I’ve been watching through the Rockford Files on Netflix. Lots of “famous in the future” guest stars including Lindsay Wagner, James Woods, Suzanne Sommers and Ed Harris. Also lots of people I might not call “stars” except to people who watch as much TV as I do. Lots of the faces are familiar to me from later shows (Lou Grant, WKRP, Hill Street Blues).
I started watching Rockford after going through six seasons of Law & Order SVU. Hayden Panettiere appeared in Season 2 as a disturbingly manipulative little girl (playing younger than her age - 11 or 12 at the time). In Season 6 she appeared again as a disturbingly worldly high school sophomore.
I’d wager that 2/3 of the time when I look an actor up at IMDB, particularly television actors, to satisfy the nagging “where have I seen…?” curiosity, I’ve seen them on some permutation of Law & Order.
My wife is a pro at this. Lately she has been finding Seth Green.
He appears to be about 7 years old in Hotel New Hampshire.
Watching the movie Crossroads (not the Britney Spears vehicle, the Ralph Macchio movie) she noticed that the man playing Robert Johnson at the beginning of the movie would later be Tuvok in Star Trek Enterprise.
I have had to do some nasty chores, because I have doubted her. I am learning.
And was a co-star of “The Ritz” three years before “Hair,” which although not a commercial or critical success did feature Williams wandering around wearing nothing but a towel for an hour.
I was watching an older L&O that I had recorded (TNT shows them in the wee hours) and Harold Perrineau (WAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLTTTTTTTTT!) played a druggie punk in one of the Max Greavy/Paul Robinette episodes.
I saw “Reality Bites” again this weekend, and as the end credits were scrolling, I noticed the name “Renee Zellweger.” I’m wondering, “How the hell did I miss that?” Recued and ffwed to every every scene change.
Early in the movie, she has a “blink and you miss it” scene with Ethan Hawke. She comes out of an apartment/motel room with a cup of coffee, handing him a not with her name and phone number, which he promptly discards once he’s out of eyesight.
It’s a distance shot, with no dialogue, and you don’t see her face completely.
I was watching a Tim Allen movie that was really not very good the other day, and Hayden Panettiere was in it playing his daughter. She was about 12 years old, and was really really good. It was only a minor role, but she stood out as the best actress in the whole movie.
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
I was surprised a while back to see John Goodman in C.H.U.D. (talk about your low-budget monster flicks), which came on the Monster channel in the wee hours one week. Four years before playing the husband on “Roseanne”, Goodman had this little bit part as a cop in C.H.U.D.. He and his partner (Jay Thomas, who got pretty famous in his own right; remember Eddie LeBec on “Cheers”?) go into a diner and have about two lines of dialog, and that’s about it for ol’ John.
In the 80s camp classic “the Hunger”, Willem Defoe (sp.?) has a one-line part as a punk who intimidates Susan Sarandon.
In “the Warriors”, Mercedes Ruehl is the undercover cop posing a hooker in Central Park who busts one of the gang-members.
Richard Dreyfuss appears as a Broadway stage manager towards the end of “Valley of the Dolls.” He’s also very briefly in “the Graduate.”
Nicholas Brendan (Xander on “Buffy”) appears in “Married…With Children” as a member of a street gang that menaces Al Bundy. Brendan also appeared in the original ‘Buffy’ movie as an extra (no lines.)
