TV Actors successful in sitcoms and dramas

[boozilu]

Recently thinking about Ted Dansen (big success on Cheers and now Damages & CSI), I was wondering how many actors have done well on TV in both sitcoms (NOT dramadies a la Desperate Housewives) and dramas. Doesn't seem like there are that many in TV series.

Bryan Cranston (Malcolm in the Middle & Breaking Bad) is the only other one I can think of. I know you Dopers can do better!

PS -- I know there are a lot of actors who do both comedy & drama in movies -- I'm looking for TV series casts only here

[Leaffan]

Carroll O'Connor did pretty well on All in the Family, and then In the Heat of the Night.

[PacifistPorcupine]

Craig T Nelson starred in Coach (sitcom) and The District (Drama). He's in Parenthood now.

[Bob Ducca]

Kelsey Grammar going from "Cheers" and "Frasier" to the Starz political-drama "Boss".

[madmonk28]

Both my examples mix TV and film roles, so they don't quite work, but:

Alec Baldwin was successful in dramatic roles in movies then went on to 30 Rock (he's a better comedian than dramatic actor IMHO).

Leslie Neilson was a dramatic TV actor before he struck comedy gold by parodying the types of characters he played straight for years.

[RadioWave]

Ed O'Neill was in Married with Children and Modern Family. He was also in HBO's John From Cincinnati and was the original choice to be Al Swearingen in Deadwood.

[RealityChuck]

CSI also has Wallace Langham, who was in Victoria's Closet.

Harry Morgan was in a bunch of sitcoms (December Bride, Pete and Gladys, M*A*S*H, etc.) and also a bunch of dramas (Hec Ramsay, Dragnet, The D.A., etc.)

Robert Urich starred in both dramas (e.g. Spenser: For Hire) and comedies (e.g., Soap, Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice).

Bill Cosby did a dramatic role in I Spy.

[Bob Ducca]

Tony Shalhoub - Wings/Monk

[appleciders]

Patrick Mckenna won a Gemini (the Canadian version of an Emmy) for comedic work on The Red Green Show and dramatic work on Traders in the same year.

[boozilu]

You guys rock. I used to think I was a TV goddess but I guess I suck!

[kenobi 65]

Ed Asner played the same character, Lou Grant, in both a comedy (The Mary Tyler Moore Show), and a drama (Lou Grant).

[KneadToKnow]

Ed Asner played the same character, Lou Grant, in both a comedy (The Mary Tyler Moore Show), and a drama (Lou Grant).

Exactly who I was going to mention.

[twickster]

Hugh Laurie started out in comedy, though not sitcoms per se, before starring in House. (Love love love Jeeves and Wooster with Stephen Fry as the former and Laurie as the latter.)

[Leaffan]

Dick Van Dyke was successful with his eponymous comedy and also Diagnosis: Murder.

[KneadToKnow]

Hugh Laurie started out in comedy, though not sitcoms per se, before starring in House. (Love love love Jeeves and Wooster with Stephen Fry as the former and Laurie as the latter.)

Blackadder wasn't a sitcom?

[Peter Morris]

British actor Sir David Jason (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Jason) who has had a long and successful career in sitcoms (Only Fools & Horses (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Only_Fools_and_Horses), Open All Hours (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_All_Hours)) and drama (Frost (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Touch_of_Frost_%28TV_series%29)) among others.

And also presenter in several documentaries.

[johnpost]

Bryan Cranston, Leslie Neilson, Harry Morgan all for sure.

William Shatner was in Star Trek, T. J. Hooker and Boston Legal and $#*! My Dad Says. Though i don't think this counts because he was only successful in Boston Legal (maybe $#*! My Dad Says, he is a good comedic actor).

[Kasper1014]

Andy Griffith. Andy Griffith show and Matlock.

[Saint Cad]

Exactly who I was going to mention.

especially since he won an Emmy for each role.

Another vote for Leslie Nielsen. Has anyone else seen the Bonanza episode where he played a sheriff that went crazy?

[Telemark]

Exactly who I was going to mention.

Damn, me too.

[Bryan Ekers]

Craig T Nelson starred in Coach (sitcom) and The District (Drama). He's in Parenthood now.

I dunno how consistently "dramatic" The District was - it seemed to me that Nelson's character was always going off on some goofy tangent before things got all serious and dark and preachy and it's about the kids, dammit!



I nominate Maura Tierney, who got her big break on NewsRadio (admittedly as one of the more straitlaced characters) before moving on to ER.

[Dewey Finn]

Ed O'Neill was in Married with Children and Modern Family. He was also in HBO's John From Cincinnati and was the original choice to be Al Swearingen in Deadwood.
Also, Katey Sagal, his co-star from Married With Children, who is in the drama Sons of Anarchy.

[SpoilerVirgin]

Judd Hirsch (Taxi/Numb3rs)
Rick Schroeder (Silver Spoons/NYPD Blue)
Josh Charles (Sports Night/The Good Wife)
Chris Noth (Law & Order/Sex & the City/The Good Wife)
Bill Bixby (The Courtship of Eddie's Father/The Incredible Hulk)
Brian Keith (Family Affair/Hardcastle & McCormick)
Gerald McRaney (Simon & Simon/Major Dad/Promised Land)
Jim Sikking (Hill Street Blues/Doogie Howser, M.D.)
Susan St. James (McMillan & Wife/Kate & Allie)

[SciFiSam]

David Duchovny - the X-Files and Californication. (He was in other stuff too, of course).

Garret Dillahunt played evil men in three separate crime procedural dramas that I've seen - White Collar, Burn Notice and Life, the latter two roles being only for a few episodes, but the characters were significant - and was a one-off guest actor in lots of others too (I don't know if he was always a bad guy, but I suspect he was). He was also the main terminator in both seasons of The Sarah Connor Chronicles. He was excellent at being a sociopath.

And then he became the loveable Dad (and Grandad) on Raising Hope.

[Little Nemo]

Alyson Hannigan - Buffy, the Vampire Slayer and How I Met Your Mother (it occurs to me that if you just knew the titles and not the shows, you'd assume Buffy, the Vampire Slayer was a sitcom and How I Met Your Mother was a drama).

[Little Nemo]

Enrico Colantoni - Just Shoot Me and Veronica Mars

[Dewey Finn]

Ed O'Neill was in Married with Children and Modern Family. He was also in HBO's John From Cincinnati and was the original choice to be Al Swearingen in Deadwood.
Also, Katey Sagal, his co-star from Married With Children, who is in the drama Sons of Anarchy.
Also, Charlie Hunnam, her co-star from Sons of Anarchy, who was in the short-lived sitcom Undeclared (and also in the drama Queer as Folk).

We could do this all day.

[The Other Waldo Pepper]

Tom Selleck eventually followed up his Emmy win for MAGNUM PI with an Emmy nomination for FRIENDS.

[Dewey Finn]

Ed O'Neill was in Married with Children and Modern Family. He was also in HBO's John From Cincinnati and was the original choice to be Al Swearingen in Deadwood.
Also, Katey Sagal, his co-star from Married With Children, who is in the drama Sons of Anarchy.
Also, Charlie Hunnam, her co-star from Sons of Anarchy, who was in the short-lived sitcom Undeclared (and also in the drama Queer as Folk).
Also, Jay Baruchel, his co-star from Undeclared, who was in the short-lived drama Just Legal.

[MentalGuy]

I am surprised no one has yet mentioned Larry Hagman (I Dream of Jeannie/Dallas).

[don't ask]

How soon the pioneers are forgotten.

Jack Klugman: 114 episodes of The Odd Couple and 148 of Quincy M.E.

[Simplicio]

Ed O'Neill was in Married with Children and Modern Family. He was also in HBO's John From Cincinnati and was the original choice to be Al Swearingen in Deadwood.

Kind of a stretch to call being in one drama that was cancelled after one season and not getting a role in another drama being "successful in dramas"

[notfrommensa]

Does Susan Dey qualify? The Partridge Family and L.A. Law

[Simplicio]

Kind of a stretch to call being in one drama that was cancelled after one season and not getting a role in another drama being "successful in dramas"

Actually, looking at wikipedia, poor O'Neil has been in like five failed TV dramas that either went one season or never got passed the pilot. I doubt they failed because of him, but he seems to be something of a kiss-of-death for dramatic TV.

[not what you'd expect]

Ron Howard had two hit shows. Happy Days and Andy Griffith.

Don Knotts also. Three's company and Andy Griffith.

John Ritter is another with more than one show.

[cochrane]

Jason Lee in My Name Is Earl, and now with Memphis Beat.

[Little Nemo]

Ron Howard had two hit shows. Happy Days and Andy Griffith.

Don Knotts also. Three's company and Andy Griffith.

John Ritter is another with more than one show.But these are all comedies.

[Little Nemo]

Alan Alda - MASH and The West Wing
Candice Bergen - Murphy Brown and Boston Legal
Janeane Garofalo - The Larry Sanders Show and Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior
Thomas Gibson - Criminal Minds and Dharma and Greg
John Larroquette - Black Sheep Squadron and Night Court
Matthew Perry - Friends and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

[Springtime for Spacers]

Robert Lyndsay, started his career in sitcom Citizen Smith, drama performances include roles in Hornblower, Oliver and much Shakespeare, has played the role of dentist Ben Harper in sitcom My family for the past 12 years.

His screen wife in My Family, Zoe Wanamaker, is mailnly known for her dramatic roles, appearing in Dicken's adaptations, Dr Who and many, many others.

Stephen Fry, of course, has done everything.

[oliversarmy]

James "Frickin' Chuck Norris Calls Me Sir" Garner.

[Mahaloth]

Hugh Laurie started out in comedy, though not sitcoms per se, before starring in House. (Love love love Jeeves and Wooster with Stephen Fry as the former and Laurie as the latter.)

Blackadder wasn't a sitcom?

Yes, it was. He's a perfect candidate.

Ron Howard had two hit shows. Happy Days and Andy Griffith.

Don Knotts also. Three's company and Andy Griffith.

John Ritter is another with more than one show.

:confused:

[RealityChuck]

John Forsythe in Bachelor Father and Dynasty (plus Charlie's Angels)

Robert Young in Father Knows Best and Marcus Wellby, MD.

Carl Betz in The Donna Reed Show and Judd for the Defense

Art Carney in The Honeymooners and Lanigan's Rabbi

Eddie Albert in Green Acres and Switch

Buddy Ebsen in The Beverly Hillbillies and Barnaby Jones.

[Sally Mander]

Garret Dillahunt played evil men in three separate crime procedural dramas that I've seen - White Collar, Burn Notice and Life, the latter two roles being only for a few episodes, but the characters were significant - and was a one-off guest actor in lots of others too (I don't know if he was always a bad guy, but I suspect he was). He was also the main terminator in both seasons of The Sarah Connor Chronicles. He was excellent at being a sociopath.

And then he became the loveable Dad (and Grandad) on Raising Hope.

He also played two different characters on Deadwood, neither one a nice guy at all. The first character he played killed Martha Plimpton's (Virginia on Raising Hope) father's character in an early episode, and in season two, he played a serial killer with very weird sexual tastes.

And he's had a couple of one-shot roles on one or more of the Law & Orders. I know he very convincingly played a creepy child molester in an episode of the SVU version.

And now he's Burt!

[Tangent]

George Clooney had roles in sitcoms like E/R, The Facts of Life, and Roseanne before he was on ER.

[Chefguy]

James Garner in Maverick and then in The Rockford Files, although I suppose it could be argued that those were dramadies of a sort.

Richard Belzer, of course, is actually a stand-up comic when he's not on Law & Order.

[cochrane]

Gerald McRaney - Major Dad (sitcom), Simon & Simon, The Promised Land, Jericho, and Deadwood (dramas).

Judd Hirsch - Taxi and Numb3rs.

[SciFiSam]

Thomas Gibson - Criminal Minds and Dharma and Greg

OMG, I can't believe I didn't recognise him. It's been a few years between the shows, but all the same, it's a sign of hod good acting that I totally didn't associate the two roles at all.

He also played two different characters on Deadwood, neither one a nice guy at all. The first character he played killed Martha Plimpton's (Virginia on Raising Hope) father's character in an early episode, and in season two, he played a serial killer with very weird sexual tastes.

And he's had a couple of one-shot roles on one or more of the Law & Orders. I know he very convincingly played a creepy child molester in an episode of the SVU version.

And now he's Burt!

Yeah - his whole career was basically playing psychopaths, until RH. Maybe there's hope for Mark Sheppard (Badger in Firefly/a bad guy in everything else) yet.

[Little Nemo]

Khandi Alexander - News Radio and CSI: Miami
Adrienne Barbeau - Maude and Carnivale
Meredith Baxter - Family and Family Ties
Dabney Coleman - Buffalo Bill and Boardwalk Empire
Mike Farrell - MASH and Providence

[Peter Morris]

The Commish was not exactly a sitcom, but did have a lot of humour. Compare Michael Chiklis as Tony Scali to his later role in The Shield.

[Intergalactic Gladiator]

Yeah - his whole career was basically playing psychopaths, until RH. Maybe there's hope for Mark Sheppard (Badger in Firefly/a bad guy in everything else) yet.

Mark Sheppard was a good guy in Doctor Who and I would argue he's a good guy in Warehouse 13, though I don't know if he's been in it past the first two seasons.

I wouldn't mind seeing him in a comedy though, I think he'd be good in the right role.

[IvoryTowerDenizen]

Alan Alda - MASH and The West Wing

He also played a dramatic role on ER.

[ftg]

My current fave in this category: Christine Baranski. Mostly comedies but currently a regular on The Good Wife.

[KneadToKnow]

Mark Sheppard did not play a bad guy on Battlestar. Amoral, maybe, but not bad.

And he is frakking hilarious in person. Someone brought him a beer at a Dragon*Con panel and he handed it off to his co-panelist stating, "No, I'm allergic to alcohol. I break out in handcuffs." (Apparently he's something like 20 years sober.)

[SpoilerVirgin]

I camed up with a whole new list overnight, although some of them have since been mentioned.

Tim Reid (WKRP in Cincinnati/Simon & Simon/Frank's Place)
Susan Sullivan (Falcon Crest/Dharma & Greg)
Swoosie Kurtz (Sisters/Mike & Molly)
Rene Auberjonois (Benson/Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
Kristy McNichol (Family/Empty Nest)
William Daniels (Knight Rider [not sure how to classify that one]/St. Elsewhere/Boy Meets World)
Jeff Conaway (Taxi/Babylon 5)
Heather Locklear (Dynasty/T.J. Hooker/Melrose Place/Spin City)
Ethan Philllips (Benson/Star Trek: Voyager)
Sally Field (Gidget/The Flying Nun/Brothers & Sisters)

[Saint Cad]

So is this thread about actors that were excellent in both a comedy and a drama or simply actors that have performed in both genres?

[Peter Morris]

The title specifies "successful."

[TBG]

Elisha Cuthbert in 24 (drama) and Happy Endings (sitcom)

Connie Britton on Spin City (sitcom) and American Horror Story (drama)

Heather Locklear, also on Spin City, as well as TJ Hooker and Melrose Place (dramas)

Jenni Garth on both versions of 90210 (drama) and also What I Like About You (comedy)

Lori Laughlin on Full House (sitcom) in addition to the 90210 reboot

John Stamos also on Full House and also on ER (drama)

Jorge Garcia on Becker (sitcom) as well as Lost and Alcatraz (dramas)

Also on Becker, Terry Ferrell, who of course was on Star Trek Deep Space 9 (drama)

Tim Daly on Wings (sitcom) and Private Practice (drama)

[Saint Cad]

The title specifies "successful."

I know that but a lot of the examples given I would rate at less than successful

[Jim's Son]

Has anybody mentioned Ernest Borgnine for comedy-McHale's navy and drama-Airwolf? Both shows ran for several years.

[pseudotriton ruber ruber]

How did it happen that Ernest Borgnine never took a bit part on Star Trek just so he could be billed as "Borg Nine"?

[Annie-Xmas]

Harry Morgan on Dragnet and M*A*S*H
Tom Bosley on Happy Days and Murder She Wrote
Joe Mantegna on Criminal Minds and The Simpsons (voice of Fat Tony)
Valerie Bertinelli on One Day At a Time and Touched By An Angel

[TBG]

Has anyone mentioned John Lithgow yet? 3rd Rock (comedy) and Dexter (drama)

[enalzi]

Mark Sheppard did not play a bad guy on Battlestar. Amoral, maybe, but not bad.

And he is frakking hilarious in person. Someone brought him a beer at a Dragon*Con panel and he handed it off to his co-panelist stating, "No, I'm allergic to alcohol. I break out in handcuffs." (Apparently he's something like 20 years sober.)

His characters always seem to be in varying shades of gray. He seems to be very rarely an outright good guy or an outright bad guy. I think the only thing that ties his characters together is he usually plays someone who only does things in his own best interest. Which some times means helping the good guys even if he's a bad guy. I think the closest he's come to being an outright good guy is in Doctor Who, and even for a while there we were misled into thinking he was bad.

[Švejk]

Edie Falco (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004908/) played Carmela Soprano (in The Sopranos) and Celeste Cunningham (30 Rock). I haven't seen her in Nurse Jackie but I imagine her role there is also a far cry from Carmela Soprano

Amy Ryan (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0752407/) was Beatrice 'Beadie' Russell (on The Wire), and Holly Flax (The Office).

[SciFiSam]

His characters always seem to be in varying shades of gray. He seems to be very rarely an outright good guy or an outright bad guy. I think the only thing that ties his characters together is he usually plays someone who only does things in his own best interest. Which some times means helping the good guys even if he's a bad guy. I think the closest he's come to being an outright good guy is in Doctor Who, and even for a while there we were misled into thinking he was bad.

I haven't actually seen his appearances in Dr Who, and have only seen about two episodes of BSG, but every other show I regularly watch seems to have him appear in at least one episode as a bad guy or at least, as you say, someone who only does things in their own interest, usually opposed against characters who are trying to help people.

Seriously - pretty much all the shows I've regularly watched over the last few years will have Mark Sheppard show up playing Badger from Firefly but under a different name. (Tricia Helfer usually has an episode as a hard-arsed bitch too). Hence my impression of him having this defined role.

In Leverage, for example, he's morally gray in some ways, but he's against Our Heroes, and some of his actions cross over the line into bad guy territory.

For example, getting the Leverage crew incarcerated is just his job; choosing the worst possible prisons to send them to is unabashed sadism. And he uses Nate's son's death against him. All after he knows that they're helping people.

[Skara_Brae]

In Leverage, for example, he's morally gray in some ways, but he's against Our Heroes, and some of his actions cross over the line into bad guy territory.

For example, getting the Leverage crew incarcerated is just his job; choosing the worst possible prisons to send them to is unabashed sadism. And he uses Nate's son's death against him. All after he knows that they're helping people.

Hmm, he was set up as pretty bad in his first appearence, where he seemed perfectly happy to let the innocent stable owner go to jail.

"We're insurance men, Nate. We don't care about who's guilty and who's innocent. We care about who pays."

[Smid]

Ed O'Neill was in Married with Children and Modern Family. He was also in HBO's John From Cincinnati and was the original choice to be Al Swearingen in Deadwood.

You missed out a series which I liked, but never made it to dvd or even the torrents: LA Dragnet. Ed was the star though they kind of put him into the background in the later parts of it.

[well he's back]

I haven't read the entire thread (sorry) - has Hugh Laurie been mentioned? great range from a twit in British comedies to bastard on House.

[Annie-Xmas]

Hugh Laurie started out in comedy, though not sitcoms per se, before starring in House. (Love love love Jeeves and Wooster with Stephen Fry as the former and Laurie as the latter.)

I haven't read the entire thread (sorry) - has Hugh Laurie been mentioned? great range from a twit in British comedies to bastard on House.

Yes he has.

[astorian]

How about David Schwimmer, best known as hapless Ross on the sitcom Friends, but a hard-ass Army lieutenant in the WW2 series Band of Brothers.

[astorian]

Did anyone already mention Jack Klugman, star of the comedy The Odd Couple and of the medical/police drama Quincy?

Or Buddy Ebsen, of The Beverly Hillbillies and Barnaby Jones?

[Enginerd]

Jere Burns (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0122716/) was in 90 episodes of Dear John and is now in the FX drama Justified.

[BrassyPhrase]

I camed up with a whole new list overnight, although some of them have since been mentioned.

Tim Reid (WKRP in Cincinnati/Simon & Simon/Frank's Place)


I thought I was the only person that remembered Frank's Place. I loved that little one season show SO much!

[Morbo]

Psych has a few actors that have been in Dramas: Dule Hill (West Wing), Tim Omundson (Deadwood), Corbin Bernsen (LA Law), Maggie Lawson (Party of Five).

[TBG]

Psych has a few actors that have been in Dramas: Dule Hill (West Wing), Tim Omundson (Deadwood), Corbin Bernsen (LA Law), Maggie Lawson (Party of Five).

Maggie Lawson was on Party of Five? Wow, I did not know that. I only ever watched the show when reruns were up on OnDemand a few years ago, but they only showed part of the series and must not have included ones with her.

[tullsterx]

Andy Griffith - AGS & Matlock
William Shatner - TJ Hookers, Star Trek, and I would argue that much of his recent TV work is very comedic, but, not on a sitcom.

[kenobi 65]

William Shatner - TJ Hookers, Star Trek, and I would argue that much of his recent TV work is very comedic, but, not on a sitcom.

Bleep My Dad Says may have been a lousy sitcom, but it was a sitcom all the same. :)

[Annie-Xmas]

Andy Griffith - AGS & Matlock
William Shatner - TJ Hookers, Star Trek, and I would argue that much of his recent TV work is very comedic, but, not on a sitcom.

He was so funny as The Big Giant Head on 3rd Rock From The Sun

[The Other Waldo Pepper]

He was so funny as The Big Giant Head on 3rd Rock From The Sun

So funny he got an Emmy nomination for it, even.

[TBG]

Bleep My Dad Says may have been a lousy sitcom, but it was a sitcom all the same. :)

But it wasn't successful. ;)

[cochrane]

I thought of another. Patrick Duffy in Dallas and Step By Step.

[Ibn Warraq]

Ed Marinaro in Hill Street Blues and Blue Mountain State.

[Morbo]

A couple more from The Wire: Idris Elba (The Office) and Michael K. Williams (Community)

[Dewey Finn]

Also, Allison Brie, who played Annie on Community and Trudy on Mad Men.