# Bit parts when they were not so famous **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 27, 2004, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521 "2004-10-27T19:29:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521/181 "2004-11-05T16:15:43Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Which reminds me that James Arness, of _Gunsmoke_ fame, was the monster in _The Thing_. He also played one of the station personnel. I guess the producers wanted to save a little money and recycled him. It’s funny the way he towers over all the others in one of the tunnel scenes and we’re not supposed to realize he plays the huge alien. ---
**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:** [November 5, 2004, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521/182 "2004-11-05T16:20:14Z")
And Michael Landon was a Teen Age Werewolf long before Michael J. Fox ---
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521/183 "2004-11-05T17:44:53Z")
> [@coven](#): > > **Ed Harris** and **Isaac Hayes** both guest starred on a couple of episodes of **The Rockford Files**. Harris, a virtual unknown, played a uniform cop gone bad, while Hayes played **Gandalf Fitch** : an ass-kickin’ former-con buddy of Jim’s. Of course, there’s no way to call the voice of _Superfly_ “not so famous”. Great episodes for both of 'em. Just to be nitpicky, I’m going to point out that Isaac Hayes did the theme from _Shaft_, not _Superfly_. That was Curtis Mayfield. ---
**Author:** ![Quint](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/76d3ee/32.png) [@Quint](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quint)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521/184 "2004-11-05T18:05:39Z")
> [@cbawlmer](#): > > Just to be nitpicky, I’m going to point out that Isaac Hayes did the theme from _Shaft_, not _Superfly_. That was Curtis Mayfield. That’s not picky- that’s just right. Crap! ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521/185 "2004-11-05T18:40:47Z")
Wow this is a durable thread! Anyway, another Richard Dreyfuss sighting, at the end of “Valley of the Dolls”: he’s the stagehand who tells Patty Duke she’s due onstage in five minutes, only to find her roaring drunk and in the wrong costume. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521/186 "2004-11-05T20:20:57Z")
In _The Three Amigos_, while movie mogul Joe Mantegna is chewing out and firing the boys, Phil Hartman is the aide-de-camp who keeps getting on the phone to the various departments to strip them of their perks. Kenneth Mars, the _Springtime for Hitler_ - writing Nazi in _The Producers_ later became the well-beloved King Triton in the _Little Mermaid_ movies and TV show. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2004, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521/187 "2004-11-05T22:12:10Z")
> [@Ellis Dee](#): > > **Platoon** - Johnny Depp gets killed. I don’t think so. Learner gets wounded while on patrol but lives. I am such a movie geek… how that tidbit got saved but I can’t remember a phone number is beyond me. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2004, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521/188 "2004-11-06T17:57:56Z")
> [@Dooku](#): > > Cliff was also a NASA employee in **Superman 2** - he’s the one that gets into a discussion about whether the Astronaut on the moon said “girl” or “curl.” He’s also in the first movie, playing one of the soldiers attempting to track the hijacked missles. The original plan was to film the two movies simultaneously to save money on production costs, but that was scrapped halfway through to reduce short term expenses just in case the first Superman bombed. Most of the soldiers in Superman 2 were played by the same bit part actors and extras from the first movie, filmed during production of the first one. A neat bit of trivia; Gene Hackman filmed all of his scenes for the second movie while the two were in simultaneous production. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2004, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521/189 "2004-11-07T00:00:17Z")
Thinking of Phil Hartman, since he was mentioned earlier as running with the Pee-Wee Herman gang: Phil also appeared in the movie **Pee Wee’s Big Adventure**. Talk about your small roles; he was one of the reporters at the very end, interviewing Francis. Poor Phil only had one line. ---
**Author:** ![supervenusfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@supervenusfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supervenusfreak)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521/190 "2004-11-09T16:13:03Z")
When I am at work, especially during the day, I get to watch some pretty funny, pretty crappy older movies with my client. This morning, to both of our amusement there was a drug movie on called [Maryjane](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063281/) , starring the ever fabulous Fabian. The movie itself was quite a hoot. There is a scene in a gas station where the druggie kids harass a gas station attendant. I thought I recognized the actor playing the attendant, then I heard him speak and knew it was actor/producer/director _Garry Marshall._ I looked this movie up on IMDB and found out that _Teri Garr_ was in it too, as a member of the pot smoking high schoolers. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521/191 "2004-11-09T17:13:58Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > IIRC, he was the Army PR Officer who was trying to get a downed North Korean pilot to go back to the States with him. Do’h! Of course! And a quick search on IMDB shows that before that, he was on Kojak, Starsky and Hutch, Three’s Company, and Taxi. And he was a regular on The Ropers. ---
**Author:** ![TommyTutone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@TommyTutone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TommyTutone)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521/192 "2004-11-09T17:59:08Z")
> [@Robot Arm](#): > > Norman Fell was Mr. Roper, not Mr. Furley, on _Three’s Company_. And four years before _The Graduate_ he played one of the police officers at the crash site at the beginning of _It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World_. Before even that, Fell played a reporter in “Inherit the Wind”. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521/193 "2004-11-09T18:50:33Z")
In the movie _Roxanne_, watch for a young Damon Wayans as one of the firemen, I don’t think he actually has any lines though. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521/194 "2004-11-09T19:03:35Z")
Right now on Bravo I’m watching a Columbo episode. The one where he goes to the military academy. \*\*Bruno Kirby \*\* is the cadet whom, in the washroom, asks the fine Lt. how he slept the night before. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521/195 "2004-11-09T19:22:04Z")
And, of course, **Bruno Kirby** was also in _Spinal Tap_ as the limo driver. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521/196 "2004-11-09T20:35:35Z")
In Eastwood’s fourth or fifth outing as Dirty Harry - the Dead Pool - Jim Carrey plays the doped-up singer of the hair metal band. Credited as James Carrey. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521/197 "2004-11-09T22:08:51Z")
> [@Robot Arm](#): > > Norman Fell was Mr. Roper, not Mr. Furley, on _Three’s Company_. And four years before _The Graduate_ he played one of the police officers at the crash site at the beginning of _It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World_. And something else just occured to me. On _The Ropers_, fell’s “archnemisis” was played by Jeffery Tambor, long before his stints on _Larry Sanders_ and _Arrested Development_. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521/198 "2004-11-09T22:49:09Z")
Oooh! I didn’t catch anyone mentioning that future _Taxi_ stars Christopher Lloyd and Danny DeVito were mental patients in _One Flew Over the Cukoo’s Nest_. I think the kid who played Billy Bitman reversed the process (new thread idea!) by subsequently having a bit part as a “mentat” in Lynch’s _Dune_. ---
**Author:** ![Lao\_Tsu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lao\_Tsu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lao_Tsu)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2004, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521/199 "2004-11-09T23:30:25Z")
“I think the kid who played Billy Bitman reversed the process (new thread idea!) by subsequently having a bit part as a “mentat” in Lynch’s Dune.” And then cleverly reversed the process to become Brad Dourif.? ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2004, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521/200 "2004-11-10T00:19:03Z")
> [@Max Torque](#): > > Thinking of Phil Hartman, since he was mentioned earlier as running with the Pee-Wee Herman gang: Phil also appeared in the movie **Pee Wee’s Big Adventure**. Talk about your small roles; he was one of the reporters at the very end, interviewing Francis. Poor Phil only had one line. Don’t feel so sorry for Phil, as he had a larger part in the making of the movie. He co-wrote the screenplay. Michael Keaton used to work on “Mister Roger’s Neighborhood”. He was responsible for working the Trolley and Picture Picture. And I believe he was one of the Zuccinni Brothers in the Land of Make Believe. David Ogden Steirs played a TV Executive in the movie “Magic”. The movie came out about the same time as Steirs started playing on “M_A_S_H_”, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bit-parts-when-they-were-not-so-famous/271521.md?page=11)