I Saw Charlie Sheen…et al

Since you can’t turn on the TV or computer without seeing Charlie Sheen making a giant ass out of himself, I got to thinking about the time I had a brief encounter with the infamous bad boy. Which also got me thinking about the time I spent living in Los Angeles, stars I saw while living there, and other celebrities I’ve seen in random places.

When I was 22, I had just finished a graduate program and had simultaneously gotten dumped by a guy with whom I had a very odd/somewhat dysfunctional relationship. It was a late summer day and my BF and I were laying out at the pool at my apartment, frying balls and pondering life. I turned to her and said, “I think I’ll move to LA.” She looked at me and said, “OK, me too.” And that was that. My brother lived there, so we had someone local who could help us find a place, and teach us to navigate the massive, sprawling metropolis. We made our plans and moved a few months later.

For some reason we moved to an apartment complex in Burbank, called Park Pointe. Why we didn’t get a place by the beach, I don’t know, but I wish we had. Burbank was pretty boring. Our apartment was close to the studios though, so there were a lot of young actors living there. Ali Sweeney was a resident at the time and some other soap stars. Mario Lopez could often be seen wandering the grounds topless (always!), although I don’t think he actually lived there?

My BF got a job with a major company and I got a job at a private school. There were a lot of famous people who had their children at this school. Danny Devito & Rhea Perlman, Henry Winkler, the dad from 90210, and some others that I can’t remember. It was kind of fun to see these people wandering the breeze ways. 

While I sometimes may have looked a little too long, I never made a total fool of myself… surprisingly. I wasn’t that phased by stars since my brother was sort of in the business. (He was a talent manager and worked with kids–mainly ones just starting out.) Jensen Ackles was a client & there were a few others you may have heard of. I had been around several of his pals who were on television. He lived with Heather Tom (soap star) during this time, and her sister was on ‘The Nanny.’ He also hung out with the kid from ‘Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.’ They were all relatively friendly, but a bit full of themselves too.

Anyway, my brother was a partner in a small local theatre company. Charlie Sheen was a donor and would sometimes attend the shows. My BF and I went to one of the plays. During intermission we headed out to the lobby. Charlie was standing about 15 feet away from us, with a burly body-guard. He was smoking a cigarette with that intense look he often gets–shifty, devious eyes scanning the room. Our eyes locked, but I turned away. After all, I didn’t want to get caught staring. Now that I think about it, he was probably wondering if my BF and I were down to party; translation-wanted a threesome and massive amounts of blow. Luckily, we were relatively naive to the ways of Hollywood. We headed back to our seats and didn’t see him again. Good thing, huh. Otherwise, who knows, we may have had a “radical” night of…”Winning, Duh!” Yikes.

Here are a few other celebrities that I’ve seen. When I lived in LA I saw Kerri Russel browsing the sales rack at the Beverly Center Nordstrom Brass Plum. She was just as gorgeous in person. I loved that she was a bargain shopper too. Couldn’t help but stare a little, as she was so stunning.

Saw Charlie’s papa, Martin, at a hotel in Dallas. He was very friendly and took pictures with several fans.

Walked right by Slash (without recognizing him) in the Vegas airport and scooted as far away as I could because he looked so dirty. My husband hissed in disgust (at my not so subtle moves) “Don’t you know who that is?” We ended up being at the same gate as him and his girlfriend. They were arguing and swearing loudly as they were boarding. A few minutes later, one pissed off looking, hard-core rocker chick was being escorted by security off the plane. She didn’t go quietly. Whoopsie! It was a pretty awesome scene to witness.

Saw a very good-looking Axl Rose standing outside a bar in Seattle. He looked clean, well dressed, and surprisingly fresh-faced. Not a wrinkle in sight. Kind of weird that I’ve seen Axl and Slash, in two different states.

Stayed at the same hotel in Maui as Bill and Guiliana Rancic. Saw them strolling through the lobby. Of course, I was again oblivious. Husband pointed them out.

Saw Steve Carrell in Hawaii. We were at a shopping mall and happened to be heading to the same store. He was walking with a buddy and looked like any other tourist.

That’s all I can remember off the top of my head. What celebrity encounters have you had?