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i i8 o i c staff photosteve somerville mchardwinuerisap l by dawn liersch staff writer t ofou couldcall richard winkler a s celebrity sleuth 1 everytime he hears about a movie or television commercial on location he stakes out the site in hope of meeting one of the actors when theres a play or concerthell iavaifpatientlyby the stage door for a star to make ah exit v isure hes had a few brushoffs bne tougkguy actorwhbllrefnain unnamed actually threatened to call the cops but winkler says most celebrities will graciously jcomply with his request fof aquick phbto withthem aftef all they- wouldnt be where they are today without fans as a result winkler has photos of himself with about 150 celebrities from luciano pavarotti to dustin hoffmandecorating his bedroom iwall the latest addition is a pic of himself with actress brooke shields who was filming a made-for-tv- movie near centre street in thomhilhast month somepeople think im a stalker f guess i am in away but i dont want anything more than jo get my picture taken with them said winkler a- thorhhilf resident adding his interest with those in the limelight may have to do with the yfact that hie once considered acting himself i just love celebrities i find it fascinating that one day theyre unknown and the next theyre famous somepeople thinbtm stalker i guess i am ina j way but i dont want anything more than to get my picture taken withthem and winkler is not alone many york region residents have written in to tell us about their celebrity sightings for some it was just- a chance meeting while others soughkttiem out v- some just wanted a quick auto- graph whileqthers had more in depth encounters that made a last ing impact on their lives here are their stories young daniel levine may be fol- rowing in winklers footsteps a huge sports fan levine 12 of trornhill keeps kis ears operi for word that athletes are in the area for autograph sessions to add to his collection levine has no problem approaching celebrities after hav- ing many opportunities to practice within the last year and a half his first encounter happened by coincidence while walking out of the joed court atthe promenade mall in thomhiulevihe noticed a man who looked like actor ross hull wno plays chris who the teleyi sion show stodent bodies y shy about approaching the man on his own levine gothis sister to ask the strange if he was indeed hull hull nodded and quickly changed coiuseto reetthem hull signed autographs for levine his sister and his cousins v more recently in early august levine attended a charity function for the ronald mcdonald house organized by kris king of the toronto maple leafs levine had see stars page 19