# Big movie stars in bit parts! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 13, 2002, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-movie-stars-in-bit-parts/98102 "2002-03-13T19:07:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2002, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-movie-stars-in-bit-parts/98102/41 "2002-03-17T22:52:10Z")
Troy Donahue, Godfather II, as Connie’s suitor. His character’s name was his real name: Merle Johnson. He had been washed up for years. A nice touch slipping him in like that. I like ex-big star ones better than the current-big star ones. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2002, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-movie-stars-in-bit-parts/98102/42 "2002-03-17T23:51:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kunilou \* > \*\*How about Bill Murray as Dustin Hoffman’s roommate in Tootsie? I can’t remember why, but Murray didn’t take any billing. \*\* I wonder why that was? Wesley Snipes also didn’t take any billing in **Waiting to Exhale**. That was also a small role, but the character was crucial, and anyone who’d read the book, which meant most of the audience when I saw it on opening night, knew when the character would appear. So he walked on screen and there was a chorus of “ooooooooohhhhhh!” He said he didn’t want billing because the film was about the four women and he didn’t want to detract from that. Kudos to him. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-movie-stars-in-bit-parts/98102/43 "2002-03-18T02:38:58Z")
Phil Hartman had a small part as a reporter at the end of **Pee Wee’s Big Adventure**. Probably because he co-wrote the script. The only one I can think of, besides the ones mentioned, is Mark Hammil in **Britannia Hospital**. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-movie-stars-in-bit-parts/98102/44 "2002-03-18T15:35:26Z")
Here’s one that’s pretty obscure: Jack Nicholson in _Targets_. I’ve gotten into arguments as to whether Nicholson was actually in the film, even with other people admitting that he actually appears on the screen. _Targets_ is about a horror actor played by Boris Karloff who comes face to face with a mass killer. Much of it takes part in a drive-in, which is showing _The Terror_, a Karloff film. There are scenes from _The Terror_ shown on the drive-in screen, including one where Jack Nicholson (in a Napoleonic uniform) comes to the house to meet Karloff. I say that puts him in the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Doubting\_Robert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e495f1/32.png) [@Doubting\_Robert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doubting_Robert)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-movie-stars-in-bit-parts/98102/45 "2002-03-18T23:40:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hamadryad \* > \*\*_“Earlier someone mentioned Nicholson and the original Little Shop of Horrors. Wasn’t he the star? Hardly a bit part.”_ > > No, he played the dental patient (same part played by Bill Murray in the remake). I’m pretty sure it was his first big-screen credit as well, though I could be mistaken. > > \*\* I couldn’t stand not knowing if that was Jack’s first movie, so I checked [imdb.com](http://imdb.com). They list one earlier film, “The Cry Baby Killer.” Jack apparently played the title role. ---
**Author:** ![Oblong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c0e974/32.png) [@Oblong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oblong)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2002, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-movie-stars-in-bit-parts/98102/46 "2002-03-19T02:24:29Z")
Does Steve Buscemi’s part in Pulp Fiction count? I know he wasn’t a star at that point but he was promiment in Tarantino’s previous film. Also. how about Harrison Ford in Apocalypse Now? Larry Hagman was an army guy in Superman. ---
**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:** [March 19, 2002, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-movie-stars-in-bit-parts/98102/47 "2002-03-19T16:00:04Z")
Daniel-Day Lewis in **Gandhi**. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2002, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-movie-stars-in-bit-parts/98102/48 "2002-03-19T16:56:43Z")
Brad Pitt in _True Romance_. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2002, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-movie-stars-in-bit-parts/98102/49 "2002-03-19T20:54:54Z")
“Zsa Zsa Gabor in “Queen of Outer Space” (1958)” —Huh? Zsa Zsa vas ze STAH, dahlink! She even got to look directly into the camera and say, “I hayd her. I hay dot qvinn!” As for future stars appearing as extras, pre-fame, we got (off the top of my head): Jean Harlow in “The Love Parade” (1929) Marilyn Monroe in “Scudda-Hoo! Scudda-Hay!” (1948) Rita Hayworth in “Dante’s Inferno” (1935) Valerie Harper in “Rock! Rock! Rock!” (1956) Kay Kendall in “Dance Hall” (1950) Clark Gable in “The Merry Widow” (1925) Joan Crawford AND Myrna Loy in “Pretty Ladies” (also 1925) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-movie-stars-in-bit-parts/98102.md?page=2)