Convention Circuit - Least Favorite Person Associated With Trek?

[CaptMoe]

Met Shatner and had picture with in 2003. Didn't have an issue with him. I told him thank you and he shook my hand. Then met Stewart in Vegas last year. Had picture with him as well. Was very nice. Said hello to each person I was near. One thing I found interesting was that he stood the same way whoever it was next to him. Haven't had any bad meetings except one and I've met everyone from all series except De Kelly, Linda Park and R Dawson.

The one bad meeting was Dominic Keeting. Was four years ago in Vegas. He was drunk. And then complained about having to sign autographs loudly to the people he was signing for. In stark constrast Terry Ferrell was signing at the same table and due to the length of the line she got up and walked the line. Found him to be completely lacking in class.

[sonak]

Bishop76 wrote:

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^ I met deLancie in an elevator once. He was a bit of a prick. When he's at cons, doing the con thing, he seems lively and pleasant enough. Never bothered to get his autograph after that first meeting with him, though.

you got me interested in that encounter, if you'd be willing to elaborate I'd appreciate it.

[Frontier]

Actors are indeed people. They do indeed have off days. They could be sick, have trouble at home, any number of a hundred reasons for them to be less than pleasant.

As someone who has met a fine number of actors, I tend to dismiss when I hear a singular "bad" encounter with someone.

I only consider such when they're repeated, or I've experienced the actor multiple times.

William Shatner is a great stage personality, but is indeed quite distant and reserved when one-on-one. You can't fault the man for it too much, with the time and volume of events he's done. But when you hold him up to the rest of his cast mates, it's clear he's just not that "giving" on a personal level.

Patrick Stewart is much the same. On stage, he can be lovely. One on one? Oy. When I met him, even his on-stage self was a bit of a prick, to be blunt. My good friend Bill has met him more recently, and found him to be neutral. But he knew well enough not to try anything but "business" of autographs.

Nichelle Nichols is one not mentioned much, but she can be a royal snot. I've met her once and found such true. Heard it from others. She can be more ammeniable -- friend of mine actually got her to sign a phot for me with "Hailing Frequencies Open" -- which she obviously hates to do, lol. But I also know of a fan I met when seeing her, who had a fully signed TOS cast photo -- including Gene! -- and only lacked her because she refused to sign it. Why? Her head was partially obscured by Nimoy. The guy even offered to make out a $500 check to the charity of her choice, and she still refused. Which is just silly. If your own ego at not being perfectly in frame makes you a snot, you know, shame on you. If you won't overcome that and sign your name for a generous donation to a charity? Wow. Sad.

Actors also have phases, I might add, in addition to being subject to normal moods.

I met Rene Auberjonis the month after DS9 went off the air. He was so friendly and personable, as was Nana Visitor, I was shocked. It was one of my first conventions, had only done 2 or 3 others. I met him exactly one year later, the summer he did 'The Patriot' with Mel Gibson and relative unknown Heath Ledger? Wow. He was distant, dressed all spiffy, and surrounded by an entourage that 'protected' him. At the convention in question, we happened to all get thrown outside that hot August day. It was Philly, where the Republican National Convention for President was at the same weekend, city. Well the Governor of Illinois sent some alarm clocks to his delegation, and some dip-wad thought "bomb" and we're all outside for 3 hours.

During this, Robbie McNiell and Armin Shimmerman worked their asses off entertaining us, posing for pictures, telling stories, listening to the fans. They went above and beyond, and they didn't have to. They could have cloistered off under an umbrella and been "celebrities" but they really swung into action. Rene? He *DID* stand off cloistered by his entourage, segregated, refusing to let anyone near him. It was such a radical departure from only 12 months earlier.

While off topic, in terms of favorites and nicest?

Avery Brooks gets the award for being the "biggest star" who is nicest. He is so deep and philosophical, yet so down to earth and friendly. He takes the time to shake your hand, ask your name. He's a man of the people, very casual. He also levels with you: he does these shows to say "hello" to the fans. He doesn't promote any projects unless you ask him directly, and even then, he tends to keep that brief! He genuinely enjoys experiencing the diversity of the fans and to see what Star Trek means. I'm left in awe whenever I meet him, because he doesn't have to do that.

[Cheapjack]

I don't think there's a single one of them that couldn't be worked on, or a connection made, in the 5 minutes you get with them. They're not totally like the characters they play, but that would be stupid to expect.

Walter Koenig was the friendliest. John De Lancie looked at me with interest, but I was too shy to connect. De Kelley was the most solid. Leonard Nimoy the most aura-ed. William Shatner was a bit 'so f**', at that time, but wasn't rude at all. Well humoured.

I've met six of them since 2004, and I'm going to get my photo ops retouched, cos I look terrible in them. And, I'm going to meet as many of them again and get another lot!

[Alienesse]

This certainly is a useful thread. I haven't met anyone yet, but I hope to meet Marina Sirtis at Fedcon this year. She seems like a nice person and I've heard good things about her convention persona.

By the way, I'm a bit disappointed in this year's Fedcon line-up. Being the 20th edition and all, I honestly expected more and bigger Star Trek stars. For now, the only Trek actors announced are Marina Sirtis, Garret Wang, Wil Wheaton, Nicole de Boer, Carel Struycken (Mr. Homn), Arlene Martel (T'Pring) and Kate Vernon (Valerie Archer, VOY). I'd say that's a tad thin.

Well, considering it's my first convention, it'll probably be fun anyway, but there's only one person in there that I'm actually excited about meeting and that's Marina.

[ClayinCA]

I've met Marina a number of times. She's a real sweetheart, and her "on-stage" persona is a hoot. Woe betide the poor soul who has to walk out to go to the bathroom while she's talking...!

[Nerys Ghemor]

Now that you say that, Clay, I imagine if she's really like that, she must've had TONS of fun with the "drunk" scene in First Contact.

How does she take the "woman driver" jokes about crashing the ship? Does she get offended, or play right into it?

[Tosk]

Alienesse wrote:

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This certainly is a useful thread. I haven't met anyone yet, but I hope to meet Marina Sirtis at Fedcon this year. She seems like a nice person and I've heard good things about her convention persona.

As Clay said, Marina is total blast and really nice person to boot.

Cheapjack wrote:

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Walter Koenig was the friendliest.

I found the same. We ran into him accidentally before the convention started, and he was just total gentleman and very friendly. He remembered us when we saw him at the signing table later and he reacted almost like we were old buddies of his.

[LaBarre]

JiNX-01 wrote:

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Patrick Stewart on the other hand ....

I dropped $60 on him (Chiller Theater Expo) for an autograph (not even personalized). It was the scene in The Inner Light where his wife dies. I picked it because Stewart's son was in the scene and was also signing autographs. There was nobody else there at the time so I started to tell Patrick about how much I enjoyed episode. He just stood up and walked away. What an .

I sympathise - must have been a bummer but I don't think one can make generalisations on these things (not that you are). It's obviously a matter of individual experience.

So FWIW, here's mine:

I've met Patrick Stewart at least two dozen times. At large conventions I've always found him to be a gentleman, friendly and polite - in a reserved kinda way.

In smaller group settings he's very personable, warm and chatty.

The whole autograph thingy with him can be a bit of hit and miss, depending on the circumstances. At big conventions, Stewart can be signing up to 500 or more at a sitting where he's being kept to a strict timetable. This ensures that any personal interaction is perfunctory. He signs up to do the autograph gig and he does it. I don't think he's contractually bound to also provide individually memorable experiences for every person who pays for the privilege.

At smaller conventions, particularly those outside the USA, I've found him to be far more relaxed. Seems to me that a lot of responsibility falls on the organisers for the convention atmosphere engendered. In the UK and in Australia, in particular, the organisers tend to be more relaxed - consequently Stewart is too.

When he's in a play, whether in the US or UK, Stewart always makes an appearance at the stage door and he's more than happy to sign any playbill offered. I have seen him - most recently in November - refuse to autograph Star Trek items presented once he's ascertained that the person hasn't actually been to the play - utilising the Picard death glare before moving on.

In all these years I've never had a problem. I get the playbill signed first and then ask him to autograph one other item I've brought for the occasion. He always has.

[Saxman1]

I have a friend who has been to many conventions and these are his takes:

Nichelle Nichols: he, his wife and his mom actually had dinner with her at one of the conventions (1990 maybe?) and she was an absolute joy. He said she was charming, funny and witty, very interested in the fans and their own stories, no problem with autographs or pictures.

Patrick Stewart: large picture taking session, friendly but said "I wish I had time to chat more, but we have to get through this large line. Thanks for coming." Very nice.

My own experiences: Jimmy Doohan, George Takei and Walter Koenig were very friendly and warm, no problems. Leonard Nimoy and William Shater waved to everyone and said thanks for coming, etc. Nothing negative to report.

My wife and I were at one of Terry Farrell's first conventions and she was either high as a kite or drunk with bloodshot eyes and constantly dropped f-bombs into her talk to the crowd. One of the convention vendors said no one could keep up with her partying! A husband and kids later, she seems to have calmed down a lot, judging from the above story of her going out of her way to make sure everyone received autographs.

[JiNX-01]

Frontier wrote:

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Nichelle Nichols is one not mentioned much, but she can be a royal snot.

I had a very nice experience with Nichelle. She was very pleasant at my autograph and photo op sessions.

[JiNX-01]

LaBarre wrote:

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I've met Patrick Stewart at least two dozen times. At large conventions I've always found him to be a gentleman, friendly and polite - in a reserved kinda way.

In smaller group settings he's very personable, warm and chatty.

(For anyone who hasn't attended) Chiller Theater Expo is an autograph and photo op event. There are no Q/A forums, or meet and greets. And Patrick and Daniel had a small private room for doing autographs and photo ops. I was the only one there at the time.

[Sector 7]

JiNX-01 wrote:

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(For anyone who hasn't attended) Chiller Theater Expo is an autograph and photo op event. There are no Q/A forums, or meet and greets. And Patrick and Daniel had a small private room for doing autographs and photo ops. I was the only one there at the time.

Could that be the reason for his attitude, that there wasn't anyone else there? Maybe he was suffering from neglect.

[T'Bonz]

Random thoughts regarding the 30 years (with a ten year gap in that range while I was raising my kids) that I've attended conventions and my opinions on various actors that I've seen/met.

-Shatner: Was polite. Much better than I expected. Spoke briefly, interacted occasionally with fans in line.
-Nimoy: polite but never looked up at anyone.
-Doohan: A riot. Very personable, and loads of fun.
-Koenig: Reserved. I think he's a bit shy.
-Nichols: Friendly and charming. When my middle girl was a baby, Nichols wanted to hold her. The shot made it on the news.
-Kelley: Saw him, but didn't get to interact. Too bad.
-Takei: Very fan-friendly and good natured.
-Robin Curtis. A real sweetheart. Even remembered my name hours later.

-Frakes: Another fan-friendly celeb. He interacts well with us.

-Brooks. Gave a good show, but I didn't get to interact with him.
-Visitor, Shimerman, Grodenchik, Eisenberg and Masterson were all friendly and fun guests.
-Alaimo. Didn't know what to make of us, I think. Reserved.
-Biggs: Very fan friendly and seemingly a hell of a nice guy. Easy on the eyes too.

- Beltran. A bit of a dick. Interacts, but it's clear that he and some of the other Voyager cast members weren't keen on the fans. I could fill a page about this guy. Hitting on my 19 year old daughter hard didn't help. He's older than her father.
- Phillips and Picardo. Also not keen on the fans, but they put on a good show. The three of them together? Whoo boy. I lost a lot of respect for all three.
- Tim Russ. Fine entertainer. A bit reserved.

- Blalock. An utter airhead and dumbass. Even my husband, a fan of her, didn't like her much.
- Trinneer. Like Biggs, very fan-friendly. Hung out in the bar with us and didn't mind people interacting.
- Keating. Funny as hell. Can't sing for shit.
- Montgomery. Was utterly wasted on Enterprise. Friendly, fun guy. They didn't use him properly. He was loads of fun.
- Billingsley. Another good entertainer at conventions.

So - it was a true mix. Some great, some shitty, most decent. Some have been pleasant surprises, some have been utter assholes and it has been interesting to meet so many of them, even if briefly.

[Alienesse]

ClayinCA wrote:

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I've met Marina a number of times. She's a real sweetheart, and her "on-stage" persona is a hoot. Woe betide the poor soul who has to walk out to go to the bathroom while she's talking...!

I'll be sure to remember that and plan my bathroom trips carefully.