Almost famous

[Peter B]

I think it was on this board a couple of years ago that I mentioned I'd discovered that one of my great-grandfathers had been a member of the Tasmanian Parliament, and that thanks to some dodgy dealings on his part he'd caused the fall of the government he was part of...

Well, I've just discovered I've had another close swipe with fame.

One of my neighbours mentioned in passing that her 18-year-old daughter had thousands of Facebook followers thanks to her modelling work.

So out of idle curiosity I Googled her name and nearly fell over with surprise. The first hit was a story from a few months ago in the (UK!) Daily Mail associating her with a certain tennis player from my fair city.

And if you look really carefully at one of the photos in the story, in the background you can see the part of the driveway of our house!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go out and sweep the driveway - you never know who might be taking photos, or why!

So, does anyone else have an "almost famous" story to share?

[Sus_pilot]

My brother knew Ann-Margaret - they both went to the same high school and Northwestern.  Does that count?

[bknight]

My brother knew Ann-Margaret - they both went to the same high school and Northwestern.  Does that count?

If you want it to count.

[ka9q]

While we're name dropping, I can say that a distant (3rd, once removed) cousin is now probably the best known woman's soccer player in the world.

Not being a soccer fan I didn't even realize how famous she is until a few years ago I happened to mention her name to a colleague.

[onebigmonkey]

My brother enjoys minor success as a writer:

http://www.neilwhite.net/

A former girlfriend from my schooldays got in contact once congratulating me on my success in the literary world. I pointed out her error and she never emailed back.

One of my work colleagues has all his books. I prefer to buy them from charity shops. My favourite purchase was from one in Lanzarote, where a holiday maker presumably decided that the powder blue dolphin themed souvenir ashtray made a more valuable contribution to their luggage allowance than his book.

I am also fond of a very tenuous collection to:

http://www.seafret.com/

as I am a vague acquaintance of both of their fathers from many years ago. I have seen many videos of them learning their craft around the kitchen table with the guitarist's father, himself a talented bluegrass musician.

My daughter made a national splash some years ago thanks to managing to achieve exam success shortly after giving birth (teen mum) and decided she wanted to counter the usual stereotypical image of young mothers with an example of success. She is now a teacher.

For my own part I have to settle with an appearance on Countdown and a brief interview on TV at Glastonbury festival (unless you count the numerous times I've been spotted in the crowd there!).

[gillianren]

My first cousin once removed is the actor Dyllan Christopher, who is not very well known but who played the main character in the not-very-good Christmas movie Unaccompanied Minors.  He also dies at the beginning of Seabiscuit and is killed in a dryer on an episode of CSI.

One of his uncles has been in the band Dred Zeppelin, which does covers of Led Zeppelin tunes reggae style.  My cousin's stage name is Ed Zeppelin.

Said cousin's mother, my dad's sister, is a puppeteer.  Among other things, she was on the final episode of The Carol Burnett Show, and she and Dyllan's dad and possibly "Ed" (but possibly his twin; I can't remember) were puppeteers on The Muppet Movie.  The crowd scenes were filmed by just getting all the puppeteers everyone knew until they had enough, and I guess my aunt just figured she might as well bring a couple of her kids along.

This is not even getting into all of the "and then I ran into so-and-so on the street" variations that come from growing up in Los Angeles County!

[Zakalwe]

My Mum used to talk about seeing Pierce Brosnan being pushed around in his pram as a kid (he lived in her home town). His father was, apparently, an alcoholic that abandoned the family when PB was an infant.

[onebigmonkey]

One of his uncles has been in the band Dred Zeppelin, which does covers of Led Zeppelin tunes reggae style.  My cousin's stage name is Ed Zeppelin.

I love Dread Zeppelin

[gillianren]

One of his uncles has been in the band Dred Zeppelin, which does covers of Led Zeppelin tunes reggae style.  My cousin's stage name is Ed Zeppelin.

I love Dread Zeppelin

Ed Zeppelin is a very nice guy, I can promise you.  The dreadlocks are a wig--he's been shaving his head since I was a kid, since early baldness runs in that side of the family and he's about fifteen years older than I am.  (His mom married at seventeen, and my dad was in his thirties when he got married, so our families are half a generation off from one another.)  Also, since he was born and raised in Pasadena, California, the accent's a fake!

[ka9q]

I love Dread Zeppelin

Me too!

On paper it looks weird as hell: an Elvis impersonator doing Led Zeppelin songs to a reggae beat -- and yet it works...

[smartcooky]

My mum was a good friend of a lady called Dorothy Dazely in the mid 1950's, when we were living in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire. I don't remember much about her but I do remember her daughter Joan (who was only a few years older than me) used to visit our place in Rowlands Field

However, it was her son who makes me "almost famous"; anyone care to guess who he is?

   

[gillianren]

You know, I tend to figure that more people will recognize Dyllan, but it turns out it's Bruce!

[Peter B]

My mum was a good friend of a lady called Dorothy Dazely in the mid 1950's, when we were living in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire. I don't remember much about her but I do remember her daughter Joan (who was only a few years older than me) used to visit our place in Rowlands Field

However, it was her son who makes me "almost famous"; anyone care to guess who he is?

*Rick*

Look out! Cliff!

*/Rick*

[Peter B]

All this talk of cousins reminds me that Dad's cousin Anne Howe was Peter Sellers's first wife.

[smartcooky]

My mum was a good friend of a lady called Dorothy Dazely in the mid 1950's, when we were living in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire. I don't remember much about her but I do remember her daughter Joan (who was only a few years older than me) used to visit our place in Rowlands Field

However, it was her son who makes me "almost famous"; anyone care to guess who he is?

*Rick*

Look out! Cliff!

*/Rick*

Yup,

Fies my soul!!???