Feb 27, 200610:42 AMThe Life

Celebrity encounter: Tanya Roberts

I attended my first charity golf tournament this past weekend, and it wasn't as boring as I had feared. Luckily, there were celebrities. In fact, I was nearly bonked by a celebrity-sliced golf ball. It made me wonder if the trip to an emergency room would seem more worthwhile when caused by a famous person.

As I skimmed through the background material provided by tournament organizers ("X was once an actor, Y used to play baseball, Z is a former Olympic bronze medalist in tiddlywinks"), I began to wonder if someone could really be called a celebrity if it was necessary to explain his or her now-largely-forgotten claim to fame.

In every group of five players, one or two were celebrities. The non-celebrities paid boocoo bucks to play golf with the famous people. I began to wonder if B-list celebrities commanded higher prices than C-list folk. The lower-tier celebrities were packaged in twos, as if to compensate for the lack of a big name, so I then wondered if the three ordinary players on the two-celebrity teams were disappointed at being paired with lesser lights. Were they charged smaller sums of money for accepting two C-list celebrities, instead of one B-lister?

Some of the celebrities seemed sad when nobody recognized them, even with their names emblazoned in huge letters across the front of their golf carts. Some looked annoyed if spectators had the temerity to beg for autographs. When I fumbled with my camera for an extra two seconds, to get an ex-jock in focus, he yelled, "Why am I still standing here? I'm not looking to MARRY you." I laughed politely, but he wasn't joking.

However, some of the famous people were great fun, and I'm going to post a series of celebrity photos here during the next week or so. It was a true honor to meet Tanya Roberts. The role of Julie Rogers on "Charlie's Angels" made her famous, and the fluffball delight of Midge Pinciotti on "That '70s Show" made her a legend. In my eyes, anyway. She graciously posed for two shots, and I'm ashamed to admit that I still can't stop staring at her legs (click image for full-length photo).

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