Did your grandparents ever mention unexpectedly famous people they had known?

[2catsandhappy]

As a young girl, whenever the WW2 came on tv, my late Nan would tell us that she knew Violette Szabo from when Violette was in London.
It meant nothing to me then, only in later years did the name mean anything.
No idea if Violette was a child or an adult. I presume adult as Nan was an adult in London. I have the vaguest idea they were sometime neighbours.
Anybody else had an unexpected name crop up in conversation with grandparents?

Well, it's incredibly mundane compared to knowing Violette Szabo, but my Dad grew up in the same town as Harry Corbett of Sooty fame and knew him quite well...

No, and I'd be amazed @2catsandhappy anyone will better yours. A true heroine

My grandad was in a film with John Wayne. He never mentioned it. I found out through my mum.

My mum’s step brother played in the old first division (football). Said she would come down and have Kevin Keegan and Andy Gray asleep in their living room.

Oh wow, Violette Szabo is impressive.

Yes, my granny talked about the fact that she taught Tony Jacklin (golfer) as a ten year old ALL the time. She was also friends with Joan Plowright's parents. Joan was an actress, married to Sir Laurence Olivier. I don't think my gran had ever met Joan, but she liked the snob value of 'knowing' her parents.

My Mum used to know Sir Harry Lauder.

My mum was an au pair in the 60s to a family of actors. She has met everybody who was famous in the 60s.

Best moment was when DH was playing a film and asked her if she had heard of the director. Got the answer 'Oh yes, I used to mind his children'

However I hope to be able to tell my Grandchildren that my English teacher was a Mrs Tolkien (DIL of the man himself!).

No but he used to drop random places he’d been into conversations eg ‘When I was in Sierra Leone…’ That really used to throw me 😆 Turns out he went all over Africa and India in the war.

Apparently my Grandparents for a period lived next to George Lazenby, also my Dad once had Diana Rigg walk past him and said hello

My mum knew Mick Jagger as a teenager .

My grandfather was in a Japanese POW camp (actually it was Changi in Singapore) with Ronald Searle, who wrote the St Trinian’s books. I‘m not sure how many people even know Searle‘s name these days.

Noel Coward stayed with my grandparents during the war.

My great grandad was a taxi driver and drove Errol Flynn several times. Once he left his umbrella in the taxi and my grandmother kept it.

My great grandmother was a dresser in our local theatre, she met Charlie Chaplin.

My Grandparents owned the big newsagents at Butlins in Clacton and were often talking about Billy Butlin coming in all the time. They spoke like they were good friends when infact I don’t think they were

I met his step son at a funeral wake party recently!

Not my grandparents, but my parents. The NW suburbs of London were obviously the place to be in the early 1960s- my mum went to school with one Reginald Dwight who rebranded himself as Elton John, and my dad went to college with Keith Moon ("Moon! Stop playing around with the bunsen burners!")

My Dad was coached by the Man United Busby Babes, at school.
My Mother was friendly with Mabel Anderson, the Royal Nanny.

My grandad was friends with Roald Dahl. He had a gypsy caravan in his garden and my gdad was a gypsy and they spent many a happy hour with my grandad trying to persuade him to sell it to him

Not a grandparent, but my mum met Yehudi Menuhin.

Nana lived in the same street as Sean connery when they where children/teens/20's.

Scunthorpe?

My grandmother was a family friend of Samuel Becketts, didn't think much of him but liked him better than Behan apparently!

Absolutely!