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Original poster

When you were at school were you obsessed with anyone famous?

90 replies

MakeMineABombay · 14/03/2023 19:15

& if so what did you do about it?

I saw an actor today on TV who I'd not thought of in ages. He's old now but when I was at school my best friend was OBSESSED with this actor. One year he had a rep part in a local theatre and she "made" (!!) me basically stalk him. Almost every Saturday she wanted to go and hang round the theatre before and after the matinee. I saw that show more times than it was worth.

She read every interview she could find and then if he said he liked a sandwich bar in a particular city she'd want to go there too.

This was pre-internet and it made me wonder whether this sort of thing is less common now because of the internet and social media that people have more perceived "access" to the object of their affection. Why go and hang round a theatre if you might have a chance of chatting to them on Instagram or Twitter without leaving your house?

If you were at school pre-internet did you do any of this kind of thing or drag your very lovely friends into your madness?

[PS: this friend of mine died when she was 30 so I'm sad I can't tell her I saw this guy on TV today looking old and crusty]

OP posts:
Goingoutdancing · 14/03/2023 20:26

Shakin Stevens

Justforlaffs · 14/03/2023 20:27

Atreyu from Neverending Story.

The man of my 10yo dreams! I used to lie in bed at night pretending to be the princess and making up romantic scenarios between us, and used to obsessively watch the film.

When you were at school were you obsessed with anyone famous?
BooksAndHooks · 14/03/2023 20:27

Yes used to hang around the bbc or itv studios at weekends.

Ladydinosaur · 14/03/2023 20:37

Chesney hawkes

i luffed him so much-my bedroom was plastered with his posters,I wore out my tape of the one and only,read every interview he ever did and planned to either marry him or call my firstborn after him (I didn’t!)

years later,I found him on insta,and he liked one of my comments

i fangirled for weeks!

will always have a soft spot for ches

Molly70 · 14/03/2023 20:37

John Taylor from Duran Duran. His home phone number was in the directory as they were just starting to become famous so me and a friend called him up! His mum answered and I asked if I could speak to John (like I knew him) . She guessed I was a kid and told me to ring the fan club number if I wanted to speak to him

mumpower3 · 14/03/2023 20:41

Sakura7 · 14/03/2023 20:00

Stephen Gately ☺️

Me too!!! I had a doll of him my mum surprised me with! I still love and listen to boyzone too. And I'm fairly young 😆

LindorDoubleChoc · 14/03/2023 20:42

David Essex. Bedroom walls papered with posters from Pink and Jackie magazine. Went to see him in concert 5+ times. Made two massive scrapbooks about him (which my Mum still has in her loft) and bought every single and album. Saw That'll Be The Day and Stardust more times than I care to imagine and was definitely underage for some of those screenings. I still know his birthday - 23rd July 1947!

Sarahlp101 · 14/03/2023 20:42

Jarvis Cocker

Oblomov23 · 14/03/2023 20:42

@Ladydinosaur
He lives not far from me and I see his brother from time to time.

bananafishbones1 · 14/03/2023 20:44

TomatoSandwiches · 14/03/2023 19:56

Robert Smith

Me too. I still like him but prefer young Robert 😂

NooNakedJacuzziness · 14/03/2023 20:44

Little Joe Cartwright

illiterato · 14/03/2023 20:48

Rik Mayall. Not in a sexual way- just thought he was the most awesome human alive. Wasted a lot of time watching the Young Ones and Bottom on VHS.

WelshNerd · 14/03/2023 20:49

Leonardo DiCaprio (Went to see Titanic twice in one day)
David Duchovny (in the very early days of the internet you could slowly download his "teapot" photoshoot)
James Dean Bradfield (solidarity @Bauhausstolemyhair ) Basically followed the manics around the country between 97-2001. I have a photo I took of JDBs house in a box upstairs Blush

MosquitoBuffet · 14/03/2023 20:50

John Taylor, it got so all consuming that I had to give my teen self a stern talking to as he was twelve years older than me so it would never work.

Then he went and married Amanda De Cadenet who is a mere 6 months older than me and I was gutted.

Could have been in with a chance after all.....

WedonttalkaboutMaureen · 14/03/2023 20:50

Why don't you name the actor OP?

Morten Harket of A-ha. A truly stunning looking young man in his time. He's aged ok!

EdieLedwell · 14/03/2023 20:52

Anthony Andrews who played Sebastian Flyte in Brideshead Revisited. My 13 yo self still swoons!

Original poster
MakeMineABombay · 14/03/2023 20:53

thank you @TomatoSandwiches I do miss her.

@Molly70 I think you are in the running to win the thread with this:

John Taylor from Duran Duran. His home phone number was in the directory as they were just starting to become famous so me and a friend called him up! His mum answered and I asked if I could speak to John (like I knew him) . She guessed I was a kid and told me to ring the fan club number if I wanted to speak to him

That is quality quality fan stalking work there. I'm sad that there are so few accounts of weird pre-internet behaviour.

props to @BooksAndHooks for hanging round itv & bbc studios - who were you looking for?
& to @BellatrixLestrangesHeatedCurlers for the Alan Rickman film searching.

Sorry to hear about your friend @SevenShortDays . I'm sure that sort of thing happened a lot in the past.

OP posts:
EdieLedwell · 14/03/2023 20:58

MosquitoBuffet · 14/03/2023 20:50

John Taylor, it got so all consuming that I had to give my teen self a stern talking to as he was twelve years older than me so it would never work.

Then he went and married Amanda De Cadenet who is a mere 6 months older than me and I was gutted.

Could have been in with a chance after all.....

Also John Taylor. He was far too good for Amanda de Cadenet, (who then got off with Keanu Reeves). I was livid!

PandasAreUseless · 14/03/2023 21:01

Mark Owen from Take That!!

I watched their live shows on video over and over and over and over again for about 5 years. I was so in love with Mark, it used to make me feel ill!

I was always trying to get Mark's postal address and would write him letters which I'd spray with perfume and put little bits of jewellery inside. I would have struggled to contain myself if it were now days, with Instagram and TokTok giving me an insight into his home and personal life, and enabling me to comment on his posts and private message him.

Now I'm pushing 40, what an absolute dweeb he looks, and what a great catch Gary Barlow turned out to be!

EdieLedwell · 14/03/2023 21:03

Who's yours Op?

fivetriangulartrees · 14/03/2023 21:04

I'm not sure I want to say who mine was, because I was way more OTT than most of you. Obsessive collection of videos, articles, signed photos etc, obviously. Saw him in person but don't think I ever spoke to him. I also thought I had a psychic connection with him and he was sending me coded messages through the TV. Roped my best friend into watching out for these coded messages too. I wrote him a letter every single night in bed. And once I took out a classified ad in a magazine I thought he'd read. 😳

In my early 20s I accidentally got extremely drunk at a work party and rambled to an amused taxi driver about the contents of my various scrapbooks, just so I could relive the embarrassment all over again.

saveforthat · 14/03/2023 21:04

David Cassidy (pretty normal for the time) and (not normal). Anthony Valentine, in Colditz. I was obsessed.

Original poster
MakeMineABombay · 14/03/2023 21:13

@EdieLedwell I never had one sadly. I was a bit bookish and a bit geeky - all girls school - and never really had a super obsession like that. I lived vicariously helping my friend with hers. I quite liked an actor called Johnnie Phillips who I saw in one of those plays my friend made me go to but never supercrush level. I wonder what happened to him I think he was a theatre actor I don't think I've ever seen him on TV. He's probably about 60/70 now I'd guess.
Never stalked anyone sadly or not sadly depending on your veiw of lifes experiences.

OP posts:
Bauhausstolemyhair · 14/03/2023 21:16

@WelshNerd His maida vale days? You weren't a member of JDBAS were you? I miss those days.

oneforthemoneytwofortheshow · 14/03/2023 21:17

Mark Owen from Take That.
Patrick Swayze.