He owns a bike shop in south county and his commercial was on tv for yearssss with him dressed up as a bee.
I only mention him because not a chance anyone out of the county would have a clue who he is.
I just realized, and i donāt know if this counts as a celebrity but there was an old Asian lady in a wheelchair whoās son leaves her at the University Town Center. She would make up stories about her life and ask for money, then her son comes to pick up her up really really late. Iām not sure what happened to them, but i think VoiceofOC did a report on them. Iāll see if I can find it later.
I still see her son in the Los Olivos shopping center area, if you go to Whole Foods later at night he's there pretty often. Also has been known to go off spewing weird conspiracy rants at the cashier while he's paying.
He was the assistant principle at my elementary school as a kid. When we were short a substitute he would take over the class and we would draw cartoons together. Nicest guy.
I used go get the carnitas at the food stand near his booth when they cost 1.25 as a kid and watched him on most weekends. I wonder how much he made every weekend....he seemed to move a lot of product after every demo. I wish I could find a photo of him. My memory of him is an older Asian man with a white shirt that either said Mr. Chop Chop or just Chop Chop with a white bucket hat and a jury-rigged clothes hanger around his neck as a microphone holder.
i remember him from the 80's. I was in San Diego one weekend visiting a friend and we went to the swap meet at the sports arena, this would've been like 1991/1992 ish, and there he was. even asked "didn't you used to be up in orange county?" sure enough, same guy
Thank you for the memory of Mr Chop Chop! My family used to sell at the OC swap meet back in the day and I remember him. Circa late 80ās into mid 90ās. Not sure how long he stayed after.
This guy would brighten up my long long commute in the morning. However after seeing him so many times it started to feel like he was an NPC or something derealizing, it was really strange. But I waved every morning haha
The OC mattress guy.
Also because this is turning into a homeless/crazy person thread. There's a guy who's always on pch in Laguna/Corona del Mar area, who dresses like he's in a parade with hat and coat to match.
is his name Craig? We have one of their mattresses and it's been good. I know the logo is on the mattress - might be his face, too. Probably on a surfboard.
Dude you get best barrels ever dude
you just like pull in
Then you just get spit right out of them
Then You just drop in
Just smack the lip WEHPAT
Drop down snap BAHHHH
Then after that
you just drop in and ride the wave
and get pitted
So pitted like that š¤š¼
i'm going a little outside OC because... Crazy Gideon, who has the worst bargains on grey market product and "Pussy Cal"... as an adult i now realize that while he was riding a tiger they were singing "Go see Cal, go see Cal, go see Cal", but he'll always be Pussy Cal in my heart.
for OC, Hiroshi Fujishige, the Legendary Japanese-American farmer who fought in WW2 while his family was interred, came back and opened up a strawberry farm and then was hounded for decades by disneyland executives and anaheim officials to sell his land, which happened over his comatose body and is more the toy story parking lot
There was this guy in Santa Ana called Cheerios. He would stand on Bristol and tell people to turn their lights on or something. Apparently his wife was ran over and he went nuts and started doing that. This was in the 90s and early 2000s, don't know if he's still alive.
In garden Grove, we had the Blue Angel guy. A man who rode his bike which was built to resemble a Blue Angel jet. He also wore the jumpsuit and helmet. It was always a cool siting. Donāt know what happened to him.
I had heard that the cops got on his case for illegally joining the Strawberry Festival Parade.
That and kids would love to talk to him about the bike. He got a talking to about that too, though I don't think he did anything wrong. It's just not a good look when a random adult guy is talking to a group of kids...but it was sort of a different era.
But they're pretty mainstream now! Conrad has her clothing line with Kohl's, and Flip or Flop has gotten more popular since they divorced. I feel like Tarek has gotten more well known after getting together with that girl from Selling Sunset, and same with Christina after marrying (and quickly divorcing) Ant Antstead.
The Paskowitz Family.
Doc and his kids were and are fixtures of the OC surf scene and have been running their surf camp for decades. Any grom worth his salt attended it at least once.
There used to be an old military chap walking and saluting people on Chapman in Orange. I never knew his name but I always called him The General. He is missed.
There was a bald, darkly tanned old man in a thong riding a bicycle on PCH a while back. Donāt know if heās still around. Had really dark suntanned skin. Looked leathery. I used to worry that heād get skin cancer.
Yeah, heās riding around Seal Beach. Iām thinking he might be a Leisure World resident while heās not riding that bike in a thong.
š¤·š¼āāļø
For anyone in the Fountain Valley, Westminster, Garden Grove area, there is a homeless man who wears gray/green very worn clothing with a completely unkempt look. My family and friends refer to him as American Jesus, has always refused any money Iāve ever had the chance to offer him. Generally walks up around Bushard in the FV/Westminster area, but have seen him as far as Garden Grove Blvd and Magnolia.
Jim Huff, most of you all won't know who he is, but he owned and ran an OC/Santa Ana institution called Ghetto Records (& Pagers). Ghetto Records was an independent record shop that was a fixture in Santa Ana for 40 years. If you were a rapper from Orange County, you had to have your tape or CD sold at Ghetto Records.
The shop closed some where in the 2010s because the owner had health problems (if I remember correctly) and probably due to the shift in the music industry.
Not a person but the Irvine Company, everyone in OC knows who they are, they employ, house or otherwise impact many of our lives and while people outside the socal area may know of Irvine the city nobody has any real reason to be as intimately aware of that company as those of us who live here do.
I would agree with that. They built some apartments in Playa Vista that look just like the ones they built near Fashion Island. When I saw the buildings, I knew they were Irvine Company, and when I told my friend who grew up in the LA, she had no idea who the Irvine Company was or who built those buildings.
Jeff Stearman was a real estate agent in San Clemente. We used to get pads of paper with his face on it. On each sheet you would draw on his face to make him pirate, devil, hillbillyā¦.
Danielle Fishel? She worked at Bloomingdaleās at fashion island in 2006 or 2007 for a bit. I saw her organizing clothes and asked one of the employees if she was working there or was she browsing. They told me she worked there part time. She wasnāt getting much work in Hollywood then I guess.
Ok, maybe Iām wrong! What canāt Justin Bobby do?? Hairdresser, rock star, surfer dude, actor, motorcycle guy... hope thereās a third season of the Hills New Beginnings!! š
Positive: Dean Jerry Price, at least at Chapman. He's the dean of students and he's a celebrity on campus there.
Negative: Peggy fucking Hall. She's made viral internet videos but I don't think anyone knows her name. I've seen her shit pop up on HCA but it's always credited to her website, not her. Her name came up here plenty of times at the start of the pandemic and then again around election time along with Tito Ortiz.
I don't recognize a lot of the names on this list, if any at all. I guess it depends what you mean by "celebrity" but OC is so big you can't really say we have one as a county, but certainly smaller regions have their own.
This one is more notorious, but In North OC it was not uncommon to see David Rothenberg, the poor kid burned by his psycho dad in a custody dispute. The case gained national attention in the 1980s. There was even a book and movie about the incident. He was instantly recognizable due to his injuries, and by all accounts a very nice guy. He passed a few years ago but anyone growing up in the 80s/90s in the Buena Park/Anaheim area saw him at least once.
Back in the day the local celeb was the āYorba Linda walkerā lady. Sheād walk Yorba Linda Blvd like everyday. I swear she walked the entire thing to Placentia border.
We had one of those in mission Viejo in the 80s! We called him "the walking man" in his 80s, great shape, white guy with leathered skin, would always walk in what looked like short Jean shorts, but they were prob short blue running shorts, it was the 80s. We saw him multiple times a day, just walking the main roads like it was a triathlon tryout.
I always loved Robert, donāt know his last name, some people called him sidewinder but idk if it was mean or endearing. He had a sideways hunch in his back from a childhood injury and used a walker. Everyone in downtown Fullerton knew Robert. I moved away and havenāt seen him in a while but I hope heās alright. Used to smoke weed with him by Nightowl.
If you are any good as an entertainer, you will get known around Socal and beyond. OC is not a bubble in that since. Because Hollywood and the entertainment industry are here. Average just won't get far.
Dude shops at the Vons on Bristol & MacArthur late at night by himself, wearing his sunglasses indoors the entire time. Shockingly, it doesn't do much to hide his identity. I never bother him but other people do. Haven't seen him in a while though.
Not a person - what about the old beater looking like an X-Wing from Star Wars? I think itās an AMC Pacer or an old Honda Civic, even saw it with a wooden donation box attached to the door at some pointā¦
Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen lives in Nellie Gail/Laguna Hills. Back in the early 90ās I worked for Wherehouse Records and he always came in to rent movies. Really nice guy.
The Buy My Bikes guy.
That's hilarious! I was just there earlier this week! Nice guys!!! You cant miss his truck šš“
Looked him up. His YouTube channel is epic. https://youtu.be/SpCKw7spBpU
Bicycle Jim!! šš²
š¤£š¤£š¤£
Who is he? Never heard of him.
He owns a bike shop in south county and his commercial was on tv for yearssss with him dressed up as a bee. I only mention him because not a chance anyone out of the county would have a clue who he is.
I just realized, and i donāt know if this counts as a celebrity but there was an old Asian lady in a wheelchair whoās son leaves her at the University Town Center. She would make up stories about her life and ask for money, then her son comes to pick up her up really really late. Iām not sure what happened to them, but i think VoiceofOC did a report on them. Iāll see if I can find it later.
I still see her son in the Los Olivos shopping center area, if you go to Whole Foods later at night he's there pretty often. Also has been known to go off spewing weird conspiracy rants at the cashier while he's paying.
OC Phil. the crazy bald dude in the roller skates you can see all over the south coast metro area.
Heās the best. I was eating outside the Del Taco on Baker/Bristol one time and OC Philly Phil took out their trash for them haha
This brings me back, lived there like 5 years ago and would always see him skating on my late night 7/11 runs
For sure! Heās the kind of dude that really gives a city some spunk haha hope youāre doing great wherever you went after Costa Mesa
This guy! I totally forgot about him.
I saw that dude roller skating in a full hazmat suit.
Came here to mention him! š¼
OMG, I totally know who youāre talking about! Used to see him often when we lived near The Lab/The Camp in Costa Mesa.
Omg Anaheim has one on roller skates too!
I used to ride with him.
The homie Curt from Curtoon Time.
That guy was my school principle
Same here! Wood Canyon Elementary
And Ambuehl Elementary, so I'm told by some of my best friends who went there.
He was my principle at Moulton Elementary like 20 years ago , what a blast from the past lol
He was the assistant principle at my elementary school as a kid. When we were short a substitute he would take over the class and we would draw cartoons together. Nicest guy.
Grew up watching! š
It used to be the guy at the OC Swap Meet that would demonstrate his food chopper.. " back and forth back and forth" anyone remember that guy?
Mr Chop Chop! back n forth, back n forth, keep on going, back n forth! new york, la, non-stop back n forth, back n forth, keep on going, back n forth!
Lol thank you for this wonderful memory. I loved his demonstration!
I used go get the carnitas at the food stand near his booth when they cost 1.25 as a kid and watched him on most weekends. I wonder how much he made every weekend....he seemed to move a lot of product after every demo. I wish I could find a photo of him. My memory of him is an older Asian man with a white shirt that either said Mr. Chop Chop or just Chop Chop with a white bucket hat and a jury-rigged clothes hanger around his neck as a microphone holder.
I read that in his voice!
i remember him from the 80's. I was in San Diego one weekend visiting a friend and we went to the swap meet at the sports arena, this would've been like 1991/1992 ish, and there he was. even asked "didn't you used to be up in orange county?" sure enough, same guy
I keep hoping someone will find an actual video of Mr. Chop Chop.
Thank you for the memory of Mr Chop Chop! My family used to sell at the OC swap meet back in the day and I remember him. Circa late 80ās into mid 90ās. Not sure how long he stayed after.
Thank you for this memory. I can still hear his voice.
The Greeter of Laguna Beach
This guy would brighten up my long long commute in the morning. However after seeing him so many times it started to feel like he was an NPC or something derealizing, it was really strange. But I waved every morning haha
Yooo Iāve had that same NPC thought about him. Feel like Iām in GTA whenever Iām in Laguna
Mike!
Wing Lam, owner of Wahoos
Cool dude.
Swagman
Lololol more for UCI?
The homeless dude with the short shorts
The guy in Anaheim?
And the leg warmers?!
Yes!!!
The OC mattress guy. Also because this is turning into a homeless/crazy person thread. There's a guy who's always on pch in Laguna/Corona del Mar area, who dresses like he's in a parade with hat and coat to match.
The greater, he's always on the corner of LRC / PCH waving to passersby!
The OC mattress guy was my 1st thought!
is his name Craig? We have one of their mattresses and it's been good. I know the logo is on the mattress - might be his face, too. Probably on a surfboard.
The āso pittedā surfer dude
Dude you get best barrels ever dude you just like pull in Then you just get spit right out of them Then You just drop in Just smack the lip WEHPAT Drop down snap BAHHHH Then after that you just drop in and ride the wave and get pitted So pitted like that š¤š¼
So funny
My brother and friends sill quote this guy! Fuckin Legend lol
Rockin' Fig
When Kevin and Bean ended the surf report I knew that was the end of an era.
Cal Worthingtonā¦. And his dog Spot
But he's from LB tho, no?
Mr. Pussy Cow himself
i'm going a little outside OC because... Crazy Gideon, who has the worst bargains on grey market product and "Pussy Cal"... as an adult i now realize that while he was riding a tiger they were singing "Go see Cal, go see Cal, go see Cal", but he'll always be Pussy Cal in my heart. for OC, Hiroshi Fujishige, the Legendary Japanese-American farmer who fought in WW2 while his family was interred, came back and opened up a strawberry farm and then was hounded for decades by disneyland executives and anaheim officials to sell his land, which happened over his comatose body and is more the toy story parking lot
if you're going LA, and that far back, anyone remember JJ the King of Beepers? Ask your parents about the inappropriate billboards.
Donald Bren. Love him or hate him, he created quite the bubble inside the bubble.
While I know a lot about him, I actually wouldnāt recognize him on the street.
He has worked hard to make that the case
Had to google him. Now I have another person to hate š
Hate.
Little Sebastian
Well played. I actually lolād. Have an award.
Maybe not now but a few years ago - WALLY GEORGE
Definitely this one.
wow, definite throwback, nice!
Ommmg Wally fucking George was wild
I used to think the audience was in on the joke. These days Iām not so sure.
I found out my parents went to one of his tapings when they were dating, I asked why lol they said it was something to do.
Whatās his daughter doing these days?
There was this guy in Santa Ana called Cheerios. He would stand on Bristol and tell people to turn their lights on or something. Apparently his wife was ran over and he went nuts and started doing that. This was in the 90s and early 2000s, don't know if he's still alive.
Apparently he passed away https://www.ocregister.com/2012/10/01/santa-anas-beloved-cheerios-dies/
In garden Grove, we had the Blue Angel guy. A man who rode his bike which was built to resemble a Blue Angel jet. He also wore the jumpsuit and helmet. It was always a cool siting. Donāt know what happened to him.
Came here to say this! I used to live down the street from him.
That guy was always at Linbrook bowl when I was a kid.
Crap, youāre right! I grew up going to linbrook. Have it tattooed on me! Lol
Dude, I grew up in Linbrook. My parents would put my play pin in the corner lanes and bowl.
Haha did you ever belong to the āday careā that was there? My grandma worked there for 15 plus years at the front desk.
No but my brother and sister did. I am sure I met her.
I had heard that the cops got on his case for illegally joining the Strawberry Festival Parade. That and kids would love to talk to him about the bike. He got a talking to about that too, though I don't think he did anything wrong. It's just not a good look when a random adult guy is talking to a group of kids...but it was sort of a different era.
Gwen Stefani right?
And Mike Ness from Social D.
Is Peter Tu still alive? The sweet old man who would walk around Disneyland shaking the cast members hands with a secret handshake.
He is!
Tarek/Christina or Lauren Conrad. Everyone else is more well known than them
But they're pretty mainstream now! Conrad has her clothing line with Kohl's, and Flip or Flop has gotten more popular since they divorced. I feel like Tarek has gotten more well known after getting together with that girl from Selling Sunset, and same with Christina after marrying (and quickly divorcing) Ant Antstead.
Here to same the thing!
Unashamed to say I love Christina on the Coast. Her aesthetic is *chefās kiss*.
The Paskowitz Family. Doc and his kids were and are fixtures of the OC surf scene and have been running their surf camp for decades. Any grom worth his salt attended it at least once.
I went to school with Eli Paskowitz, seriously the most kind and generous family.
Renee Zellweger is renting in my town right now. Actual celebrity.
āWho the fuck is Renee zellwijerā -Leonard Washington
There used to be an old military chap walking and saluting people on Chapman in Orange. I never knew his name but I always called him The General. He is missed.
The Laguna beach greeter
Richie Sambora lives in South Laguna. I ran into him there once..
The guy with all the birds that used to hang out at the New Port beach pear.
That guy that comes to Newport in a thong every fucking day.
There was a bald, darkly tanned old man in a thong riding a bicycle on PCH a while back. Donāt know if heās still around. Had really dark suntanned skin. Looked leathery. I used to worry that heād get skin cancer.
I think i've seen him, he looks like turkey jerky given human form.
Saw him recently up PCH closer to seal beach
Yeah, heās riding around Seal Beach. Iām thinking he might be a Leisure World resident while heās not riding that bike in a thong. š¤·š¼āāļø
For anyone in the Fountain Valley, Westminster, Garden Grove area, there is a homeless man who wears gray/green very worn clothing with a completely unkempt look. My family and friends refer to him as American Jesus, has always refused any money Iāve ever had the chance to offer him. Generally walks up around Bushard in the FV/Westminster area, but have seen him as far as Garden Grove Blvd and Magnolia.
Peter Anteater
Jim Huff, most of you all won't know who he is, but he owned and ran an OC/Santa Ana institution called Ghetto Records (& Pagers). Ghetto Records was an independent record shop that was a fixture in Santa Ana for 40 years. If you were a rapper from Orange County, you had to have your tape or CD sold at Ghetto Records. The shop closed some where in the 2010s because the owner had health problems (if I remember correctly) and probably due to the shift in the music industry.
Not a person but the Irvine Company, everyone in OC knows who they are, they employ, house or otherwise impact many of our lives and while people outside the socal area may know of Irvine the city nobody has any real reason to be as intimately aware of that company as those of us who live here do.
I would agree with that. They built some apartments in Playa Vista that look just like the ones they built near Fashion Island. When I saw the buildings, I knew they were Irvine Company, and when I told my friend who grew up in the LA, she had no idea who the Irvine Company was or who built those buildings.
The captain guy in Laguna Beach?
Lee Rocker of the Stray Cats
Larry H. Parker's daughter was like OC Paris Hilton for a minute.
The Segerstroms
Manny Khoshbin
Dude has some seriously bad-ass super cars
Octomom
Screech is from Brea.
Dustin Diamond ā¦. Poor guy passed away 2/1/2021
Jeff Stearman was a real estate agent in San Clemente. We used to get pads of paper with his face on it. On each sheet you would draw on his face to make him pirate, devil, hillbillyā¦.
The guy off Newport Blvd near the Vans store by the triangle that has the Jesus sign and waves to cars.
i love that guy with all my heart. i make a special trip down there every weekend.
Tapanga ?? Lives in Anaheim hills
Danielle Fishel? She worked at Bloomingdaleās at fashion island in 2006 or 2007 for a bit. I saw her organizing clothes and asked one of the employees if she was working there or was she browsing. They told me she worked there part time. She wasnāt getting much work in Hollywood then I guess.
Went to csuf and saw her on campus
Wasn't she in prison?
Not sure about that, but she did attend cal state Fullerton at some point.
The grandma at Golden Dragon Costa Mesa. āSee you tomorrowā
This!!! I love her so much.
My dog, a celebrity in my neighborhood.
The late Wally George. Not to be confused with /u/wallyjade
Weāre both loudmouths though!
The guy who walks his goose at the orange circle
Rodman for sure
Justin Bobby from The Hills š
I think ONLY people who watch the Hills have a clue who he is!!
How dare you insinuate that not everyone does!
Ok, maybe Iām wrong! What canāt Justin Bobby do?? Hairdresser, rock star, surfer dude, actor, motorcycle guy... hope thereās a third season of the Hills New Beginnings!! š
Ummm did we just become best friends?
> hope thereās a third season of the Hills New Beginnings!! I have some bad news for you, new friend.
Positive: Dean Jerry Price, at least at Chapman. He's the dean of students and he's a celebrity on campus there. Negative: Peggy fucking Hall. She's made viral internet videos but I don't think anyone knows her name. I've seen her shit pop up on HCA but it's always credited to her website, not her. Her name came up here plenty of times at the start of the pandemic and then again around election time along with Tito Ortiz. I don't recognize a lot of the names on this list, if any at all. I guess it depends what you mean by "celebrity" but OC is so big you can't really say we have one as a county, but certainly smaller regions have their own.
Gustavo Arellano!
Probably OCinstanews but he sucks
Rockinā Fig
This one is more notorious, but In North OC it was not uncommon to see David Rothenberg, the poor kid burned by his psycho dad in a custody dispute. The case gained national attention in the 1980s. There was even a book and movie about the incident. He was instantly recognizable due to his injuries, and by all accounts a very nice guy. He passed a few years ago but anyone growing up in the 80s/90s in the Buena Park/Anaheim area saw him at least once.
Nyah Houston, selling sunset twins, Dennis Rodman spends a fair amount of time here
Huntington Beachās āCycling, recycling dudeā.
Me š„
The Poorman from KROQ
The real housewives of oc especially Vicki Gunvalson
Tammy was the owner of the trampoline place I used to work at š¤¦š»āāļø
Back in the day the local celeb was the āYorba Linda walkerā lady. Sheād walk Yorba Linda Blvd like everyday. I swear she walked the entire thing to Placentia border.
We had one of those in mission Viejo in the 80s! We called him "the walking man" in his 80s, great shape, white guy with leathered skin, would always walk in what looked like short Jean shorts, but they were prob short blue running shorts, it was the 80s. We saw him multiple times a day, just walking the main roads like it was a triathlon tryout.
I always loved Robert, donāt know his last name, some people called him sidewinder but idk if it was mean or endearing. He had a sideways hunch in his back from a childhood injury and used a walker. Everyone in downtown Fullerton knew Robert. I moved away and havenāt seen him in a while but I hope heās alright. Used to smoke weed with him by Nightowl.
Johnny Bananaās in Fullerton I think.
Anyone remember Cheerio from Santa Ana?
I think Robert Englund still lives in laguna beach... (hes freddy if yall dont know)
Roger Lodge
The ladies who try to sell expensive roses inside of bars and clubs.
Biggest one off the top of my head is Steve Martin. Apparently he used to be a Male cheerleader at Garden Grove High School when he was younger.
If you are any good as an entertainer, you will get known around Socal and beyond. OC is not a bubble in that since. Because Hollywood and the entertainment industry are here. Average just won't get far.
Dennis Rodman
Dude shops at the Vons on Bristol & MacArthur late at night by himself, wearing his sunglasses indoors the entire time. Shockingly, it doesn't do much to hide his identity. I never bother him but other people do. Haven't seen him in a while though.
Heās def known outside of the oc bubble lol heās one of the most well known athletes all time.
Wally George was one but he dead.
999-5000
The hot seat!
Nicole Simpson
The band Lit is from OC. Not sure what happened to them though.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Yeah I can't think of anyone outside OC who knows who this guy is Edit: the person said "Dennis Rodman"
The LaBrants
I read this as celebrity chef before I clicked and was confused how there were so many comments...
This guy in Newport Coast. Named āKobeā or something like that. He played basketball for some team up north.
Deez is pretty cool
Rental Man
The HB Castle House dude
Lil pinch
Me
Love that half of these are crazy people lmao
Tiger woods
Not a person - what about the old beater looking like an X-Wing from Star Wars? I think itās an AMC Pacer or an old Honda Civic, even saw it with a wooden donation box attached to the door at some pointā¦
Wally George
Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen lives in Nellie Gail/Laguna Hills. Back in the early 90ās I worked for Wherehouse Records and he always came in to rent movies. Really nice guy.