did anyone famous visit your high school?

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Seeing a BET "Grammy in the Schools" special (where a panel of music bizzers goes to high schools to talk to kids about OMG A CAREER IN THE INDUSTRY!!!1) reminded me that back in the day we got our own one of these with... C&C Music Factory!

This one has Ashanti and, um, Floetry.

― Turkey versus Eagle, McCauley is my Beagle (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 3 January 2005 00:25 (twenty years ago) link

the fonz visited my kindergarten class.

― teeny (teeny), Monday, 3 January 2005 00:27 (twenty years ago) link

Captain Cleanup came to visit a couple of times. And Constable Care.

― marianna lcl (marianna lcl), Monday, 3 January 2005 00:30 (twenty years ago) link

Former European Parliament presidnet Pat Cox cuz he went there

― fcussen (Burger), Monday, 3 January 2005 00:33 (twenty years ago) link

Tito Jackson

― Carl Winslow is WHAT!?!? (deangulberry), Monday, 3 January 2005 00:36 (twenty years ago) link

a sports reporter from one of the chicago stations came and visited my school once. i saw him in the hallway. i recall that he appeared to have bright orange skin, the result no doubt of a few dates with a "tan center."

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Monday, 3 January 2005 00:55 (twenty years ago) link

My brother's youngest daughter came home one day talking about having met (and I think, sung with) a country singer named Kenny Rogers in her school. My brother at first thought maybe she had gotten mixed up, but it turned out to be true. (She was going to a very large suburban high school, or maybe junior high, at that point.)

― RS LaRue (rockist_scientist), Monday, 3 January 2005 00:58 (twenty years ago) link

the rock band relish

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Monday, 3 January 2005 01:00 (twenty years ago) link

i recall that he appeared to have bright orange skin, the result no doubt of a few dates with a "tan center."

mark giangreco?

― phil-two (phil-two), Monday, 3 January 2005 01:08 (twenty years ago) link

or tim weigel? he always seemed tan

― phil-two (phil-two), Monday, 3 January 2005 01:08 (twenty years ago) link

I vaguely remember david toma coming around with one of his "stay in school!! stay off drugs!" lectures, but i might have hallucinated the whole thing. plus, he's not very famous anymore. they based the cop show TOMA on his life and then it became Baretta and the rest is history.

― scott seward (scott seward), Monday, 3 January 2005 01:15 (twenty years ago) link

Paul Monitor and George Chuvalo and the horrible unnameable person who used to host Electric Circus.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Monday, 3 January 2005 01:31 (twenty years ago) link

this is awesome:
http://repomanwwf.tripod.com/toma/toma.htm

― Turkey versus Eagle, McCauley is my Beagle (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 3 January 2005 01:34 (twenty years ago) link

He tells parents to be on the look out for such ‘clues’ as bongs in their kids rooms

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Monday, 3 January 2005 01:47 (twenty years ago) link

from the same site:
http://repomanwwf.tripod.com/skeez/skeez.htm

― Turkey versus Eagle, McCauley is my Beagle (Jody Beth Rosen), Monday, 3 January 2005 01:53 (twenty years ago) link

the dare program sent us the unfortunate sergeant guy from the police academy movies who always wound up getting non-consensual cavity searches. his demeanor led me to conclude he was motivated less by a love of young people and more by a court order.

― nabiscothingy, Monday, 3 January 2005 02:52 (twenty years ago) link

not both?

― latebloomer (latebloomer), Monday, 3 January 2005 02:58 (twenty years ago) link

we got Karl Malden once

― LSTD (answer) (sexyDancer), Monday, 3 January 2005 03:22 (twenty years ago) link

Hmmm, I just happened to talk to my brother tonight and my neice sang with Kenny Rogers when she was in third grade. Some kind of annual Christmas school event or something. I'm not sure if this means she sang a duet with him or shared the stage with him as a choir member.

― RS LaRue (rockist_scientist), Monday, 3 January 2005 03:51 (twenty years ago) link

no one famous visited my high school except recent graduate Jay B4ll3r, a pitcher who lived two houses down from me and was fast-tracked to the major leagues, only to get thrown out of his first start (I think) for throwing at a hitter and ended up in a Mexican league where he gave an interview about how much he hated Mexicans

when I was teaching jr high actress Lisa Gay Hamilton visited our classroom, she was sincere and foxy but a little bit corny, short haired and tiny

― Haibun (Begs2Differ), Monday, 3 January 2005 04:02 (twenty years ago) link

steve anthony!!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 3 January 2005 04:08 (twenty years ago) link

among others, Dr. Ruth

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Monday, 3 January 2005 04:17 (twenty years ago) link

Phil Selway from Radiohead used to come every year to give talks about the Samaritans. Miriam Margolyes because she's an old girl, and loads of famous scientists like Susan Greenfield and Richard Dawkins came to give talks.

― jellybean (jellybean), Monday, 3 January 2005 04:28 (twenty years ago) link

no one famous would ever visit my high school. once however, we had an assembly at which the navy band played. boy did they rock out. unfortunately, they did so all over the freshly painted gym floor. the basketball coach's head nearly exploded when he saw the aftermath. that was the only mildly amusing part of the whole production.

― Emilymv (Emilymv), Monday, 3 January 2005 04:45 (twenty years ago) link

One local celeb orated at my high school -- a Baptist pastor who's famous for having done lots of local public service announcement-type commercials in the '80s and '90s (he has his own website, too). This is odd when you consider that this was a Catholic HS, but not so odd when it's known that one of our most senior teachers was a member of his church congregation. Another local celeb, a local politician, delivered the commencement address for my high school graduation. I admire her and all, but damn was she an INCREDIBLY boring speaker! She just went on and on, without personality, about God knows what. But I was in the first row and so had to appear as though I was intently interested in whatever it is anyone at the podium was saying, so, well, it was the longest fifteen minutes I've ever experienced.

― Samantha Baker (Dee the Lurker), Monday, 3 January 2005 05:24 (twenty years ago) link

Newt Gingrich stopped by regularly. Max Cleland visited once and I wound up accidentally getting invited to lunch with him and the principal after his talk - which I missed, I was giving blood at the time.

I lived in Gingrich's district (and thus Cleland's state), so it makes more sense with that context.

― Girolamo Savonarola, Monday, 3 January 2005 06:19 (twenty years ago) link

The poet, Gwendolyn Brooks, came to my school and read "We Real Cool" for all of us during an assembly.

The federalized Arkansas National Guard also visited my school, but that was thirty-five years before my time.
http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/t/3/t3b/Tom

― Pleasant Plains ///, Monday, 3 January 2005 06:50 (twenty years ago) link

I'd be much more impressed if the National Guard came 35 years ago and read "We Real Cool."

Bela Fleck and the Flecktones came to my school. Cindy Blackman (the drummer in the video for Lenny Kravitz's "Are You Gonna Go My Way"), the guy from the 7up "Uncola" commercials, Danny Glover (but after I left the school and my brother was there), Wynton Marsalis. I went to an Arts magnet school though.

― Hurting (Hurting), Monday, 3 January 2005 07:28 (twenty years ago) link

phil-two: mark giangreco

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Monday, 3 January 2005 07:48 (twenty years ago) link

We had a weekly lecture series called the John Locke Society (he went to my school in the dim distant past) and being just round the corner from parliament we got a lot of politicians; Ken Livingstone, Tony Benn, Robin Cook, Shirley Williams; and some non- politicians; Chris Eubank being a notable one who was a terrible speaker and gave us a terribly badly pitched speech about trying to rise above our troubles (this was in a public i.e. private school).

Our scientific society managed to get Roger Penrose, Harry Kroto and Richard Dawkins (twice) whilst I was there.

― Ed (dali), Monday, 3 January 2005 09:00 (twenty years ago) link

Cliff Richard.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Monday, 3 January 2005 10:44 (twenty years ago) link

David Mellor.

― Markelby (Mark C), Monday, 3 January 2005 11:13 (twenty years ago) link

rosemary sutcliffe gave the prizes on speechday!!

but it wz the year before i went to the school :(

― mark s (mark s), Monday, 3 January 2005 11:28 (twenty years ago) link

carol kane

though i suspected that scrooged was far less viewed in many holiday households than it had been in my own.

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Monday, 3 January 2005 11:29 (twenty years ago) link

The Green Cross Code Man (Dave Prowse as in Darth-Vader-Dave-Prowse but not quite as cool when dressed as the Green Cross Code Man) came to my primary school. I have his autograph - he wrote "Dave Prowse is Darth Vader which I thought was a bit sad, but according to various geeks I know, this is worth a bit of money.

The bloke who drew Captain Pugwash gave a talk to my brother's art class.

Malcolm Rifkind (former defence secretary, boring old Tory windbag) gave out the speeches at our prize day. So did some other people, but I didn't really know who any of them were - various captains of industry and whatnot.

― ailsa (ailsa), Monday, 3 January 2005 12:04 (twenty years ago) link

Early 90s Man United journeyman Clayton Blackmore. Although I'd left by then

― DJ Mencap0))), Monday, 3 January 2005 12:24 (twenty years ago) link

A1 came and mimed their cover of 'take on me' in the school hall once.

― cis (cis), Monday, 3 January 2005 12:36 (twenty years ago) link

Prince Charles, when I was 14. My friend and I went to see if his ears really were as big as legend had it (they were), and he picked her to grace with an Enquiry About Her Studies.

― The Lex (The Lex), Monday, 3 January 2005 13:12 (twenty years ago) link

Colin Dexter, creator of TV's Inspector Morse

― Frankenstein On Ice (blueski), Monday, 3 January 2005 13:37 (twenty years ago) link

Two things: Recently, CTV in Canada ran a made-for-tv movie, Fast Food High, about teen angst, love and unionizing at a local fast food joint. It featured Kevin Tighe (Emergency) and Gill Bellows (Ally McBeal). It was shot at my highschool so I felt compelled to watch.

The band The Kings ("Switching to Glide") played there when I was 14.

― Guymauve (Guymauve), Monday, 3 January 2005 13:39 (twenty years ago) link

But who SHOULD do a school tour? I vote for the Animal Collective!!!

― dog latin (dog latin), Monday, 3 January 2005 14:43 (twenty years ago) link

dar1us went to my school, he was 2 years below me and i can remember him being a right ponc£

― willdabeast, Monday, 3 January 2005 21:09 (twenty years ago) link

I always liked Mark Giangreco. I got his autograph once at a Sox game when I was a kid. Speaking of Evanston and local news personalities, a year or two ago I saw Mark Suppelsa at a gas station on Green Bay Rd.

Reagan visited my high school but a good eight years before I went there.

― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 00:43 (nineteen years ago) link

i don't even know who Mark Suppelsa is

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 01:30 (nineteen years ago) link

There were a good number of country artists with ties to the community where I grew up. (e.g. The Gatlin Brothers' mother actually taught at my elementary school, etc.) Between the country stars and Amy Grant, we were well covered.

a sports reporter from one of the chicago stations came and visited my school once. i saw him in the hallway. i recall that he appeared to have bright 0orange skin, the result no doubt of a few dates with a "tan center."

At least half of the girls at my high school had that same orange skin thing. When combined with their obviously bleached-out blonde hair, every last one of them looked like Chernobel-Fun Barbie.

― martin m. (mushrush), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 01:43 (nineteen years ago) link

Take That did a gig at my high school, when they were still in their early homoerotic rolling-around-in-jelly phase. I didn't go.

― caitlin (caitlin), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 12:56 (nineteen years ago) link

Dennis Rodman came before he went AWOL and got traded to the Spurs. I remember his tricked-out pickup truck was parked out front after the assembly.

― Aaron W (Aaron W), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 16:35 (nineteen years ago) link

Amateurist:
http://www.foxchicago.com/dynamic/images/stories/personalities/mark_suppelsa.jpg

― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 16:49 (nineteen years ago) link

Pam Ayres

― holojames (holojames), Tuesday, 4 January 2005 19:03 (nineteen years ago) link

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