Pamela Reed.
I watch *Proof of Life * just to see David Caruso offer her a cigarette and Long Riders just to hear her say “Man to man, hand to hand.” Hell, I even watch Kindergarten Cop.
She would have been a much bigger name in the old studio system, but it does look like she get plenty of varied work, so I’m happy for her. I just wish I could see her as the sharp tongued second female lead in more movies.
She is the perfect Beatrice.
He grew into a strange looking adult. Like his child face was inflated with helium and slapped onto a taller body.
She was a major cokehead, but she was also a rehab success story. Last I heard of her, she moved to Montana to get away from the temptations of LA.
We could pump a lot of nitrous into this thread by focusing on child stars; as a counterexample to yours, take Rachel Hurd-Wood. Certainly not unattractive now, but looks completely different than she did when she filmed Peter Pan (yeah dye job and all that doesn’t help). That’s the thing with child stars; it’s very hard to predict how their faces will fill out (if they do at all). In any event only 2 films in 2 years, nothing else on the horizon-damned shame.
Actually Haley-Joel may be a bad example: he’ll have 4 films out this year alone.
I’m sorry Michael C. Maronna (the elder of Adventures of Pete and Pete) quit acting.
I used to mention Michelle Forbes in threads like these. While she’s not a major star, at least she has been working consistenlty
If you haven’t seen him in Redbelt, rent it tonight. One of those movies that’s so slow it almost seems like nothing’s happening, and he absolutely carries the whole thing.
Charmian Carr. Liesl in The Sound of Music. Beautiful, charming and talented.
Did a TV movie the year after TSOM and nothing else.
Well, I guess mine is a star. But why hasn’t he won an Oscar? Billy Bob Thorton. He morphs into his roles, physically and through body language and inflection. He’s the only actor I know who sometimes I’ve said, “Isn’t that…” “I think that’s…but…”
I watched it over the weekend. Thanks for the recommendation - I really liked it.
Two of my favorite old timers are Ann Sothernand Sandy Dennis
I guess you could say both made it big, to a degree, but I love them both and always thought they should have been a lot more famous. They certainly both had much more talent than ever given credit for
Andy Garcia. He had a number of movies where he was handsome, charismatic, and pretty cool.
And then not much, really. Never leading man I can think of.
-Joe
Carrie Snodgress. Got a lot of attention and Oscar nomination for “Diary of a Mad Housewife” and not just for showing her butt and breasts on the big screen. But she got involved with musician Neil Young (who wrote “A Man needs a Maid” about her). Their son Zeke was born with cerebral palsy so she dropped out of the film business for several years. When Stallone did “Rocky” he wanted Adrian to be Irish and approached her. But the money wasn’t enough for her and who could expect a movie about a loser fighter by an unknown top become a hit? Never got her momentum back when she returned to acting and died relatively young at 58.
I’d have to say Sam Shepard. He was Chuck Yeager in The Right Stuff and dominated the film, which admittedly wasn’t the big success people were expecting; but he could easily have gone for the same kind of roles that Harrison Ford and (later) Kevin Costner regularly fought each other for. Instead he always seemed to be more interested in his stage work and music and having fun and so forth, which is fair enough.
He’s not exactly dormant - his career seems to have sped up of late (ten films in the 1980s, nine in the 1990s, twenty in the 2000s, including several major releases, so perhaps he’s trying to build up a comfortable pension) - but he always plays supporting characters or villains.
For that matter The Right Stuff itself had several actors who went on to decent careers, sometimes with their faces on the poster, but not starring roles. Ed Harris, Fred Ward, Scott Glenn all had a period in the sunshine, and have been in some great films, but they tended to play The General or The President or The Grizzled Veteran or Kevin Bacon’s Older Partner. Ed Harris now seems to be actor that gets cast when Robert Duvall isn’t available.
Dennis Quaid was a legitimate headlining star for a while, but not nearly in the same league as Tom Cruise, for example, or Clint Eastwood. I don’t think anybody went to see Innerspace or Dragonheart specifically because it had Dennis Quaid in it.
I suppose it depends on your definition of “made it big”.
Eric Stoltz?
Interesting choice. I would guess he never hit it big mostly because his writing is his main focus, but I agree he is a great actor.
There was a period where every major motion picture had to have Stoltz in it – even briefly. It seemed that he was framed in such a way to illict “Hey it’s that guy!” moments from the audience.
Best example is in Jerry Maguire where he appears in (I think) one scene.
I thought about starting a thread like this, entitled “Actors who never got a decent gig”. I could only think of Rutger Hauer in reply to my own title.
I happened to catch *A River Runs Through It *after not seeing it in many years and wondered what ever happened to Craig Sheffer. Looking at his IMDb page it’s clear he’s been working, but not in the big leagues.
Amber Benson, best known for playing Tara in “Buffy The Vampire Slayer.” She always had that mix of “girl next door” and “outright gorgeous” vibe going for her, IMHO. But she hasn’t really gotten many big roles since she left the series and has spent the last several years, between the odd gig here and there, writing a rather well-received series of novels.
I guess she’s kind of a star and even has an Oscar… but i can never understand why Marisa Tomei isn’t HUGE.
