# Actors and actresses you're suprised didn't become bigger stars **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 16, 2010, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-youre-suprised-didnt-become-bigger-stars/525195 "2010-01-16T14:17:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-youre-suprised-didnt-become-bigger-stars/525195/61 "2010-01-18T21:40:25Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] OK, someone else: Barry Pepper. I have liked this guy in everything I’ve seen him in, from Saving Private Ryan to the hugely-underrated Knockaround Guys [/quote] He was also good in The 25th Hour with Ed Norton and Phillip Seymore Hoffman. I would say that whole generation of late-90s / early 2000s actors who appeared in films like Knockaround Guys, Boiler Room, etc: -Barry Pepper -Scott Caan -Casey Affleck -Giovanni Ribisi -Vin Deisel -Ed Norton They always seem to be working and have a lot of good movies, but other than Deisel and Norton, the rest seem relagated to mostly indie-ish films or supporting roles. > [@gaffa](#): > > Huh? Did anyone in 2001: A Space Odyssey go on to fame and fortune? A starring role in a Kubrick film is as good, for most actors, as entering the Witness Protection Program. Unless you are R. Lee Ermey of course. NOW DROP AND GIVE ME TWENTY YOU MISERABLE LITTLE MAGGOT!!!😃 ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-youre-suprised-didnt-become-bigger-stars/525195/62 "2010-01-18T22:04:04Z")
> [@Rrose\_Selavy](#): > > [Debra Winger](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debra_Winger) Debra Winger was a major star with several Oscar nominations during the 80s and early 90s. I don’t think she fits this thread’s criteria. This is about people who showed great promise in a few early roles but never lived up to their potential. ---
**Author:** ![Rrose\_Selavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bcef8e/32.png) [@Rrose\_Selavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rrose_Selavy)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-youre-suprised-didnt-become-bigger-stars/525195/63 "2010-01-18T22:07:46Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Huh? Did anyone in [2001: A Space Odyssey](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062622/) go on to fame and fortune? A starring role in a Kubrick film is as good, for most actors, as entering the Witness Protection Program. Not a big starring role in 2001 but [Leonard Rossiter](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Rossiter) went on to funnier and much bigger roles in TV at least in the UK. ---
**Author:** ![Rrose\_Selavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bcef8e/32.png) [@Rrose\_Selavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rrose_Selavy)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-youre-suprised-didnt-become-bigger-stars/525195/64 "2010-01-18T22:18:32Z")
She still works, a lot of TV but [Ally Sheedy](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000639/) isn’t up there where I thought she might be years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-youre-suprised-didnt-become-bigger-stars/525195/65 "2010-01-18T22:30:50Z")
Arround the time Cutting Edge came out, I though Moira Kelly was going to be the next America’s Sweetheart. I had some nutjob theory (but I’m feeling much better now) that the country always had a sweetheart and Molly Ringwald’s time was winding down. Moira’s had steady work over the years, but not “America’s Sweetheart” level. ---
**Author:** ![Rrose\_Selavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bcef8e/32.png) [@Rrose\_Selavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rrose_Selavy)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-youre-suprised-didnt-become-bigger-stars/525195/66 "2010-01-18T22:30:51Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > Debra Winger was a major star with several Oscar nominations during the 80s and early 90s. I don’t think she fits this thread’s criteria. This is about people who showed great promise in a few early roles but never lived up to their potential. I take your piont but The key word you used is WAS a major star. [I still think her career fizzled out somewhat whatever the reasons.](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000700/bio) when she had more potential. - ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-youre-suprised-didnt-become-bigger-stars/525195/67 "2010-01-19T01:18:28Z")
Inspired by the thread about Susan Alexander’s voice, I nominate Dorothy Comingore: the second wife in “Citizen Kane”. The film introduced a lot of actors who had long careers: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Ray Collins, Ruth Warwick. Paul Stewart. Alan Ladd has a small part as one of the reporters at Xanadu. Yet Comingore did very little. Wiki says she was a victim of the blacklist and had alcohol problems. Warwick had a book titled “Confessions of Phoebe Tyler” in which she says Welles treated Comingore very poorly. When Warwick asked why, Welles replied “She is going to end up in the gutter so she might as well get used to it.” William Alland (the reporter investigating who Rosebud was) didn’t do much either, in part because you don’t see his face. ---
**Author:** ![AtomicDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@AtomicDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AtomicDog)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-youre-suprised-didnt-become-bigger-stars/525195/68 "2010-01-19T05:05:56Z")
I kept waiting for Tina Turner’s movie career to take off after her marvelous portrayal of Auntie Entity in **Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome**. Don’t know why it didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-youre-suprised-didnt-become-bigger-stars/525195/69 "2010-01-19T06:15:35Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Pete Postlethwaite > Dragonheart, The Usual Suspect, ummm . . . something else. > Very good dramatic actor that had a dry sense of humor in his roles. I knew him from **Sharpe’s Company/Sharpe’s Enemy** and **Brassed Off**. Great actor! ---
**Author:** ![john\_b\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@john\_b\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/john_b_2)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-youre-suprised-didnt-become-bigger-stars/525195/70 "2010-01-19T06:34:07Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > Going back to Golden Age Hollywood, Dorothy Comingore played the second wife of Charles Foster Kane in _Citizen Kane_ — the singer at a department store’s sheet music department whom the infatuated Kane promotes to an overwhelmed grand opera star. Retiring from that failure, she becomes despondent, shrill, and bored in the gilded cage of Xanadu; and after walking out on Kane, she’s reduced to an alcoholic singer in a nightclub, telling her story to the curious reporter. It was an Oscar-worthy supporting performance from an actress who was virtually unknown before then, and who had an oddly patchy and abbreviated career after then. Reportedly she had troubles in her private life. Hey, Walloon! 😉 I know you (or think I know you) from the IMDB. Send me a message if you want. I post under a different name here. Dorothy Comongore’s a good choice, though it’s worth keeping in mind that while CITIZEN KANE is a classic now, it lost money when it first came out, so Comingore wasn’t likely to get much traction from it despite her fine work in that film. Much later on, I’m surprised that certain TV actors who made such a strong impression on the small screen weren’t able to do the same or, in some cases, even come close, on the big screen–Michael Ansara, David Janssen and Robert Lansing–to name just three, who showed much promise early in their careers. From a later period: Jenny Agutter, lovely and talented, enjoyed a nice career in the 70s, failed to make it to the top despite some chances, as her career began drifting downward before she turned thirty. I’d have guessed that at least one of these four hippie chip ingenues from the 80s,–Roseanna Arquette, Rebecca De Mornay, Rae Dawn Chong and Meg Tilly–would crash through and make the big time. Each enjoyed her fifteen to twenty minutes of fame, appeared in some high profile films, then faded from view. Another one like that: Sandra Bonet. Big impression in ANGEL HEART, failed to make it to the big leagues. Well that’s it for now. I don’t want to get too obscure, delve into such arcana as why Lyle Talbot, Leila Hyams, Gloria Dickson, Phillips Holmes and Richard Cromwell failed to make the cut, as most posters have never heard of them. :rolleyes: john b. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-youre-suprised-didnt-become-bigger-stars/525195/71 "2010-01-19T06:55:50Z")
> [@delphica](#): > > (I cannot believe I just used the phrase “serious film” in a sentence, but whatever) Why? 😕 Anyways, so what do all the people in this thread have in common? Was it just bad luck that they didn’t end up striking it big? Bad management? Difficult personality? Some other “X factor”? Any theories? ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-youre-suprised-didnt-become-bigger-stars/525195/72 "2010-01-19T08:17:20Z")
So many 70’s and 80’s tv pin-up dolls never went anywhere: Linda Carter (Wonder Woman,) Farrah Fawcett-Majors (Charlie’s Angels, heck all of them,) the actress who played Daisy Duke, and Heather Locklear spring to mind. (Yes, before you mention all the success she’s had on TV, she’s never been the star of the original cast. She’s always been brought in to rescue poor ratings on another show.) I’ve always been shocked by the lack of success of Dana Carvey and Martin Short, both SNL alumni. Imho, they had some of the best characters ever on that show, but they never reached the stratosphere like Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, or even Bill Murray. I always thought Brooke Shields would be bigger than she was. George Clooney has always struck me as a loser. He lucked out with the Ocean’s X+1 series, but he’s been in nothing but flops, and the only success he’s had were on the shows he’s left (General Hospital, ER.) ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-youre-suprised-didnt-become-bigger-stars/525195/73 "2010-01-19T08:30:48Z")
Dana Carvey starred in _Master of Disguise._ How can you use that phrase “lack of success?” ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-youre-suprised-didnt-become-bigger-stars/525195/74 "2010-01-19T08:34:30Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > George Clooney has always struck me as a loser. He lucked out with the Ocean’s X+1 series, but he’s been in nothing but flops, and the only success he’s had were on the shows he’s left (General Hospital, ER.) George Clooney, a loser…? The same George Clooney of “Burn After Reading”, “Fantastic Mr. Fox”, “Up In The Air”, “Michael Clayton” and “Syriana”? The guy who directed “Good Night and Good Luck”, has been nominated for four Oscars, won one, and has twice been People Magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive”…? ---
**Author:** ![BigBertha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@BigBertha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigBertha)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-youre-suprised-didnt-become-bigger-stars/525195/75 "2010-01-19T08:43:45Z")
Shawnee Smith. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-youre-suprised-didnt-become-bigger-stars/525195/76 "2010-01-19T11:01:08Z")
Edward Burns. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-youre-suprised-didnt-become-bigger-stars/525195/77 "2010-01-19T11:39:20Z")
> [@AtomicDog](#): > > I kept waiting for Tina Turner’s movie career to take off after her marvelous portrayal of Auntie Entity in **Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome**. Don’t know why it didn’t. At a WAG her musical career was taking off in a big way (again) at the time of the film - hence her inclusion in it - and hasn’t really slowed much since then; taking time off for acting would have impaired that (remember what happened to Elvis when he went all Hollywood?) and she’d already spent too long in the wilderness to jeopardize her musical career for the sake of a few token film appearances. Also, Tina’s a competent actress but a remarkable performer and she’s playing to her strengths. She’s still selling out arenas and wowing the crowds at, what, 70 years old? She’s pretty damn big in her own right. But on a related note I thought we’d see more of Angela Bassett than we have, her later appearance on ER notwithstanding. ---
**Author:** ![BKReporter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@BKReporter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BKReporter)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-youre-suprised-didnt-become-bigger-stars/525195/78 "2010-01-19T18:19:14Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > I’ve always been shocked by the lack of success of Dana Carvey and Martin Short, both SNL alumni. Imho, they had some of the best characters ever on that show, but they never reached the stratosphere like Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, or even Bill Murray. Dana Carvey especially. He was supposed to be _the_ break out star from that generation of late 80s/early 90s SNL players and he was being set up to reach the levels of stardom that Jim Carrey would later attain. It’s really too bad, because he was wicked hilarious on SNL and would probably rate as one of the top 5 performers to ever work on the show, but he ended up in a lot of shitty movies like \*Clean Slate, Trapped in Paradise \*and the aforementioned _Master of Disguise._ In fact you can probably include a lot of former Not Ready For Prime Time players in this thread - Chris Kattan, Jan Hooks, Jon Lovitz, Victoria Jackson, etc. ---
**Author:** ![BKReporter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@BKReporter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BKReporter)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2010, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-youre-suprised-didnt-become-bigger-stars/525195/79 "2010-01-19T18:25:25Z")
> [@Rodgers01](#): > > George Clooney, a loser…? The same George Clooney of “Burn After Reading”, “Fantastic Mr. Fox”, “Up In The Air”, “Michael Clayton” and “Syriana”? The guy who directed “Good Night and Good Luck”, has been nominated for four Oscars, won one, and has twice been People Magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive”…? And how many of those films were blockbusters? I disagree with Superhal’s assertion that George Clooney is a loser and isn’t a star, but he does have a point. As famous as he is, he doesn’t seem to have very much box office muscle. ---
**Author:** ![john\_b\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@john\_b\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/john_b_2)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2010, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-youre-suprised-didnt-become-bigger-stars/525195/80 "2010-01-20T00:40:33Z")
Joe Piscopo, a very funny guy, spot on Sinatra imitator, he was big back in the 80s, seems to have fallen off the face of the earth. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-youre-suprised-didnt-become-bigger-stars/525195.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-and-actresses-youre-suprised-didnt-become-bigger-stars/525195.md?page=5)