James Dickey played the sheriff in the movie version of his novel “Deliverance.”
Stephen King has played small roles in “Pet Sematary” and in the miniseries “The Stand,” among many others.
Any other examples of authors who have acting roles in movies based on their own work?
I don’t count things like Kurt Vonnegut doing an appearance in Rodney Dangerfield’s “Back to School,” or Salman Rushdie appearing in “Bridet Jones’ Diary.”
Kurt vonnegut has a very brief appearence as “sad man in street” at the end of Mother Night. IMDB lists him as appearing in Breakfast of Champions, which I haven’t seen. (Appparently it’s terrible.)
Although there are debates still about the role he played in writing many of the original stories, Stan Lee (one-time editor in chief and author for Marvel Comics) has cameoed in most/all movies based on Marvel properties.
Peter Benchley has a line or two in Jaws.
Robert Benchley was fairly successful author and and actor. He starred in a movie version of his humor article, The Treasurer’s Report.
Kurt Vonnegut didn’t write Back to School?!?
Todd MacFarlane appeared in Spawn.
Hunter S. Thompson appears in** Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas**.
Hunter S. Thompson had a cameo in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, right about the time the people turn into giant lizards, I do believe.
ETA:Damn, beaten to the punch. At least I got to mention the giant lizards.
The face of Douglas Adams shows up in the movie Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
Have you seen Stephen King in these roles? I think that really stretches the term “acted” perhaps you should just go with “Authors who’ve appeared in movies based on their books”.
Augusten Burroughs is in the end credits for Running with Scissors.
Does Harvey Pekar in “American Splendor” count?
John Irving has had a couple of cameo roles in movies made from his books (wrestling ref in The World According to Garp, train station agent in The Cider House Rules).
Merian C. Cooper was listed as an author for the book, King Kong (1933), and he apparently did appear in the movie itself.
Robert B. Parker appeared in several of the made-for-TV Spenser movies.
Mary Higgins Clark was a newspaper reporter in the movie of “Where Are The Children?”
Arthur C. Clarke has a nonspeaking cameo as a man sitting on a bench outside the White House in 2010. Plus his photo is used as that of the U. S. President.
Richard Matheson appeared as a passerby who says, “Astounding” (I think that was his sole word of dialogue, maybe it was “Astonishing,” I can’t remember) in Somewhere in Time.
On the TV front, novelist Erle Stanley Gardner appeared in the final episode of the Perry Mason TV series.
Sir Rhosis
I can’t believe I forgot those two. :smack:
JK Rowling was offered a cameo in the Philosopher’s Stone movie as Lily Potter in the Mirror of Erised scene, but she declined.
Maybe doesn’t qualify, since Audie Murphy didn’t really write To Hell and Back; or maybe it does, since he couldn’t really act, either.
Mickey Spillane starred as Mike Hammer in The Girl Hunters.
Steve Martin - Shopgirl