84 replies to this topic

[Michael Stranger]

Ok. I'll give back Emily Blunt, Noel Fielding, Desmond Dekker, and Conan Doyle. I'm keeping the rest though!!

In the process of double-checking, I just found out Jeff Beck was raised about 200 metres from where I'm sitting. Nice!

[garjones]

I spotted Dexter Fletcher while walking down Shaftsbury Avenue the week before last to meet Sanjay in the pub.

That's a bit of a starry place though. I like the idea of stars in obscure places so people don't believe it's them. A friend of mine once said he saw this bloke that looked the spitting image of Elton John walking down Station Rd in Port Talbot, a newspaper story a few days later revealed it was him, he was doing a video shoot nearby. Everyone left him alone as nobody considered he'd actually be there.

[Mike]

Sanjay has this weird power to summon Dexter Fletcher though.

[Chris Fenton]

Voldemort is from my home town,

So is Sir Trevor Nun,

I went to school with Elena Baltacha's brother, she was a few years below me. There was a period when all the players from Ipswich Town FC lived in the catchment of my primary school and so we had a lot of their children, including Baltacha.

Cradle of Filth are from one of the local villages, but Danny Filth was a bit of a cunt to me in a pub after he spilled my pint so he no longer counts.

Thomas Wolsey was born in Ipswich, appropriately for this forum the illustrator Giles worked from a small office in the town centre.

The current claim to fame is that Paul Mason the worlds fattest man lives there, he tips the scales at a tiny 70 stone.

[Ulf Imwiehe]

Cradle of Filth are from one of the local villages, but Danny Filth was a bit of a cunt to me in a pub after he spilled my pint so he no longer counts.

Maybe he was having a bad day? Whenever I met him for interviews he was a perfect and side-splittingly funny gent (as was his guitarist, Paul Allender).

[Jim Ohara]

Chicago of course is home to loads of famous people, but when you ask someone to name a famous Chicagoian most either say Oprah (born in Mississippi), Mike Ditka (born in Pittsburgh) and Michael Jordon (born in Brooklyn). It's funny how you can become associated with a new place and be adopted as one of their own if you make an impact there.

[garjones]

Yeah which is why you to have to go homegrown really. Tina Turner, Cher, Madonna and Bryan Adams live in London. You can't exactly call them products of the town. The guys in LA could claim almost everyone.

[craggy]

and yet, when it comes to nationalities, I think it's easier. I'm happy letting the US have Chris Martin if the UK gets to keep claiming Kylie Minogue. I think Scotland has mostly stopped wanting Mel Gibson, even though he's recently been acting not-unlike many Scots men of his age.

[Chris Fenton]

Maybe he was having a bad day? Whenever I met him for interviews he was a perfect and side-splittingly funny gent (as was his guitarist, Paul Allender).

It's possible. I think I went to a barbeque at the drummers place, he seemed a nice guy.

[njerry]

According to my neighbor across the street, my house was occupied in the 1970s by members of the New York Cosmos soccer team, including the great Pele.

[Sanjay]

Like Mike Stranger (great avatar!), I refer to the interwebs in regards to my local borough (which was also Maggie Thatcher's constituency!):

    * Anthony Andrews, actor
    * Stephanie Beacham
    * Emma Bunton, singer
    * Shelley Conn, actor
    * D. C. Eyles, illustrator and comics artist
    * Samantha Fox, UK model and singer
    * Robert Fripp, musician
    * Trevor Howard
    * David Jason, actor
    * McFly, UK band
    * Stephen Merchant, actor/director/writer/comedian
    * George Michael, singer and songwriter
    * Spike Milligan, comedian
    * Eric Morecambe, comedian
    * Elaine Paige, stage performer
    * Steve Pemberton, actor and member of The League of Gentlemen
    * Cliff Richard, singer
    * Peter Sellers, comedian
    * Feargal Sharkey, singer
    * Reece Shearsmith, actor and member of The League of Gentlemen
    * Jerry Springer, born at East Finchley Station, or possibly Highgate, during World War II
    * Mike Skinner, rapper and producer
    * Terry-Thomas, actor
    * Tamás Vásáry, pianist and conductor
    * Johnny Vaughan radio presenter for 95.8 CapitalFM
    * Amy Winehouse, singer
    * Norman Wisdom

I once met Emma Bunton, at the height of her Spice Girls fame, in my local pub. She was looking good and a friend tried in vain to chat her up and she ended up by our table. She saw me, said I was cute and semi-hugged me (I was sitting down) my face was in her cleavage for many long seconds  - I have witnesses!

Sanjay has this weird power to summon Dexter Fletcher though.

...yeah, I've seen him a good few times now, at very different places. Crazy but awesome hair.

[Steve Sensible]

I used to see a celebrity (of some description) almost every time I went to London. They ranged from Helen Mirren to Stefan Edberg, but the highlight must have been Siobhan Fahey and Dave Stewart walking down (whatever the name of the street where Comic Showcase used to be.) Whereas most celebs try to be low-key when they're out and about, she was wearing a bright pink romper suit (and was heavily pregnant) and he was wearing a tweed suit like some kind of Victorian gentleman.

[Sanjay]

Either Neal Street or Charing Cross Rd?

But yeah, here in Soho you'll see many famous folk. I do meet many because of work too.

[Steve Sensible]

Either Neal Street or Charing Cross Rd?

Neal Street - that's it! Is Comic Showcase still there?

I once sat opposite Ken Russell on the tube. Wish I'd got his autograph.

[Sanjay]

No, it moved to Charing Cross Road and then closed down. I worked there as a student in the mid/late 90s when it was at Neal Street, fun times.

[garjones]

Like Mike Stranger (great avatar!), I refer to the interwebs in regards to my local borough (which was also Maggie Thatcher's constituency!):

Those interweb lists seem to have quite generous definitions, Steve Merchant and Feargal Sharkey only have to open their mouths to tell they haven't spent that much time in Finchley.

On seeing famous people my dad took me the first time when I was a kid and when we went to St Paul's cathedral the kids from Fame were all there doing a bit of sightseeing. Leroy, Bruno, Mr Shorofsky - the lot!

[Christian U]

One of the major German towns, this, so there's a lot of famous people. I have run across some of them, but you wouldn't know them, as they're only German-famous.

My favourite son of the city is writer Heinrich Böll:



His topic was mainly the post-war Republic, and he was a political writer in the best sense of the word, always fighting for our basic humanity. He won a Nobel Price, too.



I should probably mention that the first famous person who was born here, the sort-of-founder of Köln, in fact, Julia Agrippina the Younger, was Caligula's sister and Nero's mother.

Edited by Christian U, 02 April 2012 - 09:09 AM.

[Kalman Shemtov L]

I was bon in Philidelphia, so:
Margeret Mead
R. Crumb
Bil Keane
William Wrigley Jr.
Noam Chomsky
Bill Cosby
Louisa May Alcott
Grace Kelly
Betsy Ross
Joe Frazier
Kobe Bryant

[Rory Abel]

So as not to be unreadable I'll restrict it to my boro:

• Abraham Maslow
• Adam Sandler
• Al Sharpton
• Albert Salmi
• Alyssa Milano
• Barbara Stanwyck
• Barbra Streisand
• Barry Manilow
• Beastie Boys
• Busta Rhymes
• Carole King
• Clifton Fadiman
• Corbin Bleu
• Danny Kaye
• David A. Paterson
• David Blaine
• Dorothy Day
• Eddie Murphy
• Eli Wallach
• Foxy Brown
• Frank Serpico
• George Gershwin
• Harvey Keitel
• Irving Thalberg
• Jack Kamen
• Jackie Gleason
• Jay-Z
• Jean Nidetch
• Jerry Seinfeld
• Jimmy Durante
• Jimmy Fallon
• Jimmy Kimmel
• Joan Rivers
• Jonathan Lethem
• Joseph Heller
• Ken Burns
• Larry David
• Larry King
• Laura Schlessinger
• Lena Horne
• Lil' Kim
• Lou Ferrigno
• Lou Reed
• Mae West
• Marisa Tomei
• Mary Tyler Moore
• Maurice Sendak
• Mel Brooks
• Michael Jordan
• Mickey Rooney
• Mike Tyson
• Mos Def
• Neil Diamond
• Richard Dreyfuss
• Rita Hayworth
• Robert Anton Wilson
• Rudy Giuliani
• Ruth Bader Ginsburg
• S.J. Perelman
• Shirley Chisholm
• Steve Buscemi
• Talisa Soto
• Timothy Geithner
• Tupac Shakur
• Vince Edwards
• Vince Lombardi
• Will Eisner
• Woody Allen

[Chris Fenton]

So as not to be unreadable I'll restrict it to my boro:

• Abraham Maslow
• Adam Sandler
• Al Sharpton
• Albert Salmi
• Alyssa Milano
• Barbara Stanwyck
• Barbra Streisand
• Barry Manilow
• Beastie Boys
• Busta Rhymes
• Carole King
• Clifton Fadiman
• Corbin Bleu
• Danny Kaye
• David A. Paterson
• David Blaine
• Dorothy Day
• Eddie Murphy
• Eli Wallach
• Foxy Brown
• Frank Serpico
• George Gershwin
• Harvey Keitel
• Irving Thalberg
• Jack Kamen
• Jackie Gleason
• Jay-Z
• Jean Nidetch
• Jerry Seinfeld
• Jimmy Durante
• Jimmy Fallon
• Jimmy Kimmel
• Joan Rivers
• Jonathan Lethem
• Joseph Heller
• Ken Burns
• Larry David
• Larry King
• Laura Schlessinger
• Lena Horne
• Lil' Kim
• Lou Ferrigno
• Lou Reed
• Mae West
• Marisa Tomei
• Mary Tyler Moore
• Maurice Sendak
• Mel Brooks
• Michael Jordan
• Mickey Rooney
• Mike Tyson
• Mos Def
• Neil Diamond
• Richard Dreyfuss
• Rita Hayworth
• Robert Anton Wilson
• Rudy Giuliani
• Ruth Bader Ginsburg
• S.J. Perelman
• Shirley Chisholm
• Steve Buscemi
• Talisa Soto
• Timothy Geithner
• Tupac Shakur
• Vince Edwards
• Vince Lombardi
• Will Eisner
• Woody Allen

You must be the only person who didn't get famous!