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?

My Grandparets were licensees of a pub in Swansea during the 50’s frequented by the poet Dylan Thomas, my Grandmother always said he used to say he would scrounge drinks off others (she didn’t like him). Footballer and football manager was named after my Uncle Ken who passed away when he was 4, my grandparents were friends of Kenny Jacket’s parents.

My Step mum’s cousin went out with Cliff Richard
My dad used to play squash at the same club as as Tommy Steel and apparently he would sing his well known tunes in the showers for a laugh
My uncle used to knock about with Joe Bugner and Jacko from Brushstrokes

Chapeau!!!

Just realised you were specifically asking about Grandparents !

My next door neighbour when I was a child had gone to university with Laurence Olivier

My Son in laws grandad used to chauffeur around Roy Orbison 👓 about in his late career

Quite likely!

My Nana was involved with several women's rights organisations and met Indira Gandhi, Anwar Sadat and other world leaders several times. I do remember her being very upset when they were assassinated when I was quite young. But other than that she never really spoke about the work she did which took her all over the world to conference's and congresses. I only really found after her death what she had done and I wish I'd known more about her work when she was still alive as she was a truly formidable woman.

All these stories are great, but this one is next-level. 'accidentally dusted the young Mary of Teck' AMAZING.

My grandfather was born in 1872, and when Buffalo Bill Cody brought his Wild West Show to the UK, my grandfather went to see it several times. He once said to me when I was a wee girl 'shake my hand', I shook it and he said 'you just shook hands with a man who shook hands with Buffalo Bill and Sitting Bull. Younger MNers might not have heard of Buffalo Bill or Sitting Bull, but both were very famous heroes of the American Wild West.

Daughter's paternal grandfather worked for the Richardsons and was friends with various train robbers and other criminals & old lags.

Ooh yes my mum used to be a OU tutor and was Robin and Ali Campbell’s (UB40) mum’s tutor. She knew the kids when they were little.

And my fil went out with a Pan’s Person

My other great grandmother was a childhood friend of Mary's, she probably encountered your great aunt.

My great grandfather on my father's side,was very high up in the railways

He (apparently) was paid to sit in on meetings the great train robbers had and report back

Sad thing is,when I Google it,he comes up as 'man unknown'

I don't even know his name but know some very 'funny' stories about him (as in 'oh my god,he didn't?!'rather than funny haha)

Not my great-aunt! I was replying to someone else.
I have no stories that could even begin to touch that

My aunt was quite a famous 70s model. She was a close friend of Robert Palmer at 15, he sort of looked after her (no romance), there’s a lovely unstated photo of them together. She knows a few people like De Havillanx and so on.

My Nana went to those shows too !! I went to Buffalo Bills grave while in the USA .

@SuperGinger how amazing , I bet she would have encountered her indeed . Hopefully after my short sighted Aunt Ethel had dusted her 😂

We found out after Mum died that she went to school with George Harrison in her first school and even walked to school with him. She had never said and two of her school friends told us at the funeral.

My mil lived next door to Micheal Elphick when she was young and my mum went on a date with an actor in the 50s who became well known ( can’t remember who it was … will update if I do )

My mum and dad saw Hattie Jaques and John le mesurier on their honeymoon ( my parents)

So interesting. Did your mother talk about it much? My grandad would always gloss over it, even after it had expired from The Official Secrets Act.

famous for the wrong reason, more likely notorious but my grandad knew the Krays, came from the same part of London

Fil used to play with Rabbi Lionel Blue when they were young lads.

The wife and daughters of Moise Tshombe (Prime minister of Congo) regularly bought dresses from my grandmother in her shop.
Her legal guardian, a family friend, when she arrived in Africa from Belgium at the start of WW2 was Sir Roy Welensky, later the Prime Minister of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.
No idea who else she would have known but she certainly had some connections!

...oh, her mother-in-law had previously been married to the Greek Consul. A 'bloody battleaxe'.

Apparently, Phil Oakey (??) of Human League came to the youth club my mum helped out at.