Nicest celebrities to work with

I had a customer in my store (1996 - 2006) who did 'lighting' for major concerts in the New England area (mostly Boston, Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun). The one name he always said as far as 'the nicest' to work with was Olivia Newton-John, hands down. As he used to say, 'She lets me and my crew do our job, and gets the f--- out of the way.' He also said she took the time to get to know every crew member by name, and would send out for dinner for them every night of her concerts. After the show, they would head backstage and there would be a 'buffet' for everyone to enjoy from the finest Chinese, Italian, Mexican, Seafood, etc. restaurant in town. As he used to always say, 'She didn't have to take care of my guys, but she made sure she did.'

Aside from ONJ, the other performer he adored - believe it or not - was Streisand. He said she was just as kind as ONJ, but more hands on. He didn't mind, because she knew about lighting and shadows, and what lighting she looked better in at certain spots on the stage, etc. She made his job easier for him, as she gave him directions and he just assembled. He said she also took care of him and the crew with an envelope 'to split' at the end of the night.

He also loved working with Donna Summer, and explained he worked with her from the 'early years' when she was just getting started doing concert tours in the mid-70s, and he was just starting his career as an apprentice in stage lighting under his uncle. I remember him saying 'it was all new to both of us back then, but we did it'. He said the fact that they both came from the Boston, MA area (she was a few years older than he) also helped form a trust between them.

He DID NOT like working with Mick Jagger or Bette Midler. He never got into much details, but said each one was a nightmare to work with. He also didn't like Marie Osmond (she and Donny would do Christmas shows in smaller venues in my area each December). He said Donny was a great guy, but Marie was a terror - even Donny couldn't stand her off-stage.

He purposely stayed away from all the 'younger talent' - the pop tarts and 'hip hop' performers who toured at the time. In a nutshell, he told me he had gotten 'burned' financially from them one too many times. So he stayed with the performers who had been around since the 60s and 70s.

In 2006-07 he packed up and went to Vegas to work on 'residencies'. I missed having him in my store (he was rather easy on the eyes for someone in his 50s) and he would always drop off free tickets to me if he had access to them (that's how I saw ONJ for free so many times when she played the casinos). I've often wondered what he's doing these days (he must be in his 70s now).

Keanu Reeves

Ellen DeGeneres. We're all one big happy family...

Well, I wouldn't say I "worked" with her, but I was a supervisor (glorified manager of cater waiters) at a few big fundraiser events years ago, and Renée Zellweger was really so sweet. Everyone said the same thing. A few of the other asshole actors there were so over the top with the dismissal of guys and demands, etc. We joked like Renée was about to help clear the tables she was so nice. I will never forget it.

Bernadette Peters

Laura Linney

Julianne Moore, seriously

Megan Hilty

I’ve heard nearly universally, Beyonce Knowles-Carter.

Timothee Chalamet

Thank you, R1! You are such a good writer.

I always like hearing the tales and anecdotes from your store days.

Vanessa Williams is always tops on these lists.

I'm not surprised to hear Marie Osmond is nasty, I've read similar accounts over the years. I know she was in a bad marriage for a long time but some of the stories date back to the 70s before she was even married. Usually people with over-the-top personalities and always joking like her are fake as hell.

Never heard anything bad about Brooke Shields.

A very close family friend has a full-time job, and has worked on film and TV productions for over 20 years. Like R1, my friend rarely discusses the horrid ones, and when she has she never names names. But she goes on about the good ones (Michael B. Jordan now specifically requests her when he's filming locally; apparently he's super-professional, but kind, patient, and very funny. I don't know why but that kinda surprised me.)

But her absolute 100% fave is Willem Dafoe; friend cannot say enough great things about him, which makes me happy because I'm a huge fan.

I'll see if I can think of any others.

Stephen Colbert- gave me the full DVD set of, "Strangers with Candy" when I told him I never saw it. One of the wittiest people that I've ever met.

Vera Farmiga

Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Patrick Wilson

Colin Farrell

Keanu is especially nice to anyone who comes up to him/or yell at him that they're a fan. He's pretty quiet with the crew.

Here's another story about Donna Summer...

In late July,1991, my friend and I went to see her at a fairly new outdoor theater called 'Great Woods' in Mansfield, MA. It was my friend's 30 birthday so that was my gift to her. The show was supposed to start at 8 pm, with comedian Tommy Davidson from 'In Living Color' to open the show with his comedy act (he was very popular back then and opened for many concerts). At 8 pm, there's no Tommy - but Donna Summer comes out on stage with no music. The audience cheers and when she gets everyone to quiet down, she explains that Davidson was supposed to open the show, but his train from NYC is late, so he's going to close the show after she sings and tells us we better stay for his act because he's very funny !

She performs for about 45 minutes, then says she just got word from off-stage that Davidson has made it to the theater and he's ready to go on. She says 'I'm going to step off for a little while, and give the stage to Tommy right now because he took a train from New York City to Providence, and then a cab from Providence to here just to make us laugh! " She welcomes him on stage, they hug, and he does his comedy for about 30 minutes or so (and the guy is on top of his game, not missing a beat - one of the best comedy acts I've seen). When he's done, he tells us Donna is coming back out in a few mintes, and then breaks down in tears.

He tells the audience that he's worked with many singers before, and due to different travel circumstances, he's been late to the show before. He tells us never in his career has anyone been as generous as Summer - stopping her concert to let him do his act (and he's sobbing on stage). Most will tell him to go home. He reminded us what a professional and classy woman Summer was - and he'll never forget it. The audience is stunned, and then breaks out in a standing ovation. Summer comes back out, they embrace again, and she finishes the concert - another 45 minutes or so. At the end, when she takes her bows, she calls Davidson out to the stage again, and everyone cheers. (I must say it was one of the best concerts I have ever been to, and my friend and I loved the set-up: Music / Comedy /Music.

The very next morning, Davidson takes out a half page ad in just about every newspaper in the Boston / Providence area, thanking Donna Summer for letting him perform with her. Under a beautiful photo of her, he gives a brief description of what had happened, and how she let him do his act in the middle of her concert. "There's no one nicer than Donna Summer in the music industry " he writes at the bottom of the ad.

Here it is 34 years after, and I remember this like it was yesterday. I still have the ad Davidson put in the paper - I cut it out and it's in my 'Mistaken Identity' CD booklet.

Cher

I know someone who does work for Chelsea Handler and adores her.

Bonnie Hunt

Tea Leoni

Everyone loves working with Rory O'Malley.

I believe I've told this here before.

By far the nicest celebrity I've worked with is Ann-Margret. She was in my city for a few weeks rehearsing Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and I took care of her while she was in town. She was kind, patient, and grateful for everything. She invited me and family members to the show and greeted us backstage and took us on a tour of the facilities. She posed for many photos with us. I had many interesting conversations with her. She was absolutely lovely.

I was an absolute fucking pleasure all the God-damned time for reasons that are well known to my minions.

It's off-topic but I'd love to know which actors were dismissive assholes to your cater waiters, r4

[quote] Cher

Cher is a retarded, elderly prostitute.

Weird Al (seriously - so nice)

r9 a friend of mine worked with Vanessa Williams on a project years ago and he said she was absolutely lovely.

Emma Thompson Jeff Bridges

(I've worked with both of them.)

Tyrone Power

A late publicist friend said his favorite celebrities he dealt with were Valarie Harper (again)...and Vanessa Redgrave.

Steve Buscemi

As I have said on DL before...Lynda Carter when she played Wonder Woman. The TV series was taped at Warner Bros where I worked as a computrr geek.

One time she was playing a scene in our computer room. Our computer was part of the story and showed up on screen now and then.

After the scene was taped, Lynda met all the people in the department including kids of the workers. She was very nice going around to individuals and talking with them.

my stepdad worked with the irish girl group b*witched and said they were super nice

r22 Jason Bateman was... unpleasant and unfriendly. He wasn't outwardly hateful but he just acted like anyone that wasn't a celebrity wasn't even worth acknowledging in any way. I didn't recognize other people at his table - maybe spouse, managers, they were all fine.

Alan Ruck (Succession, FB's Day Off) was so strangely smug and condescending. The weirdest thing was that most people had no idea who he even was.

But, back to this thread... a few others that were at events that were super nice/friendly/outgoing - John Legend and kooky wife, Emma Watson (Harry Potter) was very sweet,

[quote] Ellen DeGeneres. We're all one big happy family...

Let's be kind to each other...

Tori Amos. Never heard a bad word from anyone, ever. She is very pleasant to fans too.

[quote] He DID NOT like working with Mick Jagger or Bette Midler. He never got into much details, but said each one was a nightmare to work with. He also didn't like Marie Osmond (she and Donny would do Christmas shows in smaller venues in my area each December). He said Donny was a great guy, but Marie was a terror - even Donny couldn't stand her off-stage.

None of this surprises me. Sounds like Jagger is as intolerable as his dance moves.

This is going back a very long time, but I used to do catering for concerts and all the stories are mostly true. Raucous behavior, outlandish demands for the sake of making outlandish demands (the story of brown M & Ms being removed for Van Halen is apocryphal), cigarette butts in food, copious booze, substances consumed. Whatever. I did especially like preparing everything for Heart -- they were grateful, kind, and relatively normal. They were also anxious to perform well and give the people their money's worth. A nice note: their parents traveled with them (at least for a bit). They were also very nice and ate the meals with the roadies. Now, roadies can be tough and demanding and just as temperamental as the bands, but everyone was on their best behavior at the dinner table with Mr. & Mrs. Wilson.

I've shared this story before and I'll share it again.

One of the nicest celebrities I ever met was about 25 years ago, in my store when actor Rob Schneider was in town for the whole summer. His fiancée was getting her degree at an art college in my city, and they relocated there for the summer - in a condo right across the street from my business. At first, I didn't make a big deal about him when he came into my store and shopped around. I think it was his fourth or fifth visit in which I finally acknowledged who he was. The poor guy was very lonely - his fiancée was in school 24/7 that summer, working on her projects to get her advanced degree (I never met her). He was charming, polite, funny, nice - once he became comfortable, he would hang around most of the day in my store (it was summer, business was slow, and the few customers in and out didn't notice or bother him).

At one point, I gave him my phone number (there were no cell phones back then) and told him if he wanted to grab dinner with me and my friends some night, to call me - I was usually doing something. Wednesday nights were usually 'Mexican night' and my two friends and I always went to this Mexican restaurant not too far away. I promised him we weren't crazy fans - we were his age, and seemed like we had a lot in common.

Sure enough, my friends canceled our Wednesday night plans the following week, but he called to see if he could join us. Without thinking, I just said, "Oh sorry, we canceled for tonight" and that was that. I didn't think of offering for just the two of us to go out to dinner - I just hung up after he said, "OK". When I told my two friends they were angry - said I should have made the plans and they would've rearranged their schedules to make sure our Wednesday dinner happened after all (how did I know ?).

I must say, back then in his mid-30s Schneider was a cute guy with a very hot body under his tee shirts and shorts. He didn't come across as 100% straight to me - he was a bit flirty, but I ignored him. I probably should have done a one-on- one dinner with him.

Malcolm McDowell. Friendly, chatty with everyone and absolutely lovely. On the flip side, Jill Hennessey (who?) from Crossing Jordan was a nasty, smug twat. But absolutely stunning in person.

[quote]I've shared this story before and I'll share it again.

I remember your story. Thanks for sharing again.

r37, that is interesting- he's supposedly a horror to work with. But most comedians are- they're very troubled people.

[quote] But most comedians are- they're very troubled people.

Am I really that funny though?

From personal experience ....

Viola Davis

Matt Bomer

Whoopi Goldberg (a very long time ago) but truly the kindest person I ever met.

Hate to say it, but Will Smith. He treats his makeup/hair team like gold- we were doing reshoots for, "After Earth" in Utah, and he had a picnic dinner with entertainment on Friday night. Then on the weekend, we had a choose your own adventure - horseback riding, yoga, whitewater rafting, and other activities. It was a big crew too- like 20-30 people.

Conan. Thread closed. I've known people who've worked with him in New York and LA and only glowing reports about him and the workplace he fostered. One who still works with him said that they saw another side of him during the fires. So many people lost their homes including Sona and he had just lost both parents. Nonetheless, my friend said he was "a fucking rock" and never saw so much strength and leadership. He kept the work force together in a manner he'd never seen.

She gets a bad rap on here but Sarah Jessica Parker. I’ve worked with her off and on for years and she’s the real deal. She gets to know her crew and she takes care of them. She knows everyone’s names and she’s involved and approachable. I would work with her again in a heartbeat.

From the old days - Jimmy Stewart and Gregory Peck were both known to be great guys

People who worked with Linda Darnell said she was a doll. Very kind.

I know someone who is a totally normal person, not in the “biz”, who has known RuPaul for a long time and loves him. I’ve always found that surprising. He seems like the type who would only like other famous people.

Ellen DeGeneres, for sure. She’s so kind, caring and generous and not narcissistic at all. Everyone loves Ellen, America’s favorite aunt.

I've worked with a lot of Broadway actors over the years, and they are universally easy to work with. When there's an exception, it really stands out. I've told the stories here before...

On the other hand, my uncle spent his career as a stage hand, doing tours, concerts, opera, and some film/tv. He loved working with Jerry Lewis, who could be a total asshole to everyone else, but was always a sweetheart to the crew who worked for him. He also loved to work with Charles Nelson Reilly (who directed operas) because he was always prepared and practical. He loved Beverly Sills, and always had her over to dinner when she was in town. He also said Barbra Streisand was great to work with. She was absolutely professional at all times, and treated the crew well. He said that in theaters the stage managers would make a backstage call of "Battle stations!" whenever Kathleen Battle entered the theatre, as she was such a bitch that anyone no active onstage would hide in their dressing rooms. She was once in SF and called her agent in NY to have him call the driver of her car and tell him where she was going -while she was in the car with the driver!

Patti Lupone. Until she puts on her Buffalo accent.

I have a friend Rob who was romantically involved with one of LuPone's assistants back in 2019. One night, the three of us went out to dinner in the fall of 2019, and I met the new guy for the first time. He was one of the nicest people I've met, and quite handsome and sexy, too. I had no idea what he did for a living (he just said he worked behind-the-scenes in Broadway theaters) until the end of our dinners.

Jay told me he was one of her assistants (I believe she had three or four at the time) and he had been working with her since she had returned from London in 1994 - so 25 years. She had such a horrible experience the previous twelve months, she decided to start 'fresh' when she returned to the states, and part of that was hiring 'new faces on her team'. He knew someone who was able to arrange an interview, and that's how he got the position. Jay said she had her 'off days' on occasion (who hasn't?) but nothing over-the-top. He really loved working for her. He said he learned a lot from her - business lessons and life lessons. If she was not nice to work for, he wouldn't have stayed with her for so many years (so he said). My friend Rob met this guy when he wanted an interview with Lupone that he was doing for a theater magazine - that's how they became involved, as Jay handled all the arrangements.

When I met him, she was due to return to B'way in March in the 'Company' revival. I told him I was planning to return to NYC in late April / early May for business. He promised me tickets to 'Company' and possibly ask Lupone to join us for dinner. (I remember him saying, 'she'll get a kick out of you'). I was looking forward to it.

Then COVID happened.

[quote] From the old days - Jimmy Stewart

Except for that whole racism thingy.

I work in music. Half of my career at high level positions at large indie record labels, and then into management. My favorite artist I worked with was Mavis Staples. In fact, she's quite possibly the best human I've ever met. Tom Waits was very nice too, but eccentric. Tom's son was my intern at the label I worked at for a time too - such a nice kid. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova from The Swell Season (who won the Oscar for Best Original Song in 2008) are also quite a pleasure.

Early in my career I had artists touring with Rage Against The Machine. I became friendly with Tom Morello after being at quite a few of the shows. He's the best. Super nice, VERY approachable. Years later I would encounter him at various events, and he would remember my name, and would always say hi.

Chester Bennington from Linkin Park was also very gracious after I kind of made an ass out of myself. I was working at a management company at the time, and I saw him in the lobby of our office. He looked familiar but I couldn't place him. So I just assumed he was another manager, agent, or label person. I asked him "Have we worked together before? I feel like I know you from somewhere." He shook his head and said "I don't think so. I'm in a band." I replied "Oh cool, which band?" thinking it was some developing artist. He paused for a second and sheepishly said "Linkin Park." I was fucking mortified. He kindly smiled and said "Don't worry, it happens all the time."

Lastly, Cameron Diaz. She was/is married to my boss at the time, and would come into the office a couple times a week. She was just super cool to me. We would talk about our cats,, food, cars, and my love life. She tried to set me up with her personal trainer. I had been over to her house (Once owned by Candy Bergen) after it had been remodeled. She made dinner (with the help of one of her staff) for some of the team, and a band I was working with at the time. I really liked her, and it's the only thing I miss about working for that company.

r44, Conan paid all of his crew a living wage during the pandemic, I believe for 3 months. I think Netflix might have paid for a month on some shows, but no other production company did that.

Oh, I have another one! Lionel Richie. He was the father in law of my other boss at the management company I worked for. He arrived at our small-ish holiday party, and the room was full of starstruck people - these are seasoned executives. He just has a magnetic personality. After about an hour, I introduced myself and told him I admired his work. Then I told him I was a HUGE Motown fan and music business historian, and was curious why he moved from Atlantic to Motown. We talked for a good 30 minutes about Berry Gordy, Ahmet Ertegun, Jerry Wexler, Al Bell, et al. About what the music business was like back then. I was just fascinated. Then my boss comes over (I think concerned I was monopolizing Lionel's time) and Lionel exclaimed "Keep this guy around, he's a good one!" I beamed, and I feel like it's still a proud moment in my career.

R54, as I understand it, he paid them all their regular salaries during the pandemic.

My former roommate had occasion to work with Sheryl Crow at his then job and said she was great, very grounded.

I've not had professional dealings with any celebrities myself (unless one prominent painter who was a witch with a capital B to a freelancer I worked with counts), but of the ones I've met personally Raymond Bourque and Andy Hallett impressed me the most as genuinely warm and friendly people.

R55 Did he mention his time spent with Miss Ross ?

My brother was photographer Matthew Rolston’s assistant for years and he said Oprah was amazing and generous. Every shoot she had a major breakfast set up, gourmet lunch and then champagne and dinner buffets after. She knew everyone’s name and radiated kindness (his words).

I did a good bit of extra and stand-in work in the 90s and early aughts. The two that stand out to me the most are Debi Mazar and Bradley Whitford. Debi was charming, funny and loved to just hang out with us during resets and meal breaks. Just a class act all around. Whitford was just really cool and gracious for the single day I was his stand-in for setting up shots. He asked me a lot about my day job, and we talked about first aid and CPR for kids. I worked for the Red Cross at the time and was a certified instructor, while he had a young kid at the time. Just a really great guy (and easy on the eyes).

R52 - he was a racist? Details, please!

Back in the late 90s Valerie Harper had some business dealings with the company I was working for at the time and she came in often over a period of several weeks. She was truly one of the loveliest people I have ever encountered. Just a kind and very friendly and personable woman.

A friend of mine worked for Jagger (and all the Stones) for years and really appreciated it - they were reliable, professional, good employers. Jagger was exacting but not a jerk.

r59, had a friend (gay white guy) who did Oprah's makeup for a short time after her guy retired. He had told me that he had to rush to Santa Barbara from L.A. for a last minute call, and I said, "I'm sure it's worth it, she's loaded." He replied, "She's only paying me $150." I yelled at him, "WTF, you know you're better than that! You do a ton of black celebs (Holly Peete, Raven Simone, Lela Rochon, Mary Wilson) -you're worth at least $1000!". He said sheepishly, "She told me that I was lucky that I was doing OPRAH and it would be known that I did her".

She let him go shortly after that.

R36 here, and as I mentioned I worked in catering for concerts at a mid-sized city's two venues. I need to clarify that I set up stations for them, providing dressing room equipment, and making sure all the contracts' riders were met. As such, I didn't "work with" them, just provided a service and tried to be invisible when I was in the room with them. We kept that to a minimum. Since the theme is "nicest" I'll go with:

Miss Ross: a bit scattered but she said thank you many times to all who waited on her hand and foot.

Pat Benatar: down to earth, and her guitarist (husband, I think) was super hot.

ELO: nothing outrageous, but I got the feeling that they had absolutely no idea where they were.

Pablo Cruise (opening act for Fleetwood Mac): party guys, seemed to view the venue as a small club, just guys having fun.

Mikhail Baryshnikov: outside our normal contract as a special event, but so intense and so intensely sexy.

Rolling Stones: super-high security, and as a lower level person I did not get the "all access" badge, but backstage only. My manager said they were kooks.

Hugh Jackman

R16 - Yes - I've heard that a lot about Chelsea Handler and what a giving, fun and warm, caring person she is.

Then she gets on stage and you're like - who is THIS bitch?

She's totally different in real life - every one that has worked with her has said this - even on her own late night show when she had it.

Bernadette Peters. An absolute joy. An absolute light.

R36 - a small note about Van Halen's request for specific-colored M&M's. If it wasn't there, it was a visual sign that all of the safety items and other procedures they listed may not also have been checked and verified.

So for them, it was an easy way to see if they followed everything in the instructions. I believe that part was buried in the contract/documentation.

If the M&M's weren't the right way, the crew set afoot to double-check everything.

Kate Mulgrew

John Lithgow

Tyne Daly

Billy Crudup

Blythe Danner

Martin Short

Judith Light

Tony Danza

Kristin Chenoweth

Bobby Cannavale

Annette Bening

Mario Cantone

Valerie Harper (RIP)

Faye Dunaway

Sissy Spacek was sweet and kind to the crew during a charity video shoot years ago. We were waiting around and she asked everyone what they’d been up to and had they watched any good movies lately. She was lovely.

Kevin Nealon is a super nice guy, maybe a little aloof, but it comes with the territory. I met him backstage at a comedy club years ago when I filled in on audio. He made a point of telling everyone “good job” after the show.

I also met Brett Butler when I was writing for my college newspaper. This was right before “Grace Under Fire” happened. We had a long talk about growing up down south and how she was sorry she didn’t finish college. She was gracious to everyone and seemed clearheaded and focused. When I heard stories about her drug use it made me sad.

I was just reading about Alan Alda and what an asshole he was toward Madeline Kahn when they made “Betsy’s Wedding.” Up yours, Alan.

Janet Jackson. I saw her at the Ames, Iowa annual state fair eating several corn dogs (concurrently) as she tried to sing her hits. She gave me her autograph but begged me to provide the proceeds to her since her music career is...well, you know. And then she walked over to the Baja Fresh table.

You’re doing too much R73.

R73 thinks he's me. There's only one...