# Anyone ever discover in an old show, a great talent you wern't aware of, only to find.... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 5, 2019, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-discover-in-an-old-show-a-great-talent-you-wernt-aware-of-only-to-find/827253 "2019-01-05T17:05:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2019, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-discover-in-an-old-show-a-great-talent-you-wernt-aware-of-only-to-find/827253/61 "2019-11-26T18:43:49Z")
Stephen Stucker, who played Johnny, the wacky air traffic controller in _Airplane!_, died of AIDS related complications in 1986. Although he’s not an actor I recently discovered, I didn’t learn about his death until relatively recently. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2019, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-discover-in-an-old-show-a-great-talent-you-wernt-aware-of-only-to-find/827253/62 "2019-11-26T19:58:05Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > My friends and I, when watching movies together, quite often chorus “Hey, you’re DEAD!” when a now-deceased actor comes on screen. We’re not nice people, obviously. 😃 My mom used to say “We’re watching ghosts.” Still pretty morbid.:eek: ---
**Author:** ![Long\_Time\_First\_Time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@Long\_Time\_First\_Time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Long_Time_First_Time)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2019, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-discover-in-an-old-show-a-great-talent-you-wernt-aware-of-only-to-find/827253/63 "2019-11-26T20:13:04Z")
For me it was Jon-Erik Hexum. He was an extremely attractive actor at the beginning of his career. He died at the age of 26 on the set of his first TV show - _Cover Up_ in which starred as a male model who also either solved crimes or was a spy (can’t remember now). He was joking around on set and shot himself in the head with a gun that was loaded with blanks. Turns out even blanks will produce enough concussive force if the barrel is placed against your skull. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon-Erik\_Hexum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon-Erik_Hexum) ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2019, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-discover-in-an-old-show-a-great-talent-you-wernt-aware-of-only-to-find/827253/64 "2019-11-26T20:17:09Z")
[Adrienne Shelley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrienne_Shelly), I noticed her in Unbelievably Truth, saw there was a follow-up from the same director and watched that…hmm, what else has she been in…oh crap, brutally murdered. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2019, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-discover-in-an-old-show-a-great-talent-you-wernt-aware-of-only-to-find/827253/65 "2019-11-26T20:36:23Z")
64 replies and no mention of [Heather O’Rourke](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001576/?ref_=tt_rv_t5)? Maybe she’s just not a great talent? ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2019, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-discover-in-an-old-show-a-great-talent-you-wernt-aware-of-only-to-find/827253/66 "2019-11-26T20:37:29Z")
[Jim Hutton](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001380/?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm), died at 45 from liver cancer. I always loved watching him work. I know him best as the scrounger from _The Green Berets_, and now I’m watching him as _Ellery Queen_ from a 70’s TV series. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2019, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-discover-in-an-old-show-a-great-talent-you-wernt-aware-of-only-to-find/827253/67 "2019-11-26T21:20:59Z")
> [@Patch](#): > > [Jim Hutton](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001380/?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm), died at 45 from liver cancer. I always loved watching him work. I know him best as the scrounger from _The Green Berets_, and now I’m watching him as _Ellery Queen_ from a 70’s TV series. Tim Hutton’s father? Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2019, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-discover-in-an-old-show-a-great-talent-you-wernt-aware-of-only-to-find/827253/68 "2019-11-26T23:16:56Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > If you can find it, look for “[The Moon Is Blue](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046094/reference),” one of her first credits. She was absolutely adorable in that and more than held her own against William Holden and David Niven. There was a MASH episode about that movie, wasn’t there? [Yep!](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0638446/) Probably haven’t seen that episode in close to twenty years, and I still remembered the movie title. But it still takes me two tries to log into my computer at work every morning. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2019, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-discover-in-an-old-show-a-great-talent-you-wernt-aware-of-only-to-find/827253/69 "2019-11-26T23:41:39Z")
> [@DannyBeans](#): > > It happens to me more with music. Me. too. When did I first get into [Sandy Denny](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Denny)? 1978. How about [Kirsty McColl](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirsty_MacColl)? 1999. [Eva Cassidy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eva_Cassidy)? 1997. ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2019, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-discover-in-an-old-show-a-great-talent-you-wernt-aware-of-only-to-find/827253/70 "2019-11-27T00:36:37Z")
> [@Patch](#): > > Don’t forget his role as Lt. Steven Hauk in _Good Morning, Vietnam_. He had three jokes under consideration by Reader’s Digest! Thanks!! I missed that! ---
**Author:** ![mako88sb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@mako88sb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mako88sb)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2019, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-discover-in-an-old-show-a-great-talent-you-wernt-aware-of-only-to-find/827253/71 "2019-11-27T04:51:27Z")
Watched The Caine Mutiny a couple weeks ago and was curious to see what other movies Robert Francis, who played Ensign Kieth, has been in. Bit shocked to find out he died in a plane crash the year after the movie came out. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2019, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-discover-in-an-old-show-a-great-talent-you-wernt-aware-of-only-to-find/827253/72 "2019-11-27T05:08:14Z")
not a movie/show but when i was in hs there was a woman who seemed to write for teenagers and didn’t hold anything back …I wondered why i never read anything of hers past hs… Turns out norma Klein died in 1989 a year before i started hs with what’s been stated as "an unusual medical problem that’s never been publicly discussed " And I was lucky my high school had her books because shes one of the most banned modern authors for young adults in America ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2019, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-discover-in-an-old-show-a-great-talent-you-wernt-aware-of-only-to-find/827253/73 "2019-11-27T06:24:08Z")
> [@Long\_Time\_First\_Time](#): > > For me it was Jon-Erik Hexum. He was an extremely attractive actor at the beginning of his career. He died at the age of 26 on the set of his first TV show - _Cover Up_ in which starred as a male model who also either solved crimes or was a spy (can’t remember now). > > [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon-Erik\_Hexum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon-Erik_Hexum) As noted in the link, he had previously been one of the stars of _ **Voyagers!** _ He shot himself not long after the airing of the episode of \*\*\*Hill Street Blues \*\*\* in which Howard Hunter unknowingly tries to commit suicide with a gun loaded with blanks. I’ve always thought the two were connected. One of my favorite George Carlin jokes, BTW, is “You ever look at crowds in old movies and wonder if they’re dead yet?” ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2019, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-discover-in-an-old-show-a-great-talent-you-wernt-aware-of-only-to-find/827253/74 "2019-11-27T06:44:48Z")
As this is thread is going off the original aspect, one thing that I was thinking of, and personally(to my own non-hip fault) that I only discovered because the artist was ironically dead. Amy Winehouse-Rehab ☹ ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2019, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-discover-in-an-old-show-a-great-talent-you-wernt-aware-of-only-to-find/827253/75 "2019-11-27T06:57:18Z")
> **[Indus Arthur - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0037774/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1)** > > Indus Arthur. Actress: M\*A\*S\*H. Indus Arthur was born on 28 April 1941 in Los Angeles County, California, USA. She was an actress, known for M\*A\*S\*H (1970), The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962) and Ben Casey (1961). She died on 29 December 1984 in Los... Indus Arthur. Knew her from the film version of MASH as Henry Blakes mistress and in Perry Mason. She was one of the most beautiful women i have ever seen. But she died at age 43 of skin cancer. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2019, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-discover-in-an-old-show-a-great-talent-you-wernt-aware-of-only-to-find/827253/76 "2019-11-27T10:38:30Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#): > > Tim Hutton’s father? > > Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk Yep. They did an episode of **Leverage** where Timothy’s character dressed up as a detective at a costume party. They dressed him up as… Ellery Queen. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2019, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-discover-in-an-old-show-a-great-talent-you-wernt-aware-of-only-to-find/827253/77 "2019-11-27T11:06:10Z")
I always wondered why the original yellow power ranger was the only one to never come back on the show at least once …I didnt know about the car accident until i was on some clickbait "where are the power rangers now type of thing a few years ago … ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2019, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-discover-in-an-old-show-a-great-talent-you-wernt-aware-of-only-to-find/827253/78 "2019-11-27T14:03:27Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > There was a MASH episode about that movie, wasn’t there? > > [Yep!](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0638446/) Probably haven’t seen that episode in close to twenty years, and I still remembered the movie title. But it still takes me two tries to log into my computer at work every morning. Thanks to that episode, for years I thought _The Moon is Blue_ was an early porno movie. Obviously I missed the fact that when the 4077th crew finally do get to see the film, they’re upset about how non-enticing it really is. ---
**Author:** ![mako88sb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@mako88sb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mako88sb)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2019, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-discover-in-an-old-show-a-great-talent-you-wernt-aware-of-only-to-find/827253/79 "2019-11-27T18:15:39Z")
Another fella that comes to mind is from the movie “The Lighthorsemen” and the actor Jon Blake who was considered to be a rising star in Australia but on the final day of shooting this movie, he was involved in a car accident that left him permanently brain damaged. Passed away in 2011. Damn fine movie btw for anybody interested. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2019, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-discover-in-an-old-show-a-great-talent-you-wernt-aware-of-only-to-find/827253/80 "2019-11-27T20:41:14Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > [Ernie Kovacs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernie_Kovacs) was a pioneer of television comedy. I only found out he existed in the early to mid 1990s when Comedy Central began airing his various shows under the title The Ernie Kovacs show. His comedy was often absurd and surreal which I’m a big fan of. He died in 1962 at the age of 42 in an automobile accident. I came here to mention him. I was aware of him having been a major star when I was a kid in the 1950s but was too young to appreciate him. I recently watched some of his stuff again and it blew me away. He was doing Monty Python type surrealism 20 years earlier. It was hard to believe this stuff was on 1950s TV. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-discover-in-an-old-show-a-great-talent-you-wernt-aware-of-only-to-find/827253.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-ever-discover-in-an-old-show-a-great-talent-you-wernt-aware-of-only-to-find/827253.md?page=5)