with that. And the fact that he was invited to a STAR TREK CONVENTION and was not thrilled to have to actually talk ABOUT Trek.

[peekaloo]

65. Denny Crane!

he comes across as a pompous arse on talk shows.

Jim Beam me up Snotty!

[stanwyck]

83. My husband had a good experience with Shatner

Years ago, Shatner visited the company my husband worked for since Shatner held the copyright on some StarTrek images which the company was using in a promotion. He had to personally approve the work. My husband reported that Shatner was friendly, cooperative, and considerate to all the employees. He took the time to discuss StarTrek and listen to people.
So...I'm just adding a positive to the mix.

[Sugar Smack]

96. YESS!!

Glad to hear it!

[Bombtrack]

10. I'm a big fan of Val Kilmer as an actor and Billy Corgan as a musician

the former has the difficult rep (although it could just be an out of control tabloid monster started by the fuckup director of "The Island of Dr. Moreau") and Billy Corgan usually seems pretty full of himself.

[Bridget Burke]

58. As "himself"--Val Kilmer just doesn't ring my chimes.

I've heard about his rep. But a celebrity can be an asshole ONCE--& "stories" circulate that he's 100% asshole.

Whatever. But Kilmer surely does his job well. He threw himself into the Jim Morrison role--arty & pretentious as that movie was. Wasn't Morrison a bit arty & pretentious himself?

And I loved his Doc Holliday in "Tombstone."

[fudge stripe cookays]

153. Billy Corgan? Musician?

Can you actually USE those words in the same breath?

Not me. His whiny voice could be used at Gitmo to torture people.

[Shine]

11. The Dalai Lama

just kidding.

[Call Me Wesley]

35. LOL!

But to be honest, he was giving the Kalachakra initiation a few years back in Germany, and there was a nice documentation on it on tv a few months ago. (Heidi still doesn't believe me about the following.)

When he entered, there was a German woman standing up, waving some pictures and just screaming over and over again "Dalai Lama! I have pictures for you! I have pictures for you!" And I am pretty sure I overheard him saying, "Oh oh, good riddance!"

[Shine]

60. heheheheh.

yeah, that's probably about as "bad" as it gets with him, eh? He IS human, afterall....

[Call Me Wesley]

68. Of course he is.

I found it pretty charming. He was surrounded by security guards who pushed him towards the stage, and he looked quite stressed. Besides, he likes Italians more than Germans. He thinks Germans are way to sincere and have a hard time to laugh at something. (He loves to laugh, he jokes a lot, even when preparing high spiritual initiations - which triggered his critics saying that he's not serious at all.)

[Shine]

87. Interesting to hear that bit of backround info. Thanks!

He seems like a jolly guy, all in all...

Good to see ya!

[Haole Girl]

12. Want to know the truth?

Once I find out a celebrity is a jerk, I no longer want to meet them. I can't think of one. It just spoils it for me. I get enough of that in my every day life; why would I need to meet another?

[Mutley]

45. That's my feeling about it, too.

Finding out a celebrity is a jerk in real life spoils it for me.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

13. Arlo Guthrie

I don't want to believe he's a jerk, though.

[Zomby Woof]

22. He was very nice to me

I got his autograph on a coaster after a show he did at a small club in Seattle, back in '92... he had to do it three times before he spelled my name right, and was completely cool about it each time.

He struck me as real as a Guthrie should be.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

32. I'm so glad to hear you say that!

A friend of mine had a negative backstage experience with him. I'm hoping it was because the guy just hadn't had enough sleep, or was coming down with a cold, or somesuch...

[Zomby Woof]

81. Well, we're all human

And being on the road can make one angry and crazy, even the best of us!

[Taverner]

131. He was nice to me too

Although we met very briefly.

[Taverner]

132. Surprisingly, Kurt Cobain was not an asshole

Granted, this was back in the Sub Pop days and I was working at a college station, the only kind that played Nirvana back then...but he seemed like a real funny, snarky but not mean, down to earth kind of guy.

This was also pre-Courtney.

[Darth_Kitten]

16. I heard Keanu Reeves is a nice guy but.......

he likes his scotch.

You hear these kinds of things when these celebs film movies in your town.

[idgiehkt]

27. keanu is getting more and more

fucked up. I read that quote he said about rape and it blew my mind. I can't remember where I read it but it was somewhere like vanity fair, he was researching it for a part and an interviewer asked him about it and if it was hard to do for the movie and he said "some of the ladies don't mind it."
here it is:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2006/03/31/keanu-reeves-o...

[Aristus]

17. I heard Norah Jones is a real bitch.

I hope it's not true, though. Love her singing. And she's gorgeous!

[KamaAina]

19. Michigan's own Michael Moore is said to be

a holy terror on his interns. So I guess the way to fight for fair wages for Americans is to really stick it to your own interns.

edit: Aaaah! I typed two extra W's!

[LostinVA]

39. His employees are unionized, just as an FYI

[Bridget Burke]

49. Here's an account from one intern.

Hancox was pleased to see that some of the clips he had personally tracked down were woven into Moore's final footage. He also had the opportunity to meet and talk with the director himself during his first week on the job. "I had this image of Michael Moore before I got there—that he would be super-slick and running more of a Hollywood-type production. But instead, I found him to be very nice, relaxed, and down-to-earth."....

An aspiring filmmaker now in his senior year at UCSC, Hancox says that the internship has opened his eyes to the documentary art form—a facet of filmmaking that he had received little exposure to in the past.

"The main reason I took this internship was that I had no work experience with documentary or independent films," says Hancox. "I was under the impression that those types of films were from a different world—that they were less interesting and rarely watched. But I think Michael Moore has done a remarkable job of bringing the political independent film into the mainstream. He's demonstrated that you can make a very entertaining movie that still makes you think about important political issues."

http://review.ucsc.edu/fall04/making_movies.html

Interns generally don't earn much money--they're in it for the experience. Moore probably doesn't have time for slackers--this guy is not a slacker.

[LostinVA]

53. Yup, figured it was just propaganda about Moore n/t

[MorningGlow]

101. He was great when he gave a talk the university where I work

It was just after he won his Oscar, and he brought it to the press conference before his talk--let everyone (press, staff, students) come up to the table and pick it up if they wanted to. (I did and yeah, it is really heavy!)

[Tyrone Slothrop]

76. I've met Moore twice

He was really nice and friendly both times.

In fact, the first time I met him, I was considering running for Congress. (The Dem party in our district was refusing to run anyone against the incumbent Repub! I didn't really have a shot, but I figured *somebody* should run, dammit!) Anyway, Moore was incredibly friendly and helpful, told me that if I needed or wanted any assistance from him to let him know.

[SoyCat]

20. Trent Reznor and he probably is a jerk. But, I understand.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

59. I've heard he's not a jerk, however...

I have heard, from people that have met him, that his depression/insanity is no joke either.

[ceile]

62. He's actually very nice.

He stopped to listen to my friend play a song on the street one night and told her to keep it up and kissed her on the cheek. Then he signed autographs.

[LeftyMom]

104. He came into the store where I worked once

Apparently he was very nice and he gave a ton of people tickets to the show he was doing that night. I wasn't there, I was at a prenatal appointment, but everybody was really impressed with him as a person.

[SoyCat]

108. Vash, Ceile, and Leftymom: Wow! It's so good to hear all that. I, too,

have heard he's nice but I've heard even more reports of him being an ass. But, first-hand means so much more. I would tend to believe you guys over friend of a friend kind of examples.

[Generic Brad]

21. Jimmy Stewart

He swore at me once.

[Zomby Woof]

24. He was an ultra-rightwing fucknut

So it figures. I never bought into his "aw shucks" schtick anyway. He was decent in Hitchcock's films, but I hate the Capra stuff.

[Darth_Kitten]

135. he was known to be quite the womanizer...........

so that makes someone a jerk.....at least in my eyes.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

23. Chloe Shevigny and I know she's a jerk in private.

I met her at a club and she was a total bitch to everyone she encountered.

[idgiehkt]

28. holy crap

she played that butch dyke on a bike so well in "If These Walls Could Talk".

Bummer. I also loved her in Boys Don't Cry.

That sucks.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

30. It was at a dyke club, too.

She was playing pool at Henrietta Hudson's in NYC and bitching at anyone who walked by for getting in her way. Small club, tight spaces, pool table in the middle, deal with it.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

51. she is an idiot...she made some comment about how real ladies

dont carry condoms in their purses...

fucking dumbass!

real ladies carry condoms and sex toys in their purses...

[Flaxbee]

67. ...coming from the woman who blew Vincent Gallo in

"Brown Bunny". Puhlease, yes Chloe, do tell me all about what ladies do and don't do.

Now, I'm not saying what she did was wrong at all, but really, spare me the moralizing (esp. when that particular scene is probably going to be the one everyone remembers you for).

[idgiehkt]

105. it will be her legacy, for sure.

I haven't seen that movie and I've heard all the other part of it are excruciatingly boring, but she really...what was she thinking.

[LostinVA]

115. I guess real ladies DO perform real oral sex on their BF

in their BF's stupid movie... and then make believe they didn't.

"Boyfriend." Give me a frigging break.

She';s always come across as a snot to me in interviews.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

79. Ugh. I worked on a movie with her once

Total primadonna, utter bitch to the crew, showed up late, etc., etc.

And I remember the DP kept practically shitting his pants because she was on set. "Oh my God, we're shooting an Academy Award winner today!!" I think someone finally informed him that she had never won an Oscar; he kind of settled down after that.

I have no idea what people see in her. She's unpleasant, she's not attractive, she dresses like she's homeless, and she's not a very good actor.

[stanwyck]

80. She's as much a mystery to me

as Paris Hilton. She seems to have this rep as something special without any reason. And every comment Ive ever heard from her was asinine.

[smirkymonkey]

110. It just baffles me that she's even famous at all.

It's one thing to be an asshole if you truly are talented, beautiful, whatever. It's another thing entirely when you have no merits worth mentioning.

Supposedly she's a big "fashion plate" but I think she looks ridiculous in every photograph. Ugh.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

126. I have seen her in a few things that I thought were good.

"If These Walls Could Talk 2," "Boys Don't Cry," and I like "Big Love," but not her character. That being said, she got her start taping her nipples and jumping on beds in Harmony Korine movies.

[MrScorpio]

25. Kiefer Sutherland

He got a poor waiter fired for asking him to smoke outside of a restaurant

[Sugar Smack]

26. Oh, no, and I love his dad.

[Lisa]

147. and his mom is cool too (Shirley Douglas)

I've met her a couple of times at NDP events.

[Arkham House]

29. Al Franken

Saw him in a restaurant once...Jesus. Swore at the waitress, insulted people trying to tell him how much they appreciated him...it was an embarrassment. The man is a dick...

[Reverend_Smitty]

124. I met him once at a speaking engagement

from everything I saw, he was very nice to his fans. He signed everyone's book and posed for pictures for anyone who asked. Guess you caught him on a bad day

[mduffy31]

144. My brother drove him from his home in Minneapolis to Duluth

and he couldn't have been nicer.

[doc03]

31. I have heard Alan Alda is a dick and Jerry Lewis is

an f-----g asshole.

[ComerPerro]

77. Jerry Lewis is a huge asshole. He's even a dick in the telethons

[stanwyck]

84. Funny story on Lewis

Years ago, Spy Magazine ran a phony scan on celebrities with a faux richy rich royal who contacted celebrity charity spokespeople about donating huge amounts of money to their pet charity.
Audrey Hepburn's response was pure class. She asked that the "baroness" contact the charity directly, thank you very much.
But Lewis? Not only did he write a long, squeamishly fawning letter, he claimed to KNOW the woman, "weve met" (!), and asked if her private jet would be available for his use!

[begin_within]

93. I miss "Spy" magazine!

[Laurab]

33. Stephen Stills and I think David Crosby, too

Although, who knows, that may have been in their younger days - I did just read a couple of books that weren't very complimentary to either of them, but both said Graham Nash was a great guy.

[Frank Cannon]

34. Bryan Ferry

I absolutely love his music, but from all accounts he's an arrogant, right-wing, foxhunting, fascist fuckstick.

[smirkymonkey]

111. Man, that's disappointing.

[hotforteacher]

36. Mike Ness from Social Distortion

I had a serious crusher on him until I met him seven or eight years ago. Total misogynist fuckchop.

Feh.

[AngryAmish]

42. Maybe that is why he keeps going to jail....

[cmkramer]

37. Gene Kelly

A fabulously talented man but I understand he was a truly vile human being.

I'm a big Nathan Lane fan but supposedly he's very unpleasant to fans.

[smirkymonkey]

112. I've always hated Gene Kelly on a visceral level for some reason.

But never could put my finger on it. I guess I sensed what you have said about him was true.

[BuelahWitch]

140. Gene Kelly was a liberal through and through

He was one of several Hollywood celebs who flew to Washington to protest the HUAC hearings (others were Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall).
Sorry for two posts defending Kelly. I love him for his black Irish eyes and fantastic butt!

[BuelahWitch]

139. Maybe Kelly was like that in his prime

but a friend of mine wrote him a letter in the '70s and he replied back to her with a very nice letter. I think he mellowed with age.

I went to a talk given by former costar Betty Garrett ("On the Town"). She said Kelly was "very competitive" when she knew him, but didn't say anything else negative about him. She had nothing but good to say about Sinatra.

[calico1]

38. Martha Stewart...

that is, if rumors are true that she is very hard to work for and mean to her staff.

[Book Lover]

109. Oh, they're true

B*tch ran a guy up against her SUV when he was working on a neighbors house on the East End because she was just pissed off that day. I don't believe that karma is a real force, but I wish it were - then I'd say she went to jail for that real crime, and not that trumped up stock nonsense.

[Taverner]

128. I've heard she's damn near bi-polar with her staff

One day, gushing over them and giving them gifts, and saying how lost she'd be without them, the next moment shrieking and attacking them.

[LostinVA]

40. Ginger Rogers -- she was a rabid Freeper

"The Major and the Minor" was one of my all-time favorite movies until I read about this. I researched it, and it was indeed true.

[calico1]

44. Keep in mind that the Republicans of

yesteryear like Rogers, Stewart, Hope, etc. were not the neocon, fundy nutcases of today. Not that I wouldn't have preferred they be Democrats but it was not the same Republican party back then.

[LostinVA]

46. She was a Neo-con though, just before her time

[calico1]

47. Oh, I did not know that..n/t

[LostinVA]

48. I know -- sucks

[ComerPerro]

71. Republicans, even then, still believed horrible things

[Zomby Woof]

92. The Republicans still sucked balls

Most of them, including Stewart, and his pal Reagan, helped McCarthy with his witchhunting. Stewart was a big informer for the "cause".

Bad as the neocons and fundies are, their ancestors were not a whole lot better. Nixon, McCarthy, and the whole mess of them.

Maybe not the same Republican party, but still not worthy of sucking the sweat off of a yak's scrotum.

[AngryAmish]

41. Michael Moore - complete insufferable asshole

Doesn't pay his employees shit but lives like a king. Stay far away from the guy.

Nicest celebrity I met - many years ago I met Tom Watson a few times. I was a pimply faced teenager working at a golf club and the guy was a prince.

[K8-EEE]

57. I Had A Different Impression Of Michael Moore

Having met him twice briefly, he was very nice....I don't know if as a boss it's a different story. Even my RWer friend who met him at a bar admitted he was nice. THAT is something as he already called him a traitor and etc. etc. and so on before he met him (at Fox & Hounds Studio City CA)

[northzax]

61. heck, my boss is 'nice' to people

just not to those of us who work for him. perfetly charming sociopath.

[ComerPerro]

78. and how do you know that about Moore?

Did Robert Novak tell you?

[LostinVA]

116. Hehehe

[BarenakedLady]

43. Katharine Hepburn, Val Kilmer, Matthew McConaughey

hmmm I'm sure there is more.

[IntravenousDemilo]

94. Katharine Hepburn was nice to me, though.

I'd just spent a few hours on a rainy Saturday evening back in 1981 with my mentor and he'd given me a private-pressing record of one of his works, a rare item. Like a fool, I forgot to take it with me. I got a call the next day saying the mentor had to fly to Spain, but he'd leave the record with "the next-door neighbour". When I showed up, this old woman in gardening clothes answered the door. "You must be Doug," she warbled, and we had what I suppose was a nice chat. I forget most of what was said, because I was agog with the fact that I was talking to Katharine Hepburn.

My mentor has an odd sense of humour, despite his reputation for brusqueness.

[BarenakedLady]

117. What a cool story!

I lurve(d) her. I just know that she could be somewhat "unkind".

[Vidar]

122. Great anecdote.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

151. When I lived in New Haven, Connecticut, I was invited to a party given

by a household of gay men.

On the bulletin board in the kitchen was the list of Connecticut-based celebrities they had invited, more or less as a joke. Next to it was a stationery note card engraved with "Katherine Hepburn" and a handwritten message inside that read, "Miss Hepburn regrets that she will not be able to accept your kind invitation." It was signed with another name, followed by "Miss Hepburn's secretary."

[bif]

54. Diana Krall for sure

I know a bass ploayer who tours with her. She stays on a different floor in the hotel when they tour. She eats dinner seperately. And when they'e on stage, he and the guitarist aren't allowed to talk to her. Total bitch, apparently.

[1gobluedem]

88. I know a bass player who tours with her too

In fact he's on tour with her right now. Is that the same one you know?

[bif]

95. Yes, Paul

We've talked about him before, I believe. Hi there! We also both know Bess.

[1gobluedem]

97. I'm starting to think we might know each other

Except for that east side of Detroit thing.

[bif]

102. We've probably been at some of the same Jazz concerts

And I march in the Women in Black marches every month. Who knows? You work at WEUM right? We'll have to meet up one of these days. I missed you at the Detroit Jazz Festival. You mentioned that you were gong to work the Pyramid Stage on Saturday I believe. We ditched it because of the weather but spent a lot of time down there on Sunday.

[smirkymonkey]

114. What's Elvis Costello doing with her?

I met him briefly a few weeks ago - he seemed nice, almost shy.

[Lisa]

146. another Diana Krall story

I'm currently on Vancouver Island (where she hails from). Sometimes I go out with a guy who works in a hardware/salvage store, who used to be a backup musician -- he says that Diana Krall goes in there to shop (not really an "upscale" place) and when she first found about what he used to do, she was very nice to him. He's low-profile (and likes it that way) so she really wouldn't have had anything to gain from this. By coincidence, a recording he'd worked on back in the 1970s got nominated for a Juno award a few years ago, and he found himself sitting at the same table as Diana Krall and Nellie Furtado (since they seated nominees by province rather than by sales). Anyway, Diana Krall was very matey with him -- perhaps she was showing off in front of Nellie Furtado (who has also gotten a reputation for being a bit snobby), but he's got pretty good radar about this kind of thing, and he figures that she really is more relaxed when she's on her own. Maybe she's prickly about work stuff but more friendly in her private life (when she's not touring)?

[bif]

148. I heard her interviewed the other night on CBC

Boy did she ever sound full of herself.

[NewWaveChick1981]

55. Chuck Yeager.

My husband used to be a huge fan of his. Chuck Yeager was his childhood hero. He even bought the GI Joe Test Pilot doll in the 1990s that was modeled after him and had it sitting on his shelf for years. When he heard that Chuck Yeager was going to be at an air show in Winston-Salem a few years ago, he freaked and was so excited because here was his one opportunity to meet the man. Well, he got the doll ready and hoped he'd be able to get the box autographed and to actually shake his hand. The ad for the air show even said, "Chuck Yeager In Person - Meet him and get his autograph!!!". We get there, and Chuck is very elusive. We asked one of the air show staff where Col. Yeager would be signing autographs, and the guy said, "I have no idea. I don't think he's supposed to do that." I looked over the tarmac, and about 100 yards away, Chuck and his entourage were standing there talking. When they stopped and Chuck began walking away, we approached him. Hubby smiled and said, "I just wanted to tell you that you have been my biggest hero." The idiot said, "I hope you're not asking me to sign that box." Hubby said, "Well, the ad said you would sign autographs. I'd hoped to have you sign it because it's my favorite action figure, and I've followed your career my whole life." Idiot says, "I told them I wasn't gonna sign anything. Shit..." He grabbed the box, signed it, and huffed off. Several other people who saw us talking to Yeager had started to gather, because they wanted to meet him as much as Hubby did. When Yeager did that, all of them were as stunned as my husband. He looked at me like someone had slapped him and said, "Geez, what a total dick." We left, and when we got home, my husband immediately listed the signed test pilot doll on ebay. He didn't charge much for it, but he wanted it GONE. To this day, he has nothing to do with Chuck Yeager because of that. He got rid of everything associated with that dick. He found out not long after that incident that Yeager has been a real asshole to his fans. Wish we'd known that ahead of time.

Talk about bursting your bubble...

[K8-EEE]

56. No, Mel Was Lovely!! Steve Martin

My hub worked with him on an animated short years ago, he couldn't have been nicer...I dunno he might have been a dick with women he dated or whatever.

Steve Martin, I heard an awful story about a blind date. Basically he asked the hostess of a party for the phone number of this woman, using her first name & saying she was a writer. Well it turns out there were two women with the same first name & they were both writers, he calls the wrong one and asks for a date and she's all excited. Well he shows up and actually TOLD her she wasn't who he thought. But he was like, "oh, come on, let's go have dinner ANYWAY" but like pouting all the way through it, all disappointed, OMG...

[ceile]

63. Tommy Lee Jones

is a dick! I've heard many stories. Steal people's parking spots, dents cars and then drives off, just an all round jerk.

[begin_within]

64. I have word that Kate Pierson of the B-52s is a real "queen bee."

James, the guy that cuts my hair knows the manager of Humphrey's By the Bay in San Diego, a place that has a lot of concerts, so he is often referred to do the hair for traveling singers and performers who play there, who don't have their own hairstylist with them. I'm surprised that the B-52s don't travel with their own hairstylists, but twice James has done the hair for the 2 women in the group on the day of their show. He says that Cindy Wilson is very easygoing (and usually a little tipsy) and is satisfied with whatever James does to her hair. But he says Kate Pierson is imperious and difficult to deal with, making many demands and generally being unsatisfied. She tells him that he can't look at her. I think she means to not make direct eye contact. He just says, "OK" and goes about his work. One time he was standing in front of her and she said, "You're LOOKING at me!" He just said, "Honey, I have to look at you to get your hair just right." Then she shut up, for a while.

[begin_within]

66. Susan Sarandon is supposed to be awful to wait on,

if you believe the postings on bitterwaitress.com

[Flaxbee]

69. Bob Hope was mean to my cousin

... met him on a golf course and Hope screamed at him for asking for an autograph. Now, I realize it must get tiring to be asked all the time, everywhere you go, but sheesh. Screaming at a teenaged boy? Just don't.


Conversely, Richard Nixon was a true gentleman, very kind and gracious.

[Taverner]

134. Nixon doesn't surprise me

And all accounds say Bush is a nice person too.

Like I have always said, some people's place is not in the Whitehouse, but at back yard BBQ's. This would have been a dream job for both.

[bikebloke]

70. Yesteryear

My grandmother used to work for the Bureau of Engraving. They used to bring visiting Hollywood stars through to see the presses where the money was printed. Most were arrogant and snooty. Not Gary Cooper. He was a respectful gentleman and even got down on his hands and knees to look at the machinery.

She once saw Errol Flynn in a restaurant in DC. Flynn and his wife were drunk and had a loud, vile argument.

They also had tax records there, and she saw that a lot of rich Hollywood stars like Mary Pickford and Douglas fairbanks were exempt from paying taxes.

[TK421]

72. I have it on good authority that Harrison Ford is an arrogant snob

and Tom Hanks is a really boring guy. I'm friends with a guy who meets all of these celebrities at private screening events

[Taverner]

129. I've heard that about Hanks

Not that he's mean or anything, but that there simply is nothing there.

[CBHagman]

145. Come on! We're Democrats. We'll overlook "boring."

At least I will.

I think the problem here is that we want to maintain the fantasy about famous people. We've meshed entertainment and reality to such an extent that we expect the one to carry over into the other.

On the one hand, we value celebrity entirely too much, to the point where the famous receive credit for things they don't even do. Remember the outpouring of grief for Princess Diana, with people saying things like "She was the only one who cared"? No, dear, the pudgy, gray-haired retiree making lunches for the homeless cares a great deal and has probably done more for the human race than the princess of Wales, but there will be no round-the-clock media coverage when he/she dies.

And on the other hand, we can be awfully judgmental. Sure, a celebrity depends on a fan base and an image, but does any human being really want to be "on" all the time, approached by total strangers without pause, and have his/her moods and expressions analyzed?

Those of us who are introverts occasionally run across the "I thought you were so stuck-up" comment from eventual friends. Believe me, I've gotten it a time or two.

That said, it's certainly easy for someone powerful, influential, and/or wealthy to become estranged from reality. It's not as though they have ironing to do or buses to catch.

And I don't doubt for a moment that there are many tales of bad behavior. I'd just be cautious about quickly attaching a label to someone.

[ComerPerro]

73. Apparently John Lennon was a huge asshole, in private and in public

still like the guy though

[Benfea]

74. Vaclav Nelhybel!

Of course, he was kind of a dick in public too, so you can't really accuse him of being two-faced about it.

Isaac Newton was also a prick.

For geniuses like Nelhybel and Newton, we overlook their personality flaws because they've contributed so much in other ways.

Of course, what I really like are those few celebrities who go in the opposite direction. People like Charles Barkley and Dennis Rodman act like dicks in public, then run off and do charity work while no one's looking.

[begin_within]

90. I think Charles Barkley is a gifted comedian. He and Michael Jordan were

on the Oprah show this year, and they are best friends, and kidded and joked at each other mercilessly, but Jordan was more the straight man, while Barkley gave all the best lines - everything that came out of his mouth was witty and it all seemed spontaneous. I bet he is a panic to hang out with.

[mvd]

82. Scarlett Johansson is called stuck-up and rude by some

But I think she's attractive and a good actress. Who knows if all these rumors are true, or if the accounts here are on a day when the celeb had a bad day.

[terrya]

85. Isn't Colin Farrell supposed to be a big jerk in private?

I like his movies, but...

[begin_within]

91. You be the judge...

[LostinVA]

119. What is that clip from???

[begin_within]

123. I don't know... I just saw it on some other web site. Sorry.

[1gobluedem]

86. Mitch Albom

His 'Tuesdays with Morrie,' stop and smell the roses schtick is a big fraud. A woman who used to work for me interned on his radio show and he was a classic Type-A, hysterical screamer who called his staff names and even threw things at them.

[Elidor]

98. I've never had a desire to meet celebrities

They're bound to be disappointing, and the more you admire them, the bigger the letdown will be. It's pretty naive to think that someone who is accorded full asshole privileges by virtue of being rich and famous will be pleasant in person. Those who remain pleasant to others after years of fame are generally the exception to the rule.

Kathy Bates is supposedly pretty approachable and nice.

[mvd]

100. They are just like other people

Plenty of jerky and often Repuke rich people out there, but also plenty of nice ones. Other factors include background, basic personality, and the people that celebs get connected with.

[MorningGlow]

103. John Cusack

I hear he's a royal asshole. Hope that's incorrect, though. I LOVE the guy!

[KurtNYC]

107. Vicky Lawrence

it's not all that funny when she's acting and she is that character in real life.

edit add: Russell Crowe, Mel Gibson, Tom Cruise, Naomi Campbell, Bill O'Reilly (d'uh), Chuck Berry, and Rev. Robert Schuller (I couldn't resist adding the obvious ones)

[LostinVA]

120. The Russell Crowe thing is funny to me

Because I know two people who have worked with him on separate movies (wardrobe, AD), and they both said he was a perfect gentleman to the crew. I also know he's friends with some people who are said to be quite nice: Jodie Foster, Jennifer Connelly, Steve & Terri Irwin, Hugh Jackman, etc..

I still don't completely believe that hotel dude's story 100%. Methinks someone wanted a settlement, which he got.

[ComerPerro]

136. Hey, I'm a nice guy to just about everyone I meet (not in GD, of course)

and I am pretty polite...


But I could see myself throwing a phone...

[calico1]

133. You LIKE O'Reilly and Schuller?

[ComerPerro]

137. I do find it odd that you like O'Reilly

[Lydia Leftcoast]

152. I knew someone who was on a game show with Vicky Lawrence

They were paired to play whatever game it was , and she was just blowing off the whole thing and giving stupid answers. During the break, my acquaintance took her aside and said, "Look, I know this is no big deal to you, but I'm trying to win enough money to finish school." She was taken aback, but played the game seriously after that, and my acquaintance ended up winning enough for a year's tuition.

[Gatchaman]

121. Neal Peart

The drummer for Rush. Hell of a talented guy, but everything I've read about him paints him as an arrogant dickhead.

[SoyCat]

138. I think he's also a fairly vocal advocate of Libertarianism.

[GCP]

125. Faye Dunaway is supposedly the queen bitch from hell

Stephanie Miller today was reading about how she's reviled by the staff at the West Hollywood "Whole Foods" store. Having them slice turkey breast and then at the end, go through the package and tell them it's too thick/too thin and reject the whole thing.

[smirkymonkey]

127. What makes people do things like that? Are they so filled with

anger and self-hatred that they have no choice but to spill it over onto others? That goes beyond ego, it's psychotic.

[Taverner]

130. Vince Neil

He was at a show that my band in college was opening, and the guy was drunk, belligerent and downright obnoxious. What the fuck he was doing in San Jose, CA I have no idea.

[Skittles]

141. Russell Crowe

I really like his performances but from what I have read he is a bit of a dick in real life

[Nailzberg]

143. Jeremy Piven.

From everything I've heard, he's a prick. Never met him myself, though.

Too bad if true, he's pretty damn entertaining. His short-lived ABC series Cupid was one of the smartest dramady I've seen on network TV.

[begin_within]

149. To me, he comes across as an arrogant jerk in public too. I bet that the

Emmy voters were sorry they gave him an Emmy as soon as he stepped up on stage to "accept" it. He seems like a complete, egomaniacal ass to me, every time I've seen him, in interviews, red carpet events, etc.

[noonwitch]

150. Peter Sellars was funny in his movies

But he was a terrible excuse for a human being. I saw the movie Geoffrey Rush made for HBO about him. He told his kids that he loved Sophia Loren more than them. He wouldn't go see his mother on her deathbed. It's sad that a man who made so many people laugh at his movies was such a pathetic human off screen.