# Before they were famous **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 6, 2008, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-they-were-famous/444233 "2008-04-06T21:47:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-they-were-famous/444233/61 "2008-04-08T16:19:22Z")
[QUOTE=ShibbOleth] I live in Florida. It’s filled with attractive people. She’d be just another. [/QUOTE] True, I’m sure. But Ms. Panettiere is surely not the type who can back a dog off a meat truck, and that might at least cause a second glance, unless you’re really bored with all that good-looking women thing. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-they-were-famous/444233/62 "2008-04-08T16:54:32Z")
[QUOTE=Miller] He’s the Rebel officer on Hoth who tells Leia that they have to close the base doors while Luke is still missing. [Here’s a pic.](http://www.starwars.com/episode-v/bts/article/f20011217/img/rats2.jpg) [/QUOTE] Ratzenberger was living and working in London during the late '70s and shows up in several other movies from that period. Some examples: In _A Bridge Too Far_, he’s the lieutenant sitting behind Robert Redford during the river crossing; he gets shot. In _Superman II_, he’s one of the guys at mission control when General Zod and friends attack the astronauts on the moon. In _Hanover Street_, he’s a member of Harrison Ford’s bomber crew. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-they-were-famous/444233/63 "2008-04-08T16:56:13Z")
Ratzenberger was also in an ep of “Hill Street Blues” where he was a bad guy pretending to be a cop ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-they-were-famous/444233/64 "2008-04-08T17:01:19Z")
Dan Castellaneta had two guest shots on Married…with Children, one as a very macabre funeral director and one as a guy who confronts Al because Peg is dating his husband. He later found real fame on The Simpsons, voicing a bunch of major characters. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-they-were-famous/444233/65 "2008-04-08T18:33:40Z")
The policeman who brings Norman Bates a blanket at the end of _Psycho_ (“He feels a little chill”) is Ted Knight (Ted Baxter of Mary Tyler Moore fame). ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-they-were-famous/444233/66 "2008-04-08T18:53:55Z")
[QUOTE=Labdad] The policeman who brings Norman Bates a blanket at the end of _Psycho_ (“He feels a little chill”) is Ted Knight (Ted Baxter of Mary Tyler Moore fame). [/QUOTE] Speaking of Mary Tyler Moore, she was just some legs and a voice on the old _Richard Diamond_ series when she was his secretary Sam. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-they-were-famous/444233/67 "2008-04-08T19:43:59Z")
…and before that she was Happy Hotpoint in TV commercials, playing a danving flame. Speaking of dancers, Sally Struthers was the “Smothers Brothers’ dancer” (note the singular) on **The Smothers Brother Show** before she was Gloria on **All in the Family** And before she was a regular on **Laugh In** , Goldie Hawn played Ronnie Schell’s girlfriend Sandy Kramer on **Good Morning World** ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2008, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-they-were-famous/444233/68 "2008-04-08T22:41:00Z")
In another entertainment genre altogether, Jimi Hendrix was an opening act for _The Monkees_ before he was famous (or at least before he was legendary). He left their tour when he got booed off the stage by fans wanting Davy. Bette Midler and Barry Manilow were singer and accompanist at gay bars and bath houses (hence the nickname “Bathhouse Bette”) before they were famous. Bill Macy, best known as the husband on _Maude_ (“God’s gonna get you for that Walter…”), performed on Broadway completely naked in _O Calcutta_ before he was famous. (He was no prettier then than on _Maude_.) Rotund character actor Sidney Greenstreet was a tea planter and merchant until middle age when he started acting. Irma Hall (the grumpy cool old black lady hired whenever a grumpy cool old black lady is needed- _The Lady Killers_, _Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil_, etc.) was a schoolteacher for most of her life and did not begin acting full-time until she was middle aged. Bob Denver was a high school history teacher before _Dobie Gillis_/_Gilligan’s Island_. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-they-were-famous/444233/69 "2008-04-09T00:53:16Z")
[QUOTE=The New and Improved Superman] Richard Dreyfuss appears as a Broadway stage manager towards the end of “Valley of the Dolls.” He’s also very briefly in “the Graduate.” [/QUOTE] He was also in a **Bewitched** episode. A B & W **Bewitched** episode. I only recognized him because of his mannerisms and vocal inflections, as with slicked-back dark hair he was virtually unrecognizable visually. Can’t forget Teri Garr in an ep. of 1960’s Star Trek either. Proof of a subsequent boob job too. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-they-were-famous/444233/70 "2008-04-09T01:08:21Z")
[QUOTE=John DiFool] Can’t forget Teri Garr in an ep. of 1960’s Star Trek either. Proof of a subsequent boob job too. [/QUOTE] That episode was supposed to be the jumping off point for a new series, but I don’t think it went anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![cormac262](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@cormac262](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cormac262)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-they-were-famous/444233/71 "2008-04-09T01:43:03Z")
They’ve been showing “Coming to America” on Cinemax lately. I had noticed Samuel L Jackson as the guy who attempts the robbery on McDowell’s. But I never noticed that the kid getting his haircut when the barbers are having the “greatest boxer” debate is…Cuba Gooding Jr. No lines, and just sits there with this silly grin on his face. Not the greatest movie, but I always end up watching it (“Sexual Chocolate !!!”) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-they-were-famous/444233/72 "2008-04-09T01:47:25Z")
> [@](#): > > I was watching an episode of the original Flipper, and Burt Reynolds guest starred as a bad guy. It didn’t really look like him, either, except in certain shots. Burt Reynolds had earlier appeared in the original **Twilight Zone** (!!) He played an actor (imagine that) in the episode where someone brings Shakespeare back to write for TV. It was one of the shows from the season where the episodes were stretched to an hour long, so it didn’t show up in syndication, and consequently hasn’t been seen much since its initial run. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-they-were-famous/444233/73 "2008-04-09T03:50:58Z")
I was watching the British gangster flick _The Long Good Friday_ the other day. It has a very brief scene with a very young and very naked Pierce Brosnan. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-they-were-famous/444233/74 "2008-04-09T05:32:18Z")
[QUOTE=Švejk] OT it took me a very long time to realize that attorney Tom Hagen (Godfather films) and Lieutenant Kilgore (Apocalypse Now) are in fact the same actor, Robert Duvall. Seldom have I seen such totally different characters portrayed by one actor [/QUOTE] Duvall definitely has a talent for disappearing into his roles. I would hazard a guess that the reason you pick those two characters is because so few of the dozens of other roles he’s done are known as “Duvall characters”. For my own contribution: Cracked had list a while back of “before they were famous” commercial appearances, including Brad Pitt, Elijah Wood and Sarah Michelle Gellar. [http://www.cracked.com/article\_14876\_before-they-were-famous-10-most-regrettable-celebrity-commercials.html](http://www.cracked.com/article_14876_before-they-were-famous-10-most-regrettable-celebrity-commercials.html) ---
**Author:** ![DfrntBreign](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f6c823/32.png) [@DfrntBreign](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DfrntBreign)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-they-were-famous/444233/75 "2008-04-09T07:39:32Z")
In the movie version of “Hair”, the part of Sheldon (recruit who refuses to remove his socks lest his painted toes be discovered) is played by [Michael Jeter](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005052/). ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-they-were-famous/444233/76 "2008-04-09T09:38:19Z")
The Don Bluth cartoon “The Secret Of Nimh” from 1982 features the voices of both Will Wheaton and Shannon Doherty. And Derek Jacobi, John Carradine and Dom DeLuise. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-they-were-famous/444233/77 "2008-04-09T15:28:04Z")
[QUOTE=detop] If she hasn’t seen [this 1988 movie](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095687/). Tell her to check it. Both Alyson Hanigan and Seth Green are in it, a decade before they worked together on BTVS. [/QUOTE] This movie was also the first movie role for [Juliette Lewis](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000496/). ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-they-were-famous/444233/78 "2008-04-09T15:29:38Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] Burt Reynolds had earlier appeared in the original **Twilight Zone** (!!) He played an actor (imagine that) in the episode where someone brings Shakespeare back to write for TV. It was one of the shows from the season where the episodes were stretched to an hour long, so it didn’t show up in syndication, and consequently hasn’t been seen much since its initial run. [/QUOTE] I’ve seen that episode a few times when SciFi is having one of it’s **Twilight Zone** marathons, which often include the hour-long episodes. He does a marvelous take-off on Method Acting (“What’s my motivation?”) and I swear he was channeling Marlon Brando. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2008, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-they-were-famous/444233/79 "2008-04-09T15:36:22Z")
[QUOTE=LurkMeister] I’ve seen that episode a few times when SciFi is having one of it’s **Twilight Zone** marathons, which often include the hour-long episodes. He does a marvelous take-off on Method Acting (“What’s my motivation?”) and I swear he was channeling Marlon Brando. [/QUOTE] The fact that Burt resembles Brando helps explain why the studio folks wanted Burt for the Sonny role in GF1. But Brando resented Burt’s way of dealing with children and nixed Burt in favor of Caan. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2008, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-they-were-famous/444233/80 "2008-04-10T12:24:20Z")
Speaking of Married with Children and Bette Midler, Katy Segal was a backup singer for Midler in the 1970’s. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/before-they-were-famous/444233.md?page=3)