From Teen Idol to Family Friends

Many people have celebrity idols who they have grown up watching and adoring, but how many can say they are friends with their idols and it actually be true? I am proud to say that in all my years of attending comic book and horror conventions my family and I have made a couple life-long celebrity friendships. For some, its a huge deal that these people are celebrities but personally speaking, I forgot they were celebrities after the 1st meeting because of their genuine kindness towards my family.

In 2011, my family and I attended a horror convention in Orlando Florida called Spookie con, while there I was able to meet another one of my teen celebrity idols, Anthony Michael Hall. Anthony was a very popular actor in the 80's, appearing in John Hughes movies like The Breakfast Club and 16 Candles. As an adult actor he went on to do film and television shows like The Dead Zone. As I approached his table, I grew very nervous but Anthony helped relieve those nerves with his kindness and attentiveness towards my family. Now, most people would say "so, now your friends with him over that one moment?" and of course the answer would be no. In the year 2011 & 2013, we were able to meet Anthony 4 more times and with each meeting, he remembered my son by name and always greeted us with hugs and friendly conversation. He always seemed to care and that is what makes him special to my family. Even his handler (guy who takes the autograph money) started recognizing us at different conventions and remembering our names. The last time we saw Anthony was last June in Knoxville Tn and as always, Anthony greeted my son by name, gave us all hugs and posed for photo's. Anthony does conventions on occasion but he never made it about the money, it was always about the fans. I am proud to consider him a family friend ! Here is his picture and a clip from 16 Candles.

                                          

                                            

I am also proud to call Beverly Randolph a friend too. I met Beverly via Facebook a couple years ago, at the time I had our puppy as my profile picture and on occasion, we would chat about politics. In 2012, Beverly was a guest at the Knoxville Tn Fanboy Expo horror convention as well as some of her "Return of the Living Dead" costars. My family and I walked up to her table, not knowing what to expect and quickly discovered that Beverly loves her fans. My husband began chatting with her, introducing himself (we share the same political views) when I walked over and introduced myself as a Facebook friend of hers. Once I told her my name, she asked me if my profile picture was a puppy and of course I knew in that instance that Beverly knew exactly who I was.

After that initial meeting, Beverly began posting on my Facebook, liking some of my pictures and status updates. In February 2013 we traveled to Atlanta to see Beverly and her costars again and as soon as Beverly saw my husband, she gave him a big hug and asked for me by name. I walked up behind him and also got a hug. Beverly is an amazingly sweet person, beautiful both inside and out and I am proud to call her a friend. Here is her picture and a clip from one of her films.