Bad encounters with cast members

[Greg Cox]

Outside Trek, I once met Ben Browder at a FARSCAPE convention in Burbank. He turned out to be real science fiction fan, who was very well versed in the literature and could talk knowledgeably about Larry Niven, Vernor Vinge, and his other favorite authors. Afterwards, I sent him a care package of Tor Books and got a nice thank-you note in return.

Oh, my other funny Ben Browder story: This was actually the night before the first-ever FARSCAPE convention and the various cast members were wondering what to expect. "Is this going to be anything like GALAXY QUEST?" Browder asked.

"It's going to be exactly like GALAXY QUEST," I told him.

So, sure enough, the next day Browder bounded onto the stage and proclaimed, "Never Give Up! Never surrender!"

 

[Doom Shepherd]

Outside Trek, and probably pretty obscure, I once met SF author Jefferson Swycaffer. We had been long time "frenemies" on the Snopes message board, he was in Pittsburgh for a job interview, so we set up a lunch. It was fun, though now I couldn't tell you a thing we talked about.

My wife had lunch with Adam West in the California University of Pennsylvania cafeteria, when she was a student. He'd been invited for a talk for a class, and inexplicably left to fend for himself for lunch. I don't know any details except how surprised she was, and how friendly he was.

As a child, she and her mother rode with Lorne Greene on an elevator in Pittsburgh. Lorne must have been trying out an early artificial tan, because she says he was bright orange. (And to this day, she refers to him as "Lorne Orange.")

 

[JonnyQuest037]

My wife had lunch with Adam West in the California University of Pennsylvania cafeteria, when she was a student. He'd been invited for a talk for a class, and inexplicably left to fend for himself for lunch. I don't know any details except how surprised she was, and how friendly he was.

I had a semi-odd encounter with Adam West at a local con about ten years back. I was there on a Sunday afternoon, and when I got to West's table, there was no line, but he was engaged in conversation with somebody, so I hung back a bit out of politeness. A minute or two later, I saw that West was by himself once again, so I thought, "Well, if I ever have a window to meet Batman, this is it."

I stepped forward, introduced myself, and offered my hand to shake: "Hi, Mr. West, I'm John." The first thing he said, while he was shaking my hand, was, "We're getting ready to wrap it up here, John." (Note: This line is much funnier if you imagine it in Adam West's voice and cadence.)

I felt awkward and sheepish for a moment, and the interaction didn't go much further than that. And I actually felt kind of bad for the next 10 minutes. "Aw man, Batman hates me!" It was my worst 10-year-old fears coming to life. And the way I rationalized myself out of feeling this way was to think, "No, wait. Batman doesn't hate me... The guy who once played Batman hates me. I bet if the real Batman & I ever met, he'd totally think that I was cool." And then I felt better (I was in my 30s at the time.)

I ended up getting his autograph on my DVD of the 1966 Batman movie at another con a year or two later, so Batman & I are totally cool now.

 

[inflatabledalek]

Adam West was the coolest man I've ever met. He was eearing sunglasses indoors and didn't look like a twat, that's how cool he was.

Unfortunately the person working the table with him was treating him like he had dementia ("This is Stuart Adam... He'd like you to sign this picture of you holding the bomb in the Batman movie Adam. Do you remember the Batman movie Adam?"

That was at the same event I met Shatner. He signed at least a 1000 autographs (my ticket number was around there, God knows how many he got through in the rest of the day) in less than a hour by just ploughing through them with his head down not looking up or acknowledging the person in front of him in every way and having his loud American handler (who I was told had played one of the Na'Tooth's on B5, no idea who true that was) move people through at an insane speed. Over 1000 sigs at £25 a time all cash in hand.

Worst of all, it looked suspiciously like he wrote "Cunt" on mine. As a signature it certainly didn't look like his name at least.

Highlight of that weekend though was managing to see Billy Dee Williams's ear through the big partitions he and Carrie Fisher were hidden behind.

 

[Khan 2.0]

Sorry I got to lol. What was the item Shatner signed btw?

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Outside Trek, I once met Ben Browder at a FARSCAPE convention in Burbank. He turned out to be real science fiction fan, who was very well versed in the literature and could talk knowledgeably about Larry Niven, Vernor Vinge, and his other favorite authors. Afterwards, I sent him a care package of Tor Books and got a nice thank-you note in return.

Oh, my other funny Ben Browder story: This was actually the night before the first-ever FARSCAPE convention and the various cast members were wondering what to expect. "Is this going to be anything like GALAXY QUEST?" Browder asked.

"It's going to be exactly like GALAXY QUEST," I told him.

So, sure enough, the next day Browder bounded onto the stage and proclaimed, "Never Give Up! Never surrender!"

It's always nice to hear when people you watch on TV, etc and think seem like nice folk turn out to be just that. Hearing this makes me love Ben Browder just a little bit more than I did yesterday

 

[DertyNerdy]

Worst of all, it looked suspiciously like he wrote "Cunt" on mine. As a signature it certainly didn't look like his name at least.

There's no rule to say they have to sign their name

 

[stardream]

I've heard silly stories from actors about being practically forced to sign someone else's name to something or sign things they had nothing to do with. Daniel Radcliff was in Japan and someone stuck a picture of Elijah Wood in his face. He couldn't speak the language so he signed it "I am not Elijah Wood, best wishes, Daniel Radcliff."

And I wish I could remember the details but two actors were walking through Time Square when a vendor waved a movie poster at them from a movie that ONE of them had starred in. The other guy wasn't even in the movie but the fan insisted that he sign it as well. Once again English was not the fan's first language. I heard this story first hand on one of the morning talk shows...anyway, the 'non-star' said if that poster shows up on e-bay it's legit.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Worst of all, it looked suspiciously like he wrote "Cunt" on mine. As a signature it certainly didn't look like his name at least.

OK, this is useless without a pic! Let the board decide!

 

[Admiral Bear]

Adam West was the coolest man I've ever met. He was eearing sunglasses indoors and didn't look like a twat, that's how cool he was.

Unfortunately the person working the table with him was treating him like he had dementia ("This is Stuart Adam... He'd like you to sign this picture of you holding the bomb in the Batman movie Adam. Do you remember the Batman movie Adam?"

Met him back in 2004. Very, very strange man, who did indeed act like he wasn't completely with it. He very nearly refused to sign my Keaton/Nicholson Batman film one sheet which I'd had especially imported from the US because it had nothing to do with DC comics or the 60's Batman show. He was a bit of a tosser if the truth be told.

 

[Finngle Bells]

^I wouldn't in his shoes

 

[Greg Cox]

About a year ago, a teenager asked me to sign a STAR TREK book written by someone else. I couldn't think of a polite way to get out of it without making the kid feel bad, so I signed it "Greg Cox (NOT A.C. Crispin)" or something like that.

 

[Capn Nick]

Well, Jeri Ryan and Denise Crosby never respond to any of my elaborate love letters, so that's pretty rude! ;-)

But...the only time I ever met a Star Trek celebrity was Dwight Shultz at a upscale boutique hotel I worked out outside San Francisco by Napa. We got politicians and celebrities there and of course they were really strict about keeping composure and not bothering them with you were a fan. Anyway, I worked at the concierge desk and had one brief exchange with him while my manager was working out something out for him. I was beaming at him but being cool, he winked at me in a very kind and friendly way. When he was done, he said in a very theatrically formal but friendly way "Gentleman, you have been most helpful!" - he seemed like a really good natured guy.

 

[DertyNerdy]

Well, Jeri Ryan and Denise Crosby never respond to any of my elaborate love letters, so that's pretty rude! ;-)

But...the only time I ever met a Star Trek celebrity was Dwight Shultz at a upscale boutique hotel I worked out outside San Francisco by Napa. We got politicians and celebrities there and of course they were really strict about keeping composure and not bothering them with you were a fan. Anyway, I worked at the concierge desk and had one brief exchange with him while my manager was working out something out for him. I was beaming at him but being cool, he winked at me in a very kind and friendly way. When he was done, he said in a very theatrically formal but friendly way "Gentleman, you have been most helpful!" - he seemed like a really good natured guy.

I would of said...Thank you, Mr Broccoli

 

[Clym]

- he seemed like a really good natured guy.

unfortunately he's not - he's a card-carrying Nazi, and it's why I can no longer watch Barclay episodes

 

[Capn Nick]

unfortunately he's not - he's a card-carrying Nazi, and it's why I can no longer watch Barclay episodes

Really? That's too sad to hear. Like I said I didn't really speak with him. Just stood there at the concierge desk. But he was one of the few celebrities I saw at that job who didn't look ooze disdain and was smiling and interacting. Guess in that case, it's a good thing I didn't give him my card, with my cliche Hispanic last name ;-)

 

[Elder Knight]

I've heard silly stories from actors about being practically forced to sign someone else's name to something or sign things they had nothing to do with. ..

Someone who regularly went to conventions said that June Lockhart at one point claimed that she'd [somehow] acquired the legal right to sign the late Guy Williams' name to Lost in Space stuff. Honest.

 

[sttngfan1701d]

I've never personally met an actor (unless seeing Ellyn Berstyn and Irvin Kirschner apeak at my college once counts), but my brother met Michael Caine in London (who he described as "friendly...in a hurry, but still shook my hand") and a friend of mine met both Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey while they filmed a bit of "Contact" in Washington DC in 1996. He, like me, is handicapped with cerebral palsy. He was an extra in the movie. He always told a story about McConaughey carrying him fireman-style down the stairs during a hotel fire drill and the elevators were out, saying "Let's go, buddy."

On the one hand, I can totally see a 20-something McConaughey doing that. On the other, the story could be entirely made up. I've never really known. He was just an extra for one scene after all. What would he be doing in the hotel? But I guess I have to take him at his word.

Anyway, I've always subscribed to the viewpoint that "celebrities are people too," and while you can absolutely get some assholes, some of the "bad behavior" can be chalked up to stress. These people are approached by fans wherever they go. All the time. Imagine getting off a 15 hour flight, being totally exhausted, and being mobbed by fans in the airport wanting selfies...when all YOU want to do is get to your hotel/house and go to sleep. Or sitting for hours in a stuffy, loud convention hall signing autographs....hearing the same thing over and over and over again as fans want to talk about that time on that show that your character did that thing.

I admire the ones that are genuinely good sports about it. But I also bet that it's a total breath of fresh air when someone asks you about your life, your passions/hobbies, or something OTHER than your work on whichever show. That's one of the reasons I always liked watching Craig Ferguson when he still had the Late Late Show. Celebrities would come on there, and he'd tear the card up. And for 8 minutes or whatever it was, he'd just talk to them about something completely random and let the conversation flow organically from there. And many times it was gold, and they ended up talking like normal people instead of plugging whatever project they worked on or sharing silly stories from the set. So I always thought that if I ever met a celebrity for longer than 5 seconds, that's the approach I'd take.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

OK, this is useless without a pic! Let the board decide!

I kind of love that a mod is asking a user to post a picture with what looks like the "c-word" written on it.

He very nearly refused to sign my Keaton/Nicholson Batman film one sheet which I'd had especially imported from the US because it had nothing to do with DC comics or the 60's Batman show.

Why in the world should Adam West sign that? He had absolutely nothing to do with it. Even as a goof, that doesn't make much sense.

 

[Clym]

Really? That's too sad to hear. Like I said I didn't really speak with him. Just stood there at the concierge desk. But he was one of the few celebrities I saw at that job who didn't look ooze disdain and was smiling and interacting. Guess in that case, it's a good thing I didn't give him my card, with my cliche Hispanic last name ;-)

I wouldn't be at all surprised if Shultz is a Trump supporter. He would want you deported at once!