That time at Star Trek: Mission Chicago in 2022 when we met Star Trek: Picard season-2 cast members Michelle Hurd, Isa Briones, Evan Evagora, and Annie Wersching (RIP).

The topic at hand was suggested by a Facebook discussion in the wake of our Fan Expo Chicago weekend back in August. In a private group for fans of that con, Heather S. asks: “Do you have a master list of all the people you’ve met at cons?”

Well, now we do! We do love brainstorming, listing, and cataloguing. Frankly, we couldn’t believe we hadn’t done this sooner without prompting.

Anne went through her autograph collection and her several shelves of scrapbooks, while I combed past MCC entries and the distant reaches of my rarely accessed memories. I’ve combined our results into the following master list of everyone we’ve met across 30+ years of conventions and 50+ years of living. This isn’t limited to just comic-cons, either. Sure, by the nature of the game, “everyone” in this context refers largely to actors great and small, ranging from Academy Award-Winning household names to a guy who once delivered a major award in a Christmas movie (who sadly passed away in 2016). It also includes musicians, writers of a certain stature, elected politicians at mayoral level or higher (proximity does not equal endorsement), and other folks who’ve done something of public interest in a non-criminal capacity.

The key criterion: there had to be a genuine interaction between us within close physical proximity in which they were aware of our presence as individuals and they reacted in some manner. Watching them perform live as a member of their distant audience doesn’t count. (If they counted, we could add several musical acts, one Poet Laureate, and one former American President. No, not that one.) We don’t count anyone who merely autographed items secondhand or by mail, or who responded to the fan letters Anne used to hand-write and mail the old-fashioned way. Nor does it count that time a musician chucked a guitar pick from onstage and randomly hit me, or a few Usenet exchanges I had during the internet’s Golden Age.

Length of our “celebrity” interactions has varied. Many were quick jazz-hands photo ops. Some experiences lasted slightly longer at autograph tables. A handful turned into actual chats. The record-holder to this day remains a 25-minute conversation with a phenomenal voice actor at a depressingly underattended con. We will never forget that occasion, but that con will also never, ever return.

For stats junkies like myself, or for anyone who wants to turn the list into one big “can YOU find them?” puzzle, our master list includes the following:

• Every major Star Trek captain in a main cast
• Dozens of other Trek actors
• Too many Star Wars actors to count unless Anne or I get bored sometime (I’ll leave that to her)
• The complete cast of Firefly
• At least five Doctors and eight Companions from Doctor Who
• Three actors from The Wire
• Three actors from Homicide: Life on the Street
• Two Indy 500 drivers
• Two Miss Americas
• One (1) YouTuber
• Four reality-TV competitors
• Two big names from Chopped
• Five actors who’ve competed on Worst Cooks in America: Celebrity Edition
• At least one convicted felon (after we met them, I hasten to add)
• At least 28 people no longer with us and deserving an “In Memoriam” montage if we ever learn to make our own videos and/or sing

The list begins with Anne’s brainstorming, which is a combination of people she’s met on her own as well as those we’ve met together as a couple. You can tell where my own personal roster begins because that’s when everyone suddenly turns strictly alphabetical to the end. We each have our preferred methods for organizing our collections and our perceptions of the universe around us in general. On with the countdown!

1. William Shatner
2. James Doohan
3. Nichelle Nichols
4. George Takei
5. Walter Koenig
6. Deborah Downey
7. Patrick Stewart
8. Jonathan Frakes
9. LeVar Burton
10. Brent Spiner
11. Marina Sirtis
12. Gates McFadden
13. Michael Dorn
14. Denise Crosby
15. Dwight Schultz
16. Robert O’Reilly
17. John de Lancie
18. Tony Todd
19. Avery Brooks
20. Nana Visitor
21. René Auberjonois
22. Armin Shimerman
23. Alexander Siddig
24. Max Grodénchik
25. Aron Eisenberg
26. Chase Masterson
27. Andrew Robinson
28. J.G. Hertzler
29. Kate Mulgrew
30. Tim Russ
31. Robert Picardo
32. Ethan Phillips
33. Garrett Wang
34. Manu Intiraymi
35. Scott Bakula
36. John Billingsley
37. Anthony Montgomery
38. Vaughn Armstrong
39. Crystal Allen
40. Suzie Plakson
41. Jeremy Bulloch
42. Kenny Baker
43. Peter Mayhew
44. Julian Glover
45. Michael Sheard
46. Mary Oyaya
47. Nalini Krishnan
48. Ray Park
49. Mike Nelson
50. Bill Corbett
51. Joel Hodgson
52. Kevin Murphy
53. Mary Jo Pehl
54. Trace Beaulieu
55. Frank Conniff
56. Adam West
57. Burt Ward
58. Julie Newmar
59. Malachi Throne
60. John Schneider
61. Bonita Friedericy
62. Larry Storch
63. Jerry Mathers
64. Johnny Whitaker
65. Barry Livingston
66. Stanley Livingston
67. Jon Provost
68. Gabe Kaplan
69. Don Most
70. Bernie Kopell
71. Gordon Jump
72. Mark Goddard
73. Gil Gerard
74. Erin Gray
75. Felix Silla
76. Marc Singer
77. Jeff East
80. Valerie Perrine
81. Stephan Bender
82. Sarah Douglas
83. Jack O’Halloran
84. Noel Neill
85. Ned Beatty
86. Allison Mack
87. Marv Wolfman
88. Jan Duursema
89. Randy Stradley
90. Troy Denning
91. Timothy Zahn
92. Aaron Allston
93. Larnelle Harris
94. Bill Daily
95. Karolyn Grimes
96. Anthony Daniels
97. Sean Astin
98. David Newell
99. James Hampton
100. John Glover
101 Cassidy Freeman
102. Gerard Christopher
103. Johnny Rockwell
104. Dean Stockwell
105. Laura Vandervoort
106. Dean Cain
107. Joey Lawrence
108. Tom Felton
109. Rupert Boneham
110. Wil Wheaton
111. Wes Bentley
112. Nicole de Boer
113. Dr. David Wolf
114. Bruce Boxleitner
115. Daniel Logan
116. Ashley Eckstein
117. Orli Shoshan
118. Barry Williams
119. Christopher Knight
120. Susan Olsen
121. Brandon Routh
122. James Phelps
123. Oliver Phelps
124. Aaron Ashmore
125. Michael Rosenbaum
126. Saul Rubinek
127. Natalie Tena
128. Nicole Beharie
129. Anthony Mackie
130. Sebastian Stan
131. Karl Urban
132. Shawn Ashmore
133. Carrie Fisher
134. Jake Lloyd
135. Caroll Spinney
136. Sean Patrick Flannery
137. Jeremy Renner
138. Ming-Na Wen
139. Jeffrey Combs
140. Ted Allen
141. Melissa Benoist
142. Chyler Leigh
143. John Ratzenberger
144. Mehcad Brooks
145. Marc McClure
146. Peter Facinelli
147. Michael Landes
148. Butch Patrick
149. Ian McDiarmid
150. John Rhys-Davies
151. Maurice LaMarche
152. Rob Paulsen
153. Christopher Lloyd
154. David Prowse
155. Billy Dee Williams
156. Lee Meriwether
157. Tom Wopat
158. Catherine Bach
159. William Sadler
160. Jason Isaacs
161. Barbara Eden
162. Cary Elwes
163. William Daniels
164. Alex Guarnaschelli
165. Margot Kidder
166. Mike Lookinland
167. Bob McGrath
168. Emilio Delgado
169. Roscoe Orman
170. Jimmie Walker
171. Bernnadette Stanis
172. Ralph Carter
173. Wallace Shawn
174. Caroline Blakiston
175. Catherine Tate
176. Loni Anderson
177. Ke Huy Quan
178. Henry Thomas
179. Justin Hartley
180. Tom Welling
181. William Katt
182. Henry Winkler
183. Carel Struycken
184. Tyler Hoechlin
185. John Morton
186. Jane Badler
187. Garrick Hagon
188. Michael Pennington
189. Angus MacInnes
190. Terry Farrell
191. Robin Curtis
192. Brec Bassinger
193. Yvette Monreal
194. Anjelika Washington
195. Joel McHale
196. Geoff Johns
197. Kristin Kreuk
198. Bonnie Bartlett
199. Erica Durance
200. Todd Stashwick
201. Michelle Hurd
202. Anson Mount
203. Ethan Peck
204. Christina Chong
205. Celia Rose Gooding
206. Lee Majors
207. Lindsay Wagner
208. John Cusack
209. Edward James Olmos
210. Paul Feig
211. Karan Soni
212. Milana Vayntrub
213. Zachary Levi
214. Billy Boyd
215. Elijah Wood
216. Dominic Monaghan
217. Chris Evans
218. Richard Dreyfuss
219. Mandip Gill
220. Jodie Whittaker
221. Jenna Coleman
222. David Tennant
223. Matt Smith
224. Billie Piper
225. Alex Kingston
226. Matt Lanter
227. James Arnold Taylor
228. Dee Bradley Baker
229. Evan Evagora
230. Isa Briones
231. Annie Wersching
232. Christopher Eccleston
233. Sam Witwer
234. Freema Agyeman
235. Paul Rudd
236. Tom Hiddleston
237. Lee Pace
238. David Harbour
239. C. Thomas Howell
240. Brenda Strong
241. Matthew Lillard
242. Robin Lord Taylor
243. Hayley Atwell
244. Karen Gillan
245. Michael Rooker
246. John Barrowman
247. Clint Howard
248. Paul Bettany
249. Andy Serkis
250. Paul Williams
251. John Jackson Miller
252. William B. Davis
253. Chris Sarandon
254. Brad Dourif
255. Allan Kayser
256. Burt Reynolds
257. Ralph Macchio
258. Robert Englund
259. Jim Moralevitz
260. Paul Freeman
261. Wolf Kahler
262. Neal McDonough
263. Greg Ballard
264. Brian Bosma
265. Suzanne Crouch
266. Melody Mooney
267. Jarrett Crippen
268. Matthew Atherton
269. Sylvester McCoy
270. Amy Acker
271. Christine Adams
272. Tala Ashe
273. Morena Baccarin
274. Jon “Epic Voice Guy” Bailey
275. Adam Baldwin
276. Jamie Bamber
277. Zazie Beetz
278. Amber Benson
279. Julie Benz
280. Jon Bernthal
281. Marc Blucas
282. David Boreanaz
283. Nicholas Brendon
284. Christie Brinkley
285. Steve Burns
286. James Callis
287. Jordan Calloway
288. Bruce Campbell
289. Charisma Carpenter
290. Tom Cavanaugh
291. Claudia Christian
292. Kevin Cogan
293. Chad L. Coleman
294. Mike Colter
295. Alice Cooper
296. Charlie Cox
297. Rosario Dawson
298. Felicia Day
299. Garret Dillahunt
300. Vincent D’Onofrio
301. Emma Dumont
302. Susan Eisenberg
303. Jane Espenson
304. Giancarlo Esposito
305. Nathan Fillion
306. Seth Gilliam
307. Summer Glau
308. Justin Golden
309. Tasha Golden
310. Carla Gugino
311. Harvey Guillén
312. Sean Gunn
313. Grant Gustin
314. Randy Havens
315. Garrett Hedlund
316. Tricia Helfer
317. Lance Henriksen
318. Eldon Henson
319. Bernard Hill
320. Boyd Holbrook
321. William Hudnut
322. Tony Kanaan
323. Christian Kane
324. Yaphet Kotto
325. Clare Kramer
326. Phil LaMarr
327. Joe R. Lansdale
328. James C. Leary
329. Stan Lee
330. Loren Lester
331. Jeff Lewis
332. Caity Lotz
333. John Carroll Lynch
334. Sean Maher
335. Jes MacAllan
336. Darryl “DMC” McDaniels
337. Mercedes McNab
338. Andy Merrill
339. Bob Mould
340. Tawny Newsome
341. Nivek Ogre
342. Jim O’Heir
343. Amy Okuda
344. Danielle Panabaker
345. Joe Pantoliano
346. Amanda Pays
347. Tahmoh Penikett
348. Dominic Purcell
349. Jack Quaid
350. Marky Ramone
351. Jonah Ray
352. Lance Reddick
353. James Remar
354. J. August Richards
355. Henry Rollins
356. Katee Sackhoff
357. John Scalzi
358. Oscar Scheller
359. Teddy Sears
360. Rekha Sharma
361. Mark Sheppard
362. John Wesley Shipp
363. Jewel Staite
364. Dino Stamatopoulos
365. Gina Torres
366. Michael Trucco
367. Alan Tudyk
368. Carlos Valdes
369. Steven Weber
370. Noël Wells
371. Cress Williams
372. Patrick Wilson
373. Scott Wilson
374. Deborah Ann Woll
375. D.B. Woodside
376. Nick Zano
377. Terry Meeuwsen
378. Lee Webb
379. Juliet Landau
380. Jon Schnepp
381. Holly Payne
382. Jason Fechner
383. Evangeline Lilly
384. Terry Matalas
385. Emilie de Raven
386. Mara Wilson
387. Mary McDonnell
388. Robert Patrick
389. Hayden Christensen
390. Arthur Darvill
391. John Cleese
392. Mads Mikkelsen
393. Maya Hawke
394. Chris Parnell
395. Temuera Morrison
396. Fred Tatasciore
397. Ella Purnell
398. Sofia Boutella
399. Laurie Metcalf
400. Mark Hamill
401. Eugene Cordero
402. Dominic Keating
403. Dawnn Lewis
404. Cirroc Lofton
405. Anthony Rapp
406. Jeri Ryan
407. Connor Trinneer
408. Katie Nickolaou
409. “Weird Al” Yankovic
410. Kurt Fuller
411. Rainn Wilson
412. Sonequa Martin-Green
413. Shantel VanSanten
414. Patton Oswalt
415. Emilio Estevez
416. John Boyega
417. Michael Ironside
418. Ewan McGregor
419. Mae Whitman
420. Jennifer Beals
421. Orlando Bloom
422. Paul Reiser
423. Pom Klementieff
424. Robert Duncan McNeill
425. Oded Fehr
426. Karen Fukuhara
427. Simon Pegg
428. Emma Caulfield
429. Karen Allen
430. Tim Daly
431. George Newbern
432. Mark Pillow
433. Helen Slater
434. Ben Schwartz

…and that’s where things stand as of December 6, 2025 (updated for GalaxyCon Columbus 2025).

With a few exceptions the master list doesn’t include all the comic book creators I’ve met from 1987 to the present, which would add many more dozens of writers, artists and colorists to the mix. (The few comics creators in the list were from Anne’s personal autograph collection. I’m not inclined to delete those.) Someday I may sit down and try to recreate all that. For now, let’s at least brake for Special Thanks acknowledgements to George Perez, Denny O’Neil, Jim Starlin, Gerry Conway, Max Allan Collins, Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, Peter David, Tony Isabella, Mark Waid, Fabian Nicieza, Christopher Priest, Grant Morrison, Garth Ennis, Eddie Campbell, Kieron Gillen, James Robinson, Gail Simone, Charles Soule, Colleen Doran, Murphy Anderson, Scott McCloud, Bob Layton, Ty Templeton, Evan Dorkin, Kyle Baker, Hilary Barta, Gene Ha, Tim Sale, Jeff Lemire, and Chris Samnee. For starters.

You can also check out our dedicated Pinterest board where we collect all our jazz-hands photos from various cons and events. That’s a mere fraction of the folks on this list, but it’s a rather fun fraction.

Updates as they occur in future months and years! Or as we remember the ones we forgot, out of the blue! (Those are noticeably non-alphabetical from #377-up.)

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[About MCC Q&As: previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover, I haven’t actually trumpeted this service in years because most of our living commentators have been distracted away by the entirety of the internet-at-large, but this humble site maintains an open policy of Ask Almost Anything, which extends not only to regular readers, but also to habitual Likers, silent Followers, and fleeting search-engineered passersby. If you have a question, a suggestion, a constructive comment, or a listicle idea that the mainstream media is too scared to tackle, simply reply here or to any other post of the vaguest tangential relevance, and our trusty MCC staff will be happy to escalate it into a Main Topic for a future entry and explore the subject further IF the answer to your question generates a 500-word response in my head before I’ve made a single keystroke. Or I might just reply to your comment and leave it at that. Who knows? Either way, thanks for noticing us!]