# Actors without credit for a role -- even on IMDb **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 12, 2011, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-without-credit-for-a-role-even-on-imdb/585233 "2011-06-12T18:35:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-without-credit-for-a-role-even-on-imdb/585233/1 "2011-06-12T18:35:30Z")
[James Pickens Jr.](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0681782/) who plays Dr. Richard Webber on [Grey’s Anatomy (TV Series 2005– )](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0413573/) has a distinctive voice. So last night as we were watching [Red Dragon (2002)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0289765/) in the brief moment he was on screen I challenged my wife to identify him (mostly by way of his voice). She wasn’t convinced so we worked our way through the end credits several times and were startled that he wasn’t mentioned. You can look at his IMDb page and see that role is also missing. However at [http://www.moviemaniacs.net/archive19.htm](http://www.moviemaniacs.net/archive19.htm) you can see > [@](#): > > ‘Red Dragon’ release date moves up; James Pickens Jr. joins the cast list > > The Hannibal Lecter prequel has been bumped up to October 4th of this year. Additionally, James Pickens Jr., best known as Deputy Director Alvin Kersh on ‘The X-Files,’ has stated that he has a role in the film. Thanks to Dark Horizons and Sci-Fi Wire.- Bishop This was enough to convince my wife I had identified Pickens, but it makes me curious how many other cases like this must be out there. If you know the mechanics of these things or can think of other cases like it, I’m really curious about how this sort of thing happens. I like being able to trust IMDb to have **all** the relevant data on people! You can see on the _Red Dragon_ page at IMDb that > [@](#): > > rest of cast listed alphabetically: > > Frank Langella … Voice of the Dragon (scenes deleted) so it’s okay that he might not have been in the credits. But Pickens? ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-without-credit-for-a-role-even-on-imdb/585233/2 "2011-06-12T19:03:04Z")
Don Cheadle is not in the credits for Ocean’s Eleven. IMDB lists him as uncredited now, but I seem to recall him not being mentioned at all the last time I looked. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-without-credit-for-a-role-even-on-imdb/585233/3 "2011-06-12T19:15:21Z")
> [@Drain\_Bead](#): > > Don Cheadle is not in the credits for Ocean’s Eleven. IMDB lists him as uncredited now, but I seem to recall him not being mentioned at all the last time I looked. Somebody once said on SDMB that it’s up to the actor to be sure his/her credits are updated and if the diligent IMDb staff fails to notice somebody had a role in some piece that it’s up to the actor to get it fixed. The “somebody” making that statement had an inside track to IMDb and had even posted some old movies’ data himself (I remember it was a guy doing the talking, but can’t recall his handle at the moment – maybe he will notice this thread and clarify and identify.) I can understand the lag time to get credits for specific episodes of TV shows, and have noticed that some shows are worse than others about that sort of thing. But I can usually get confirmation that a specific actor was in a specific episode if I check the show’s official website or Google for the show and actor. Or just wait a while! But 2002? ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-without-credit-for-a-role-even-on-imdb/585233/4 "2011-06-12T19:21:19Z")
Danny Glover as Judge Kipler in _The Rainmaker._ ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-without-credit-for-a-role-even-on-imdb/585233/5 "2011-06-12T20:29:10Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Somebody once said on SDMB that it’s up to the actor to be sure his/her credits are updated and if the diligent IMDb staff fails to notice somebody had a role in some piece that it’s up to the actor to get it fixed. The “somebody” making that statement had an inside track to IMDb and had even posted some old movies’ data himself (I remember it was a guy doing the talking, but can’t recall his handle at the moment – maybe he will notice this thread and clarify and identify.) I wasn’t content to let that memory just sit there, so I located > **[Those numbers in movie credits?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=193614)** > > I don’t even know the official name for those numbers shown at the end of the credits. Production number maybe? Anyway, they’re now in the 30,000+ range. Since IMDB lists 10+ times that many titles, what do those numbers mean? Is it just Hollywood... Those numbers in movie credits? 06-26-2003, 01:02 PM 06-26-2003, 02:48 PM > **[Those numbers in movie credits? -- Update](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=559517)** > > Very soon after I came to SDMB, I started a thread Those numbers in movie credits? on 06-26-2003, 01:02 PM. It got some action and some good information and I referred back to it yesterday while I was checking out some of the entries at Category:Film... Those numbers in movie credits? – Update 04-13-2010, 11:10 AM Zeldar 04-15-2010 08:52 PM by mobo85 38 2,891 Cafe Society And I believe the person with the IMDb inside knowledge is [Walloon](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php) as demonstrated in [this post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12337019&postcount=6) and [this post.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12337163&postcount=8) > [@Walloon](#): > > For American features from 1931 through 1960, and 1971-1973, a lot of the “uncredited” performers come from the cast lists in the American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures, which in turn gets the cast lists from studio records and other unpublished sources. For American features 1974–present, I’m guessing that a lot of the “uncredited” performers credits come from the performers themselves. > > Then there are old movie buffs who just have a talent for recognizing bit actors who are credited in some movies and not in others. > > At the same time, I’m surprised that there are any uncredited performers in American features today. From 1980 onward, Screen Actors Guild contracts have given a screen credit to every performer above the level of an extra. But I have the nagging sense that **Walloon** may be female! ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-without-credit-for-a-role-even-on-imdb/585233/6 "2011-06-12T21:31:05Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > But I have the nagging sense that **Walloon** may be female! So I checked. [This](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=3941788&postcount=1) would support that nagging sense: [quote= Idle Thoughts] Your Gender is important to me. * * * So that I don’t unmistakenly make a fool of myself and/or put my foot in my mouth. Yesterday after reading some old topics…I found out that Stoid, Walloon, and lel(three dopers I had all this time thought of as males) were female. This came as a shock to me. Today, I find out that EddyTeddyFreddy is also in the same class of me mistaking gender based on name. Thing is, some of names here are misleading. Fern Forest? NurseCarmen? Muffin? What is one supposed to assume genderwise of those names any short of actually asking? (For the record, they are all males) So even though this has probably been done before, I just ask everyone to reply to this saying if they produce estrogen or testosterone. Basically, just state your gender if you would be so kind to this ignorant newbie. Hi, I’m Idle Thoughts, and I have a penis. [/quote] The whole thread is [Your Gender is important to me.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=209406) ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-without-credit-for-a-role-even-on-imdb/585233/7 "2011-06-13T15:05:35Z")
> [@Scarlett67](#): > > Danny Glover as Judge Kipler in _The Rainmaker._ His IMDb page does show > [@](#): > > 1997 The Rainmaker Judge Tyrone Kipler (uncredited) …so I guess I ought to clarify that the Pickens situation isn’t (or at least wasn’t when I started this thread) _just_ that he wasn’t credited but that neither the movie’s nor his own IMDb page showed he even participated. IMDb has many situations, [for instance [Frank Whaley](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001844/) in > [@](#): > > Red Dragon Ralph Mandy (uncredited) 2002 where he had a significant role,] of actors obviously being in the production, just not credited. But the Pickens situation struck me as much rarer, and I was wondering how many other similar things we can come up with. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-without-credit-for-a-role-even-on-imdb/585233/8 "2011-06-13T15:25:17Z")
Emmy Rossum was originally uncredited in the theatrical release of [Mystic River](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002536/). ---
**Author:** ![Gilles\_de\_Rais](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@Gilles\_de\_Rais](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gilles_de_Rais)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-without-credit-for-a-role-even-on-imdb/585233/9 "2011-06-13T15:30:20Z")
Patrick Stewart (Jean-Luc Picard), had an oddly prominant, non-speaking role of Karla in the original _Tinker, Tailer, Soldier, Spy_ series and was not mentioned. By prominant, I mean that he had an important character and there was a very distinctive scene of him being interrogated. It wasn’t like a walk-on role - he was on the screen for upwards of five minutes mutely responding to the questions. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-without-credit-for-a-role-even-on-imdb/585233/10 "2011-06-13T15:35:04Z")
Last evening, the GF and I watched a silly made-for-cable romantic comedy called “A Crush On You” (hey, it was her turn to pick). The leading actor was Sean Patrick Flannery, but he isn’t listed on the IMDb page for the movie at all! > **[Mystery Girl (TV Movie 2011) ⭐ 6.0 | Comedy, Romance](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1714202/)** > > 1h 25m | Not Rated Nor is it on his own page. I know yesterday was the first showing of the movie, but still - the male lead? You’d think that would part of the list from the get-go.