[manaboutown]

Back in the 1970s I had flown into LAX with my wife and two kids. We had several carry-ons so I waited until the rest of the passengers had disembarked. I took my time to saddle up with all the bags and was almost running up the jetway so I could unload them at the other end. The jetway had a blind turn and I came around it fast with maybe 50 lbs of bags, almost running over a much smaller man wearing a long sleeved Hobie T shirt heading toward the plane to board. Arriving at the gate I turned to my wife and said "That guy looked just like Paul Newman." She said "That was Paul Newman." The airline probably gave him a pre-board for privacy. They even have special celebrity lounges at LAX so celebrities can have some privacy.

Another time I was flying into Long Beach with a first class upgrade. When I boarded a gentleman was in the aisle seat and we politely interacted as he got up to let me get to my seat. He kept a newspaper he was reading wide open close to his face during the remainder of the boarding. He interacted politely with the flight attendant and me throughout the short flight. After we landed I noticed his startling blue eyes as he faced me while getting his bag from the overhead. The light went on in my head. That's Joe Namath! He noticed me staring at him open mouthed and nodded his head (please, no). I nodded back OK. We all got off the plane and at the baggage carousel he gave me a wave as he went on his way. I have run into a few other celebrities at airports, Ricardo Montalban in Guadalajara (a true gentleman!), Joan Rivers at LAX being a real pain to the gate agent as the aircraft's windshield was cracked and they needed to replace the aircraft with another plane. Oh my, she would miss her BBC interview...lol.