Early bit parts by actors famous later.

[lieu]

Watching The Graduate yesterday for the first time in years, I was struck to see two familiar faces in small bit parts.

In the scene where Katharine Ross is in Hoffman's boarding house room and he tells her the details of his seduction by her mother, Ross screams, bring Norman Fell and other boarders running. The underclassman that exhuberantly offers to call for the police was none other than a very young Richard Dreyfuss.

Near the end of the movie, Hoffman goes to the frat house trying to learn the name of the church where Elaine is to be married. There, Ben Murphy from Alias Smith and Jones tells him to "Save me a piece... of cake".

Any other obscure sightings you've discovered recently in classic movies?

[dantheman]

In the movie Targets (1968) with Boris Karloff, Mike Farrell, later of M*A*S*H, is in one of the final scenes.

[RealityChuck]

The most surprising is Sylvester Stallone playing a hood in Woody Allen's Bananas. It seems like a deliberate cameo to modern viewers, but Stallone was an unknown at the time.

Of course, there's Robert Blake showing up in The Treasure of Sierra Madre, but I doubt anyone recognizes him.

[Dinsdale]

I was surprised to see a very young Matt Damon at the dinner table in Mystic Pizza.

[LurkMeister]

Harrison Ford's first movie role was a bit part as a bellhop in Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round.
This is not exactly a secret, as Jay Leno has shown a clip of the entire performance several times when Harrison Ford was a guest. I suspect that by now Mr. Ford is sick of seeing it.

[eunoia]

Tim Robbins (http://us.imdb.com/Name?Robbins,+Tim) shot Howard Beale at the end of Network.

[Max Carnage]

Jack Nicholson as the dental patient in the b&w Little Shop of Horrors

[jk1245]

Johnny Depp in the original Nightmare on Elm Street

[xizor]

Damon Wayans as a fireman in Roxanne
And of course Kevin Bacon ("thank you sir, may I have another?") in Animal House

[kunilou]

Farrah Fawcett in Myra Breckenridge
James Earl Jones in Dr. Strangelove

[lieu]

Suzanne Sommers was the mystery gal that drove the T-Bird in American Graffetti.

[dantheman]

Heck, Tom Selleck in Myra Breckinridge, too - he was one of Mae's lovers.

And you can add in Elliot Gould, making his debut in 1971's Quick, Let's Get Married (it was made in 1964, but not released for 7 years).

Or how about Kevin Costner as the dead man in The Big Chill? (Most of his scenes were cut, but that's him at the beginning, getting dressed for the funeral.)

[Labdad]

The cell guard who brings Norman Bates a blanket at the end of Psycho is Ted Knight (aka Ted Baxter from Mary Tyler Moore).

[Minor Irritant]

I was somewhat surprised to see Billy Bob Thornton in Tombstone. He's the ranch hand who gets into an argument with Doc Holliday, IIRC.

[astorian]

A few I recall:

1) Clint Eastwood was in several cheesey 1950s horror filciks. He was a lab assistant in "Revenge of the Creature From the Black Lagoon," and was a pilot who dropped a napalm bomb on a giant spider in "Tarantula."

2) In "Night Shift," a bunch of frat boys have an orgy in the morgue. One of the frat boys is Kevin COstner.

3) Kevin Spacey was a thief on the subway in Meryl Streep's "Heartburn."

4) "Excalibur" features two knights who were then relative unknowns: Liam Neeson and Captain Jean-Luc Picard himself! Patrick Stewart played Guinevere's father.

5) John Candy plays one of the graduates in "Class of '44' (a sequel to "The Summer of '42").

[KneadToKnow]

Megan Mullally (http://us.imdb.com/Name?Mullally,+Megan) was one of the call girls in Risky Business (http://us.imdb.com/Title?0086200).

[Cervaise]

Sigourney Weaver is one of Woody Allen's dates in Annie Hall. It's a non-speaking role; she appears only by his side in a medium long shot, and is not seen again.

[Morbo]

1) Kevin Spacey and Joan Severance were Mel and Susan Profit, recurring bad guys (and quite good) on the old TV show "Wiseguy"

2) Tom Hanks was the nerd-turned-Karate expert who attacked the Fonz in a memorable episode of "Happy Days"

3) Bruce Willis can be seen in the Jury during the courtroom scene in The Verdict.

4) Suzanne Sommers was one of the naked women shot in the swimming pool at the beginning of Magnum Force.

5) Jerry Seinfeld was a host at a restaurant in Sharky's Machi----just kidding. :)

[KneadToKnow]

Originally posted by Dooku
5) Jerry Seinfeld was a host at a restaurant in Sharky's Machi----just kidding. :)
:D:D:D:D:D

Full points, dude. (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=125063)

[Larry Mudd]

Andy Kaufman's first screen role was a tiny one as a murderous cop (in the St. Patrick's day parade,) in Larry Cohen's God Told Me To. (Sometimes called Demon.)

Jeff Goldblum has an early appearance as an X-ray technician in Ken Russell's Altered States. Don't blink.

[Doubting Robert]

Tom Hanks played Uncle Ned in three episodes of "Family Ties." In one of these episodes, he is revealed to be an alcoholic. It is an impressive performance.

Sylvester Stallone appears in one scene in "The Prisoner of Second Avenue." He gets attacked (successfully!) by Jack Lemmon, who thinks Stallone has picked his pocket.

[Doubting Robert]

Lee Van Cleef is the soldier who fires the radioactive rifle grenade at the end of "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms."

[Morbo]

Originally posted by KneadToKnow

:D:D:D:D:D

Full points, dude. (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=125063)

:D. Search kept timing out, otherwise I would have included the link...

One more: The hooker hired to blow Charlie Sheen in the Limo at the beginning of Wall Street was none other than Andrea Thompson (http://us.imdb.com/Name?Thompson,+Andrea), she of NYPD Blue fame, who later had a brief stint as an anchorwoman for CNN..

[Doubting Robert]

Before he played Superman, George Reeves had a number of movie roles. I think the only one of these I have seen is in "Gone with the Wind."

During the run of "Adventures of Superman," he also had a small part in "From Here to Eternity." After seeing him so many times in the Superman costume and Clark Kent's suit, it is strange to see him in an Hawaiian shirt.

[diku]

Originally posted by Minor Irritant
I was somewhat surprised to see Billy Bob Thornton in Tombstone. He's the ranch hand who gets into an argument with Doc Holliday, IIRC.


He ran the crooked Faro table in the Oriental, and gets slapped around by Wyatt Earp.

[medstar]

I enjoy watching credits from 70's and 80's movies to see if I can recognize famous actors when they were just starting out. However, now that the credits go so fast and are compressed, it's quite hard to do.

[Walloon]

Marilyn Monroe is seen in a canoe on a lake in Scudda Hoo! Scudda Hay! (1948), and as one of the chorus girls in A Ticket to Tomahawk (1950).

Clark Gable is a ballroom extra in The Merry Widow (1925).

James Dean is a youth who orders a chocolate malt at a soda fountain in Has Anybody Seen My Gal? (1952).

[pesch]

The old Perry Mason show is great at spotting future famous actors. Like a very young Robert Redford giving testimony in "The Case of the Treacherous Toupee," looks like his 7th TV role.

Then there was an eternally young Dick Clark, who it turns out, committed the murder ("Yes! Yes I did it! And I'm glad!"). I guess by 1966 he was already a familiar figure with Bandstand, but it was still weird to be watching reruns and suddenly see him pop up.

[Dr. Rieux]

"Excalibur" features two knights who were then relative unknowns: Liam Neeson and Captain Jean-Luc Picard himself! Patrick Stewart played Guinevere's father. And Gabriel Byrne played the Duke of Cornwall.

[Zoff]

Originally posted by Doubting Robert
During the run of "Adventures of Superman," he also had a small part in "From Here to Eternity."

The part was originally much larger, but they cut it after preview audiences were distracted by seeing Superman in another role. It effectively ended his film career. So sayeth Biography on A&E.

[Annie-Xmas]

Originally posted by lieu
Watching The Graduate yesterday for the first time in years, I was struck to see two familiar faces in small bit parts.

In the scene where Katharine Ross is in Hoffman's boarding house room and he tells her the details of his seduction by her mother, Ross screams, bring Norman Fell and other boarders running. The underclassman that exhuberantly offers to call for the police was none other than a very young Richard Dreyfuss.

Near the end of the movie, Hoffman goes to the frat house trying to learn the name of the church where Elaine is to be married. There, Ben Murphy from Alias Smith and Jones tells him to "Save me a piece... of cake".

Any other obscure sightings you've discovered recently in classic movies?

When Benjamin & Elaine are in the hotel, watch for the first man who calls him Mr. Whatever (the name he registers at the hotel for trysts with her mother). It's Mike Farrell.

I once saw a very old episode of Andy Griffith with Jack Nickelson in it.

Debra Jo Rupp (That 70's Show) played Tom Hank's secretary in Big [/b}, Jerry Seinfeld's manager, and Lisa Kudrow's sister-in-law on [b] Friends . (Phoebe was a surrogate mother for her).

[Linus Van Pelt]

M*A*S*H is a goldmine for seeing actors before they were stars. In watching the old re-runs, I have seen Ron Howard, George Wendt, John Ritter, Patrick Swayzee, and Shelly Long to name a few. It's always fun spotting them with the double take that inevitably accompanies it.

[Hamadryad]

"...none other than Andrea Thompson, she of NYPD Blue fame..."
I thought she was of Babylon 5 fame...which shows where MY loyalties lie. :D

In "Coming to America," Samuel L Jackson is the robber who tries to rip off McDowell's. And apparently the little kid in the barber chair is Cuba Gooding, Jr.

Nicolas Cage is one of Judge Reinhold's character's buddies in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High."

And I used to love "Quarterback Princess" starring....Helen Hunt. I was such a geek. ("was?")

[Miss Mapp]

Gary Cooper has a bit part as a reporter in the silent Clara Bow film, It.

[tetsusaru]

A very young Benicio del Toro played a knife-wielding henchman in License To Kill, the last Timothy Dalton Bond movie.

[Walloon]

Originally posted by Linus Van Pelt
M*A*S*H is a goldmine for seeing actors before they were stars. In watching the old re-runs, I have seen Ron Howard

Ron Howard was a star long before M*A*S*H. A ltitle thing called The Andy Griffith Show (1960-68)

[Spoke]

Leonard Nimoy has a tiny part in Them!

Forrest Whittaker is the football player whose car gets trashed in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

[Green Bean]

Boy was I surprised to see the most excellent Laurence Fishburne in the excerable Cherry 2000.

Samuel L Jackson played the DJ in Do the Right Thing. I guess that's not a bit part, but I didn't realize it was him for a long long long time. And he's credited as "Sam Jackson."

[Mystery Dog]

Jeff Goldblum is one of the hoodlums who kill Charles Bronson's wife in Death Wish.

[Cervaise]

Oh, since you mentioned Death Wish, I believe Marina "Deanna Troi" Sirtis plays a rape victim in Death Wish III. And as long as we're mentioning Star Trek actors, check out Denise Crosby as the bat-wielding girlfriend in 48 Hours.

[Zorro]

In an early episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Christian Slater turns up at the door of Captain Picard's office, says "Sir..." and is promptly told to f*** off unless he has something important to say.

[Hamadryad]

Originally posted by Zorro
In an early episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Christian Slater turns up at the door of Captain Picard's office, says "Sir..." and is promptly told to f*** off unless he has something important to say. That was one of the movies..."Generations" I believe. And Christian Slater was already quite famous, so I'd say this one would be considered a cameo rather than a bit part by an actor who was famous later.

[Agrippina]

Jack Nicholson was also in a couple of episodes of The Andy Griffith Show, one of them being the episode called "Aunt Bea the Juror"; he plays the guy accused of theft.

[KGS]

Originally posted by Larry Mudd
Jeff Goldblum has an early appearance as an X-ray technician in Ken Russell's Altered States. Don't blink.
Umm...no. That was John Larroquette, dude.

Francis Ford Coppola's The Outsiders (1983) featured a treasuire trove of soon-to-be major star hunks: Tom Cruise, Patrick Swayze, Emilio Estevez, and Rob Lowe, long before ANY of them were popular.

I was also surprised to see Ed O'Neill (aka Al Bundy) in a small role in the 1980 movie Dogs of War.

By the way, I totally do not get the Jerry Seinfeld/Sharky's Machine reference...

[KneadToKnow]

Originally posted by Hamadryad
That was one of the movies..."Generations" I believe. And Christian Slater was already quite famous, so I'd say this one would be considered a cameo rather than a bit part by an actor who was famous later.
It was a movie, but it was Undiscovered Country.

And it was Captain Sulu's quarters, not Picard.

[KneadToKnow]

Originally posted by KGS
By the way, I totally do not get the Jerry Seinfeld/Sharky's Machine reference...
Follow the link at the end of my "full points" post.

[KneadToKnow]

Even better than just a cameo:

Dick Clarkwas the killer in the very last of the original Perry Mason episodes. Though, admittedly, he was already famous by then.

Erle Stanley Gardner also appeared in that episode. Though, of course, he too was already famous by then. :D

[photopat]

John Larroquette also played a cop in an episode of Three's Company.

[Hamadryad]

Originally posted by KneadToKnow

It was a movie, but it was Undiscovered Country.

And it was Captain Sulu's quarters, not Picard. Hey, at least I knew it was one of the movies...

<bashes self repeatedly in forehead> I'm losing my geek cred, aren't I.

[Eve]

Golly, almost everyone started out as an extra or bit player, or in short subjects: Garbo, Harlow, Dietrich, Gable, Valentino, Swanson, Grable, Garland . . . It's harder to name stars who started out as stars in their first film: Katharine Hepburn, Claudette Colbert, Theda Bara and Mae West come to mind.

[dantheman]

Hmm, off the top of my head:

K. Hepburn: Morning Glory (1933)?

M. West: She Done Him Wrong (1933)

C. Colbert: It Happened One Night (1934)

Don't know Theda Bara, though.

[plnnr]

Redford also appeared in a Twilight Zone episode playing a policeman who is shot and cared for by an elderly woman who is afraid of Death. Guess who is really Death in disguise?

Buck Henry played the desk clerk in The Graduate.

The Man Who Has No Name (that I can remember) played the following characters: the young guy who gives Jon Voight head in the movie theater and then throws up in "Midnight Cowboy," the pilot that paddles to Sweden in "Catch 22," one of the scientists who translates for Jean Luc Goddard in "Close Encounters," the slimy Assistant District Attorney who leaks the story to Sally Fields in "Absent Malice," Mr. Dalrymple (head of Programming at NBC) in "Seinfeld" (he throws up in that episode, too, and later falls for Elaine), and Mr. Weisbaum, the producer with the young male lover in "Gosford Park."

[Morbo]

Originally posted by Hamadryad
Nicolas Cage is one of Judge Reinhold's character's buddies in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High."

And his other buddy was a young Anthony Edwards, of ER fame. (And Revenge of the Nerds, [/i]Northern Exposure[/i], etc).

John Laroquette was also one of the racists in the episode of Twilight Zone: The Movie where Vic Morrow goes through time enduring the worst racism events in history. He was in the lynch mob, and says "We got you now - n_____!!"

Another great source for seeing actors before they were stars: Hill Street Blues. Just last night I saw an episode with the Mother from Six Feet Under in a small role.

[Eve]

Wrong on all counts, Dan, but kudos for trying:

Kate Heburn: A Bill of Divorcement (1932)

Theda Bara: A Fool There Was (1915)

Mae West: Night After Night (1932)

Claudette Colbert: For the Love of Mike (1927)

[dantheman]

Ah, see. I haven't seen any of those, but I guess I was thinking more of the movies in which they starred for the first time - was Hepburn the "star" of Bill of Divorcement? IMdB has her listed as the fourth billed (and second female). Same with West, she's billed fourth. Guess it depends on whether you define "star" as the lead role or as the person's first "big" role.

:) Either way... damn!

[Eve]

Well, true, not the star, I'll give you that . . . But not a bit player or extra.

[lieu]

"Buck Henry played the desk clerk in The Graduate."

Yep, he also was one of the writers and in fact wrote the famous line "Plastics" and refused to allow it to be cut out by Nichols.

You people have put some great stuff down that I'm definately going to be looking for.

[DarkWriter]

How about Gene Wilder in Bonnie and Clyde? Also, Estelle Parsons had a part in that - she later went on to play Roseanne and Jackie's mom in Roseanne.

Sheri

[dantheman]

Someone mentioned John Larroquette - how about him as the narrator in a little horror movie called The Texas Chainsaw Massacre? :)

[roadrunner70]

What part was Gene in B & C? I never noticed that, and I've seen that movie a gazillion times.

How 'bout Sly Stallone, Henry Winkler, and Perry King from "The Lords of Flatbush"?

[etv78]

Matt Damon played the Anti-Semetic cheater in "School Ties" (one of my favs).

[etv78]

Sarah Jessica Parker played the girl who brought the kid food at NASA in "Flight of the Navigator".

[Umbriel]

Originally posted by plnnr
The Man Who Has No Name (that I can remember) played the following characters: the young guy who gives Jon Voight head in the movie theater and then throws up in "Midnight Cowboy," the pilot that paddles to Sweden in "Catch 22," one of the scientists who translates for Jean Luc Goddard in "Close Encounters," the slimy Assistant District Attorney who leaks the story to Sally Fields in "Absent Malice," Mr. Dalrymple (head of Programming at NBC) in "Seinfeld" (he throws up in that episode, too, and later falls for Elaine), and Mr. Weisbaum, the producer with the young male lover in "Gosford Park."

That'd be Bob Balaban, who I don't think exactly qualifies as "famous", though he's been working as a character actor upwards of 30 years. Per the IMDB, Midnight Cowboy was his first movie role.

John Larroquette (who's arguably on his way to no longer being famous) had a bigger early role than others mentioned here as Bill Murray's idiot commanding officer in Stripes. Judge Reinhold, who pops up so often in this thread, was a member of the squad.

Another film featuring early performances by later more recognizable character actors is the war/caper movie Kelly's Heroes. Look for Harry Dean Stanton and Stuart Margolin ("Angel" on The Rockford Files) in the squad, and for Gavin MacLeod as "Moriarty" the tank driver.

Speaking of Gavin MacLeod... Helen Hunt had a very early recurring role as Murray Slaughter's daughter on the Mary Tyler Moore show. I think other child actresses played the part too, but Helen was in at least two episodes.

[DarkWriter]

Originally posted by superbee
What part was Gene in B & C? I never noticed that, and I've seen that movie a gazillion times.


B & C stole Gene's car while he was courting his girl. They jumped into the girlfriend's car and chased B & C. B & C got a kick out of that, turned around and chased them, making them stop. Gene and his girlfriend were made to get into the car with the gang, where they all got along after some nervous tension at first.

After stopping for cheeseburgers later in the evening, Gene revealed that he was a mortician, which freaked Bonnie out, and she made Clyde stop the car to let Gene and his girlfriend out.

Does that ring a bell?

Sheri

[etv78]

The spaceship in "FotN" talked, and was voiced by Paul Reubens AKA Pee-Wee Herman.

[Dinsdale]

Not exactly obscure, but I had to mention Boo Radley.

[etv78]

Macauly Culkin played the kid with the "consecutive questions" record in "Uncle Buck".

[roadrunner70]

:::thwacking fivehead:::

Thanks DW

[Guinastasia]

Audrey Hepburn had a small bit as a cigarette girl in Lavender Hill Mob

George Clooney played a handyman named George on "The Facts of Life", and Roseanne's and Jackie's boss on the first season of "Roseanne" (who also was Jackie's boyfriend).
Molly Ringwald played "Molly" on the first season of "The Facts of Life".

I saw John Ritter on an episode of "The Waltons" as-get this!-a fire and brimstone fundy seminary student. It's kind of odd to see Ritter screaming, "REPENT!!! REPEEEENNNNT!!!"

Janet Jackson was on "Diff'rent Strokes" as Willis's girlfriend, "Charlene". Of course, the Jacksons were well-known by that time, but it's interesting to see her back then.


Jake Lloyd fromn The Phantom Menace had a small role on "ER" as the son of a woman with a terminal illness.


Mark Hamill was on an episode of "The Partridge Family". The episode where Laurie gets braces. He plays her boyfriend to be, Jerry.

[Sofa King]

Interestingly, I see that a number of the films mentioned here were cast by Juliet Taylor (http://us.imdb.com/Name?Taylor,+Juliet). She seems to have given early-ish starts to all sorts of soon-to-be-famous folks.

[MaxTheVool]

Gwyneth Paltrow played the grown up Wendy at the end of Hook

Ben Affleck plays the little boy in the educational series The Voyage of the Mimi

[Superdude]

To expound on things that others have mentioned, at least in passing:

1) Samuel L. Jackson plays Eddie Murphy's father in the skit at the beginning of Eddie Murphy: Raw.

2) In the movie Regarding Henry, Harrison Ford is shot in the head during a robbery in a convenience store. The gunman is played by John Leguizamo.

[Linus Van Pelt]

Originally posted by Walloon


Ron Howard was a star long before M*A*S*H. A ltitle thing called The Andy Griffith Show (1960-68)

Well, ur, ah obviously I was talking about Ron Howard before he made a name for himself as an adult rather than a child...

Oh, hell. You got me. And I've commented before that "Ronny" Howard was one of the few child television stars of the time who could actually act, rather than simply shouting his lines and trying to look cute. All in all one big :smack: for me.

[wring]

well, most of mine have already been said, but, Samuel L. Jackson is the guy who wants the "good news" (or is it the bad news?) in the begining sting operation in Sea of Love starring Al Pacino, John Goodman & Ellen Barkin

[Cervaise]

Hey, as long as John Larroquette has come up a few times, might as well mention that he's a Klingon in Star Trek III. He's the one Kirk etc. run into towards the end, in a funny little scene in a transporter room (as I recall).

[roadrunner70]

Originally posted by Guinastasia
Janet Jackson was on "Diff'rent Strokes" as Willis's girlfriend, "Charlene". Of course, the Jacksons were well-known by that time, but it's interesting to see her back then.

She also played Wilona's daughter Penny on Good Times, I believe before that.

[Linus Van Pelt]

To make up for my earlier oversight, but sticking with the M*A*S*H theme from my previous post, here's one: My wife and I were watching M*A*S*H earlier on fx today, and she turned to me and asked, "Is that Laurence Fishburne?" Up came the credits and she was right. He was credited as "Larry Fishburne".

I know, as Eve stated earlier, that this is extremely common. Just about everyone has to start somewhere before the become stars. It's still fun to spot them, though. Especially in 30 or 40 year old sitcoms when they look so young.

[dantheman]

Are you sure that was Larry Fishburne? In 1970, he would have been all of seven years old. His earliest film role was 1975's Cornbread, Earl, and Me, according to both Leonard Malrin's guide and IMdB.

[Linus Van Pelt]

Although he would have been 9 (not 7) in 1970, he would have been 20 when he appeared in 1982.

Ah, I see the confusion. I meant TV show; you meant movie. Check further down on the IMDB under "Notable TV guest appearances." In my original post, it was more clear that I was talking about the TV show (I mentioned re-runs).

[Snooooopy]

Before becoming Mr. Spock, Leonard Nimoy was briefly on the soap opera "General Hospital" as Benny the pill-pusher.

[Jello]

Fishburne appeared in Apocalypse Now in 1979 as Clean, one of the men on the boat that bring Martin Sheen up the river. He lied about his age to get the part.

The racist major in that M*A*S*H episode has been in lots of things too...the first that comes to mind is Lethal Weapon.

[El Diablo Gringo]

Speaking seperately of Jeff Goldblum and Annie Hall, he was the guy at the L.A. party who has to call his guru because "I forgot my mantra".

Also, I've always been fond of Harrison Ford's bit parts in American Grafitti and Apocalypse Now.

And, I remember reruns of "Growing Pains" with Jennie Garth pre-90210 and Matthew Perry (Carol's boyfriend who dies in drunk driving accident --- a very special episode). Of course, Leonardo DiCaprio also got his start there. Makes you wonder if the kid that played Ben is selling used cars or insurance.

[taggert]

Originally posted by RealityChuck
The most surprising is Sylvester Stallone playing a hood in Woody Allen's Bananas. It seems like a deliberate cameo to modern viewers, but Stallone was an unknown at the time.

Of course, there's Robert Blake showing up in The Treasure of Sierra Madre, but I doubt anyone recognizes him.

Blake was one of the later Little Rascals

http://www.ramseyltd.com/rascals/faq/

[Mr. Frink]

Originally posted by Doubting Robert
Tom Hanks played Uncle Ned in three episodes of "Family Ties." In one of these episodes, he is revealed to be an alcoholic. It is an impressive performance.

I'm gonna have to call you on this one. While Tom Hanks wasn't the superstar that he is today, he wasn't exactly unknown, either. He was the star of a sitcom called Bosom Buddies which ran from 1980-1982, so he was moderately famous by the time he did Ties.

[RexDart]

Everyone mentioned Star Trek but I didn't see mention of Nicci Cox's appearance as a young alien girl on TNG. Of course, whether she's a star is debatable, but she's pretty hot. Unhappily Ever After was actually a moderately successful show compared to the standard fare on the 5th and 6th networks.

I'm not sure whether James Earl Jones had done much by the time he had that one-line bit part on Strangelove. Allright, it's more than one line if you count "release 1st safety", "release 2nd safety" "radar switched to target orange", "bomb doors negative function", "firing explosive bolt", and "bomb doors still negative function." Those aren't lines, they're following orders. If he'd been a bigger star at that point, he probably could have persuaded them to keep his longer speech in.

[Miss Mapp]

Originally posted by Dooku
Another great source for seeing actors before they were stars: Hill Street Blues. Just last night I saw an episode with the Mother from Six Feet Under in a small role.

Future Star Trek actors also show up a lot on Hill Street Blues. Watching the reruns on Bravo, I've seen Johnathan Frakes, Armin Shimerman, Tim Russ, and the guy who played the Traveler, all in small parts.

Marc Alaimo and Bablyon 5's Peter Jurasik make regular appearances in Hill Street's final seasons. I imagine they were well-established character actors at this point, but it always makes me happy to see them. Future Dukat and future Londo!

[Eve]

Mary Pickford played a party guest in her first film, Mrs. Jones Entertains (1908), one of the popular Jones series starring Florence Lawrence and John Compson—perhaps the first long-running "sitcom."

[BiblioCat]

Originally posted by Doubting Robert
Tom Hanks played Uncle Ned in three episodes of "Family Ties." In one of these episodes, he is revealed to be an alcoholic. It is an impressive performance.
Geena Davis also appears on Family Ties as an inept maid hired by Alex. She suffers from a terminal case of 80s Big Hair.

[KneadToKnow]

Future Star Trek actors also show up a lot on Hill Street Blues.
Watch the various Roots shows for Star Trekkers-to-be, too:

Roots
LeVar Burton
John Schuck

Roots: The Next Generation (an interesting thing in and of itself, no?)
Brock Peters
Paul Winfield

Roots: The Gift
Avery Brooks
LeVar Burton
Kate Mulgrew
Tim Russ

Some of these folks were already well-known, and none of these were really "bit" parts, but still. It's noteworth.

[plnnr]

Estelle Parson more than had a part in Bonnie and Clyde - she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role.

[Dinsdale]

May not be as old, but talking about Lawrence Fishburne gave me pleasant thoughts about Cowboy Curtis on PeeWee's Playhouse. Now THAT was some fine TV!

[Superdude]

The movie This Is Spinal Tap reads like a virtual "who's who" of later-to-be-famous people:
[list]
1) Dana Carvey and Billy Crystal play mimes at the party hosted by Bobbi Fleckman, who is played by Fran Drescher.

2) The Stonehenger designer is played by Angelica Houston.

3) Bruno Kirby is the limo driver at the beginning.

4) Although he was at least fairly well-known as a songwriter (he DID co-write "It's Raining Men") and sidekick for David Letterman, Paul Schaffer plays a disc jockey in the movie.

[Eve]

Here's one I spotted back when AMC still showed old movies: in the 1956 musical cheapie Rock, Rock, Rock, there's an audience of teens listening to Frankie Lyman and the Teenagers sing I Am Not a Juvenile Delinquent. Right up front—looking just like herself—is a 15-year-old (or so) Valerie Harper.

[dantheman]

Joe Pesci was a drummer for Joey Dee and the Stalighters in 1961's Hey, Let's Twist.

BTW, Bobby Blake in Treasure of Sierra Madre was a little boy selling lottery tickets.

[plnnr]

Valerie Perine played the buxom woman given to Kilgore Trout in the movie version of "Slaughterhouse Five." I think she appeared in Playboy shortly thereafter.

[PRNYouth]

Originally posted by Guinastasia
I saw John Ritter on an episode of "The Waltons" as-get this!-a fire and brimstone fundy seminary student. It's kind of odd to see Ritter screaming, "REPENT!!! REPEEEENNNNT!!!"

That would be the Rev. Matthew Fordwick, and he was actually a recurring character, not just a one-shot. On the IMDb, he's listed as having one guest appearance, then listed as a cast member from 1973-1976.

'Course not long after, he turned in his collar, fell from grace, and posed as a homosexual to move in with a couple of tramps out in California. :D

[lieu]

Elvis' Roustabout has an opening scene with Raquel Welch as a college gal in a tea house and Teri Garr as one of the "crowd" dancers. In fact, Terry danced in at least four more of Elvis' films, including Fun in Acapulco, Kissin' Cousins, Viva Las Vegas and Clambake.

[KGS]

Speaking of John Ritter, he played a minor role in the 1971 horror film The Other (not to be confused with "The Others", heh.)

And Paul Schaffer played a PR man in Spinal Tap, not a DJ, if I recall correctly.

[Morbo]

Speaking of Teri Garr, let's not forget about her memorable guest appearance in that weird Star Trek episode where they go back in time and find "Gary Seven" from the future or something. I always wondered what the hell was going on in that episode - like they were going to spin off "Gary Seven" into his own TV show later on. Teri looked pretty good, though...

[KneadToKnow]

like they were going to spin off "Gary Seven" into his own TV show later on
Yep. Exactly like that, as a matter of fact.

And people think Voyager was bad.

[Love Rhombus]

In Amityville 3-D, bouncing perkily along, is Meg Ryan, looking pretty much the same as she would later in life. Also in Friday the 13th is Kevin Bacon, probably the only person to have a big career after those movies.

If this doubles, I apoligize

[bordelond]

17-year-old Robert Townsend appeared as an uncredited "Boy in the Gym" in Cooley High.

Superdude, a slight nitpick: Samuel L. Jackson actually plays one of Eddie's uncles in Raw. (http://us.imdb.com/Title?0092948)

[Spoke]

Lucille Ball appears (as a blonde!) in an old Three Stooges short.

James Arness (later of Gunsmoke fame) appeared ever-so-briefly as the title critter in The Thing (1950's version, of course).

Chris Rock had a tiny part in Beverly Hills Cop II.

[Superdude]

Originally posted by bordelond

Superdude, a slight nitpick: Samuel L. Jackson actually plays one of Eddie's uncles in Raw. (http://us.imdb.com/Title?0092948)

Ah...close enough, right? :)

And I see that Tatyana Ali was also in there. She later went on to be on Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and her own recording career.

Seth Green played Ritchie Tozier in the TV adaptation of It, and has went on to be in three Austin Powers movies, and the show Greg the Bunny, among other roles. However, he will probably be best known as the "Ch-Ching!" kid from the Rally's(?) commercials several years ago.

Mila Kunis played, IIRC, a young Gia in the movie starring Angelina Jolie, then went on to star in That '70's Show.

[Superdude]

Originally posted by spoke-
Chris Rock had a tiny part in Beverly Hills Cop II.

And Daman Wayans was in the first one. He's the guy that gives Eddie Murphy the bananas to put in the tailpipe.

[Kirkland1244]

Actually, Dooku, they did intend to spin off Gary Seven as its own show. The concept didn't make it past the inital kicking-around stage, though.

[Morbo]

Makes perfect sense now that I think about it that they were trying to create a spin-off.

Maybe that should be its own thread.....spin-offs. Coming soon.

[Bedrosian Bixby]

Morgan Freemanplayed a deathrow inmate in the Robert Redford film Brubaker. I'm not sure how well known he was before that movie was made, but it certainly counts as a bit part. Wasn't he also in the kid's TV show, Electric Factory?

[Annie-Xmas]

Jodie Foster was on the Partridge Family as a girl who kept beating Danny up. Of course, she was a pretty well established child actor at the time.

And let's not forget Brad Pitt appearing on Another World for two days as a high school student.

[dantheman]

Yeah, Morgan Freeman was on The Electric Company as Easy Reader.

[CaptMurdock]

erictelevision, Dinsdale: Speaking of Paul "Pee-Wee Herman" Reubens, did you check out his small part as a waiter in The Blues Brothers "We have a Dom Perignon for $129." (Jake) "That'll be fine, pal."

Superdude: Seth Green appeared in a 1986 movie called My Stepmother Is An Alien[/b]. The 14-year-old year girl whose alien stepmother (Kim Basinger) is married to her father (Dan Aykroyd) and whom Seth Green's character is sorta dating is none other than Alyson Hannigan. Years later, they would be Oz and Willow on [i]Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

[Superdude]

You know, CaptMurdock, you reminded me of something else:

In the movie Funny Farm[/i, starring Chevy Chase, one of his daughter's classmates is played by a young Sarah Michelle Gellar. If memory serves, this was before her roles on [i]Swan's Crossing and All My Children.

[Morbo]

What should happen to come on TV last night but The Dead Pool (http://us.imdb.com/Title?0094963). Talk about a goldmine:

- You've got Jim Carrey hilariously serious as rock star Johnny Squares, who quickly ODs at the beginning of the movie

- You've got Liam Neeson as a horror film director. (And that reminds me - Liam would probably prefer to forget that he was Patrick Swayze's hillbilly brother in Next of Kin, also featuring Helen Hunt as Patrick's hillbilly wife)

- You've got Marc Alaimo in a brief scene where Harry beats him up before realizing he was hired as his bodyguard

- And to top it all off you've got the guy from the Enter the Dragon spoof "A Fistful of Yen" from Kentucky Fried Movie as Harry's partner.

[etv78]

Am I remembering SJP correctly?

[etv78]

Just went to indb.com, and yes, it was Sarah.

[quarx]

[ahem] ... uh, count me in [cough] ... as a fan of ... ummm ... Harrison Ford ... [ahem] ... in, uh ... [cough] Apocalypse Now.

[masonite]

John Travolta appeared in the terrible Elvira-flick The Devil's Rain (http://us.imdb.com/Title?0072869) (1975).

Fred Gwynne (Herman Munster) had an uncredited, I believe unspeaking role in On The Waterfront (http://us.imdb.com/Title?0047296) (1954).

Don't know if this counts, but I found it jarring to see Bruce Dern towards the end of Marnie (http://us.imdb.com/Title?0058329) (1964).

[DarkWriter]

Originally posted by Annie-Xmas
And let's not forget Brad Pitt appearing on Another World for two days as a high school student.

Brad Pitt also guested on Dallas for three episodes. He dated Jenna's daughter.

Sheri

[Annie-Xmas]

Nobody has mention Fran "The Nanny" Dresser in Saturday Night Fever . She's Travolta's dance partner, and pats him on the ass.

[Dr. Rieux]

Originally posted by Dr. Rieux
And Gabriel Byrne played the Duke of Cornwall. :smack: That is, Byrne played Uther Pendragon--Corin Redgrave was Cornwall
My favorite movie, and I make a mistake like that:smack:

[CaptMurdock]

How I wish Gabriel Byrne had played Arthur instead of the dweeb they did get. That guy pretty much ruins Excalibur for me. Well, okay, except for Nichol Williamson as Merlin. He's a hoot!

[NicePete]

How 'bout Phil Hartman as Cap'n Carl in The Pee Wee Hermann Show (the movie, not Pee Wee's Playhouse)

Or, Pee Wee himself in two of the masterwerks in Cheech and Chongs great repertoire, Next Movie or Nice Dreams. HAMBURGER!

[Swampwolf]

Originally posted by plnnr
Valerie Perine played the buxom woman given to Kilgore Trout in the movie version of "Slaughterhouse Five." I think she appeared in Playboy shortly thereafter.


Billy Pilgrim, not Kilgore Trout.


How about Bill Paxton (with a blue mohawk!) in the first Terminator? He was one of the punks from whom Arnold got his clothes.

[Annie-Xmas]

Fran Dresher (sorry) was also promoter Bobby Flexman in This is Spinal Tap . An 8 minute role that won her recognition and an Esquire award. She reprised the role on an episode of The Nanny that was great.

[Gilligan]

Married...with Children is another TV show where you can find a lot of stars in early roles:
Matt LeBlanc was one of Kelly's boyfriends, and got a short-lived spinoff from that role, with Joey Lauren Adams, who also played other parts later on MWC.
Milla Jovovich was the Bundy's French exchange student.

I looked at a cast list and found these actors also played bit parts on the show early in their career:
David Boreanaz
Renee Zellweger
Casper Van Dien
Denise Richards
Giovanni Ribisi

[Alphagene]

Originally posted by Superdude
And I see that Tatyana Ali was also in there. She later went on to be on Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and her own recording career.
She also appeared on Sesame Street as a really young girl riffing with Kermit, talking about the alphabet or something.

I distinctly remember Kermit asking what her name is and she responds "tatyanaleeee!"

[etv78]

Jerry O'Connell was Sarah's dinner date on "CiC" Chip Esten kidnapped the Bundys on "Married..."

[unclviny]

john laroquette (sp?) as the leader of the army guys in ATTACK OF THE KILLER TOMATOES

[Annie-Xmas]

Mila Kunis was also on an episode of Don't Shoot Me as a college intern. And Debra Jo Rupp was Seinfeld's agent and Friend's Phoebe's sister-in-law. Phoeboe was the surrogate mother for her triplets.

[Judith Prietht]

Originally posted by lieu
Elvis' Roustabout has an opening scene with Raquel Welch as a college gal in a tea house and Teri Garr as one of the "crowd" dancers. In fact, Terry danced in at least four more of Elvis' films, including Fun in Acapulco, Kissin' Cousins, Viva Las Vegas and Clambake.

I am under the impression that Teri Garr also appears as a dancer in Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made For Walking" video; I believe she's wearing red.

[dantheman]

IIRC, Teri Garr was a dancer in the Monkees' movie "Head" in 1968 - just off the top o' my head.

[bernse]

Another Star Trek one that wasn't mentioned from what I could tell,

Ashley Judd as a young Ensign in a Next Generation episode.

Damn, she was (and still is!) a hottie.

[Jonathan Chance]

Teri Hatcher was in a NextGen episode, too.

How about directors?

I was watching the first Stuart Little with Baby Kate last weekend and the screenwriting credit is shared by someone I didn't recognize and M Night Shyamalan.

[pseudotriton ruber ruber]

I just saw Harrison Ford in a small role in GETTING STRAIGHT, an early-1970s counterculture film starring Elliot Gould and Candice Bergen.

[dantheman]

Harrison Ford's first two films were Dead Heat on a Merry Go Round (1966) and Luv (1967), the latter with Peter Falk; both were bit parts, I think.

[bernse]

Just got reminded from another thread:

Tim Robbins had a semi-major part in Howard The Duck. He was sure young.

[Mr. Miskatonic]

Three pages an no-one has mentioned Clint Eastwood as a clumsy lab tech in one of the Creature from the Black Lagoon sequals?

[dantheman]

or as the fighter pilot in Tarantula?

[Lute Skywatcher]

Dennis Franz in Popeye.
Vanessa Angel (http://us.imdb.com/Name?Angel,+Vanessa) as a Russian in Spies Like Us.

[Funkalicious]

Lawerence Fishburn had a somewhat important role in his first film, Apocalypse now, in which he actually lied about his age to get the part. Got credited as Larry Fishburn.

[dantheman]

His first one was actually a few years earlier, a movie called Cornbred, Earl, and Me. That might not have been a theatrical release, though.

[TommyWalker]

Robert Duvall's first role was Boo in "To Kill A Mockingbird"

[Cholo]

Didn't Fran Drescher play the part of Robert Wuhl's girlfriend in "The Hollywood Knights" where she was so hot to trot that Robert actually..."peaks" before getting in the back seat with Fran.

Who could blame him?

[Tristan]

I've got one that most folks don't believe.

In the early 80's cult hit "Breakin'", in the beginning there is a scene with a man on roller-skates skating at Venice Beach.

In the crowd watching him, shaking his hips and clapping his hands is Jean Claude Van Dam.

I swear.

Someone verify this for me? He's wearing what almost looks like a High School Wrestling outfit thing.. it's black.

[dantheman]

Wow, great catch, Tristan!

According to IMDb, Van Damme was a passerby in a dance sequence (http://us.imdb.com/Credits?0086998) in the 1984 film Breakin'. Spooky! I wouldn't have picked that out, even if I'd seen it.

Incidentally, one of the very earliest Bruce Willis films is 1980's The First Deadly Sin, also as an extra.

[Tristan]

You know, I thought I looked at IMDB when I first saw that, but maybe I didn't.

And dantheman, I can assure you that if you were a fan of MA films, even the craptacular ones that van Dam has done, you would recognize him in an instant in that crowd. He's shaking his gaulic fanny, and looking like an absolute 'tard.

[DirkGntly]

Teri Garr was also in Star Trek:TOS as a secretary to a time-traveler in 20th-century Earth. (Or has this been mentioned already and I missed it?)

[dantheman]

Originally posted by Tristan
You know, I thought I looked at IMDB when I first saw that, but maybe I didn't.

You have to click on "more" at the bottom of the credits, and there he is.

[TwungTister]

I watched The Twilight Zone over the 4th of July weekend. Episode {name ? - began when a flipped coin landed on edge} was about a guy who, for one day only, could hear people's thoughts. It was Dick York from Bewitched (where he played Darren.)

[jab1]

Leonard Nimoy played an alien in the serial Zombies of the Stratosphere.

Lloyd Bridges played the pilot of the plane taking the dead to heaven in Here Comes Mister Jordan (later re-made as Heaven Can Wait with Warren Beatty).

Helen Hunt appeared as George Segal's 12-year-old daughter in Rollercoaster. Also in that film was Craig Wasson as the guy who gave up his seat on the first ride of a new coaster to the bomber.

Harrison Ford's appearance in Apocalypse Now should not count since it came after Star Wars.

[jab1]

IMDB says Martin Milner was in Sands of Iwo Jima at the age of 18. Helen Hunt was one of the Robinson kids in a Swiss Family Robinson TV series even before Rollercoaster; Milner was the father.

[BurnMeUp]

Dennis Hopper in Rebel Without a Cause
i think that what's her name that plays monica on friends was alex's girlfriend on family ties
i once heard an urban legend that Alain Jorgenson of Ministry was Jimmy on H R Puffinstuff before he adopted his stagenemae, but i don't know how accurate that is.

[Tangent]

Wow! Unless I've missed it, no one's mentioned Dazed and Confused yet. Its cast from 1993 includes:

Ben Affleck
Matthew McConaughey
Parker Posey
Milla Jovovich
Joey Lauren Adams
Jason London
and MANY other young actors whose faces are recognizable if not their names (to me at least).


Also, Jerry O'Connell was of course the fat kid in Stand By Me.

And, IIRC, Bill Paxton was the asshole brother, "Chet," in Weird Science.

[Agrippina]

Originally posted by Funkalicious
Lawerence Fishburn had a somewhat important role in his first film, Apocalypse now, in which he actually lied about his age to get the part. Got credited as Larry Fishburn.

He was also Cowboy Carl on Pee-Wee's Playhouse.

Dennis Weaver was in the episode "Shadow Play" on The Twilight Zone. Future Superman director directed the TZ episode "Nightmare At 20,000 Feet", which starred William Shatner.

[Lute Skywatcher]

Jumpin' Jack Flash was on last night. I hadn't seen it in a while and was surprised to hear Phil Hartman's voice as one of the terminal operators. The movie was probably released around the same time he joined SNL.

[Cliffy]

Originally posted by Jeff Olsen
Jumpin' Jack Flash was on last night. I hadn't seen it in a while and was surprised to hear Phil Hartman's voice as one of the terminal operators. The movie was probably released around the same time he joined SNL.

This reminds me -- there's a bit in Die Hard II where the bad guys are hooking up some surveilance equipment. There's a very clear shot of John Leguizamo leaning over to say something in his walkie-talkie which comes out in what is very clearly not Leguizamo's voice. If he hadn't become at least reasonably famous a few years later, no one would ever know that that voice had been dubbed in.

Also, I just rewatched Pulp Fiction this weekend, and I noticed that Kathy Griffin (the crazy redheaded pal from "Suddenly Susan") was one of the women who helped up Marcellus Wallace when Butch ran over him.

--Cliffy

[BiblioCat]

Originally posted by Jeff Olsen
Jumpin' Jack Flash was on last night. I hadn't seen it in a while and was surprised to hear Phil Hartman's voice as one of the terminal operators. The movie was probably released around the same time he joined SNL. Phil Hartman Carol Kane and Jon Lovitz were all in that one, as fellow terminal operators of Whoopi Goldberg's.

[Oblong]

Brad Pitt and Lou Diamond Phillips had bit parts on Dallas.

Noah Wyle in A Few Good Men

Samuel L. Jackson in Patriot Games.

The latter two crack me up because when they show them on TV now, it will say something like "Patriot Games, starring Harrison Ford and Samuel Jackson"

[easy e]

Originally posted by CaptMurdock
Superdude: Seth Green appeared in a 1986 movie called My Stepmother Is An Alien[/b]. The 14-year-old year girl whose alien stepmother (Kim Basinger) is married to her father (Dan Aykroyd) and whom Seth Green's character is sorta dating is none other than Alyson Hannigan. Years later, they would be Oz and Willow on [i]Buffy the Vampire Slayer. [/B]

Seth Green was also in a really bad 80's teen movie, Can't Buy Me Love. He played Patrick Dempsey's little brother.

[detop]

Originally posted by BurnMeUp
i think that what's her name that plays monica on friends was alex's girlfriend on family ties

Courteney Cox. She was also in Springsteen's video Dancing in the Dark

[Steve Wright]

BBC showed Dog Day Afternoon over the weekend - the bus driver in the final scenes looked very much like a young Lance Henriksen... and, indeed, that's who it was.

Hammer House of Horror was a thirteen part TV series, pretty much the last gasp of the venerable Hammer Films, made in about 1980, and filmed mostly where I grew up. In one episode, "The Carpathian Eagle", a seductive temptress is going around picking up men and killing them ... her last victim, picked up in the very park where I used to play as a child, and listed only as "Last Victim" in the credits, is played by one Pierce Brosnan.

[Lute Skywatcher]

Originally posted by BiblioCat
Phil Hartman Carol Kane and Jon Lovitz were all in that one, as fellow terminal operators of Whoopi Goldberg's. Well, yeah, but the erstwhile Mr. Hartman was in a bit part and his voice is heard before he's seen. Probably because up until that time and his joining with SNL he was mainly doing voice work.

[jab1]

Anyone ever see The Harrad Experiment? Among the unknowns who would become famous later are Don Johnson, Bruno Kirby, Gregory Harrison and Melanie Griffith. Kirby was once embarassed by David Letterman's showing a clip of this flick on his talk show.

After Harrad, Johnson made the film version of Harlan Ellison's A Boy and His Dog.

Speaking of Ellison, one of Bruce Willis's early roles was in The Twilight Zone's 1985 version of Ellison's "Shatterday." Before that, Willis played a bad guy on Miami Vice, proving what a small town Hollywood really is.

[Lute Skywatcher]

I was watching an episode of M*A*S*H recently when I noticed another familiar face. Halfway into the episode, I felt the need to check the IMDb to see if it was him. Yep, it was David "Tackleberry" Graf, pretty much only known for game show appearances at the time (1982).

[Loneraven]

I don't know if it was mentioned - I don't think so - but Leslie Nielson appears on M*A*S*H as the guy who gets tricked with that glass of milk.

I know what I mean...

[jehovah68]

Originally posted by Dooku
[B]And his other buddy was a young Anthony Edwards, of ER fame. (And Revenge of the Nerds, [/i]Northern Exposure[/i], etc).

Wrong. Anthony Edwards did not play a friend of Brad's in Fast Times. He was in the movie, but he was a stoner pal of Spicoli's. The other stoner pal was played by Eric Stoltz.

[detop]

William H. Macy credited as W.H. Macy and Chazz Palmieterri in The Last Dragon

Billy Bob Thornton in Chopper Chicks in zombie Town

George Clooney in Return of the Killer Tomatoes.

[Laughing Lagomorph]

Originally posted by BurnMeUp
..i once heard an urban legend that Alain Jorgenson of Ministry was Jimmy on H R Puffinstuff before he adopted his stagenemae, but i don't know how accurate that is.


This would seem to be incompatible with the imdb bio on the guy who played Jimmy:
http://us.imdb.com/Bio?Wild,%20Jack%20(I)

[Morbo]

Originally posted by jehovah68
Wrong. Anthony Edwards did not play a friend of Brad's in Fast Times. He was in the movie, but he was a stoner pal of Spicoli's. The other stoner pal was played by Eric Stoltz.

Sorry. I tremble with shame. It won't happen again.

[jehovah68]

From Hill Street Blues:

Season One, 1981
David Caruso
Andy Garcia
Dan Hedaya
Mimi Rogers

Season Two, '81-82
Danny Glover
John Ratzenberger
Meg Tilly

Season Three, '82-83
Dominique Dunne (Griffin's sister - murdered soon after)
Dennis Franz
Ally Sheedy

Season Four, '83-84
Alfre Woodard
Crispin Glover
Joe Pantoliano
Jane Kaczmarek

Season Five, '84-85
Jill Eikenberry
Michael Tucker
Tim Robbins
Jen Tilly
Frances McDormand

Season Six, '85-86
Chris Noth

Season Seven, '86-87
Cuba Gooding, Jr.
Chazz Palminteri

[Laughing Lagomorph]

Bad link in my last post. Try this one:

http://us.imdb.com/Name?Wild,+Jack+(I)

The guy in question is a 50 year old diabetic recovering alcoholic underemployed actor. Ministry isn't mentioned.

[oliversarmy]

Billy Bob Thornton also was in the cast of the John Ritter sit-com "Hearts Afire."

I caught Robert Redford in an episode of "The Untouchables" once and thought that must have been his earliest role. However, the IMDB lists several TV roles before that.

[Tequila Mockingbird]

Was a part credited pretty far back and I didn't even recognize him at first but Sam Jackson was Stacks Edwards in Goodfellas(1990).
Also, one of the two who play the kidnappers in Suicide Kings is Brad Garrett, most notably from the t.v. show Everybody Loves Raymond.

[KneadToKnow]

Hah! I can't believe that this is on page 4, and I still have one to add:

Elijah Wood made his feature film debut as one of the "Video Game Boys" in the 80s-theme diner from Back to the Future Part II.

And I spotted him with my own two little eyes, I did. His face really hasn't changed all that much. :)

[TwungTister]

Hey, the thread's back; lost it in the haystack.

This is where I wanted to mention
WILLIAM SHATNER in The Twilight Zone. "Nick of Time"

HARRISON FORD in a spy movie.

DICK YORK in The Twilight Zone On the Edge of a Coin?.

[Superdude]

After watching Dead Man Walking again this evening, I was shocked to see Jack Black as Sean Penn's little brother, Craig. When Susan Sarandon shows up at Penn's mother's door, Black is working on the car.

[Badtz Maru]

Sharon Stone was in Stardust Memories as 'Pretty girl on train'.