History Main / BigNameFan

*** A controversial one, no less, courtesy of [[RuleThirtyFour artistic]] [[{{Gorn}} career]]. [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment More shall not be stated.]]

* Music/DavidBowie had an affinity for the Music/VelvetUnderground, having even covered some of their songs in his BBC radio sessions. Eventually, he ended up working as a producer (with Music/MarkRonson) on ''Music/{{Transformer}}'', the second solo album of VU frontman Music/LouReed (who in turn admired Bowie's work as well). What's especially interesting about Bowie's interest in the Velvet Underground is that it started ''before their first album was even released'', stemming from him receiving a pre-release test acetate of it.

* While he was more associated with the [[WesternAnimation/SonicSatAM Saturday morning cartoon]] and the comics based on them, Dan Drazen was a big name in ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' fandom for a while. He's apparently into Franchise/CareBears now. ''Huh.''

* [[Website/DeviantArt Deviantartists]] [[http://djcoulzanimalsonly.deviantart.com/gallery/ DJCoulz]] and [[http://dj88.deviantart.com/gallery/8276851 DJ88]] are well known across Disney/TheLionKing fandom for pioneering many of the most popular ideas across the fandom. The former's version of Ahadi and Uru (Mufasa and Scar's parents) has been copied by nearly every other fan. The latter is most famous for giving Zira an abusive father and giving characters from a series of books and comics more vibrant "movie" colors. They're some of the best artists in the fandom.

* ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' has Chris [=Mc=]Feely, who operated the ''Digimon Encyclopedia'' back in the early 2000's.

** Producer David Eick, during commentary on his later show ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'', while not mentioning names specifically, reflected back on the Xena years, and explained that at the time in the mid-1990's, "fan reaction from the Internet" was a very new thing. The show's staff got very excited about going online and reading the real-time reactions of fans. The problem was, because this was so new and shiny to them, they had no real concept of how to contextualize or frame what they were reading: internet fans are the most obsessive, and you kind of need to read through a lot of it, or "professional reviews" to get even a basic feel of what the "reaction" was. But because "the Internet" was so new at the time, they'd basically just go online and read through major fanfiction hubs without much of a sense of "cognitive dissonance" like "maybe these are just obsessed niche fans". As Eick explained, in the later seasons this resulted in them pandering on a massive scale, doing all sorts of things the online fans they encountered suggested... And it actually turned a lot of the casual viewers away. It's open to interpretation how "good" these episodes were, but they really weren't as "accessible."

* ''Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'' fan Christine Daaé is now largely known for having legally changed her name to that of the show's heroine, but in the 1990's ran an international fanzine and founded most of the early Phantom discussion forums on the internet, including [[http://www.phantomoftheopera.com/ Phantom of the Opera.com]] She has represented the fandom on radio, television, and in the press. Her public dislike of Andrew Lloyd Webber sometimes made her a controversial figure. She has refused to confirm or deny rumors of relationships with two ''The Phantom of the Opera'' actors.

** Shirley Curry, a popular [[Website/YouTube Youtuber]] in her 80's that does LetsPlay videos of ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]''.

* With the development of the Master List of Limitations, as well as the ''Roleplay/GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse'', Jack Butler became this for the ''TabletopGame/{{Champions}}''[=/=]''TabletopGame/HeroSystem'' community.

* Creator/MasahiroSakurai is known to include characters of games he loves to the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series. He grew up with fighting games and added Ryu from ''VideoGame/StreetFighter'' into the [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForWiiUAndNintendo3DS the Wii U/3DS entry in the series]], followed by Ken in ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate Ultimate]]''. He would also add Terry of ''VideoGame/FatalFury'' and ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'' fame to ''Ultimate'' as DLC. He became enamored with ''VideoGame/Persona5'' and would go on to add the protagonist of that game, "Joker", as another DLC character in ''Ultimate''. He is also a big fan of ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'' and, since ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosMelee'', has added more characters from the series with each entry, including [[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragon Marth]], [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade Roy]], [[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Ike]], [[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Robin, Lucina, Chrom]], [[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Corrin]], and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Byleth]].

*

* Creator/SimonPegg overlaps this with PromotedFanboy. Several ''ComicBook/TwoThousandAD'' issues appeared in ''Series/{{Spaced}}'' and Pegg would co-author a ''Film/ShaunOfTheDead'' strip in the comic as well as voice [[ComicBook/StrontiumDog Johnny Alpha]] in several Big Finish audio dramas.
* When Creator/MarkMillar and Bryan Hitch made the ultimate version of ComicBook/NickFury in ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'', they based him on the likeness of the actor Creator/SamuelLJackson. When Marvel started the MCU years later, Jackson was an obvious choice. But when they asked him, they did not need to explain what was it all about: Jackson was already a big fan of ''The Ultimates''.

* Creator/SpikeLee is a well known (and extremely vocal) fan of the New York Knicks. He is a common sight at Knicks games, and even started a feud with the rival Indiana Pacers team (and in particular, their star player, Reggie Miller) during the 1994 playoff series between the two teams. Said feud was the subject of "Winning Time," one of Creator/{{ESPN}}'s ''30 for 30'' documentaries.
* Creator/JackNicholson is as much a fixture at Laker home games as the yellow color scheme and championship banners themselves, to the point where he schedules his movies around them so as to not miss a game.
* Creator/StephenFry is a very big fan of the Norwich City football team, to the point of being on the board of directors.
* Creator/HughGrant is a life-long fan of Fulham FC. Grant worked as an assistant groundsman at Craven Cottage before his StarMakingRole in ''Film/FourWeddingsAndAFuneral'' and [[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1277952/Lily-Allen-breaks-tears-beloved-Fulham-FC-lose-UEFA-European-Cup.html was seen bursting in tears]] when Fulham lost the Europa League final in 2010.
* Music/EltonJohn is such a fan of Watford FC that he bought the club. Twice.
* John Portsmouth Football Club Westwood anyone...

* Creator/JonStewart (1999–2015) is a fan of the New York Mets.
** Former correspondent and (the summer of 2013) substitute host Creator/JohnOliver, despite being from the UK where baseball is not that popular, is also a fan. As he explained to guest Regis Philbin when he asked why:
--> "Because, as a British person, I associate sport with misery."
* Members of the Boston Red Sox consider themselves fans of the Boston punk band Music/DropkickMurphys, to the point where their 2005 song "Tessie" is the Sox' unofficial fight song.
* Several celebs are notable for attending big sports games featuring their alma mater. Expect to see Creator/AshleyJudd and/or Creator/JasonSudeikis at Kentucky basketball games, Creator/WillFerrell at USC football games, and Creator/MatthewMcConaughey at Texas football or basketball games. UT even officially recognized [=McConaughey's=] status, naming him "Minister of Culture" for the school's new basketball arena set to open in 2021.
* College sports also have big fans in celebs who didn't attend there but are from the area, such as Music/SnoopDogg with USC and Wrestling/JimRoss with Oklahoma.
** And sometimes college sports teams have big-name fans who have little or no connection to the school or the area—the aforementioned Kentucky basketball program boasts two such fans in Music/{{Drake}} and [[UsefulNotes/NationalBasketballAssociation Dirk Nowitzki]].[[note]]While Nowitzki almost never attended UK games during his playing career because the NBA season overlaps with the college season, he's well known as a UK fan. [[WordOfGod He's publicly said]] that if he hadn't decided to pursue a pro career in his homeland of Germany (which eventually led to NBA superstardom), he would have played at UK.[[/note]]
** Family connections can also play a role in this phenomenon. Creator/BillMurray was frequently seen in Cincinnati at Xavier Musketeers men's basketball games while his son Luke was an assistant coach there under Chris Mack. With Luke having followed Mack to the latter's next head coaching gig at Louisville, expect Bill to show up in the Derby City for the occasional Cardinals game.
* Creator/KeithOlbermann is a longtime, devoted fan of the [[UsefulNotes/MajorLeagueBaseball New York Yankees.]]

* [[UsefulNotes/HugoChavez Hugo Chávez]], former dictator of Venezuela was such a big fan of Creator/GeorgeCarlin that he actually followed a suggestion in his scathing routine about golfers and expropriated several golf courses to turn into housing developments.

* Speaking of Star Trek, Creator/NichelleNichols was considering quitting during the show's first season until she met a fan who convinced her to stay on, telling her how significant her character was for African-American viewers and society as a whole. The fan? Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

* ''VideoGame/MasahiroSakurai'' is known to include characters of games he loves to the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series. He grew up with fighting games and added Ryu from ''VideoGame/StreetFighter'' into the [[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForWiiUAndNintendo3DS the Wii U/3DS entry in the series]], followed by Ken in ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate Ultimate]]''. He would also add Terry of ''VideoGame/FatalFury'' and ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'' fame to ''Ultimate'' as DLC. He became enamored with ''VideoGame/Persona5'' and would go on to add the protagonist of that game, "Joker", as another DLC character in ''Ultimate''. He is also a big fan of ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'' and, since ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosMelee'', has added more characters from the series with each entry, including [[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragon Marth]], [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade Roy]], [[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Ike]], [[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Robin, Lucina, Chrom]], [[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Corrin]], and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Byleth]].

* [[UsefulNotes/HugoChavez Hugo Chávez]], former President / Dictator ([[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment depending on who you ask]]) of Venezuela was such a big fan of Creator/GeorgeCarlin that he actually followed a suggestion in his scathing routine about golfers and expropriated several golf courses to turn into housing developments.

* Despite his overall disgust with the modern Light Novel industry, Tappei Nagatsuki, the creator of ''LightNovel/ReZero'', is a massive fan of ''LightNovel/MushokuTensei'', to the point of creating both a congratulation letter to the author of the latter, and a special crossover oneshot collaboration between both novels as well.

* Creator/LewisLovhaug is this for Creator/GailSimone and the fan favorite series ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo.''

* Crossing over into the Anime/Manga section, anime voice actor Creator/SonnyStrait was once a writing, drawing and inking intern for the creator of ''ComicBook/ElfQuest'' and pushed her a bit back into the comic circle.

* Creator/GeorgeTakei is a big fan of ComicBook/UsagiYojimbo after discovering it in 2011 when the Japanese American National Museum put on an exhibit for the comic. He even wrote the intro to the 28th collection.
* ''ComicBook/{{Transmetropolitan}}'' has Creator/PatrickStewart as a big fan and supporter, owing in part to being a personal friend of writer Creator/WarrenEllis. Stewart has written about his appreciation for the series, and Ellis saves Stewart for last in his acknowledgements.
* Creator/SethMeyers loves comics. His twitter avatar has been a picture of him as Ted Kord aka ComicBook/BlueBeetle drawn by Kevin Maguire since 2010. He regularly has comics talents like Creator/AlexRoss, Creator/BrianMichaelBendis, Creator/GeoffJohns, and Creator/TomKing on ''Series/LateNight'' which is almost unheard of on other late night shows.

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'': Possibly the two most well-known fans are Dave Humphrey, the creator of the Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages wiki (UESP), and Lady Nerevar, admin of The Imperial Library. There's also [[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5n2P_1F8nQhOo0fLGdh-iw Zaric Zhakaron]], with his intriguing, detailed videos on the franchise (and on Bethesda games in general).

* Creator/CristinaValenzuela a.k.a. [=Cristina=]Vee is a [[PromotedFanboy newcomer]] in the dubbing industry, but even before that, she caught the eyes of Bang! Zoom Entertainment with her dubbing talents at a convention.

* [[UsefulNotes/HugoChavez Hugo Chávez]], former President / Dictator (depending on who you ask) of Venezuela was such a big fan of Creator/GeorgeCarlin that he actually followed a suggestion in his scathing routine about golfers and expropriated several golf courses to turn into housing developments.

* Ian Marter, who played the character of Harry Sullivan on ''Series/DoctorWho'', also wrote several novels based on the series.

* Series/TheDailyShow host Creator/JonStewart (1999–2015) is a fan of the New York Mets.

* Digimon has Chris [=Mc=]Feely, who operated the ''Digimon Encyclopedia'' back in the early 2000's.

* [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]] is this for Gail Simone and the fan favorite series ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo.''
* ''Comicbook/{{Daredevil}}'' fan Kuljit Mithra, creator of the website [[http://www.manwithoutfear.com/daredevil.shtml Manwithoutfear.com]]. The site is considered the best archive of information on the comic book character, to the extent that writers of the Daredevil title routinely consult it for research, and Brian Micheal Bendis thanked Mithra in the afterword of his last issue as a writer for Daredevil. Mithra & Manwithoutfear.com, along with Philipp Lenssen & Coverbrowser.com are given special thanks for providing the cover gallery at the end of Daredevil's 500th issue.

* When Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch made the ultimate version of ComicBook/NickFury in ''ComicBook/TheUltimates'', they based him on the likeness of the actor Creator/SamuelLJackson. When Marvel started the MCU years later, Jackson was an obvious choice. But when they asked him, they did not need to explain what was it all about: Jackson was already a big fan of the Ultimates.

** Madison from the same fandom also somewhat fits this; she had tea with Misha Collins and has arguably one of the best known [[http://jeric-kripke.tumblr.com/ blogs]] in the fandom.

* The crew of the fan produced web series ''WebVideo/StarTrekNewVoyages'', who not only have props from the original show in their own set but have had appearances from multiple former cast members of the [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries original series]], with Walter Koenig and George Takei playing major roles in two of their episodes (playing aged versions of their own characters.)

** [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]] probably counts, especially considering he got invited as a guest to [=Power=]Morphicon.

* Cher, apparently, was a big fan of ''Series/TheXFiles''. The episode "Post Modern Prometheus" revolves around a monster who has a huge Cher obsession. The part of Cher was written for Cher herself, but she declined as she thought her appearance would be tacky.

* Katie G, who runs the ''Series/HellsKitchen'' Facebook community "Hell's Kitchen Underground", has personally met with and interviewed several of the contestants on the show, and Gordon Ramsay himself himself has retweeted her Youtube videos. One of the contestants,Barret, even temporarily took over "Underground" after Katie's mom (who appeared in some of Katie's interviews with the contestants) unexpectedly passed away.

* Several celebs are notable for attending big sports games featuring their alma mater. Expect to see Creator/AshleyJudd and/or Creator/JasonSudeikis at Kentucky basketball games, Creator/WillFerrell at USC football games, and Creator/MatthewMcConaughey at Texas football or basketball games.

** And sometimes college sports teams have big-name fans who have little or no connection to the school or the area—the aforementioned Kentucky basketball program boasts two such fans in Music/{{Drake}} and [[UsefulNotes/NationalBasketballAssociation Dirk Nowitzki]].[[note]]While Nowitzki almost never attended UK games during his playing career because the NBA season overlaps with the college season, he's well known as a UK fan. He's publicly said that if he hadn't decided to pursue a pro career in his homeland of Germany (which eventually led to NBA superstardom), he would have played at UK.[[/note]]
** Family connections can also play a role in this phenomenon. Creator/BillMurray was frequently seen in Cincinnati at Xavier Musketeers men's basketball games while his son Luke was an assistant coach there under Chris Mack. With Luke having followed Mack to the latter's next head coaching gig at Louisville, expect Murray to show up in the Derby City for the occasional Cardinals game.
* [[Series/CountdownWithKeithOlbermann Keith Olbermann]] is a longtime, devoted fan of the [[UsefulNotes/MajorLeagueBaseball New York Yankees.]]

* Several celebs are notable for attending big sports games featuring their alma mater. Expect to see Creator/AshleyJudd and/or Creator/JasonSudeikis at Kentucky basketball games, and Creator/WillFerrell at USC football games.

** And sometimes college sports teams have big-name fans who have little or no connection to the school or the area—the aforementioned Kentucky basketball program boasts two such fans in Music/{{Drake}} and [[UsefulNotes/NationalBasketballAssociation Dirk Nowitzki]].[[note]]While Nowitzki almost never attends UK games because the NBA season overlaps with the college season, he's well known as a UK fan. He's publicly said that if he hadn't decided to pursue a pro career in his homeland of Germany (which eventually led to NBA superstardom), he would have played at UK.[[/note]]