I used to help run the book signings at a big literary festival so got to meet all sorts who were in the news at the time including various politicians and a handful of the Beirut hostages.
The most famous, especially back then, was Salman Rushdie. His appearance made headlines as he was still in strict seclusion. I tried to throw out his close security guard who explained why that would be a bad idea. He was clearly the meatshield and I reckon if he'd have been around Riahide might not have been so badly injured.
The nicest celeb was Richard E. Grant who worked hard than anyone else to ensure that everyone got as much time as they wanted with him, despite also having one of the longest queues.
The one that really left an impression was Wilfred Thesiger - it felt like he'd stepped out from a different time.
Oh and Cecil Parkinson called my Dad "a horrible little man with a childish schoolboy sense of humour" which he wore as a badge of pride, especially after the news came out about what a shithouse CP was.
Madonna, I was 13 years old and was an extra on A League of Their Own and I ran into her on set. I was nervous but she gave me her time and was gracious enough to talk to me... in fact, everyone on the set was very open and willing to talk with the extras, except for Tom Hanks. He would do his scenes and then exit as quickly as possible, while avoiding talking with people.
KCIII back in the 70s, when he visited the factory I worked at, Cossor, in Harlow.
Shook my hand and called me by my nickname that was on a sign on the front of my workbench.
At the end of the visit, everyone was outside to building to wave the Kingy to be off, one of the the blokes wives ran out and kissed him on the cheek. It made national news and before long was happening every time he went somewhere.
ISTR he actually flew the helicopter off himself.
The next day someone had added 'By Royal Appointment' to my sign.
Narrowly missed out on spending the day with Patrick Stewart at an event in London. My wife went instead and she doesn’t even like Star Trek. She said he was very nice though.
I don't really have any anecdotes of meeting famous people IRL. But I do find it curious how this question seems to be a common one for ice-breakers.
I notice on Come Dine With Me (the TV show) that the contestants ask each other this question in basically every series.
Why is this? Is it like the same excitement I get from finding a shiny Pokemon or spotting a rare bird out on a walk? Is it because people can provide insights as to what these people are actually like everyday? Or something else?
Do we still remember Michael Hutchence (of INXS)? I had lunch with him once, simply because my lunch break coincided with him waiting to be on the show I was a tech on. Pleasant fellow, shame he died early.
I've got famous family members so I won't count them, for me it was either Jarvis Cocker or Craig Charles both hugely influential when I was a youth and both were great people to meet.
My sister met the queen during the golden jubilee celebrations. Her take away was that the queen was rude and needed to learn some basic manners like using "please" and "thank you".
I met Samuel L Jackson when he was filming in Liverpool.
He told me to go away.
One time we were in the pub my wife annoyed Chris Tarrent by chatting with his wife at the bar so he was left standing on his own for about 20 mins. You could see the annoyance on his face from being ignored growing.
Classic.