Those "Famous" People I Know...

Are you one of those people who knows someone famous? Well, I've been fortunate/unfortunate to know a few... or know "of" a few. After I posted my blog about my cousin below, someone said, "Hey... why don't you blog about that? You seem to know several famous people..."

I think it just comes up when I'm out and I see someone on TV or something and I mention, "I used to know him/her."

Ok, so here goes my "famous encounters" in life...

It all started back in High School. I think my first "brush" with fame came when I attended a party in Richardson. I remember seeing this "loud-mouth" guy and asked who he was. His name was "Rob Van Winkle." I saw him a few other times... never spoke to him. Just remembered he was always the center of attention. A few years later, when I was in college, some guy came out with this song called "Ice Ice Baby." Yes, he became known as "Vanilla Ice."

Also during high school, I was friends with a guy named Chad Deering. Actually knew him since 8th grade. We played soccer together, but he was incredibly gifted and talented at the sport. After high school, he went on to play soccer for the University of Indiana... then turned professional by playing in Europe. He returned to the states in the late 90's and played for the Dallas Burn and Dallas Sidekicks. I never hit him up for tickets, though. Now I believe he's retired and living in the Metroplex.

Now the picture I post at the top is of Alan Tudyk. He's probably the most famous actor I know, even though most people haven't heard of him. If I said, "He was the pirate in the movie 'Dodgeball,'" then you'd know him. The first movie I saw him in (and didn't realize it was him) was Patch Adams. I saw Wonder Boys (Michael Douglas) and didn't know he was in that flick, either. The first one I saw him in was 28 Days with Sandra Bullock. Since then he's gained fame in many other movies, including 3:10 to Yuma and Death at a Funeral. He's also been on Frasier (played a guy who got rich during the .COM era and bought the station and became Frasier's boss - later copied everything Frasier did, including his apartment).

So, how did I know Alan? When you're attending school in Plano, the division between middle school and high school starts at 9th grade. Ninth and Tenth graders are in high school, while Eleventh and Twelth graders are in Senior High School. When I transitioned from middle school to high school, a lot of my friends started getting involved in drugs. I wasn't too keen on that, so I walked away. I started hanging out with friends who were skaters (board, not roller). Yes, I dressed in black and rode my "stick" around the neighborhood, in parking garages, on half pipes, etc. One of my friends was Alan. Pretty much every weekend we were skating or hanging out at someone's house. Then around mid-10th grade, I started "not skating." Guess that's what happens when you get a car.

I didn't see Alan that much after that until our senior year when we were in the same English class. We sat next to each other (alphabetical) and had a great time that year. I remember one of my last conversations with him: "What are you going to do after high school?" He said he was going to the University of Houston to get a degree in their Hospitality program - running a hotel or a restaurant was what he had hoped to accomplish. Well, I think he's done a lot more than that!

In 1997 I was a high school teacher in Spring, Texas. One of my students was Josh Beckett. He is the starting pitcher for the Boston Red Sox right now, and in 2003 won the MVP during the World Series as a pitcher for the Florida Marlins. Josh was a 10th grader in my Accounting class. Back then, he was just a lanky kid who pitched a 97 mph fast ball. He would say things like, "Mr. Rawlinson, I'll bet you were a wild man at Baylor." He even said he wanted to go to Baylor, but he never met with any of their coaches. The next week, he came in to tell me, "Hey... the Baylor coaches showed up to watch me pitch!" Hmmm... wonder if it had anything to do with the letter I wrote to them? Anyway, Josh was drafted immediately out of high school (I think the 2nd overall pick) and he is doing great in the major leagues.

While I mentioned my cousin Nick in a previous blog, I had another "cousin" who appeared on a reality show a few years ago called The Joe Schmo Show. Her name is Angela Dodson and was doing some work out in California. She returned to her hometown to care for her ailing grandparents. They have since passed away, so I'm not sure what she will do next. I say "cousin" because she's "Family," but basically she's a cousin of my cousin if that makes sense.

I think that's it. I'm just waiting for my friend, Chad Peterson, to make it big! He's a local actor that has been in numerous productions throughout the Metroplex. I tell him that he has the talent to be on TV... he just needs to make that jump!

That will be a blog dedicated entirely to him!