GTKY: What "Celebrity" Would You Love to Meet?

samiamagirl

Inspired by the pseudo-"celebrity" drama that's happened the past couple of days I have a fun GTKY.  We all have that random, obscure "celebrity" we'd love to meet one day. I'm not talking about Oscar-winning actors or globally known popstars, I'm talking people like George de Mestral (inventor of velcro), Gertrude Ederle (fist woman to swim the English channel), or even Ben Vereen (a highly well-known and respected Broadway actor, but not as well known outside the theatre circle). I'm sure it's happened to you where you have told friends, "Oh, I'd love to meet _____," and they just give you a blank stare back or ask, "Who?"

So what random "celebrity" would you love to meet one day? They can be dead or alive? Make sure you give us a little background info too so we can become a fan as well.  

I'd love to try and keep these celebrities as obscure as possible, so it's all right if they're well-known within a certain circle, but try to keep from picking people you could definitely see on the front page of tabloids or newspapers.

samiamagirl

Here's mine:

I'd love to meet Jim Cummings one day.

His name may sound familiar and his voice even more so. He's a well-respected and unbelievably talented voice actor. He's actually pretty big in the Disney world, but has probably offered his voice up to almost any animated feature you can think of. Just look at his IMDb page! I was always curious about getting into voice acting and Jim Cummings was one of my main inspirations.

Fun fact: while doing work on the Lion King, Jim Cummings had to step into finish singing the song "Be Prepared" when Jeremy Irons blew out his vocal chords. If you listen to the song- you can't tell which one is Jeremy and which one is Jim! That's how talented a voice actor Jim Cummings is.

2nd fun fact (and one many may have heard before): as the voice of Winnie the Pooh and Tigger, Jim will call sick children in the hospital and talk to them as these characters, giving them encouragement and brightening their day.

gsancho

I've been reading Andy Cohen's new book, so I'd love to meet him - he's so open and social, which is completely the opposite as me.  

lakingsfan2015

I am not aware of many Broadway theatre actors but I know who Ben Vereen is, I don't think he is that obscure. 

I want to meet Dick Wolf and Chuck Lorre, I know both have their names plastered after so many shows but I still feel people have no idea who they are because most people don't sit and enjoy the credits. 

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marijaa333

Matt Damon

xxstephh

Ian Somerhalder ! I've wanted to meet him for so long !

lakingsfan2015

Kurt Sutter is another one I would love to meet!

My_Matt

Just because I am so in love with his show, I would love to meet John Oliver.

marijaa333

My obscure ones are dead: Nikola Tesla, Marie Curie and Camille Claudel.

Of the living, I've met Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn, who wrote the Internet protocol (i.e. actually invented the Internet)  and they are both very enlightened, good people (although they have opposing views on how Internet architecture should evolve). I've also met Tim Berners Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web - lovely person as well. The world could use more of these guys (and gals).

Another one is Dame Stephanie (Steve) Shirley, one of the first IT entrepreneurs in the UK, who had to use the name Steve when publishing her research so that she would be taken seriously (it was no place for a woman to be into computers, let alone entrepreneurial, in 1970s Britain).

Is that obscure enough? 

And Matt Damon. For his environmental activism, of course. 

marijaa333

@SunshyneShay That's the only makeup that doesn't make me break out. Count me in for when you go to meet her.

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Hawk&Eye

ramy3 said:

Ina May Gaskin

And I did get to meet her earlier this year.

Also, one of my midwives is close friends with her which I find pretty awesome.

I was totally going to say her! I find her absolutely amazing. I'm jealous your midwife is friends with her! I think just knowing that would put me at such ease.

samiamagirl

amelandre said:

I would want to meet Gary Gygax, who is unfortunately deceased. The dude invented Dungeons & Dragons which was the gateway to my über nerdery. I also think a conversation with Garrison Kiellor would be amazing. He's the host of The Prairie Home companion and I love him.

I don't know if you're a fan of Portlandia but your comment about Garrison Kiellor made me think of this sketch: Prairie Home Companion Tailgating

ETA: Part 2 - T Shirts

kj808

GFJ48 said:

I think we all know my answer...JJ Watt.

Not only is he completely adorable he's also an amazing human being.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1521740-why-jj-watt-should-be-your-favorite-nfl-player

Along these lines...

for me it would have to be Peyton Manning. For one thing, I love Denver Broncos football. Plus his football IQ is ridiculous. I'd just love to pick his brain about recognizing defensive schemes and calling plays. Plus i'd love to find out what "Omaha" REALLY means

texasmama15

This is pretty random but I would love to go back in time and meet Henry VIII. I love all things from that time in history and he just seemed so absurd and crazy. We visited Hampton Court when we were in England years ago and I just walked around in aw that it really existed (like Stonehenge, so interesting!). I always read books, watch movies and shows about him (fiction and non-fiction) and especially loved The Tudors from years back.

samiamagirl

texasmama15 said:

This is pretty random but I would love to go back in time and meet Henry VIII. I love all things from that time in history and he just seemed so absurd and crazy. We visited Hampton Court when we were in England years ago and I just walked around in aw that it really existed (like Stonehenge, so interesting!). I always read books, watch movies and shows about him (fiction and non-fiction) and especially loved The Tudors from years back.

Try not to make eye contact with him if you do go back in time 'cause he may be like, "That one. I want to marry that one." And then you're kinda SOL.

texasmama15

@samiamagirl‌ YES! Ha! You're so right!

katietopaz

I don't know if this one is obscure enough, but I would love to meet Hans Zimmer! He's produced and/or composed the musical score for a number of major films. And anytime he's paired with Christopher Nolan, who wrote/directed several amazing films and I would also love to meet, the result is magical: Inception, Interstellar, The Dark Night, etc.

In the music world sometimes major composers like that are considered a guilty pleasure. But Hans Zimmer's work is beautiful, and it's so interesting to listen to interviews with him and hear his thought process behind his music. Like, for Interstellar (if you haven't seen it, you should), Chris Nolan gave him one sentence/vague idea and asked him to come up with music on that idea alone, and that became a big part of Interstellar's score.

Sorry, the music and production nerd in me thinks stuff like that is so neat!