I was considering telling the story of a friend's experience with Henry Winkler, and now you've brought him up so . . .
My friend Kevin and I saw Urinetown back when it was at ATA. Directly in front of us were Joan Rivers and two friends. Directly behind us was Henry Winkler, alone. At intermission I went to the men's room, and when I came back, Kevin was chatting with Henry Winkler. Later he told me that Winkler had started the conversation. He said to Kevin, "This is great, isn't it?" And then they talked.
In general, I agree with what's been said. Under the right circumstances, which does not include when someone is eating (not even if the person is alone), it can be OK to say something short and sweet to a celebrity (at least some celebrities). It's always good to make it as clear as you can that you're not looking for any significant interaction beyond just having a chance to quickly say to the person "I love your work" or something like that. I can probably count on the fingers of two hands, with a few fingers left over, the number of times I've approached a celebrity to say something, and I've had some very nice experiences.
Another friend once went over to a celebrity when this very famous person was eating. We knew our friend was going to do this, he told us he was going to do it, and we should have stopped him before he did it because when he came back, he said that the celebrity had made it quietly clear that he was annoyed with having been interrupted while he was eating. |
